Two Badgers claim NY State Titles

Badger Seniors Kevin Jiang and Jack Cornish each claimed NY State High School titles on March 3rd, 2024. Kevin Jiang clocked a new best time of 45.31 to take the gold in the 100 Freestyle, while also placing second in the 50 free in a new best of 20.89. Jack Cornish led a 1-2-3 Badger finish in the 500 Free with a new best time of 4:30.97.

Other podium finishes included Zack Arnold (2nd – 500 Free), Charlie McMillan (3rd – 500 Free) and Ryan McDonald (3rd – 100 Breast). Congratulations to all Badger Swimmers for a strong showing in Ithaca!

Vanessa Delev Named SwimSwam Age Group Swimmer of the Year

Congratulations to Vanesa Delev on being named 2023 10 & Under Age Group Swimmer of the Year by SwimSwam News! Vanessa finished up her record breaking year with a total of 11 Top 5 National Rankings. Below are the times and top 5 swims:

  • 200 SCY free: 2:03.68 (#1)
  • 500 SCY free: 5:26.53 (#3)
  • 50 SCY back: 29.65 (#5)
  • 100 SCY back: 1:03.69 (t-#1)
  • 50 SCY fly: 28.61 (#3)
  • 100 SCY fly: 1:04.05 (#3)
  • 200 SCY IM: 2:18.36 (#2)
  • 400 LCM free: 4:59.34 (#5)
  • 50 LCM back: 34.82 (#5)
  • 100 LCM back: 1:14.55 (#3)
  • 200 LCM IM: 2:42.17 (#5)

Way to go Vanessa! What way to cap off an amazing year!

See the full SwimSwam article here

Carson Foster + Wyatt Collins Stroke Clinic

Take a look at some memories from the Carson Foster and Wyatt Collins Stroke Clinic we hosted at Badger this fall! The clinic featured 3 sessions that covered stroke mechanics, film review, in-water instruction and open ended Q&A.

Badger Swim Club Named 2024 Silver Medal Club

Badger Swim Club was named a Top 100 club in the United States yet again! The USA Swimming Club Excellence Program is a program that identifies and recognizes USA Swimming member clubs for its commitment to performance excellence. The Silver Medal nomination recognizes the top 100 clubs in the United States based on performances over the 2023 Long Course Season. Congratulations to all of the Badger Swimmers who helped earn this achievement!

Badger Alumni Competing in the NCAA

Join us in wishing luck to our Badger Alumni competing in the NCAA this season! Each year Badger Swimmers attend some of the top academic and athletic schools in the country. We are proud of all our our swimmers past and present and cannot wait to see their future success in and out of the pool! GO BADGER!

Below is a list of all of our collegiate Badgers for the 2023 – 2024 season:

Amato, Jason – Emory
Anderson, Kate – Virginia Tech
Arnold, Lauren – Air Force
Assalone, Francesco – Denison
Chong, Vanessa – UPenn
Chtokolov, Daria – NYU
Cornish, Kristin – Johns Hopkins
Disanto, Justin – Bucknell
Fenlon, Matt – Stanford
Gjersten, Emily – Duke
Hardart, Max – Brown
Hierath, Yara – NC State
Jiang, Joy – UPenn
Kaufmann, Noelle – Michigan

Kim, Daniel – Princeton
Kim, Hunter – Princeton
Lara, Austin – Columbia
Lee, Christian – Yale
Loveless, Liam – Amherst
Loveless, Mary Kate – Holy Cross
McMillan, Alex – Holy Cross
Noon, Zoe – Dartmouth
Pestrikov, Zach – Cal Tech
Reyna, Alexa – Arizona State
Shimizu-Bowers, Hana – Northwestern
Schubert, Keala – Colorado College
Tsukikawa, Yugo – Michigan
Veru, Theo – Bowdoin

Congratulations to the Class of 2023!

Join us in congratulating our graduating Badger swimmers as they announce their college decisions! This years class has 9 seniors who will be attending some of the best academic and athletic universities in the country. We are very proud of all they have accomplished and look forward to seeing their success continue in and out of the pool.

The Class of 2023 will be attending the following schools:

Kate Anderson – Virginia Tech
Julia Bazinet – SMU
Daria Chtokolov – NYU
Christian Lee – Yale
Alex McMillan – Holy Cross
Zach Pestrikov – Cal Tech
Alexa Reyna – Arizona State
Will Rupp – NYU
Keala Schubert – Colorado College

GO BADGER!

Hakan Eskioglu Named Head Age Group Coach

We are proud to announce that that our own Hakan Eskioglu will now serve as the Head Coach of the Age Group Team. Hakan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to our program and has a proven track record of success in all levels of the sport. 

Hakan is regarded as one of Europe’s most accomplished youth coaches and has played a pivotal role in the rise of Turkish Swimming on the international stage. He has served as the General Coordinator of the High Performance Centers in Turkey as well as Head Group Coach at the famed Galatasaray Sporting Club in Istanbul. As a swimmer, Hakan was a 1988 Olympian, European Championship Finalist and multiple time Balkan Champion. 

Check out more on Hakan here!

For inquires about the Badger Age Group Team, email Hakan at Hakan@badgerswimclub.com

Badger Announces Nutrition Partnership

We are excited to announce that Badger Swim Club has partnered with Beine Wellness Building to provide the best nutrition and recovery guidance for our athletes and families. Erica Beine, the founder of Beine Wellness, has built an amazing reputation within the swimming world as a key resource for some of the top swimmers across the world. Some of her clients include Caeleb Dressel, Lydia Jacoby, Leon Marchand, Carson Foster, Sandpipers of Nevada, as well as a significant number of Olympians, National Team members, NCAA athletes and club swimmers. 

Erica and her team will be working with the athletes, coaches and parents throughout the partnership to offer Nutrition Workshops, Genetic Testing, Food Sensitivity Testing and Travel Nutrition Guidance.

SwimSwam Practice + Pancakes with Badger Swim Club

Badger Pool

SwimSwam’s Coleman Hodges stopped by the Badger Pool in November to film a Tuesday afternoon speed practice as part of SwimSwam’s Practice + Pancakes Series.

Excerpt from Coleman Hodges:

“I took a trip up to Larchmont, New York, where John Collins runs Badger Swim Club out of the 50yd pool in his backyard. They are only able to use the outdoor pool in the New York weather until Mid-November, but today was a crisp fall afternoon prime for getting some work in. John’s son, Jack Collins(Former Texas swimmer, Brother of Texas Associate Head coach Wyatt Collins) was running today’s main set, 3 rounds of 3×100 at 1:20 followed by 8×50 best average”

Texas Asst. Wyatt Collins: Eddie Reese ‘Has Meant a Heck of a Lot to Me’


As reported by Swimming World Magazine:

Less than 48 hours after the University of Texas men’s team secured its 15th national championship, coach Eddie Reese announced his retirement after 43 years. The news came as a surprise to the swimming community, and even those in Reese’s near orbit did not know until days before. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte said Monday that Reese called him from Greensboro, a few hours before the Longhorns secured their national championship, and it was during that meet that Reese told his assistant coach, Wyatt Collins.

“Eddie told me at NCAAs. He pulled me aside during the meet, and we had a conversation,” Collins said. “Despite my best attempts to throw some Eddie-isms at him or get him to reconsider or to postpone, at least, for a couple days or a couple weeks and think about it some more, he was pretty adamant about it. He told me that he and (his wife) Elinor had spoken on and off for a few weeks. He felt like it was time.

“At that point, I broke down crying, as I think a lot of people in that situation would have done. He has meant a heck of a lot to me. I wouldn’t be where I am in life without him.”

The Texas swimmers learned of Reese’s decision in a 3 p.m. meeting on Monday that also included postgraduate swimmers training in Austin, support staff and former Texas assistant coach Kris Kubik. “It was emotional,” Collins said. “It was extremely emotional. A lot of tears were shed. Kris Kubik was there, and he opened things up and talked about their time together. It was a powerful meeting. Eddie said a lot of great things in a way that only Eddie can. I don’t know if there was a dry eye in the room. It was a lot to comprehend.”

Collins swam one year for Texas after transferring from Boston University, and he became the volunteer assistant coach for the team in 2013. After three seasons in that role, he was promoted to assistant coach when Kris Kubik retired after the 2016 Olympic Trials. Texas’ press release on Monday announced that Collins would become interim head coach following this year’s Olympic Trials, but until then, nothing about the day-to-day operation of the program will change. In particular, Collins has led the Longhorns’ recruiting efforts for the last five years, and he will continue to direct that area.

Read the whole article on Swimming World Magazine