ABSC Mid-Summer Update

Summer is always a wild time here at ABSC, and with so much happening in our short summer months, we wanted to take a minute and catch you up to speed on everything going on! One thing is certain – the team looks as good as ever!

1. Olympians Coming to Town this Weekend

The 2018 Bulldog Grand Slam is taking place in Athens this weekend, July 5th – 7th 2018, and some of the top talent from around the Southeast will be in attendance! The last time ABSC hosted this meet, it was headlined by Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte! And while we won’t see the retired Phelps walking through the door this weekend, we will see several other Olympic greats, including Gold Medalist Missy Franklin!

Make sure to check out our Hosted Meets page for results, meet info, and more, and come on out to watch a session. Go Dawgs!

2. Open Dawghouse Event July 18th!

Do you know someone who would be a great fit to join our team? On Wednesday, July 18th, ABSC will be hosting it’s 2018 Open Dawghouse event at 10:45 AM at the Ramsey Center! Swimmers can come for FREE and enjoy a stroke clinic with ABSC coaches, learn more about our program, and jump off the diving boards! So if you can picture that person who’d be a great Bulldog, share this event with them! Click here to sign up!

3. ABSC Looking Great on the Open Water Scene

ABSC is continuing to explore the world  of Open Water swimming, and has found a good bit of success this summer in that realm! It all started back in early June when William Johnson, Ansley Halbach, and Jenna Champer from ABSC were selected to be members of the Georgia Swimming Open Water Zone Team! William placed 16th in the 11-12 boys 3K swim, Ansley finished 5th in her 11-12 girls the 3K swim, and Jenna rolled in at 17th in the 13-14 girls 5k swim. Team Georgia placed fourth overall at the event.

A couple of weeks later, ABSC sent a group of about 20 kids up to the Clemson Death Valley Open water meet on Lake Hartwell, and had a fantastic showing at that event! Gavin Jones, Will Foggin, and Daniel Huang placed 1-3 in the men’s 13-14 5K race, and Charlie Logan, Ryan Wylie, Henry Logan, and Bean Holloway placed 1-4 in the 15-18 5K. Likewise on the girls side Jenna Champer, Karen Zhao, and Emma Champer placed 1-3 in the women’s 13-14 5k! Other winners included: Brynn Halbach – women’s 15-18 5k, Simon Casey, Men’s 13-14 3K, 1k, and .5k, and Jenna Champer in the 3K and 1k, and .5K.

4. Success in Greenville! Dawgs Impressive in South Carolina

This summer we’ve had one of our more interesting meet schedules in recent years, with unique trips to Macon, Emory University, and Greenville, South Carolina! The Greenville meet, which was our most recent meet (June 22nd – 24th) ended up one of our most successful of the summer! Maybe it was the nice pool with good water depth, maybe it was more long course practices under our belts, or maybe it was just the challenge or racing in another state! Whatever it was, the Dawgs looked great. Click here for results.

Gavin Jones and Lucy Yeomans of the Senior 1 group had outstanding meets for ABSC, the former going all best times and winning the 13&over 800 free as a 14-year-old, and the latter also going all best times, and picking up several Senior State cuts! Ansley Nunnally from the Superpups group also picked up a team record in the 10&Under 50 backstroke, her first such record.

The following swimmers had at least 1 first place finish, went all best times, or had all but 1 personal best time: Guadalupe Balber, Vianney Balber, Emma Champer, Jenna Champer, Olivia Dellatorre, Robbie Dillon, Will Foggin, Ella Freeman, Ansley Halbach, Brynn Halbach, Daniel Huang, Gavin Jones, Siya Kanaan, Ava Kennedy, Garrett Kennedy, Sam Krosner, Charlie Logan, Henry Logan, Ansley Nunnally, Luke Phillips, Felicia Pursner, Rebecca Pursner, Crow Thorsen, Ginny Thorsen, Hannah Torres, Lucy Yeomans, and Jack Yu.

5. Summer League Presence – ABSC Everywhere!

If you attended a summer league meet in the Athens area this summer, there is one thing you were guaranteed to see at any of the meets around town: several ABSC swimmers on deck!

You read that right; every single team from our surrounding area had a Bulldog on it this summer. Commer Tiger Sharks, Downtown Dolphins, East Athens Sea Turtles, Jefferson Sea Dragos, all 6 teams in the Oconee Swim League, and even more than that have had ABSC swimmers spotted on their decks. What an awesome thing for our club! You know at those meets, they were often the stars of the show too! 🙂

6. Summer Term Ends July 26th, Fall Term Begins September 4th!

Despite all the fun we’ve had this summer, our Fall Term is right around the corner. We expect ABSC to continuing growing and adding new swimmers to the Bulldog family just like we have the last few years! Keep the following dates in mind:

• September 4th: The Senior 1, Senior 2, and Dawgs groups will all begin practice on
• September 6th: New Swimmer Orientation at the Ramsey Center for all groups.
• September 11th: Gups/Pups/Superpups begin practice

Keep in mind also that our pre-registration form is open, and we’re excepting sign-ups for evaluations now! The evals will take place on four consecutive Thursdays in August – the 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd.

Registration is also open for our Stroke Clinic Series, with the Fall Splash Clinic Beginning on Tuesday, September 12th. Sign up here!

We’re down to our last three meets of the summer, so let’s finish it up strong!

Go Dawgs!!!