Excel Awards - 2 From Wilson County!

Excel Awards goes to two from Wilson County

May 4, 2008……Samuel Blackwell and Alek Nochowicz, both of Mount Juliet, were awarded the prestigious “Excel Award” during the Excel Aquatics Annual Banquet, for their achievements this past Short Course Season.

The Award is given annually at the Excel Spring Banquet to a select few recipients in each training squad, and is based on Good Sportsmanship, Dedication, Positive Attitude, and Leadership within the squads. Out of 418 swimmers over three training locations, only 17 swimmers received the honor of the Award this year.

Blackwell, a current Home School 3^rd Grader won his first Excel Award, due to his young leadership within the Silver 2 Training Group. “Samuel has been a joy to coach and work with this past year in particular”, Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “He is always in the water on time, listens to direction well, and has worked a lot on both his technique and conditioning lately.”

“At meets he is scoring in the Top 8 in the 8&Under Year Old Boy’s category. Samuel has been a great example for our younger swimmers in Excel as well as within our county.”

Nochowicz is a 10^th Grader at Pope John Paul II High School. He swims year round with Excel Aquatics, in the High School season for Pope, and during the summer for the Willoughby Station Waves summer league team. “Alek has been with Excel Aquatics for 6 years now, and recently attained his first Southeastern Swimming Championship Meet qualifying time standard”, Coach Barnes commented. “He qualified in the 1,650 Yard Freestyle, a distance event that most swimmers stay away from.”

“Alek has really stepped up his training intensity this year, and has been rewarded for that effort with a SES Time Standard in the 1,650 Free, as well as High School State Meet qualifying times in the 100 Free, 200 Free, 500 Free, 100 Back, and 200 IM.”

“Our annual banquet is a time when we reflect on the success of the past year, and we recognize the achievements and accomplishments of the youth who Excel Aquatics serves. We have several goals at Excel, one is to create competitive swimmers in the water, another one (which is arguably more important) is to help create leaders who will excel is school and in their lives afterwards.”

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Spring Fling Fun for Wilson County Swimmers

Wilson County Swimmers in Spring Fling Swim Meet

April 26, 2008…. The first meet of the Long Course Swim Season took place April 11-13, in Brentwood when Excel Aquatics hosted the Spring Fling Swim Meet. Long Course Meets are held in 50 Meter Pools, the same distance the the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will be swum.

Seven Wilson County swimmers representing the Excel Aquatics training location in Gallatin participated in the meet. From Lebanon were Andrew Barnes, Austin Barnes, Spencer Ford and Bradley Gillilan. From Mount Juliet were the Blackwell siblings: Luke, Madison, and Samuel.

Luke Blackwell, a Home School 9^th Grader, placed in the Top 8 in the 13&14 Boys Category in all 9 of his events, set 7 Personal Best Times, and won the 13&14 Boy’s 400 Meter Free. Luke had four 2^nd Place finishes in the 1500 Meter Freestyle, 200 Individual Medley, 200 Breaststroke, and 200 Meter Freestyle.

Samuel Blackwell, a Home School 3^rd Grader, placed in the Top 8 in all five of his events in the 8&Under Boys Category, setting all Personal Best Times in the process.

Madison Blackwell, swimming in the 11&12 Girls Category, had three Top 8 finishes, and dropped time in six of her eight events. Madison is a 7^th Grade Home Schooler.

Ford, a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, participated in six events in the Senior Boys Category. This was his first long course meet, and his highest placing was 9^th in the 1500 Meter Freestyle (the metric swimming mile).

Austin Barnes, a JPII HS Sophomore, swam in four events in the 13&14 Boys Category, with his highest placing coming in the 400 Meter Freestyle. Austin finished 14^th in the event after dropping over 44 seconds in the process of his previous best time.

Andrew Barnes, a 6^th Grader at Carroll-Oakland Elementary, swam in two events in the 11&12 Boys Category. He placed 23^rd in the 50 Meter Backstroke, and 29^th in the 100 Meter Freestyle.

Gillilan, who is a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, who with Luke Blackwell already had one Long Course Meet under his belt this year, the USA Swimming Senior Sectional Championship Meet held in Nashville this past March. Gillilan participates in the Senior Boys Category, and placed in the Top 8 five times in the meet. His highest placing was 4^th in the 400 Meter Freestyle. His largest time drop was in the 400 Meter Individual Medley, a total of 20.62 seconds off his prior best time.

“All of these swimmers did very well in this format of a meet. We train in a 25 yard pool, and having to compete in a 50 Meter pool is a large adjustment for them, and they did great”, Excel Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted.

“We don’t let our swimmers get psyched out by not being able to train in a 50 Meter pool, instead we teach them to take pride in the fact that they are highly competitive in this format versus those who have easy access to a 50 Meter pool.”

“For instance, the swimmers at our training location know that in the Long Course Distance events (400 Meter Free, 800 Meter Free, and 1500 Meter Free), our location has 2 of the Top 5 swimmers on Excel; which is an accomplishment considering we only have about 10% of the Excel swimmers at our site. Another example is that Gillilan and Luke Blackwell are the top two distance swimmers in the County (in either the Long Course or Short Course) format.”

“The fact that the most competitive swimmers in Wilson County train with Excel is not an accident, it is by design. These swimmers put in more quality time working on technique, and put in far more quality yards, than other local clubs. Luke Blackwell is closing in on 1,000,000 yards this academic year, while Gillilan has already passed that standard.”

For more information on swimming in Wilson County visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com

Spring Sectionals - Two Top 20 Finishes

Gillilan Places 20^th in Mile at Spring Senior Sectionals Swimming Championships

March 9, 2008…. Following up on his 800 Meter Freestyle on Thursday night, Excel Aquatics and Lebanon High’s Bradley Gillilan swam in the 400 Meter Freestyle on Saturday and the 1,500 Meter Freestyle at the Spring Senior Sectionals Swimming Championships in Nashville this past weekend.

In the 400 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan placed 45^th in the meet while dropping his personal best time by 8.18 seconds, finishing in a time of four minutes, twenty two seconds and five one-hundredths (4:22.05). “Bradley had a nice time drop, and we were expecting that after his 800 Free a few nights before,” Coach John Barnes commented. “Bradley had a great short course (yards) season, and considering that he has always swum better in the long course (meters) format, we felt he had a good chance to make some significant time drops.”

Gillilan’s 400 time was only 2.16 seconds away from a Summer Senior Sectional Championships to be held in July in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech pool where the 1996 Olympics were held. He is already qualified in the 800 Free for his next step in swimming progressions.

On the last day of Spring Sectionals, the last event Gillilan was in was the 1,500 Meter Freestyle. The “Mile” proved to be another fast swim for Gillilan, turning a 17:16.94, a 28.76 second time drop. Gillilan is only 3.45 seconds away from the Summer Sectional time in the Mile.

Gillilan placed 20^th in the Mile, his second Top 20 finish after his 17^th Place finish in the 800 Free on Thursday.

“Bradley and Luke (Blackwell) trained hard all throughout Short Course Season with their eyes on this meet. Both did great in the 800, and Bradley swam lights out in his other events. They train in a short course pool in Gallatin, yet they consistently out swim boys on teams that have easy access to long course pools. Their focus on technique and conditioning show why they are the top distance and middle distance swimmers in the county right now even though they are 15 and 14 years old respectively.”

For more information on swimming in Wilson County visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com

Gillilan swims to Summer Sectional Time Cut

Wilson County Swimmers Make a Splash at Spring Senior Sectional Swim Meet in Nashville

March 6, 2008…. The USA Swimming Spring Senior Sectional Swim Meet is underway and the meet features some of the top swimming talent in the South. Traditionally only the Top 10% of swimmers nationwide achieve Senior Sectional Qualifying Time Standards.

491 swimmers, representing 76 teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, West Virginia and Kentucky took part in the meet this past weekend in Nashville TN, and hosted by Excel Aquatics.

“Senior Sectionals consists of swimmers as varied as collegiate swimmers using it as a last-chance meet to attain NCAA qualifying time standards, to swimmers who have already signed with colleges to swim next year, to swimmers who are no longer in college and are still training for the Olympic Trials, to swimmers who are starting to emerge as some of the top talent in the South.” Excel Assistant Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes explained. “This year we are swimming the meet in the Long Course format because many of the swimmers at the meet are in the midst of preparing for the Olympic Trials, and this is another meet in that progression of preparation for them.”

College coaches from numerous Division I schools are in attendance to watch and evaluate some of the younger talent that showed up.

Thursday evening kicked off the meet, with the first event being the 800 Meter Freestyle. Two Wilson County boys, Luke Blackwell of Mt Juliet, and Bradley Gillilan of Lebanon, representing Excel Aquatics, took to the water and dropped significant times off their personal best times.

Gillilan turned a 8:55.29 in the event, good enough for 17^th Place in the meet. Gillilan also became the first boy from Wilson County to go under 9:00 in the event after a review of swimming databases. “Bradley had a great swim, he went out in a 4:27 and came back with a second half time of 4:28. He dropped 31 seconds from his personal best, and qualified for the Summer Senior meet to be held at Georgia Tech in July.”

Blackwell dropped over 14 seconds and turned a 9:10.07, good enough for 42^nd Place. “Luke is one of the youngest males in the meet. Of 244 male swimmers, only seven are 14 years old or younger, and Luke is one of those seven. The rest are 15 and over, some are in their mid-20s.”

“Luke did great, at his age just making this meet was an accomplishment, and he stepped up and showed what a competitor he is.”

Both boys were on Excel Aquatics’ 800 Meter Freestyle Relay, helping the relay team to a 14^th Place finish. “Blackwell turned a best time in his lead off leg on the relay, turning a 2:09.44 in the 200 Meter Freestyle. Gillilan served as the anchor leg and turned a 2:06.99.”

“Gillilan has two more events coming up, the 400 Meter Freestyle on Saturday, and the 1500 Meter Freestyle on Sunday.”

For more information on swimming in Wilson County visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.