What: U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials
When: Monday, June 25 to Monday, July 2
Where: Omaha, Neb.
Individuals from area swim teams who qualified for trials
Dayton Raiders
Megan Carlson, sr. at Xenia High School
Abby Galbreath, graduate of Fairmont High School, so., at University of South Carolina
Cliff Goertemiller, sr., at Oakwood High School
Colin Karzani, recent graduate of Beavercreek High School, will attend United States Military Academy at West Point
Jack Pohlmann, recent graduate of Beavercreek High School, will swim for Princeton.
Brett MacKenzie, recent graduate of Tippecanoe High School, will swim for University of Louisville
Patrick Mulcare, so. at Oakwood High School
Brock Turner, jr. at Oakwood
Josh Quallen, sr. at Wilmington High School
Countryside YMCA, Lebanon
Jimmy Barbiere, graduate Cin. St. Xavier, sr. at Indiana University.
Mason Manta Rays
Danielle Barbiea, graduate of Springboro High School, so., at University of Louisville
Hannah Whiteley, fr., at Springboro High School
No one is more thankful for text messaging than Kevin Weldon and Gary Galbreath — coaches of the Dayton Raiders Swim Club.
With a crew of 11 individuals from the Raiders heading for the U.S. Olympic swimming trials, texting is the only way to stay in communication.
“This is the most people we’ve ever had qualify for the trials,” said Weldon, a Beavercreek resident “We’re the most of any swim club in the state and one of the largest representations from any organization in the country.
“It says a lot for our swimmers, past and present, and their work ethic. But it also presents massive logistical programs. It is an eight-day meet and you have swimmers and their parents coming and going. The biggest jobs Gary and I will have out there is making sure everyone is where they should be at the right time. Thankfully everyone who is going is very good at checking their messages and pays attention to all the details regarding the trials.”
One unique aspect about the Raiders qualifiers is five are still in high school and three are recent graduates.
Megan Carlson will be a senior at Xenia. Josh Quallen is a senior at Wilmington. Cliff Goertemiller (senior), Brock Turner (junior) and Patrick Mulcare (sophomore) all attend Oakwood.
Jack Polhmann and Colin Kanzari are both June grads of Beavercreek, as was Brett MacKenzie at Tippecanoe.
Pohlmann will swim at Princeton and MacKenzie at Louisville. Kanazri, who is injured and won’t compete in the trials, is headed for West Point.
“It’s pretty neat having three of us from the same high school qualify for the trials,” Goertemiller said. “Some people around school realize what a big deal it is, but not everyone.
“I think it’s more about us as the Dayton Raiders team and how we pushed each other.”
Carlson didn’t look like she had chance for the trials at the beginning of the year. But she cut six seconds off her time in the 400 individual medley to make the cut in late March.
The oldest qualifier for the Raiders is 24-year-old J.K. Koehler.
He is a graduate of Springfield Catholic Central High School and Indiana University. He was a finalist in the 1,650 freestyle in the 2004 trials.
He has been training at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
“JK needed to be with some people who could really push him,” Galbreath said. “He had a foot injury last year which might hamper him, but he has an outside shot of making the team.
“Everyone else is pretty young. Their shots will be for Rio (de Janeiro, Brazil) and 2016.”
• The youth movement is not confined to Raider swimmers.
Hannah Whiteley, a 14-year-old incoming freshman at Springboro, qualified for the trials in the 100 backstroke. She did swim for the Coffman Y in Springboro but is now the Manta Rays club in Mason.
• The trials for the US diving team are currently taking place in Federal Way, Wash., outside of Seattle.
One of the area qualifiers is Centerville and Miami University grad Chris Heaton.
Heaton, an eight-time Mid-American Conference champ at Miami, competed late Friday night in the men’s 3-meter synchronized event after placing seventh in the semifinals with partner Aaron Fleshner. Heaton also qualified for Sunday’s 3-meter springboard finals after placing 13th in the semifinals.
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