Gillilan 30th at Junior Nationals!

Gillilan 30^th in Mile at Junior National Swimming Championships in Orlando

March 22, 2009….He followed his older brother Travis in the water to train, and has seemingly never left. Lebanon High School junior, Bradley Gillilan appears to be more at home in the water than he is on land, and as a Junior at Lebanon High School, he has probably swam more yardage than his classmates have combined.

A payoff to Gillilan’s hard work and intense drive occurred this past week at the NCSA Junior National Swimming Championships. Over 1,500 swimmers from across the nation attended the highly competitive meet. Gillilan is the first swimmer from Lebanon to attend the annual meet.

In his final event in the meet, the 1,500 Meter Freestyle, Gillilan was seeded 56^th out of 64 swimmers entered in the event. Gillilan turned three best times in the single event, on his way to moving up 26 spots and finishing in 30^th Place.

Best times were achieved in the 400 Meter Freestyle, where he turned a legal split time of 4:18.56. At the 800 Meter split, he set a best time of 8:43.32. Hitting the wall at the finish with a time of 16:33.55, Gillilan knocked 27.83 seconds off his previous best time.

The time in the 1,500 Meter Free was a qualifying time standard for the 1,650 Yard Freestyle at the USA-Swimming Short Course Junior National Meet to be held in December at Ohio State University.

“Bradley qualified for the USA-S Junior National Meet in the 1,000 Yard Freestyle earlier in the week, and this is his second cut”, Coach John Barnes stated. “He is close to a cut in the 500 Yard Freestyle, and we expect him to get that mark by the time the meet comes around in December.”

Gillilan time trialed the 500 Yard Free two days before the 1,500 Meter Free, and turned a 4:41.49, a drop of 4.23 seconds from his time at the Southeastern Swimming Short Course Championships three weeks earlier.

“Bradley chose to taper for Jr Nationals, and even though he had a good Southeasterns meet, he was not fully rested then. He was tapered for this meet, and had some great swims. He gets back in the water this week, and will focus on the coming summer competitions. What is done is done; now we move towards the future.”

In the Fall of 2009, as a senior at Lebanon High School, Gillilan is scheduled to compete at the Grand Prix Meet in November at the University of Minneapolis, followed four weeks later by participating in the Junior National Meet at Ohio State University.

For more information on swimming for Wilson County residents, visit www.SwimWilsonCounty.com.

Gillilan Swims at Junior Nationals!

Gillilan Moves Up at Junior National Swim Meet

3/18/09 Orlando FL.....More than 1,500 swimmers from across the nation are participating in the National Coaches Swimming Association (NCSA) Junior National Swimming Championships. Lebanon High School junior Bradley Gillilan qualified for the meet, and is representing Excel Aquatics.

Gillilan's first event was on Tuesday the 17th, and it was the 1,000 Yard Freestyle. Gillilan entered the meet seeded 81st for the event.

Gillilan took out the swim strong in the first half, turning a 1:50.20 in the first 200 yard split, and hitting 4:42.32 at the 500 yard split.

"That 4:42 was a legal best split time for Bradley, and it beat his previous best time in the 500 by over three seconds", Excel Aquatics coach and Lebanon resident John Barnes noted. "When a swimmer does a best time in a split like that, we know something good is going to happen in the rest of the race."

Gillilan's second 500 of the race came in at 4:53.24, for a final time in the 1,000 of 9:35.56. It was a best time for Gillilan, a 12.00 second drop in the event; and good enough for a 58th place finish.

"Bradley moved up 23 spots between his seed placement and his final placing", Barnes commented. "It was a great swim, and it sets the stage for the rest of the week."

The time by Gillilan also was a USA-Swimming (USAS) Short Course Junior National qualifying time for the 1,000 Yard Freestyle. USAS Junior Nationals are the next step in the progression of swimmers after the NCSA Junior Nationals. The USAS Short Course Junior National Meet will be held December 10-12, 2009 in Columbus, Ohio.

"There is a tremendous upside in Bradley for any college team that pursues him. He is the top distance swimmer with Excel Aquatics, and the top 1,000 Yard Freestyle swimmer in Middle Tennessee. He has accomplished this without having touched weights, nor has he done two-a-days with his practices. We teach more strategy in our training compared to others, and Gillilan has understood and implemented the focus on each set in practice."

Gillilan will swim in the 1,500 Meter Freestyle on Saturday, the 21st.

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