Author: christina collins

USA Swimming’s Club Excellence Program is a ranking system of the nation’s top clubs for developing athletes under the age of 18.

According to USA Swimming:
“In its 14th year, the Club Excellence program identifies clubs that execute strong, well-rounded age group and senior swimming programs to produce elite 18-and-under athletes. The top 20 clubs earn Gold level and those ranked 21-100 are designated as Silver. The next 100 clubs are recognized as Bronze.”

The evaluation is done by ranking the power points of swims of elite swimmers under the age of 18.  College students and post grads do not get factored into the ranking.

This year Badger has been awarded a Sliver Medal.  We are 4th on the list for Silver Medal Clubs which places 24th in the country this year.

 Complete ranking and results can be found here:

This is a tremendous accomplishment. Keep up the hard work and let’s go for the Gold in 2016!

Congratulations to Badger Swim Club for their combined 3rd place finish at the 2014 AT&T Winter National Championship.  Badger placed third in both the men’s competition and the combined club team competition.  This is an improvement upon a fifth place finish at last year’s Winter Nationals.  Ryan Feeley led the way with a silver medal in the 1650FR, bronze in the 500FR, and a 12th place finish in the 200FR.  James Wells placed second in the 100BK and fourth in the 200BK.  Bronwyn Pasloski also brine into the top 10 with a fifth place finish in the 200BR and an eighth place finish in the 100BR.  Derek Toomey also scored for Badger.  He placed 11th in the 50FR and 14th in the 100FR.

Spencer Lafata broke into the top 25 in the 1650 with a time of 15:26. 25.  Anina Lund placed 24th in the 1650 with a time of 16:36.10.  Maria Oceguera, David Stewart and Jack Collins also competed at Nationals.

Badger heads to Oklahoma this month for the 23rd Annual Oklahoma Elite Pro AM to compete against some of the fastest swimmers in the country.

Great job and good luck.

Pedigree Ski shop has a surplus of previous years Badger merchandise in stock at their White Plains store. In an effort to reduce their expired stock, they are offering a buy one, get one free sale. Buyers can choose from previous years suits, adult and junior short and long sleeve tees, hoodies, towel pants, ladies, mens and juniors warm up pants and jackets, towels and backpacks. The least expense item is free and no adjustments can be made on previous purchases. Some of the items available can be viewed on their website. If you are interested in any items, please contact Pedigree directly.

Pedigree Ski Shop
335 Mamaroneck Avenue
White Plains, NY 10605
914.948.2995
http://www.pedigreeskishop.com

Peter Whittington representing Badger Swim Club took four Golds and set a record at the Florida Gold Coast Winter Championships in the Boys 10 and Under 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:03.85.  He also took Gold in the Boys 10 and Under 50 Fly, 100 Free and 200 Free, winning the 10 and Under Boys High Point.

Congratulations, Peter!

Pictured Above, U.S. National Teamer and Badger Elite Team swimmer, Cody Miller. Photo via Tim Binning/TheSwimPictures.com

Swim Swam reports:

FINA has announced a rules change to the breaststroke underwater pullout – the latest change to try and give officials a fighting chance, and athletes an even chance, at adhering to the ever-more-complex breaststroke rules.

In the vote, FINA approved a new interpretation of allowing the single dolphin kick on the pullout to come at any time before the first breaststroke kick. Previously, the rules required some separation of the hands before the first dolphin kick. The change will be effective immediately.

Read the full article on Swim Swam

This week, Badger swimmers head to Greensboro, North Carolina to compete at USA Swimming’s 2014 AT&T Winter National Championship.  Badger is sending ten swimmers to Nationals this week.  These ten swimmers are representing Badger in twenty-six events, and they look to improve upon a fifth place club finish from last year’s event.  Badger is sending five high school students and five post grads to Nationals this week.  Our senior team is led by 16 year olds Anina Lund and Spencer Lafata.  Spencer Lafata looks to improve upon his sixth place finish in the 1650 at the Minneapolis Grand Prix, and Anina Lund is hoping to score in her third consecutive National Championship.  She is seeded fifteenth in the 1650. Badger seniors, Jack Collins, David Stewart and Maria Oceguara, will also be competing this week.

Badger post-grads also look to make a strong statement at the meet.  While the team is without Cody Miller and Lindsay Vrooman who are headed to Short Course World Championships in Qatar, Ryan Feeley, James Wells, and Derek Toomey are all seeded in the top 16. Derek is currently seeded second in the 50 Freestyle and third in the 100 Freestyle.  James is seeded fourth in the 100 Backstroke and fifth in the 200 Backstroke.  Ryan is thirteenth in the 500 Freestyle and fifteenth in the 1650 Freestyle. On the women’s team, Emily McClellan and Bronwyn Pasloski look to make a statement in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke events.  They are seeded first and fifth in the 100 and first and sixth in the 200.

Follow the meet on USA Swimming.  The event page can be found here:

The Badger Age Group Team travelled to Plantation, FL last weekend to compete in the Gold Coast Winter Championships. Highlights of the meet were Anya Pabby taking Gold in the Girls 12 and Under 50 Fly, Liam Loveless taking Gold in the Boys 12 and Under 100 Breast, and Peter Whittington taking home four Golds in the Boys 10 and Under 100 Free, 200 Free, 50 Fly and 100 Fly – setting a new Florida Gold Coast Swimming record – and taking home the Boys 10 and Under High Point. Also, strong swims and congratulations to Mary Rotenberg and Jack Loveless and to all of our Badger swimmers who competed at the weekend!

Jack Loveless:
Boys 14 & Under 400 IM: 4th place
Boys 14 & Under 200 Fly: 4th place
Boys 14 & Under 500 Free: 5th place
Boys 14 & Under 100 Fly: 7th place

Liam Loveless:
Boys 12 & Under 50 Free: 4th place
Boys 12 & Under 200 Breast: 3rd place
Boys 12 & Under 100 IM: 2nd place
Boys 12 & Under 100 Breast: 1st place
Boys 12 & Under 100 Back: 9th place

Anya Pabby:
Girls 12 & Under 200 Fly: 4th place
Girls 12 & Under 50 Free: 2nd place
Girls 12 & Under 100 IM: 2nd place
Girls 12 & Under 100 Fly: 2nd place
Girls 12 & Under 50 Fly: 1st place
Girls 12 & Under 100 Free: 3rd place

Mary Rotenberg:
Girls 12 & Under 100 Back: 4th place
Girls 12 & Under 500 Free: 8th place
Girls 12 & Under 200 Free: 4th place
Girls 12 & Under 100 Back: 5th place
Girls 12 & Under 200 Free: 3rd place
Girls 12 & Under 200 IM: 6th place

Peter Whittington:
Boys 10 & Under 200 IM: 3rd place
Boys 10 & Under 500 Free: 4th place
Boys 10 & Under 100 Fly: 1st place *Set a new Florida Gold Coast Swimming record with a time of 1:03.85
Boys 10 & Under 200 Free: 1st place
Boys 10 & Under 100 Back: 4th place
Boys 10 & Under 50 Fly: 1st place
Boys 10 & Under 100 Free: 1st place

Badger Swim Club placed second in combined scoring at the 2014 Arena Grand Prix in Minneapolis. The men tied for fourth with 171 points, and the women placed second with 162 points. Second swims were achieved by the majority of the team. Some high points of the meet were the boys placing 2nd (Ryan Feeley), 6th (Spencer Lafata) and 16th (Jack Collins) in the 1650. Anina Lund placed 10th in the 1650 and 15th in the 500. Emily McClellan placed 6th in the 100BR and 8th in the 200BR. Bronwyn Pasloski placed 7th in the 100BR and 5th in the 200BR. Derek Toomey placed 5th in the 50FR. Lindsay Vrooman placed 3rd in the 500FR, and James Wells placed 3rd in the 100 and 200BK.

Well Done Badgers!

Article and Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Powers

Medaling were Lindsay Vrooman, Ian Bidwell, Jack Collins, and Anina Lund plus William Powers who also finished in the top ten out of 237 swimmers from around the world. Overall Alex Meyer, Olympic Gold Medalist in 2010, won the event with & 2014 Fina World Champion Taylor Abbot placing second. Lindsay Vrooman, US National Swim Team member and member of Badger Swim Club in New York, had an outstanding swim to place third overall and first in the Ladies 5km event (58 minutes, 15 seconds). Vrooman’s club mate Anina Lund, who is only 15 years old, was second in the 5km race in 1:02:34 ahead of Barbados’ top female open water swimmer Lexi Clark (1:02:46).The team from Badger Swim Club had other successes as Ian Bidwell took third in the Mens 5km (58:19) and Jack Collins was fourth (58:20). Trinidad’s Christian Marsden, the 2013 winner, performed well but had to settle for fifth position (58:21). In an exciting finish Marsden was two seconds behind Bidwell and a mere second behind Collins as it was a race to the finish. William Powers finished 9th overall and 5th in the mens at age 15. Badger clearly has its sights set on attending the 2016 Olympics in Rio and is on the march having dominated the podium and challenged all those in the top that they weren’t going back to Larchmont without medals and having 5 of its swimmers finish in the top ten out 237 competitors. John Collins who has coached ten Olympians and whose swimmers have posted five world records said after the race, “Our team did very well but we will settle for nothing less than our swimmers being big fish in the big pond.” Badger’s performance at Carlisle Bay highlighted Badgers world class talent.

Swim Swam also wrote of Badger’s performance. Click here to read the Swim Swam article.