COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – For the second year in a row Nation’s Capital Swim Club of the Washington, D.C., area earned the top position in the USA Swimming Club Excellence program, recognizing the organization’s highest-performing clubs in the development of athletes 18 years and younger.
NCAP, whose top athletes include Olympian Katie Ledecky, National Team members Cassidy Bayer and Andrew Seliskar and seven Junior National team members, tallied 68,604 points, finishing 30,000 points ahead of second-place finisher SwimMAC Carolina. Lakeside Swim Team of Louisville, Kentucky, placed third and jumped up from number nine a year ago.
“This honor reflects the collective hard work of athletes and their coaches, along with the tremendous support of our team families and the club officers of Nation’s Capital Swim Club,” said Pete Morgan, head coach of Nation’s Capital Swim Club. “With less than eight months remaining before USA Swimming selects the 2016 Olympic Team, Nation’s Capital Swim Club is proud to be recognized for Olympic event performances.”
In its 14th year, the Club Excellence program identifies clubs that execute strong, well-rounded programs to produce elite 18-and-under athletes. The top 20 clubs earn Gold level ranking and those rated 21-100 are designated as Silver honorees. The next 100 clubs are recognized at the Bronze level.
“Earning a Gold, Silver or Bronze ranking has become a highly coveted honor for our club teams. The competition to earn a Club Excellence ranking continues to be more and more challenging.” said Pat Hogan, USA Swimming’s Club Development Managing Director. “On behalf of USA Swimming, I want to congratulate each of 200 clubs that have earned a ranking in the 2016 program.”
The following clubs achieved the Gold Medal ranking for 2016, with Local Swimming Committee (LSC) designation. Fourteen different LSCs are represented in the Gold Medal level.
Club LSC Points
- Nation’s Capital Swim Club (Potomac Valley) 68,604
- SwimMAC Carolina (North Carolina) 36,509
- Lakeside Swim Team (Kentucky) 34,573
- Dynamo Swim Club (Georgia) 31,514
- Nitro Swimming (South Texas) 30,009
- Mission Viejo Nadadores (Southern California) 29,416
- North Baltimore Aquatic Club (Maryland) 29,022
- Aquazot Swim Club (Southern California) 28,430
- NOVA of Virginia Aquatics (Virginia) 25,921
- SwimAtlanta (Georgia) 24,509
- Sarasota YMCA Sharks (Florida) 24,076
- Bolles School Sharks (Florida) 23,319
- Sandpipers of Nevada (Southern California) 22,816
- Carmel Swim Club (Indiana) 20,964
- Scottsdale Aquatic Club (Arizona) 20,900
- Academy Bullets Swim Club (Illinois) 18,353
- Nashville Aquatic Club (Southeastern) 17,567
- Gator Swim Club (Florida) 17,041
- Santa Clara Swim Club (Pacific) 16,722
- Walnut Creek Aquabears (Pacific) 16,560
Academy Bullets Swim Club, Sandpipers of Nevada and Walnut Creek Aquabears all achieved a Gold Medal ranking for the first time. Since the inception of this program, 72 different clubs have earned Gold Medal ranking at least once and North Baltimore Aquatic Club is the only club to retain its Gold Medal ranking each year since the program began in 2002.
Out of the 200 clubs recognized as Gold, Silver and Bronze programs, Southern California Swimming led all LSCs with 13 clubs recognized, followed by Middle Atlantic at 12 and Southeastern had 11 clubs represented.
In addition to recognizing high-performing teams, the program provides grant funding that enable clubs to expand and enhance the services already provided to athletes. A total of $450,000 in grants will be distributed to the 100 Gold- and Silver-level clubs.
In conjunction with the USA Swimming Club Excellence program, USA Swimming introduced the Podium Club. Beginning in 2016, a club achieving a Gold Medal ranking for four consecutive years will be named to the Podium Club. In addition to earning Gold grant dollars, Podium Club members will receive a financial bonus from a pool of dollars to be divided equally among the number of teams in the Podium Club each year.
Congratulations to the following eight teams that were inducted into the Podium Club for 2016:
- Aquazot Swim Club
- Bolles School Sharks
- Dynamo Swim Club
- Lakeside Swim Team
- Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- North Baltimore Aquatic Club
- Sarasota YMCA Sharks
- SwimMAC Carolina
Click here to view the complete 2016 Club Excellence Program results.
Swimming news courtesy of USA Swimming.