Blackwells Take Baylor by Storm

Blackwell Siblings Qualify For Championship Level Swim Meets

June 30, 2008…. The Blackwell siblings of Mount Juliet represented Excel Aquatics this past weekend at the Bullfrog Long Course Invitational Swim Meet at the Baylor School campus in Chattanooga

Rising 10^th Grader Luke Blackwell, who will be attending Friendship Christian School in the Fall, participated in the 13&14 Year Old Boy’s Category, and placed First in six of his 12 events. In the other 6 events he had Top 8 finishes, scoring 207 points in the meet.

Luke won the 200 Meter Free, 400 Meter Free, 1500 Meter Free, 200 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Individual Medley (IM), and the 400 Meter IM. He qualified for the Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet in the 200 Fly, which means he is now eligible to swim in all 14 events. Championship Meet rules limit him to 7 events, so decisions will have to be made as to which events to enter to maximize point scoring at the meet.

“Luke had a great meet, of his 12 events, he had best times in 11 of them”, Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes noted. “In the 1500 Meter Freestyle he won not only his age group, he also beet everyone in the Senior Boy’s category, with the second place finisher being over 27 seconds behind Luke.”

“His 1500 Meter time was also a Spring Senior Sectional Meet qualifying time, joining Lebanon’s Bradley Gillilan in qualifying for that prestigious meet. Both boys train with me and have put in over a million yards in their training program since late August 2007.”

Madison Blackwell, while only 12 years old, participated in the Senior Girl’s category so that she could get some experience in the longer distance events not normally open to 11&12 Year Old Girls.

“Madison swam for the first time in the 200 Meter Backstroke, 200 Meter Breaststroke, the 200 Meter Butterfly, and the 800 Meter Freestyle. Despite her grueling race schedule for a 12 year old, she achieved best times in all 10 of her events.”

In the process of swimming her events, Madison added 5 events to her Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet qualification total. Her new time standards were achieved in the 50 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Freestyle, 200 Meter Freestyle, 100 Meter Breaststroke, and 200 Meter Individual Medley. Madison now has 11 time standards for the meet, one short of a full slate of 12 for her age group category. Like her brother Luke, Madison will have to narrow down the list to 7 events she is limited in swimming in at the championship meet.

“Madison had a great meet, she went into the meet with a positive attitude, listened to the coaches directions, implemented those directions, and had some large time drops. Plus, she stepped up and competed and beat girls over three years older than her in the Senior Category.”

“I was especially proud of her 200 Meter Fly and 200 Meter Back swims. Those are events she will be competing regularly in when she ages up to the 13&14 Girls Category, and she is only seconds away from 13&14 Year Old Southeaster Swimming Long Course qualifying times for those events, and this was the first time she has swam them.”

“She will step up to the older training squad in a few months, and her yardage and intensity will increase, all while still working to refine her stroke techniques.”

The next two meets for Wilson County swimmers will be the USA Swimming Summer Senior Sectional Championship Meet in Atlanta GA, July 10-13, where Bradley Gillilan will be participating in the 800 Meter Freestyle and the 1500 Meter Freestyle; and then the Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet in Brentwood and Nashville, July 17-20, where Luke Blackwell, Madison Blackwell, Taylor Wallace and Bradley Gillilan will be participating in various events. All four swimmers will represent Excel Aquatics at the meet.

For more information on swimming in Wilson County visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com