Of the more than 10,000 swim clubs in the United States, the Wilton Y Wahoos ranked 15th in USA Swimming’s Club Excellence Program, earning them a gold medal and making them one of the top 20 elite swimming programs that have earned a gold medal in consecutive years.
According to a press release from the Wilton Y, “The Club Excellence Program identifies and recognizes USA Swimming clubs nationwide for their commitment to performance excellence and strives to promote the development of strong, well-rounded senior swimming at the junior national level. Through this recognition program, USA Swimming provides resources to motivate and assist member clubs to strive for the highest ideals of swimmer-athlete performance.”
This is the second consecutive year that the Wilton Y Wahoos have earned this accolade.
“Becoming a Gold Medal Club was a goal of the coaching staff as we knew we had the resources to accomplish this,” says head coach Randy Erlenbach. “Through a lot of hard work and dedication of our student-athletes, coaches, parents, and YMCA staff, we are proud to have accomplished this high accolade as recognized by USA Swimming but most of all, this comes from the high level of performance from our swimmers.”
He credits the swimmers’ dedication. “Each year our seniors have performed and lead us to a very successful summer season. These successes as a team result in being recognized by USA Swimming as a Gold Medal Club.”
Two Wahoo 2014 seniors stood out: Ian Rainey (Michigan Wolverine) in the 800 freestyle and 400 individual medley and team captain Max Dolan (Wisconsin Badger) in the 400 individual medley. Long course junior national qualifiers had a huge impact on the point totals: Verity Abel (Duke University), Sam DeLise (Georgetown), Dolan, Stephen Holmquist (team captain and future Michigan Wolverine), Tommy Kealy (William & Mary), Ky-Lee Perry, Rainey and Alyssa Storino (Notre Dame) together achieved more than 20 junior national time standards.
Wilton Family YMCA executive director Bob McDowell said that the team sets the standard for the organization.
“The Wilton Y Wahoos are well known throughout the country, not only for developing high quality swimmers but also the individuals as a whole. The Wahoo program truly exemplifies our core values of Honesty, Caring, Respect, and Responsibility and is a genuine reflection of our YMCA’s mission as a charitable organization dedicated to maximizing the personal potential of all individuals in our community. We are very proud to receive this recognition from USA Swimming for the second consecutive year.”