Badger Swim Club brought a strong team to the 40th Coupe Québec, and at the end of four days they returned with first place honors. The team led the medal count with 27 – fifteen of which were gold.
The team started off the meet with high expectations; Brian Hogan had had just qualified for Olympic Trials at the Pro Series at Santa Clara so the team left for Canada hoping another Badger would make the Road to Rio team. On day one of the Coupe Québec, 16 year old Spencer Lafata rose to the challenge placing second in the 1500 freestyle and qualifying for Olympic Trials with a time of 15:48.77. That swim, along with a strong showing on day two inspired John to say, “the stuff of legends…” The team began to realize they were part of something special.
Badger’s Zane Grothe led the way with four golds in the 200FR (1:53.13), 400FR (3:58.89), 800FR (8:15.42), and the 1500FR (15:42.95). Zane was named the male athlete of the meet for his overall performance. Additionally, he was the high point scorer of the meet. Other Badger gold medal performances include Emily McClellan’s sweep of the breaststroke events. She won the 50BR (31.69), 100BR (1:10.35), and 200BR (2:33.33). She was the runner up for the female athlete of the meet. Derek Toomey won the 50FR (23.03) and 100FR (50.09). His 100 time of 49.68 in trials was the male swim of the meet. James Wells returned to action and won the 50BK (26.64) and 100BK (56.93) events. Patrick Conaton won the 200BK (2:03.09). It was an event that Badger swept. James Wells finished second, and Charles Barry finished third.
Badger’s speed and depth was noticeable, especially in the relay events. Badger men won gold and silver in the 800 freestyle relay. The team of Patrick Conaton, Spencer Lafata, Brian Hogan, and Zane Grothe won the event with a time of 7:46.74. Eric Culver, Jack Collins, Richard Mannix and Charles Barry placed second with a time of 7:53.28.
Badger men also won the 400 freestyle relay. Derek Toomey, Patrick Conaton, Oliver Patrouch and Zane Grothe combined to win the event with a time of 3:24.90.
The men closed out the meet by finishing first and third in the 400 medley relay. The team of James Wells, Oliver Patrouch, Derek Toomey, and Zane Grothe won the relay event with a time of 3:53.21. Patrick Conaton, Brian Hogan, Eric Culver, and Spencer Lafata combined to finish third with a time of 3:55.63.
Other notable performances include:
Zane’s silver in the 100FR (50.48) and bronze in the 50FLY (25.07)
Spencer’s bronze in the 400FR (4:02.37)
Brian’s bronze in the 800FR (8:22.02)
Patrick’s silver in the 100BK (57.26)
Eric’s silver in the 200FLY (2:03.55)
Charles’s silver in the 400IM (4:31.64) and bronze in the 200BK (2:06.88)
James’s silver in the 200BK (2:04.14)
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