Purdue Men, Virginia Women Win CCS Nationals

Purdue Swim Club approached the recent College Club Swimming National Championship meet on April 5-7 in Indianapolis with the same goal as years past. 

Win–just as they did last year.

They made good on that goal by accumulating a first-place combined score of 1,336.5 points, with 1,060.5 of that coming from the first-place men’s team. 

“We did win nationals again this year [overall and men's], just as we hoped, solidifying us as a club team that other collegiate swim clubs should look out for and cementing us in CCS history,” says Head Coach Yatin Kukreja. “Our team has some extremely dedicated and passionate swimmers who harbor a potent love for the sport working hard as swimmers, coaches, board members, and even swimming officials.”
 
Kukreja highlighted several top performers who won events, broke club records, and scored huge individual points, as well as being integral parts of our relays from the meet, including: 

• Bebe Wang, who won the men's 50 (20.24) and 100 (44.74) freestyle and the 50 backstroke (22.87), and finished second in the 100 back (49.73)
• Kellen Reese, who won the men's 100 IM (50.38) and finished second in the 50 (21.57) and 100 (47.24) butterfly
• Fenry Zhou, winner of the men's 50 breast (25.38) and runner-up in the 100 breast (56.48) 

“These and several other swimmers took on huge workloads, swimming lots of races or taking on distance events that others shy away from,” Kukreja says. “They also scored big, broke club records, and were crucial to our win.

“Our club makes a great effort in fostering an inclusive environment where everyone feels like they have a place and an important role in Purdue Swim Club. We highly value the morale of our team and there is not a moment on deck where our swimmers are not cheering each other on or demonstrating good sportsmanship.”

Club Swim at UVA Women Dominate CCS Nationals 

Boasting a strong team of 35 women, the Club Swim at the University of Virginia (UVA) dominated the rest of the field to win the women’s CCS National Championship. 

It’s the women’s third straight CCS team championship, and the men’s and women’s teams combined to score 1,102.5 points to finish second. 

“We try not to put too much pressure on ourselves or our team to perform a certain way or achieve a certain result [at meets]; we just hope to have fun competing with our teammates, which I believe we did accomplish at this meet and throughout the season,” says Caden Shortridge, president of Club Swim at UVA 

“We do recognize that we have a very competitive women’s team, but there is never any pressure or expectation for them to perform as well as they do meet after meet. Ultimately, being able to compete with such a talented team and come home with a championship win makes it all the more fun.”

With three former NCAA swimmers on the roster, the UVA women scored 836.5 points, more than 270 more than second place. Top swimmers included: 

• Anna Sheng, former club president, came away with four A-final individual finishes and was an integral part of three relays which finished first
• Emmett Hannam, the club’s overall top scorer, had a come-from-behind victory in the 200 freestyle and maintained his streak of winning the event at each of the last three CCS Nationals

“The Club Swim at UVA women’s victory came two weeks after the UVA NCAA Women’s team won their fourth NCAA Championship in a row,” Shortridge says. “Women’s swimming at UVA as a whole seems to be a dominant force on all levels.”

Georgia's Thomas Askew Makes Good on Individual Goals 

Going into CCS nationals, Thomas Askew, a junior at the University of Georgia and a member of the Georgia Club Swimming team, had several major goals. 

For the 100 backstroke, he wanted to be under 50 seconds, and for the butterfly events, he wanted to leave with all three titles and break the CCS record in each one.

Accomplishing this would mean swimming best times in all of his events, and although he admits his swims over the three-day meet were “all over the place,” he was able to go out fast and leave Indianapolis having reached several of these goals. 

“I had been 50-low half a dozen times [in the 100 back], so 50 was a tough barrier to break more so mentally than physically,” he says. “For the butterfly events, I was confident in the 50 and 200 fly, but the 100 seemed the most intimidating.”

Askew opened the three-day meet by winning the 200 fly in 1:48.26, successfully defending his title from last year’s meet and dropping almost two seconds and setting a new lifetime best.

“The 200 fly I felt like I was going out very fast but it was no quicker than usual,” he says. “On the third 50, I thought to myself some advice a friend gave me so I turned on the jets. That’s what really made my race.”

Askew says Saturday was a difficult lineup because he had to swim the 200 medley relay immediately before the 50 fly and then at the end of the meet, it was the 100 backstroke immediately before the 400 free relay. 

“I knew that the training we did prepared me well for it,” he says. “The 50 fly felt amazing. I told my friends that it felt like a perfect race. I hit my turns and finish well, I only took a breath on the wall and I stuck the second underwater.”

He says he had similar feelings for the 100 backstroke. 

“That was definitely the most surprising race because I know last year it took a 48 to win, so going into the meet, I never thought I would win,” he says. “I know I hugged the lane line too much, an issue I have had for a while. 

“The 100 fly was definitely my favorite race. I hit my first turn poorly–my stroke count the first 25 has been weird recently,” he says. “I never thought that the way I would break 47 would be coming home in 24 seconds; I am usually a front half swimmer. I never had my legs hurt that bad at the end of a race.”

Askew got his start in swimming at age 5 with Swim Atlanta, and now that he’s approaching his senior year, he thinks his recent times have earned him a spot on the University of Georgia men’s team next season. 

When he originally went to UGA, he looked into walking onto the UGA men’s swim team, but at the time, his times were not of the caliber needed for a top 10 Division 1 team. 

That’s no longer the case. Last week, after nationals, he was offered a spot on the team by the coaches. 

“My college [club] swimming career is an integral part of who I am and where I am today,” he says. “When I didn’t improve freshman year at the rate I wanted, nor at a rate that would allow me to walk on, I ramped up my training. I was still on the club team, but I started lifting five days a week instead of three. That fall semester was excruciatingly painful; I was always tired. So, I cut it back down to three the following semester. I finally dropped some serious time in sophomore year, going from a 49.15 to a 48.42 in the 100 fly. 

“In this past year, I have dropped from that 48.42 to a 46.82, and I know I have more in me. But beyond that, I truly feel a love for the sport again. You cannot overestimate the benefits of loving what you do.”

Swim Club at Berkeley Men and Women Finish Fourth for a Combined Third-Place 

Of the 31 athletes who competed for Swim Club at Berkeley at the recent CCS nationals, many were there competing for the first time. 

With a third-place combined finish (fourth-place finishes by both the men’s and women’s teams), this is quite a feat–and something the team intends to build upon moving forward. 

“Many teams either have a very good men's team or a very good women's team, but not both, and we wanted to show that both our men and women could get the job done,” says Ben Mefford, club co-president. 

“Most important, we wanted to show everyone that we could bring a strong, fast, and supportive team to the club national stage solely through the work of our students regardless of whether or not we were backed by the school."

This year’s teams broke 19 team records, and 12 swimmers scored points with 13 making finals.

Among the standouts were: 

• Kevin Greco, who placed third in the 200 backstroke, fourth in the 100 IM, and fifth in the 100 backstroke
• Joaquin Jamieson, who placed second in the 200 breaststroke, third in the 100 breaststroke, and sixth in the 50 breaststroke
• Ben Mefford, who finished fifth in the 200 breaststroke and eighth in the 100 breaststroke
• Amanda Ng, who placed second in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke, fourth in the 200 backstroke, and sixth in the 50 backstroke
• Emma Zhang, who finished third in the 50 and 100 butterfly and seventh in the 200 breaststroke and 100 IM 

“We also had four men in scoring position in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, but only three were allowed to score,” Mefford says. “Ethan Chieng was the fourth spot on our team for these events and got 11th in the 200 breast with a seven-second drop and 15th in the 100 breast with a two-second drop.

“Our club has undergone so much growth in the past couple years and I'm so proud of our team and their accomplishments this year. Our performance at nationals is just a fraction of this year's accomplishments.”

Michigan Club Swimming Women Finish Second at CCS Nationals

Every year, Michigan Club Swimming Head Coach (and alum) Robbie Amori sets the goal of season-best times in every race at the annual College Club Swimming National Championship. 

While accomplishing that, MCS swimmers moved from 15th in 2023 to eighth this year, led by great swims from the second-place women's team. 

It was the club’s first team podium appearance, and the women’s team also led MCS to its highest combined finish. The team left Indianapolis with 20 new team records, 17 of which came from the women’s team.
  
“We strive every year to improve our competitiveness as a team through our overall team score,” says John Flater, the club's co-president. “Seeing the improvement in place from year to year is a great metric for how our club has grown over the past couple of years and also acts as a goal for us to continue to work toward in future years.”

Despite lower club numbers than in the past, MCS took 29 of the 40 active national qualifiers to Indianapolis to compete against the best collegiate clubs in the country.  

Standout swims came from Katherine Blake, who won the 400 IM–the first CCS national champion in the club’s history–on the first day of competition. 

On the subsequent Sunday, former Division I swimmer and current graduate student Katii Tang became the first MCS member to finish first in all four of her individual events (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 100 butterfly).

On top of those individual performances, all MCS women’s relays made A final appearances.