July 19, 2009…. Lebanon High School’s Bradley Gillilan saved his best swim for last at the Summer Senior Sectional Championship Meet this past weekend at the University of Tennessee.
On Sunday, in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan moved up from being seeded 11th to finish 4th overall, in a time of 16:15.94, a drop of over 17 seconds.
The personal best time in the “Mile” as the 1500 is referred by, was a Short Course Senior National Qualifying Time Standard for Gillilan, the first Wilson County resident to qualify for Senior Nationals since former Mt Juliet resident Andrew Davidson did so. Davidson attended and swam for the University of Texas.
The 2009 Short Course Senior National Championships will be held in early December in Federal Way, Washington.
“The majority of swimmers who Bradley finished amongst in the 1500 Free at this meet were college swimmers. He was seeded next to a UNC swimmer, and left him after about 400 meters,” Coach John Barnes explained. “Bradley proceeded to chase the eventual event winner, a boy from the University of Louisville; and a boy from the University of Cincinnati.”
Gillilan finished third in his heat and fourth overall in the event.
“The time Bradley posted in the 1500 was also an Excel Aquatics team record at any age level. The record he beat was set by Shaun Phillips in 2001, Phillips eventually went on to swim at Stanford University, 2003-2007.”
On Saturday, Gillilan participated in the 400 Meter Freestyle. He entered the meet with an entry time of 4:18.56 and seeded 42nd. During the Prelims swims, he turned a time of 4:12.54, good enough for 23rd place going into the Finals. In the Finals that evening, he won the “C” Finals with a time of 4:07.79, and finished 17th overall in the event.
“Bradley is set up great going into the Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championships this coming weekend. The SES Meet is not as prestigious as the Sectional meet; however Bradley will step up and work to score points for his team.”
For more information on competitive swimming, visit www.ExcelAquatics.com/age_group.
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