GTAC's swimmers kick off the Championship Season with three major meets this week.

Northern Regionals at BGSU is where over 60 Hurricanes, aged 14 and under, will be racing for personal bests and JO cuts. GTAC is hosting this meet which runs, Prelims and Finals, Friday through Sunday. Psych Sheet and Results are Posted under GTAC Hosted Meets.

At Kenyon College, our senior swimmers will be competing at the Ohio Senior Champs, with many working toward sectional and Junior national cuts.

And at IUPUI, senior swimmer Jacy Dyer is competing at US Senior Nationals which is the selection meet for World Championships and World University Games. Jacy, who has Olympic trial cuts in the 400 and 800 free, won high point at Speedo Sectionals last year.

Good luck and fast swims to all of our swimmers!

The last weekend of June saw GTAC's team split between the Findlay Flag City Meet and the Cincinnati Marlins TYR Summer Invitational, and even with only a few of the age groupers at each locations, there were several firsts and dominating swims.

In Finday, (see www.fastswim.com for all results), every GTAC swimmer scored for the team, with Katie Kreger, Alex Richards and Regan Bohm all scoring first places. There were several new JO cuts made, and the Hurricanes, with only a handful of our younger swimmers competing, scored 7th place overall. And individually, Katie Kreger took 3rd place High Point for the 8 & under girls, while Allie Kemp earned 2nd place High Point for the 9-10 girls. Excellent job!

In Cincinnati, (see http://results.teamunify.com/oscm/index.htm for live results) the Hurricanes have been very successful in coming back for finals in all age groups. Achieving High Point awards in their respective age groups were Matt Kaminski and Kelsi Berry (10 & unders), and Lorin Pierson (Open Men). Congratulations for the strong swimming which produced many new JO, Zone and Sectional cuts across the board.

Awesome job, Hurricanes!

GTAC's girls scored very well in the 10 & under and 11-12 segments of the 2009 Ohio Open Water Championships in Batavia, Ohio last week, bringing GTAC an overall 8th place in the combined scores.

The 10 & under girls took 3rd place collectively, while the strong team of 11-12 girls took 2nd place. All results can be viewed at www.OhioOpenWater.com .

Congratulations, Open Water Hurricanes!

Six Senior Swimmers who made the competitive cut times for the annual Mission Viejo TYR Swim Meet of Champions completed their first day of competition and put GTAC on the scoreboard immediately. Roman Willets took 12th in the 100 free and 16th in the 400 free, while Rowan Williams took 24th in the 200 back. The 400 free relay team of Katich, Willets, Williams and DiSalle took 10th, competing along side Olympians such as Nathan Adrian and Jason Lezak, the New Zealand national team and many other national champions. GTAC's swimmers also met up with former GTAC/SFS standout Jeff Pease who has been the coach of North Coast Aquatics for over 30 years, and produced many national champions and Olympians. Coach Pease sent his greetings back to Toledo and all of GTAC's swimmers.

Day Two: Roman Wiillets scored 14th in the 200 free; DJ MacDonald (one of the youngest swimmers at the meet)  scored 14th in the 200 Breast; the 800 free relay team of DiSalle, Willets, Katich and Williams took 10th place.

Day Three: The 400 MR scored 12th place while DJ MacDonald scored 12th in the 100 breast with a time of 1:09.66, a personal best. Meanwhile, Olympians Chloe Sutton and Katie Ziegler had outstanding races in the 200 free while Rebecca Soni nearly broke her world record in the 200 breast and Lezak and Adrian battled it out in the 50 free as the 41st annual SMOC continued.  Live results can be found at www.socalswim.org/HTresults/2009SwimMeetofChampions/  

Coaches at the Holy Toledo! Meet won gas cards, gift certficates, Mud Hens t-shirts and assorted prizes while swimmers who finished in the top 3 were awarded special Holy Toledo! swim caps, at the inaugural Holy Toledo! Meet this weekend. Local favorites Gino's Pizza and Tony Packo hot dogs were served throughout the day, Mud Hens tickets were available for tonight's game and everyone had the chance to "chuck a duck" (yellow rubber ducks, of course) into a boat in the pool for money prizes. It was a fast and fun meet for over 325 swimmers from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Holy Toledo! Results are now posted on this website under GTAC Hosted Meets.

The 6th Annual GTAC Disability Open hosted 75 swimmers, including 17 Paralympic Team members and 17 National team members. There were 18 new classifications. 12 American Records, 5 Pan-American Records and 1 Wolrd Record achieved at our meet.  GTAC thanks all of the officials, volunteers, and the GTAC parents who make this meet possible each year.
 
See the story about the meet in Swimming World: http://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/lane9/news/21063.asp

To see bios of the US Paralympic national team swimmers, visit www.usparalympics.org and click on Athletes, Swimming.

The swimmers from Anthony Wayne won the 2nd Annual Northwestern Ohio Middle School Swim League Championship on May 20, as Ottawa Hills came in 2nd and a consolidated Toledo Catholic Diocese team took 3rd. Swimmers of all abilities who are in 6th, 7th or 8th grade were able to represent their schools in the pool this past month. There were six teams who competed overall, including Eastwood, Bowling Green and Bedford, Michigan, junior high programs. The number of participants tripled from the first year of the league's inception, and it is already anticipated that many more schools will become involved in 2010.

The purpose of the NOMSSL is to encourage junior high students to consider swimming when deciding upon their high school sports, introduce the sport to new swimmers, and teach a healthy life sport to all kids. Results of all meets can be found on this website.

Congratulations to all of the swimmers who participated!

With nearly 200 swimmers, and over 60 swimmers committing to the challenging Long Course Elite Training program, GTAC has attained its highest numbers in many years and the most comprehensive training program in its 36 year history.

In additional to its standard nine group divisions, based upon skill and strength levels, GTAC first offered a non-competitive program four years ago for those swimmers who merely wanted to stay in shape or keep their skills fresh while pursuing other activities, and its long-standing swim school trained over 800 children and adults last year. Now GTAC provides more fully personalized training in their competitive program by offering an elite component for those swimmers who commit to 100% practice and meet participation.

"We know that even among our competitive swimmers, each one has a different goal," states Head Coach Keith Kennedy. "Some only wish to attend a few meets and a few practices each week, because they are still deciding which sport they want to focus upon, or they have other activities which are important to them at this stage. We value them and their goals. They give their all when they are at practice, and we give them the same excellent training each time. " The Elite team, on the other hand, is an accelerated program for swimmers who "have made a 100% commitment to year round swimming, and are working to achieve special goals, whether it be collegiate swimming, first place at districts or zone cuts in particular strokes." By having the Elite program, GTAC provides one more piece of personalized training in its continuum from the non-swimmer to the top-ranked national swimmer.

Long Course begins on Monday, May 11. For more information, click the tabs at left or call 419-531-2800 to schedule a visit to practice.

The Northwest Ohio Middle School Swim League, focusing upon swimmers of all abilities in 6th, 7th and 8th grades, kicked off its 2nd season today with an ever growing roster of swimmers. The following junior high programs will be represented this year: Anthony Wayne, Bedford (MI), Bowling Green, Eastwood, Ottawa Hills and Toledo Catholic Schools (with swimmers from several parochial schools) programs. Swimmers can either practice at the St Francis pool with a coach provided by the program or with their own coach, or they can train at their own school's pool. Swimmers of all abilities, from year round USA/Y swimmers to first timers, are involved in this program to encourage junior high kids to get into the swim and consider swimming as a prospective high school sport later on. Meets will be held May 7, 14 and 20 at SFS.

It's not too late to get involved, either on an existing team, or by creating a team from your school. E-mail Cindy Millen Roberts: cynthiamillen@gmail.com and join the fun! Click on the Middle School tab to the left for more info and costs.

Since 2002, GTAC has been the recipient of USA Swimming's prestigious Club Excellence Award six times. One of only 200 clubs, out of over 2800, in the US and the only club in Northwest Ohio to be so recognized, GTAC was honored this year with the Bronze Medal Award for the calibre of its swim training and its business organization. The Bronze Medal is displayed to the left. Congratulations to GTAC's swimmers and coaches for this well-deserved honor!

GTAC's Long Course Season will kick off on May 11 with unique training opportunities for those swimmers who wish to commit to full-time, challenging training over the summer months. The Elite Program, for age group and senior swimmers, will require a commitment to additional practices and meets, attendance at additional meets, and greater dryland components. In this way, the needs of all swimmers are better met, and a more challenging level of training can be provided to those who seek it.

As in the past, the senior and national level teams will be co-trained by Head Coach Keith Kennedy and UT Coach and former Olympian Lars Jorgensen. The remainder of the team will divided into small groups for personalized training by eight assistant coaches, all of whom have extensive coaching experience and four years of varsity collegiate swimming competition. Head Age Group coach Chris Pierson will continue to coordinate all entries and work with Coach Kennedy to place swimmers one of ten groups which best fit that swimmer's current skill level.

Long Course registration information and May's practice schedule will be posted April 9. There will be discount for all registration paid in full by May 1. The Long Course meet schedule is now posted. To visit our current practices, stop by any Monday through Thursday at 3:30pm (for senior swimmers) or 5:15pm (for younger swimmers) between now and May 9 (Note that we will be closed for the Easter holiday, April 13-16). For questions, please e-mail the office manager Cindy Millen Roberts at cynthiamillen@gmail.com

On Sunday, GTAC swimmers capped a very successful Sectional Meet with several great swims and new Junior National cuts. Willets scored 9th in the 200 fly and 6th in the 100 free. Joe Katich scored 19th in the 100 free, while Rowan Williams took 29th in the 100 free and 10th in the 200 backstroke. All were personal best times. The Hurricanes ended the meet with a 6th place finish in the 400 Free Relay (Williams, Katich, DiSalle, Willets), and are coming home with a 5th place overall finish from Fort Lauderdale (and some nice suntans).

On Saturday, day three, Rowan Williams led the pack with his 10th place finish in the 100 back; Roman Willets scored 22nd in the same event and 12th place in the 50 free, while Joe Katich scored 24th in the 50 free. The 400 Medley Relay Team of Williams, MacDonald, Willets and Katich took 6th place, while Zimmerman, Trimble, Mike DiSalle and Miller took 24th place. it was a rainy day to swim outdoors, but the Hurricanes kept up the pace.

On Friday at the Speedo Sectional Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Roman Willets scored 5th place with long course Junior National cut in the 200 free and 14th place in the 100 fly. 14 year old DJ MacDonald scored 19th in the 100 breast, and the 800 Free Relay team of Mike DiSalle, Rowan Williams, Joe Katich and Roman Willets scored 10th place.

On Thursday, the 8 GTAC Men competing at the Speedo Sectional Championships in Fort Lauderdale scored 5th and 10th place in both the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Free Relay.

Congratulations on a great Speedo Sectional Meet!

GTAC achieved 9th place overall with over 800 points scored, with five state champions and 10 year old Matt Kaminski winning 3rd place high point for all 10 & under boys. There were dozens of faster Zone, and several new Sectional time cuts, as the Hurricanes swam overwhelmingly fast at Bowling Green. Here is how they scored:

10 & under Girls: 7th, 200 FR (Regan Bohm, Alex Richards, Allie Kemp, Kelsi Berry); 4th, 200 MR (Allie Kemp, Amy King, Kelsi Berry, Alex Richards); Kelsi Berry, 4th, 100 back; 10th, 200 free; 13th, 50 free; 7th, 200 IM; 10th, 100 IM; 10th, 100 free; 4th, 50 back; Allie Kemp, 13th, 100 back; 11th, 50 back. 10 & under Boys: 8th, 200 FR (Scott Thomas, Blake Noonan, Griff Littlehale, Matt Kaminski); 12th, 200 MR (Cyrus Thomley, Scott Thomas, Matt Kaminski, Griff Littlehale); Matt Kaminski, 1st, 100 back; 6th, 200 free; 6th, 200 IM; 2nd, 50 free; 5th, 100 IM; 2nd, 100 free; 2nd 50 back. 11-12 Girls: 1st, 200 FR (Haley Rosiak, Zhada Fields, Kennedy Bohm, Maria Murillo); 11th, 400 MR (Haley Rosiak, Zhada Fields, Nadia Ayad, Maria Murillo); 6th, 200 MR (Zhada Fields, Ashleah Funkhouser, Nadia Ayad, Maria Murillo); 4th, 400 FR (Haley Rosiak, Zhada Fields, Kennedy Bohm, Maria Murillo); Nadia Ayad, 14th, 50 fly; Kennedy Bohm, 11th, 500 free; 16th, 200 free; Zhada Fields, 5th, 50 back; 6th, 50 free; 12th, 100 IM; 11th, 100 back; 9th, 100 free; Maria Murillo, 2nd, 50 free; 4th, 500 free; 2nd, 200 free; 15th, 200 IM; 3rd, 100 free; Haley Rosiak, 14th, 50 back, 16th, 100 free; 11-12 Boys: 9th, 200 MR (Noah Peeps, Austin Carter, Evan Willams, Nick Brodie); 13th, 400 FR (Noah Peeps, Evan Williams, Austin Carter, Nick Brodie); Nick Brodie, 2nd, 50 breast; 9th, 100 breast; 16th, 50 free; Austin Carter, 11th, 100 breast; 13-14 girls: Tara Vermandere, 8th, 1650 free; 13-14 boys; 5th, 800 FR (Justin Carter, DJ MacDonald, Connor Aossey, Connor Trimble); 5th, 200 FR (Carter, MacDonald, Aossey, Trimble); 7th, 400 MR (Carter, MacDonald, Trimble, Aossey); 7th, 200 MR (Carter, MacDonald, Trimble, Aossey); 5th, 400 FR (Carter, MacDonald, Aossey, Trimble); DJ MacDonald, 2nd, 100 breast; 15th, 200 free; 4th, 200 breast; 9th, 500 free; 15th, 200 free; Connor Trimble; 8th, 100 breast, 9th, 200 free; 5th, 100 free; 4th, 50 free; 12th, 100 back.

Congratulations GTAC Hurricanes!

Congratulations to GTAC's 8 & unders for their outstanding swims at the Barbara Kay Mini-Meet, typically recognized as the 8 & under Ohio Mini-Championships. All of our swimmers dropped time and many scored in the top ten, including Bubby Barnes, age 6, who won first place in the 6 & under 25 Breast. Our Relays all scored very well, especially our 8 & under Girls 200 MR, which took first place (Bohm, Kight, Kreger, Sucheck) and 12th (Richards, Ayad, Fields, Shook); 8 & under Girls 200 FR, 3rd (Kreger, Sucheck, Bohm, Kight) and 15th (Ayad, Metzger, Vining, Sahloff); 7 & under Girls 100 MR, 9th (Funkhouser, Kemp, Kreger, Shook); 7 & under Girls 100 FR, 10th (Funkhouser, Kreger, Shook, Kemp). The boys also did an outstanding job, especially since our 7 & under Relays were made up of boys aged 5 & 6! The 7 & under Boys 100 FR took 6th place (Barnes, Nowels, Burnard, Sahloff), and their 100 MR scored 6th as well. Congratulations to all of our youngest swimmers! Even the smallest Hurricane makes a big splash at GTAC!

GTAC/SFS Swimmer Roman Willets won the Ohio State High School Championship today in the 200 free with a time of 1:38.69. Willets also scored second in the 100 free with a time of 44.95 (just getting tapped out by his future Michigan teammate, Eric Huffman of Upper Arlington). Sophomore Rowan Williams scored 6th place in the 100 back, with a time of 52.18. With Relays scoring well, the Knights came in 6tth place overall. Congratulations to Roman, Rowan, Dan DiSalle, Mike DiSalle, Dan Miller, Matt Marshall, DJ MacDonald and Joe Katich. 

UT/GTAC Swimmers led the way with two pool and conference record-breaking swims at MAC Championships on Thursday. Making it one-two-three for the Rockets in the 500, Jacy Dyer won with an NCAA B cut time of 4:45.50, followed Laura Heckroth (4:47.53-NCAA B) and Caitlyn Cormack (4:48.14-NCAA B). In the 200 IM, Meg Reissig set a new pool and conference record with an NCAA B time of 1:59.49. Jacy, Meg, Caitlin and Kylie Gamelier, who was 2nd in the 100 breast, were named to the All-MAC First Team. Laura was named to the All-MAC Second Team. The UT Rockets are coached by Lars Jorgensen, who also is a senior coach for GTAC. For full results, click http://bgsufalcons.cstv.com/sports/w-swim/spec-rel/09-mac-swim-tourney.html?DB_OEM_ID=9400  

By Saturday night, GTAC was ahead of the all other Northern Ohio teams by over 500 points, as the Hurricanes went to Fremont and came home as the clear NW Ohio Regional Champions for 2009. All 64 of our swimmers achieved personal best times, and many won their events. In addition, there were new State (AA) cuts made by Andrew Quattromani, Tara Vermandere, Allie Kemp, Haley Rosiak, Evan Williams, Nadia Ayad, Zhada Fields, Noah Peeps, Nick Brodie, Maria Murillo and Kennedy Bohm. All results and final scores can be found at www.sandotterswimming.com/N.W._Ohio_Regional_A_Meet.htm

Congratulations, GTAC Hurricanes!

The Toledo Blade's article (located here) of December 26 examines the awards and milestones achieved by GTAC in this past year. From the Golden Goggles award shared with the Josh Project, to our Make Splash national partner designation, to our Disability Meet, extensive lesson program and state-leading competitive swimming, GTAC is truly a full service, excellent organization. Congratulations to our coaches, staff and families for all of our great achievements!

Roman Willets, the top-ranked high school 200 freestyler in Ohio and one of the fastest nationally, signed with the University of Michigan Wolverines on November 12, during the NCAA early signing period. Recruited by several top swimming schools, Willets chose the Wolverines, where he will be swimming with several of the top collegiate swimmers in the nation. UM produces more Olympians than any other Big Ten program, including Tom Dolan, Tom Malchow, Dan Ketchum and Alex Vanderkaay. Roman follows in the footsteps of former GTAC/SFS stand-out Tony Kurth ('99) who set records at UM, and dozens of other GTAC swimmers over the past 36 years who have successfully competed at the collegiate level in all divisions. Since 2000, GTAC swimmers have earned over $1.5 million in athletic scholarships from such programs as Wisconsin, Texas, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Miami of Ohio and Harvard. Congratulations to Roman and Coach Kennedy.