Good evening!!

I have butterflies in my tummy as I prepare to fly out to Omaha tomorrow! It is every swimmers/coaches dream to get to compete at Trials. I just cannot contain my excitement and hope this brings some brightness to your day. The USA Swimming Olympic Trial Meet is the top 1% of swimming in the country. Yes you read that right…we have TWO VIKINGS IN THE TOP 1%! I genuinely do not know the last time we had 2 CSU Vikings competing AT USA Olympic Trials.

This year, there are two waves...."Wildcard Weekend" from June 4-7th and Wave two June 13-20 in which the Olympic Team will be named. I love the idea of wildcard....there could be some shocking and amazing swims out of wave 1 to then compete in wave 2. The future is bright, not only for Team USA but for the Vikes for the 21-22 season.

Griffin Manning is seeded 33^rd in the 100 LC Meter Breaststroke: Competes on the 5th

Jackson Nester is seeded 33^rd in the 200 LC Meter Backstroke: Competes on the 6th

This is a great experience and great exposure for these guys to be swimming on the biggest stage in swimming.

Griffin Manning, Junior, Transfer from UofL, His story is truly a remarkable one from breaking his foot his freshman year at the University of Louisville and not being able to get back to prime condition his sophomore year to joining us this year. Griffin loved UofL but needed a fresh start and a new beginning. I was Arthur’s volunteer back in 2013-2014, so when Griffin decided to transfer Arthur knew he would fit in well with me here at CSU and he was so right! He did not think his dream would come true of making trials because of all the adversity he had to overcome due to COVID and a back injury this season. Griffin is on his #RevengeTour…and I can’t wait to see what he is capable of!

Trials is not just about him--He shared something in our team group chat that he wouldn’t have been able to get his trial cut if it weren’t for his CSU Family. His breakthrough and his revenge tour is because of this team and for this family. Griffin has been stuck at a plateau and really hasn't gone best times since he graduated high school in 2018.

55.27---> 53.70 in the 100 yard breaststroke

2:01.05--> 1:58.39 in the 200 yard breaststroke

1:04.41-->1:02.86 to qualify in the 100 LCM Breaststroke to qualify for trials!

Incoming FRESHMAN Jackson Nester from Virginia, will be competing in the 200 Meter Backstroke. Jackson was our first verbal commitment for the class of 2022. We KNEW Jackson was a diamond in the rough and was going to POP OFF! AND HE DID!!!!! The fact that Jackson get’s this experience coming into college he won’t be shaken by the conference meet. This type of experience is going to be crucial as we need every single man on our team scoring top 8-16 in every single event if we want to beat Oakland at conference. And Jackson is now positioned to do that! Take notice the times listed for when he committed to us and where he is now and the context for what this means at our conference meet and for the upcoming season...

1:43.3 200 Yard FS-->1:41.0 (this could eventually put him in contention for a slot on the 800 freestyle relay)

51.76 100 Yard BK -->50.33 (this would have been 13^th in the 100 Back…Dom was 2^nd, Kenny Thomas 5^th)

1:50.52 200 Yard BK-->1:46.80 (this would have been 6^th ...which is where Nate Eberhardt scored….and Jake Taulbee got 7^th after swimming the Mile 15 min prior….this is HUGE. We will be able to have more flexibility to possibly move Nate into the 100 freestyle on that final day and also takes pressure off of Jake to have to race in the 200 Back)

1:55.40 200 Yard IM-->1:49.7 (This would have been 4^th at the Horizon League Meet which would have been our top finisher since Timmy chose to swim in the 500 free this season after winning the 200 IM the previous year…Jack Krusinski was 5^th with 1:49.88)

4:02.9 400 Yard IM-----3:52.91 (Timmy wont with 3:49.80 and Jackson would have been SECOND in the conference meet! The entire top 8 at HLC was freshmen and sophomores except for Timmy.)

1:00.98 100 METER BK--->58.48

2:09.36 200 Meter BK-->2:02.82

For the more information: https://www.usaswimming.org/trials

I will be flying out to Omaha tomorrow and will be back in Cleveland on the 7th. Don't hesitate to reach out and connect with me during this time if you want to share in the excitement! I will send out an update next week.

In the mean time, stay healthy, be well, and BLEED GREEN and red, white and blue!

Email: [email protected]