Summer Sizzler Has Epic 400 Meter Freestyle Duel in the Pool

Gillilan Leads Wilson County Swimmers

June 25, 2007……At the annual Summer Sizzler Meet in Nashville TN this past weekend, Lebanon High School rising Sophomore Bradley Gillilan swam to two 4^th Place finishes in the meet, leading a contingent of Excel teammates at the meet.

The Summer Sizzler Meet is a three day meet swam in the “Long Course” 50 Meter format, the same pool distance the major international competitions are held, such as the Olympics. 808 athletes from 29 separate teams covering 11 states converged on Nashville to compete in what has become one of the most competitive meets in the South each summer. The meet is in the Preliminary/Finals format whereby if a swimmer qualifies in the “Prelims” in the morning, they come back to swim in the Final’s at night.

Swimming for Excel Aquatics in the meet from Wilson County were Gillilan, Watertown residents Chelsie and Dallas Barlettano, and Mount Juliet siblings Luke, Samuel, and Madison Blackwell.

Gillilan placed 4^th in both the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s 400 Meter Freestyle as well as the 1500 Meter Freestyle. Right on Gillilan’s heels was Luke Blackwell, placing 6^th in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s 400 Meter Freestyle, and 5^th in the 1500 Meter Freestyle.

“Both boys had to swim the 400 Meters twice, once in the morning, and then again at night in Finals.” Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “The 400 is considered a middle distance event and to have to swim it twice in one day takes something out of you. In the Prelims the race was a photo finish between the two boys. They were swimming side by side the last 25 meters of the race, matching stroke for stroke in a dead sprint. Bradley out-touched Luke at the finish by 2 tenths of a second. Faster than you can snap your fingers twice. It was exactly like their battles in practice every day. They are pushing each other to a level of swimming not seen in Wilson County in the past six years.”

“Then the next day they both had to swim the 1500 (aka “The Metric Swim Mile”) as a Timed Finals, which means they only had to swim it once. It is a grueling race and both did a tremendous job.”

In the 1500 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan dropped over 71 seconds to finish in Seventeen Minutes, Forty Five Seconds, and Seventy One-Hundredths of a second (17:45.70). Blackwell was just behind him with a time of 18:01.93, a 4.43 second drop. These times are notable since both boys are now ranked 2^nd and 4^th on Excel Aquatics in the event. Excel is a team of over 300 swimmers from 3 training locations and is Nationally Recognized.

“Because of the aging up rules in swimming, Bradley will be competing in the older 15&16 Year Old Category at the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championship Meet in a month.” Barnes stated. “He was able to achieve 3 new 15&16 cuts in this meet – the 200 Meter Freestyle, the 800 Meter Freestyle, as well as the 1500 Meter Freestyle. That brings his total to 5 events.

Blackwell also returned to Finals on Sunday night in the 13&14 Boy’s 200 Meter Backstroke, where he turned in a time of 2:26.55, good enough for a 5^th Place finish.

“Luke will stay in the 13&14 Year Old Category for the upcoming Championship meet and has 10 of a possible 14 qualifying cuts. In this meet we just finished he also achieved time cuts for the 15&16 category in three more events, the 100 Meter Backstroke, the 200 Meter Backstroke, and the 200 Meter Freestyle. He is well on his way to being well qualified in two years when he is swimming in that category.”

Chelsie Barlettano only competed in one event, the 13&14 Girl’s 100 Meter Freestyle, where she finished with a time of 1:28.25. “Chelsie participated in a Triathlon in McMinnville on Saturday, and then turned around and competed in this meet. We are proud of her efforts, and as she continues to improve with her swimming, it will only benefit her efforts in the triathlons.”

Dallas Barlettano competed in four events in the 10&Under Boy’s Category, notching best times in 3 of his 4 events. “Dallas did great, he competed in the 200 Meter Freestyle for the first time, and at his age that was a great accomplishment. We look forward to him continuing to improve in the years to come.”

Madison Blackwell, who has SES Qualifying Cuts in the 11&12 Girl’s category swam to best times in 5 of her 9 events, with a nearly one second drop in the 100 Meter Butterfly. “I’ve been telling Madison that she is becoming a very good “Flyer”, and will become a great Individual Medley (IM) swimmer when she wants to be. Her times are starting to reflect that. She is solid in all 4 of her strokes and as a result she dropped 6.85 seconds in her 200 Meter IM this past weekend.

The youngest of the Wilson Country swimmers, and one of the youngest in the meet, is Samuel Blackwell. Samuel participated in three events, all in the 10&Under Category, and Samuel is only Seven Years Old. “Samuel dropped times in 2 of his events, and swam very well. He’s a joy to coach and to be around.” Coach Barnes concluded.

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