5 Minute Barrier in 500 Broken

Gillilan Breaks 5-Minute Barrier in 500 Yard Swim

October 15, 2007……The last 25 yards of the race was an all out sprint to the finish. After slamming into the electronic timing touch-pad at the end of the pool lane, Excel Aquatics swimmer, and Lebanon High School Sophomore, Bradley Gillilan lifted his head from the water to take a look at the timing results board. The board read 4:56.54 (Four minutes, 56 seconds, and 54 hundredths of a second). With water still streaming down Bradley’s face, a broad smile erupted as he realized he had achieved his long-standing goal of breaking the five-minute barrier in the Senior Boy’s 500 Yard Freestyle at the Nashville Aquatic Club’s October Open Swim Meet in Nashville this past weekend.

With his performance, Gillilan became the first Wilson County resident to break that barrier in the 500 Free since former Mount Juliet resident Andrew Davidson (and former Univ. of Texas swimmer) did so in his age-group career with Excel Aquatics.

“Bradley set a goal of breaking the five-minute barrier in the 500 a while back, and his swims this summer in the meter pool showed that it was attainable from the time conversions. It was great to see him break that barrier so early in the short-course season.” Excel Aquatics Assistant Coach John Barnes explained.

“It really is a significant milestone in his young career, one that all of Lebanon should be proud of. Those who know swimming understand how hard this is to do. Many High School swimmers never break six-minutes in the 500, much less five-minutes. Of note, Bradley dropped 19.39 seconds off his previous best time.”

Gillilan commented “my next goal is to attain a USA Swimming Senior Sectional Qualifying Time Standard in the 500 Free, which is a 4.53.89.”

Gillilan hopes to drop the additional 2.65 seconds from his time by March 7^th 2008, when the Southern Senior Sectional Meet will be held in Nashville and hosted by Excel Aquatics. Sectional Meets typically feature Olympic team swimmers, US National team swimmers, collegiate swimmers as well as age-group swimmers hoping to follow in the path of the older swimmers at the meet.

In Gillilan’s other swims during the meet, he dropped 29.69 seconds in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle, barely missing a Senior Sectional cut by a scant 0.22 seconds, finishing with a time of 10:17.31, placing 8^th in the Senior Boy’s Category in the event. Time drops also occurred in the 100 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Breaststroke, and the 200 Yard Individual Medley.

Other Wilson County residents racing in the meet were Taylor Wallace, Dallas Barlettano, Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Samuel Blackwell, Lucy Cook, Grace McCullough, and Alek Nochowicz.

Luke Blackwell, swimming in the Boy’s 13&14 Year Old Category, placed in the Top 8 in the 200 Yard Freestyle (4^th); 100 Yard Backstroke (5^th); 400 Yard Individual Medley (3^rd); 500 Yard Freestyle (3^rd); 200 Yard Individual Medley (7^th); and 200 Yard Backstroke (3^rd).

“Luke had another outstanding meet. He expects to swim fast every time he swims, and his internal drive is tremendous.” Barnes noted.

Sam “The Shark” Blackwell swam in the Boy’s 8&Under category and placed 4^th in the 25 Yard Breaststroke; 8^th in the 50 Yard Freestyle; 7^th in the 100 Yard Freestyle; and 8^th in the 25 Yard Backstroke.

Madison Blackwell placed 6^th in the Girl’s 11&12 Year Old 50 Yard Backstroke; and attained a new Southeastern Swimming Championship Meet Qualifying Time Standard in the 100 Yard Butterfly. “The coaches were proud of Madison and that 100 “Fly” swim. She turned a 1:10.66, a 6.55 second drop. She took it out fast and held on, and turned in a great swim. I think we will see a 1:05 in that event from her before too long.” Barnes concluded.

The next meet for these dedicated Wilson County swimmers will be the Riviera Swim Club Invitational to be held at the world-famous Indianapolis Natatorium, one of the fastest pools in the world, and site of multiple Olympic Trial competitions over the past twenty years.

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