The National Club Swimming Association has invited 52 the country’s elite club swimmers to their annual training trip. The athletes who were invited were chosen based on applications that were subnitted at the NCSA juniors in Orlando this past spring. Applicants were finalists in each event at the meet.
There was a total of 28 girls selected this year, led by 14 year old teenage fly phenom, Cassidy Bayer. This Nation’s Capital swimmer stunned the swimming world this past December when she broke Mary T. Meagher’s 34 year old NAG in the 200 fly with a time of 1:56.01. Bayer destroyed her previous personal best by three seconds and erased Meagher’s ancient record by a half a second. She was also able to add another NAG to her resume when her quick 53.30 100 fly was just enough to sneak under Beata Nelson’s 53.56.
On the men’s side a total of 24 swimmers were invited. Headlining the all-star group is Clovis Swim Club’s Connor Hoppe. This California breaststroke king is no newcomer to the swimming spotlight. The Cal Bear commit made waves when it was debated if he would be able to swim in California’s highest ranked high school meet after violating a rule. However, after discussion the ruling landed in Hoppe’s favor, allowing him to compete in the meet; and he certainly proved he belonged there. Hoppe dropped a blistering 53.03, swimming his way into the NAG record books.
The camp will be held from June 23-28 where there will be a staff of five for the 52 athletes. The campers will travel from all over to meet in Colorado Srpings where they will train at altitude at the Olympic Training Center.