Congratulations to Wyatt Collins and the University of Texas Men’s Swim Team on their 4th straight NCAA win!

Wyatt and Jack Collins

As reported by Swim Swam:

It was a wee bit closer than it’d been the past three years, but the Texas Longhorns won their 4th-straight title at the 2018 Men’s NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships tonight. They won by 11.5 points, easily their narrowest margin of victory in this current streak of victories, and their 2nd-smallest margin of victory ever. They won by 193 points in 2017, 190.5 points in 2016, and 129 points in 2015.

This is the 2nd four-peat for Eddie Reese, the legendary Longhorns coach who has helmed the Longhorns since 1978. It’s the 14th overall victory for Reese and the Texas men, given them two more than any other men’s swimming & diving program.

Unlike previous years, the Longhorns had to battle a little more this meet for this win. A few of their key swimmers were off, and their highest relay finish was 3rd after winning four last year, but there was enough depth and grit to win out in a very tight race over Indiana and California.

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Congratulations to Andrew Babyak on being selected Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the week!

Badger Swimmmer, Andrew Babyak, was selected to be the Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week for the week of February 27, 2018. Congratulations Andrew!

As reported by Bronxville School District:

Senior Andrew Babyak – a highly skilled, accomplished swimmer and dedicated student – has been named Con Edison’s Westchester Scholar Athlete of the Week. He was recognized for his athletic and academic achievements by a panel of athletic directors and coaches.

Babyak, who swims for the New Rochelle-Bronxville combined team, is a two-time state champion, two-time section champion, two-time All-American and one of the top 10 mid-distance freestyle swimmers in the country. He most recently became a section champion in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle individual events. He also won gold medals in the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle relays as a member of the team. He has earned the 2017 Classroom Leadership award for collaboration, the David Engalls Award for excellence in academics and athletics, and the 2017 William and Mary Book Award.

“Among his many notable personal traits, Andrew’s perseverance has been his most notable and the one that I admire most,” guidance counselor Barbara Dhyne said. “He approaches life with determination and is not easily discouraged. Through it all, Andrew has a great attitude and good humor.”

Despite a demanding athletic training and competing schedule, Babyak has excelled in the classroom and takes a challenging course load consisting of Advanced Placement and honors level classes. He is an accomplished French and math student and has mastered advanced physics. According to Dhyne, one of his strongest skills is his writing, in addition to developing excellent research and organizational skills.

Throughout his high school career, Babyak has taken on leadership roles and organized collaborative classroom groups and outside study groups. He also worked with the nonprofit Fuel Up to Play 60, which is sponsored by the NFL and National Dairy Council, to lead and complete a community service project that taught other students at his school how to lead healthy lives. Babyak is known for his ability to listen and collaborate with his classmates and teachers and lead presentations in an inclusive manner.

“Whatever area of study Andrew pursues in college, I have confidence that he will be successful and well-received due to his very likable personality and strong personal values,” Dhyne said.

Babyak has committed to continue to swim when he attends the University of Michigan in the fall.

Cristina Teuscher partners with Badger Swim Club

We are pleased to announce an exciting addition to our ten and under competitive program!

Cristina Teuscher, the two time U.S. Olympian and Atlanta gold medalist, winner of the Honda-Broderick award in 2000 as the NCAA’s outstanding female athlete, and former Women’s coach at Yale, and longtime Badger, will be working with the eight and ten year old groups on a twice weekly basis for the remainder of the season.

This is a tremendous opportunity for this group to be exposed to Cristina’s insight into the age group experience and her unique approach to teaching correct technique to the young swimmer. This partnership brings one of Badger’s most successful individuals back to her roots.

Cristina, and her husband Amerigo, have recently launched in Greenwich The Sweet Blue Swim Academy. Sweet Blue Swim Academy teaches everything from learn to swim for individuals of all ages to advanced technique. While with the Badger swimmers, Cristina will be focusing on drills and technique refinement. She will be in the water with swimmers.

All currently enrolled, active, competitive swimmers under 10 years of age, are invited to move locations for this program on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5:30-7:30 at Manhattanville. *This schedule is subject to change. Normal Age Group Team practice will not change and swimmers have the choice to continue to swim at their regular New Rochelle location or participate in the program at Manhattanville.

Congratulations to Garrett Towne for being awarded Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week

Badger Swimmmer, Garrett Towne, was selected to be the Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week for the week of January 15, 2018. Congratulations Garrett!

As reported by the Hackley School

Hackley swimmer Garrett Towne ’18 has been chosen as the Con Ed Scholar Athlete of the Week for the week of January 15. Garrett has been on an incredible streak of late breaking multiple records and swimming times giving him the status of All American.

Garrett recently set school records in the in the 100 Back (49.19), 100 Fly (50.00), 100 Free (47.66) and 200 Medley Relay. His 100 Back time was an automatic All American time and his 100 Fly is an All American consideration time. Garrett has served as boys team captain this season, leading the team to a numbe of new school, pool and league records.

Garrett’s honor was announced on WHUD on Friday, 1/19, and his photo and article appeared in the Journal News on Sunday, January 21st. You may have heard Garrett’s interview with Rich Leaf at WHUD at www.whud.com.

How Eddie Reese Turned Texas Men’s Swimming and Diving into the Best Program in the Nation

Article by Chris O’Connell posted on The Alcalade

Inside the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, a white-brick building on the corner of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard and Red River Street, waves of calm permeate the House that Eddie Built. A sea of crystal-blue water gently laps over the gutter of the pool and trickles back down. In its reflection two enormous steel fans silently rotate, like a pair of octopi performing a synchronized swimming routine on the ceiling. Every minute or so, the sound of flesh smacking the water breaks the silence, as divers practice on the far side of the pool.

At 3 p.m., the swimmers begin walking in, some of their faces familiar from atop 2016 Olympic podiums in Rio like Townley Haas and Joseph Schooling, the then-21-year-old who took down Michael Phelps in the 100-meter butterfly for the Singapore national team.

Once the pool is filled with more gold medalists than most countries, a 76-year-old man, the John Wooden of the pool deck, enters. He’s wearing a black T-shirt, khaki shorts, and black and white tennis shoes with white athletic socks poking up over the tops, an unassuming ensemble for the most decorated swimming and diving coach in modern history and the most successful coach to ever wear the Longhorn logo. He looks like your grandfather — and he literally is if you’re Luke Bowman, one of the 31 swimmers in the pool — if your grandfather was capable of winning NCAA titles in four consecutive decades, including the last three straight.

READ THE ARTICLE

Maftuna Tuhtasinova 4 times medalist at Asian Championships

Badger Swimmer, Maftuna Tuhtasinova, participated in 9th Asian Championships as part of Uzbekistan National Team.

She swam the 50m, 100m, 200m back as well as 200m free with my PB 2.08 and took holme 1 Gold and 3 Bronzes.

Congratulations Maftuna!

A Story of Success

Badger Swim Club is very proud of the accomplishments of Alumni Jeff and Will Powers. Both father and son are Badger alum and have been an integral part of the Badger community for many years. The work Jeff is doing with Float Hope is inspirational and we wish him luck.

READ THE ARTICLE ON THE FLOAT HOPE WEBSITE

Founder’s son William Powers swam his way to Georgetown

Float Hope’s founder Jeffrey Powers 5th child William Powers started his freshman year at Georgetown University having been recruited for swimming but being accepted early based on academic merit… while not financially disadvantaged William chose to swim at age 10 after waking up from a coma a year earlier. William’s swimming miracle became a catalyst for the charity’s founding says Jeffrey Powers.

“With my 5th child I got a swimmer by default after Will was struck by car driven by a drunken driver and in a coma for nearly a week at age 9 …not only shearing his right femur & left tibia and suffered a traumatic brain injury to the frontal lobe of his skull. Thanks to doctors at Children’s Specialized Hospital in NJ where he spent many months William eventually returned home and began the race against time that all TBI patients face to recover quickly with the hopes of healing before the clock stops… Will was determined to beat it and swimming helped.

William started swimming with kids half his age at Badger Swim Club but swam with passion despite his limited endurance (impairment from the TBI). William’s positive outlook on life was jump-started with his newfound sport, a process of learning, liking and then loving competitive swimming. Swimming on a team embedded character, discipline and new goals that helped him recover. After “almost losing William”… we learned how close a family must be and how important it is that we support each other. For the first time I witnessed the enormous benefits swimming and how it allowed my child to grow physically and succeed mentally against almost insurmountable odds.

William’s continued progress in high school revealed to us what swimming might do for the thousands of Indian River youth “without means” who have no chance to swim on a team only if they could be gifted swimming as a “life-skill.” Since Indian River County was #1 in income disparity we felt it could only work if we engaged young children and gifted the sport to children without means. Along with Coach Barlow and McClain we started Float Hope not only to advantage kids to swim like my son… but to enter and succeed in high school with confidence, discipline and self-esteem. My hope is for these kids to “win in life” by attending a 4-year college of their choice and bring leadership and passion back home to our community and the neighborhoods that are desperate for more role models.

Float Hope’s mission is to instill the confidence in kids so when they enter high school they burst their school doors open with confidence. Float Hope’s children are passionate and beginning to develop a positive view of themselves because by age 13 kids begin to understand clearly how others perceive them…so it must be embedded in their DNA year round while they are ages 6-11. To do that requires a year round commitment to a sport that is life changing. Swimming can do that. Swimming competitively is a life skill unlike any other”…says Jeffrey Powers the founder of Float Hope.

Applications due for for USA Swimming Scholastic All American program

Attention Swimmers: Applications are due by August 15, 2017

SCHOLASTIC ALL AMERICA PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
Application Process open June 1- August 15, 2017

2016-2017 ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

    • Grade completion requirement – applicant must have completed 10th, 11th, or 12th grade GPA Requirement – minimum 3.5 GPA for the current academic year.
    • A=4, B=3, C=2. If numerical grades are used, the following scale will be used unless the school’s letter grade conversion is given on the transcript: A=90-100; B=80-89; C=70-79.
    • Honors, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and dual credit college level academic courses will earn one half (.5) extra Grade Point. Grades for academic subjects only are calculated – history/social studies, English, mathematics, sciences, foreign languages, arts (visual and performing), computer sciences. A grade lower than a C in an academic subject will mean automatic rejection of the applicant. Grades for non-academic courses will NOT be calculated – band, choir, health, driver education, physical education, and any other class marked non-academic on a transcript.
    • There will be no special status designation for a 4.0 GPA other than for a national champion who also has a 4.0 GPA.

POOL REQUIREMENTS

  • Applicants must have swum an individual pool time equal to a 2016 Winter Junior qualifying time in any individual event during the SAA qualifying period (August 16, 2016 – August 15, 2017) with qualifying times in SWIMS – list of times are posted on the USA Swimming website. A qualifying time will be available for selection from the SWIMS database during the application process. Only ONE time is necessary and only ONE application is necessary.
  • Disability or Open Water Requirements (for athletes without pool requirements
    2017 Deaflympics– July 18-30, 2017, Samsun, Turkey
    2016 Can-Am Open – November 25-27, 2016, Miami, FL
    2017 Speedo Can-Am Para Championships – Mar 31-Apr 2, 2017, Windsor, ON
    2017 Open Water National Championships – May 19-21, 2017, Castaic Lake, CA

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