Club Olympia coach Jennifer Brinegar (in light blue) has been named one of the Top 50 U.S. Age Group Coaches in the country by the American Swimming Coaches Association and Fitter & Faster Swimmers Training Group.
Submitted photo
The weekend of June 22-25, Club Olympia split its time between two different meets allowing club athletes to target select events with hopes of improving or achieving their state and divisional 2023 Long Course Championship meet qualifying times.
The first two evenings were spent at the Riviera Summer Spectacular at the historic Riviera Club in Indianapolis with the swimmers competing in distance and sprint events, while the final two days were spent swimming more typical long course events at the Franklin Regional Swim Team’s FRST Summer Classic in Franklin.
At Riviera, Maggie Johnson, who swims at University of Indianapolis, but trains with Club Olympia during the summer, claimed first-place finishes in the Girls Open 50-meter butterfly and 400 freestyle, with three other top-10 finishes and two personal records. Cavan Stilson had top-10 finishes in the Boys Open 50 backstroke, 50 freestyle and 400 freestyle with three PRs. Dathan Wolf, who swims at Valparaiso University and trains with Club Olympia in the summer, placed top-10 in the 50 butterfly and 50 backstroke with one PR. Ty Mayer placed third in the Men’s Open 400 freestyle and 1,500 freestyle with three total PRs. Sanaa Kulkarni placed fifth in the 1,500 freestyle and ninth in the 400 freestyle with four PRs. Judah Nickoll was eighth in the 50 butterfly with one PR. Josh Pendleton competed in only the 1,500 freestyle, where he claimed second with a PR.
Connelly Furnish, competing all three days in Franklin, led the club at the FRST Summer Classic with wins in the 13-14 Girls 200 freestyle and 200 butterfly; seconds in the 1,500 freestyle, 400 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 IM; thirds in the 100 freestyle and 100 breaststroke and a fourth in the 200 breaststroke with two PRs. Camila Mejia Murguia placed third in the 11-12 Girls 50 butterfly, 100 freestyle and 200 IM; fourth in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke and sixth in the 200 backstroke.
Shreyan Kulkarni finished second in the 11-12 Boys 200 breaststroke, fourth in the 100 breaststroke and 200 IM and fifth in the 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke. Aahan Gupta took third in the 10U Boys 100 backstroke, fourth in the 200 freestyle and 200 IM and fifth in the 50 freestyle and 50 butterfly. Rebeca Mejia Murguia placed fifth in the 11-12 Girls 100 breaststroke, with two additional top 10s. Chad Pendleton was third in the 10U Boys 100 freestyle, with two additional top 10s. Cavan Stilson finished second in the Boys Open 200 IM and fifth in the 100 backstroke. Xavier Zhang claimed three top-10 finishes. Sanaa Kulkarni, Daxton Wolf, Aksh Ranjan and Arjun Agarkar all finished with two top-10s. Sarthak Deshmukh had one top-10 finish.
Overall, 21 swimmers achieved 46 PRs during the Riviera meet events, and 29 swimmers achieved 62 PRs and added 10 new Age Group State Championship qualifying cuts during the Franklin events.
Brinegar named ASCA Top 50 Age-Group Coach
The American Swimming Coaches Association and Fitter &Faster Swimmers Training Group announced its 2023 Top 50 U.S. Age Group Coaches list last week, and it includes Jennifer Brinegar, founder and head coach of Club Olympia.
Coaches were chosen based upon USA Swimming’s National Rankings covering both the Short Course and Long Course seasons for Age Group level swimmers from May, 2022 through April, 2023. Two years ago, Brinegar’s Club Olympia team was also named as one of the Top 100 competitive swim clubs in the US. Currently, it is ranked No. 56, which is second in Indiana behind Carmel Swim Club, which is No. 28.
Club Olympia swimmers train under Brinegar and her staff at Donner Aquatic Center during the summer months and at Columbus East High School and Northside Middle School the balance of the year.
