Gold, Silver, Bronze recognition awarded to 200 clubs for performance excellence
Bee Cave, Texas –For the fourth consecutive year, Nitro Swimming has been awarded the top honor of a Gold medal ranking in the USA Swimming Club Excellence program, recognizing the organization’s highest-performing clubs in the development of athletes 18 years and younger. In conjunction with the USA Swimming Club Excellence program, USA Swimming will induct four members into the 2018 Podium Club. Each team achieving a Gold Medal ranking for four consecutive years will be named to the Podium Club. In addition to earning Gold grant dollars, Podium Club members will receive a financial bonus from a pool of dollars to be divided equally among the number of teams in the Podium Club each year.
Congratulations to the following four teams that were inducted into the Podium Club for 2018:
- Carmel Swim Club
- Nation’s Capital Swim Club
- Nitro Swimming
- Sarasota YMCA Sharks
Nitro finished 11th this year out of over 3,000 USA Swimming programs across the country, and was tops in the state of Texas.
“This is a testament to the daily commitment put forth by everyone under the Nitro roof. The kids, the families who make the sacrifices to be a part of the best program in Texas, the Coaches, and the many people who make up the support staff behind the scenes who make it happen every day,” say Nitro owners Mike and Tracy Koleber. “We are very proud of everyone and want to thank USA Swimming for what they do to help promote the greatest sport in the world.”
*Nitro Swimming Cedar Park opened its doors in June of 2007 and Nitro Swimming Bee Cave opened in May of 2011. Nitro teaches swimming to all ages from 6 months through adult, and have many different swimming options for all ability levels. They most recently opened up the Nitro Swim School in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and will begin teaching lessons January 4th, 2018.
In its 17th year, the Club Excellence program identifies clubs that execute strong, well-rounded programs to produce elite 18-and-under athletes. The top 20 clubs earn Gold level ranking and those rated 21-100 are designated as Silver honorees. The next 100 clubs are recognized at the Bronze level.
Earning a Gold, Silver or Bronze ranking has become a highly coveted honor for our club teams. The competition to earn a Club Excellence ranking continues to be more and more challenging.” said Pat Hogan, USA Swimming’s Club Development Managing Director. “On behalf of USA Swimming, I want to congratulate each of 200 clubs that have earned a ranking in the 2016 program.”
Each team’s ranking score is based on the FINA Points Table, a power point rating system that assigns point values to swimming performances based on the Gold, Silver or Bronze time standard. Starting with the 2017 Club Excellence rankings, Gold swims were multiplied by a factor of 2.0; points for Silver level swims were increased by a factor of 1.5.
The following clubs achieved the Gold Medal ranking for 2018, with Local Swimming Committee (LSC) designation. Sixteen different LSCs are represented in the Gold Medal level.
| Club | LSC | Points | |
| 1. | Nation’s Capital Swim Club | Potomac Valley | 91,597 |
| 2. | SwimMAC Carolina | North Carolina | 59,673 |
| 3. | Carmel Swim Club | Indiana | 40,745 |
| 4. | Sandpipers of Nevada | Southern California | 36,808 |
| 5. | Marlins of Raleigh | North Carolina | 35,932 |
| 6. | Irvine Novaquatics | Southern California | 31,749 |
| 7. | Long Island Aquatic Club | Metropolitan Swimming | 31,621 |
| 8. | Mason Manta Rays | Ohio | 30,256 |
| 9. | Swim Atlanta | Georgia | 29,705 |
| 10. | Scottsdale Aquatic Club | Arizona | 28,035 |
| 11. | Nitro Swimming | South Texas | 28,008 |
| 12. | Magnolia Aquatic Club | Gulf Coast | 27,181 |
| 13. | Mission Viejo Nadadores | Southern California | 26,951 |
| 14. | Virginia Gators | Virginia | 26,507 |
| 15. | Club Wolverine | Michigan | 26,317 |
| 16. | Fort Collins Area Swim Team | Colorado | 25,325 |
| 17. | Sarasota YMCA Sharks | Florida | 25,292 |
| 18. | Austin Swim Club | South Texas | 25,201 |
| 19. | Lakeside Aquatic Club | North Texas | 25,172 |
| 20. | Pleasanton Seahawks | Pacific | 24,561 |
Click here to view the complete 2018 Club Excellence Program results.
For more information about the Club Excellence program visit www.usaswimming.org.
About USA Swimming
As the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, USA Swimming is a 400,000-member service organization that promotes the culture of swimming by creating opportunities for swimmers and coaches of all backgrounds to participate and advance in the sport through clubs, events and education. Our membership is comprised of swimmers from the age group level to the Olympic Team, as well as coaches and volunteers. USA Swimming is responsible for selecting and training teams for international competition including the Olympic Games, and strives to serve the sport through its core objectives: Build the base, Promote the sport, Achieve competitive success. For more information, visit www.usaswimming.org.
