Spring Fling Fun for Wilson County Swimmers

Wilson County Swimmers in Spring Fling Swim Meet

April 26, 2008…. The first meet of the Long Course Swim Season took place April 11-13, in Brentwood when Excel Aquatics hosted the Spring Fling Swim Meet. Long Course Meets are held in 50 Meter Pools, the same distance the the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will be swum.

Seven Wilson County swimmers representing the Excel Aquatics training location in Gallatin participated in the meet. From Lebanon were Andrew Barnes, Austin Barnes, Spencer Ford and Bradley Gillilan. From Mount Juliet were the Blackwell siblings: Luke, Madison, and Samuel.

Luke Blackwell, a Home School 9^th Grader, placed in the Top 8 in the 13&14 Boys Category in all 9 of his events, set 7 Personal Best Times, and won the 13&14 Boy’s 400 Meter Free. Luke had four 2^nd Place finishes in the 1500 Meter Freestyle, 200 Individual Medley, 200 Breaststroke, and 200 Meter Freestyle.

Samuel Blackwell, a Home School 3^rd Grader, placed in the Top 8 in all five of his events in the 8&Under Boys Category, setting all Personal Best Times in the process.

Madison Blackwell, swimming in the 11&12 Girls Category, had three Top 8 finishes, and dropped time in six of her eight events. Madison is a 7^th Grade Home Schooler.

Ford, a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, participated in six events in the Senior Boys Category. This was his first long course meet, and his highest placing was 9^th in the 1500 Meter Freestyle (the metric swimming mile).

Austin Barnes, a JPII HS Sophomore, swam in four events in the 13&14 Boys Category, with his highest placing coming in the 400 Meter Freestyle. Austin finished 14^th in the event after dropping over 44 seconds in the process of his previous best time.

Andrew Barnes, a 6^th Grader at Carroll-Oakland Elementary, swam in two events in the 11&12 Boys Category. He placed 23^rd in the 50 Meter Backstroke, and 29^th in the 100 Meter Freestyle.

Gillilan, who is a Sophomore at Lebanon High School, who with Luke Blackwell already had one Long Course Meet under his belt this year, the USA Swimming Senior Sectional Championship Meet held in Nashville this past March. Gillilan participates in the Senior Boys Category, and placed in the Top 8 five times in the meet. His highest placing was 4^th in the 400 Meter Freestyle. His largest time drop was in the 400 Meter Individual Medley, a total of 20.62 seconds off his prior best time.

“All of these swimmers did very well in this format of a meet. We train in a 25 yard pool, and having to compete in a 50 Meter pool is a large adjustment for them, and they did great”, Excel Coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted.

“We don’t let our swimmers get psyched out by not being able to train in a 50 Meter pool, instead we teach them to take pride in the fact that they are highly competitive in this format versus those who have easy access to a 50 Meter pool.”

“For instance, the swimmers at our training location know that in the Long Course Distance events (400 Meter Free, 800 Meter Free, and 1500 Meter Free), our location has 2 of the Top 5 swimmers on Excel; which is an accomplishment considering we only have about 10% of the Excel swimmers at our site. Another example is that Gillilan and Luke Blackwell are the top two distance swimmers in the County (in either the Long Course or Short Course) format.”

“The fact that the most competitive swimmers in Wilson County train with Excel is not an accident, it is by design. These swimmers put in more quality time working on technique, and put in far more quality yards, than other local clubs. Luke Blackwell is closing in on 1,000,000 yards this academic year, while Gillilan has already passed that standard.”

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