…Cullen Jones cemented his legacy within swimming in London by taking his first individual Olympic medal: a silver in the men’s 50 free. He, apparently, is not ready to be satisfied with that though. In an interview with GoPack.com, the official Athletics site of his alma mater North Carolina State, Jones said that he doesn’t plan to slow his training down before the 2016 Rio Olympics, with an individual title on his mind. “Silver is great, but I still want to get that individual goal medal,” Jones said in the interview. “I know I can still compete at that level.”…
…The International Swimming Hall of Fame announced it’s class earlier this week, but the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame also revealed their inductees this week. Among them was Georgia men’s and women’s head coach Jack Bauerle, who has led the Bulldogs to four NCAA National Championships and 9 SEC Championships in his 33 seasons with the Bulldogs. He also served as the coach of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team staff. He also has been 5 times honored as the Women’s National Coach of the Year, and with the classes that he brought in (on both the men’s and women’s side) this past fall, he may not be done yet…
…Other inductees include former Georgia Tech swimmer and coach Herb McAuley; former National High School, American, and U.S. Open Record holder Mary Ellen Blanchard from Norcross High School; 1976 Olympic gold medalist on the 3-meter springboard (diving) Jennifer Chandler Stevenson; and 14-time NCAA Champion (three of them individual) Doug Gjersten. Gjersten also has a pair of Olympic gold medals from the 1988 Olympics as part of the 400 and 800 free relays, and was a part of a World Record setting relay. Gjersten is currently coaching at SwimAtlanta…
…New Idaho head coach Mark Sowa has announced that he will bring in Scott Cameron to fill out his staff in Moscow. Cameron was a volunteer assistant with the women’s program at Michigan last season and brings strong connections from his work with the Club Wolverine Elite team, with which he’s worked since 2009…
I am happy Jones will continue. He dreamed of beating Cielo. Nobody believed he could do it. He beat him. And Manaudou beat them both. Cruel—but perhaps motivating (and heck, a individual Silver is more than pretty good)
Great news about Jones continuing to Rio!! Part of me wishes he’d trained more consistently since ’08 so that he could have already gotten the gold In London. On the other hand, who knows how many lives he may have helped save by working for Make-A-Splash?? Either way, it was a win-win for him and hope he can keep it all up through Rio!!