Zobl breaks Meet Record

Brittany Zobl Breaks Meet Record in Nashville

June 25, 2006……Hendersonville’s Brittany Zobl, representing Excel Aquatics, stunned the field on Saturday night in winning the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s 50 Meter Backstroke at the NAC Summer Sizzler Long Course Invitational and setting a Meet Record in the process.

The Summer Sizzler included 783 swimmers from 44 teams from 8 states, and is one of the most competitive meets in the nation for the younger swimmers during the summer Long Course Season.

In the 50 Meter Backstroke, Zobl was seeded 8^th going into the meet, and during the preliminaries she cut 1.31 seconds and moved up to a second place seeding going into the evening finals. During Finals, Brittany had a tremendous effort off the start, took off on the underwater kick portion of the race, and emerged a half-body length in front of her nearest competitor as each one surfaced. Brittany never lost the lead, cut another 0.92 seconds off her prelims time, shattering the Meet Record with a time of 0:33.73, which was 49 hundredths of a second below the previous record.

The 100 Meter Backstroke on Sunday meant a return to the Finals for Zobl. During the preliminaries, she was seeded 8th to qualify for the evening Finals. During Finals Zobl dropped 1.36 seconds to finish in a Personal Best time of 1:15.86, good for 5^th Place overall. Although only 12 years old, that time was also a Senior Age Group qualifying time for SES.

Brittany is coached under the tutelage of Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan, a former Romanian National Champion and lead coach of swimmers from 10 to 13 years old with Excel Aquatics in Sumner County, who train at the Gallatin Civic Center. “Coach Andreea has done a tremendous job with her swimmers this year”, Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes commented. “Her work with Brittany is business as usual and what we have come to expect from Coach Andreea. This past year all of Coach Andreea’s swimmers had tremendous improvements.”

In other events during the meet, Zobl added to her SES Long Course Championship Qualifying times with cuts in the 50 Meter Breaststroke and 50 Meter Butterfly. Zobl previously had attained cuts in the 50 Free, 50 Back and 100 Back. The SES Long Course Championship Meet will be held July 27-30^th in Knoxville TN.

Also competing for Excel Aquatics from Sumner County this weekend was Jimmy Joe Boone. “Jimmy Joe has had a lot on his plate this summer. He’s swimming for Excel, training with Indian Lakes Swim Club’s summer team, playing tennis, wakeboarding, and going to basketball camp among other things.” Barnes noted. “Boone has a lot of spirit and helps bring positive fun to our practices. He’s improved a lot this year, and we expect him to continue to improve as he continues to work hard.”

For more information on Excel Aquatics, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org.

Youth Movement at Excel

10 Year Old Girls Excel at Stars and Stripes Swim Meet

May 28, 2006……In a fitting tribute to Memorial Day Weekend, 445 Swimmers from 18 teams spreading over 3 States converged on the annual Excel Aquatics’ Stars and Stripes Meet in Brentwood TN.

Leading the way in time drops for swimmers from Hendersonville and Sumner County were three 10 year old girls, Alyson Gomer, Madison Kolbe, and Paige Scheriger; all competing for Excel Aquatics, a nationally ranked year round swim team. Scheriger added to her total of Southeastern Swimming Long Course Championship Meet Qualifying Times with two new cuts, bringing her total number of events she has qualified in to 10. Kolbe achieved her first Long Course cut with a great performance in the 50 Meter Breaststroke. Gomer burst onto the Long Course scene in her first meet, narrowly missing a cut in the 100 Meter Freestyle.

“All three of these young girls spent the past year training with Hendersonville resident, Coach AJ Miley.” Assistant Coach John Barnes commented. “They did great this past school year and will continue to improve as they transition over to train under former Romanian National Champion, Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan in the Fall. We wish them luck as they time this summer to compete for either Indian Lake or Cages Bend starting next month.”

Brittany Zobl, a rising Sumner Academy 7^th Grader from Hendersonville, continued adding to her SES Qualifying times with a cut in the 50 Free, to go along with her cuts in the 50 Backstroke and 100 Backstroke. John Mainland, a rising Ellis Middle School 8^th Grader, placed in the Top 16 of the 11&12 Boys category in the 50 Backstroke, 100 Backstroke, and the 50 Breaststroke. Jimmy Joe Boone, a rising Sumner Academy 6^th Grader from Hendersonville, had significant time drops in 5 of his 7 events, continuing to show considerable improvement over the past year.

Lauren Gilroy, a rising Ellis Middle School 8^th Grader, achieved new SES Qualifying times in the 13&14 Girls 100 Backstroke and 200 Backstroke.

Others Sumner County swimmers competing for Excel Aquatics in the Stars and Stripes meet include JPII High School students Haley George, Katherine George, and Katie Mize. Former HHS swimming standout Kyle Lee also competed, continuing on his training schedule to prepare for his upcoming swimming career at the University of Alabama. For more information on Excel Aquatics, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org.