Kai's Story: Swimmer of the Quarter

The 2016/2017 swim season has been an extraordinary one for the Athens Bulldog Swim Club. It all started last summer, when ABSC was represented at the Olympic games by Hali Flickinger, Gunnar Bentz, and Olivia Smoliga, of UGA. By fall, ABSC began experiencing record numbers in terms of roster size, with the largest Red&Black meet in team history.

By December at Senior State, ABSC was able to place 7th overall in Georgia (3rd for medium-sized teams), with 17 year-old senior Danielle Dellatorre once again accomplishing the title of state champ, this time in four events.

At Age Group state in February, ABSC again placed 7th overall, but came second overall out of medium sized teams (and even defeated a couple of the large division teams). Finally, ABSC rounded out the season by winning the Northeast Divisional meet for the first time in 8 years!

Despite all of the success, one other award should not be forgotten. 8 year-old Kai Hernandez-Gambill of ABSC was named the “Age Group Swimmer of the Quarter” by Georgia Swimming at the age group state meet in February. Kai, who had been diagnosed with Perthes Disease, made a miraculous comeback throughout the season, progressing from wheelchair, to crutches, to walking just before Northeast Divisionals.

You can read Kai’s story here: Kai’s Story

Also, Kai’s family has given permission to share a video they created about his disease and recovery. If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, give it a watch! Thanks for reading and here’s to another great season of ABSC swimming as we head to long course 2017!