by author Patrick Mader
Patrick has done a service again to the sport of swimming and diving with another great historical perspective. In a recently updated article, Patrick details out the swimming career of Del Cerney, who swam high school at Staples-Motley and at the University of Minnesota in college.
You can read the full article on the Minnesota Athletes website along with many of the other great stories Patrick has shared.
by author Patrick Mader
Patrick has done a service again to the sport of swimming and diving with another great historical perspective. In a recent article, Patrick details out the diving career of Laura Ryan and how the sport has shaped her life.
You can read the full article on the Minnesota Athletes website along with many of the other great stories Patrick has shared.
We love the history of swimming here at the Vibe. What we love even more is when a skilled writer and historian has done a lot of the work already and we just share it!
Patrick Mader does just that with his website Minnesota Athletes!
There is a lot of rich history in the state across all sports, which he covers, but we were particularly impressed with the love swimming has received in some of his articles. From Gopher Greats, to Olympic performers, Patrick goes deep into the subjects.
Patrick’s most recent article Minnesota Swimming Sensation Regan Smith Stars in Paris; Brief History of Minnesota Swimmers at the Olympics does a wonderful job of highlighting some Olympians that have their roots right here in Minnesota.
We will definitely share new articles from Minnesota Athletes that relate to swimming and diving as they are published, but if you have a nugget of Minnesota Swimming history you think would be of interest for Patrick to write about, pass it on and we will get you connected.
Obviously, this is a subjective ranking, but I like ranking things sometimes, so here we go. As a full fledged swim nerd, I watched and enjoyed every single event. How can you not when you are looking at the best in the world each and every time?
What makes a top race for me? First, I love a battle in which the outcome is anybody’s guess. Give me three or four people with a solid shot and I’m glued to the edge of my seat. Second, I like the “out of nowhere” type swims. When a name you have never really of heard of puts it all together at just the right time to claim glory. Third, I like the “what did I just see?” swims. The one’s where the result really didn’t seem humanly possible in my mind until I saw it in that moment.
So….with that, let’s hand out the medals
Bronze: 1500 Freestyle
Maybe it was just the race I needed at the end of the swimming events. No gold medals for the US men in individual events with one race to go. Finke was the favorite, but you just had to start thinking it was just not our Olympics on the men’s side. It wasn’t too along ago when Finke won gold in the event with a miraculous last 50 and had me jumping on the couch screaming “He’s gonna win!!! He’s gonna win!!!” In 2024, gold medal…check. World record….check. A happy swim fan….double check
Silver: 200 Fly/200 Breast
I have to group these two together and since they were about an hour apart, I don’t feel bad doing it. Finding anyone who could qualify for the Olympics in these two events is unheard of. Even if they were separated by 8 days. I remember watching a Phillips 66 meet eons ago where Michael Phelps made the top 8 in the 200 Breast and I was astonished. Now take Marchand, winning both, on the same night, in the Olympics. Throw in the home crowd and the off the meter noise. Absolutely and electric double.
Gold: 100 Free
Controversial pick because there is so much noise around doping on this one. I go innocent until proven guilty and if guilty, you pay the piper. So for, now, and honestly I hope remains this way, Pan’s swim made time stop for me. The lead, the margin of victory, the time…all just incomprehensible for my eyes and ears to process. Time’s weren’t especially fast this meet. Slow pool or whatever. They were great, not off the charts. This one wasn’t just off the charts, it was on a whole new chart all together. It’s rare I’m left speechless, but this one did the trick.
Obviously, this is a subjective ranking, but I like ranking things sometimes, so here we go. As a full fledged swim nerd, I watched and enjoyed every single event. How can you not when you are looking at the best in the world each and every time?
What makes a top race for me? First, I love a battle in which the outcome is anybody’s guess. Give me three or four people with a solid shot and I’m glued to the edge of my seat. Second, I like the “out of nowhere” type swims. When a name you have never really of heard of puts it all together at just the right time to claim glory. Third, I like the “what did I just see?” swims. The one’s where the result really didn’t seem humanly possible in my mind until I saw it in that moment.
So….with that, let’s hand out the medals
Bronze: 800 Freestyle
I would have loved to see Summer McIntosh in this race, but it was awesome without her. For over a decade this race was wondering when the rest of the field would disappear from the screen as Katie Ledecky would add distance each 50. This year, Ariane Titus sat on Katie’s shoulder for the first half. That was long enough to start thinking, what if? Every 50 you expected Ledecky to be done with this hanging around stuff and just pull away, but it stayed pretty close. Paige Madden also made it a fun race to watch as she closed hard the last 200 to make a push for second.
Silver: 100 Free
I went into this event thinking there were a few different scenarios that could play out. Gretchen Walsh is always good, Tori Huske was having a great meet, and never rule out Siobhán Haughey. Sarah Sjostrom is obviously a legend and the world record holder, but she is 30 and wasn’t even planning on swimming this event. Great race and so good when you see a legend show they can still get it done on the biggest stage. You knew Sjostrom would have the speed, but the 100 seemed like a little bot of a stretch. Nope….nailed it,
Gold: 4 x 100 Medley Relay
The US had a solid meet for the most part, but the overall vibe for me was we left some on the table. You have to realize that US swimming has set an exceptionally high bar for itself over the years, so a tall task to be blown away by the the team’s end to end performance. The 4 x 100 Med was the moment that felt the best for me. They had a little extra edginess in how they swam from start to finish. It was the type of swim you like to see kick off a meet to set the tone. It’s how we ended and better to do it there then not at all. Was worth a “Stand on the couch and scream”
In true Minnesota Swim and Vibe fashion, we will be covering all the Minnesota athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Trials in as much detail as humanly possible. We will have a post per day that we will update with results the best we can throughout the day.
Day 8 Preliminary Heats
Women’s 50 Free
Caroline Larsen – 26th 25.37
Bryn Greenwaldt – 56th – 25.93
Men’s 1500 Freestyle
Chris Nagy – 24th – 15:34.12
Jiarui Xue – 45th – 15:51.91
Day 8 Semis and Finals
In true Minnesota Swim and Vibe fashion, we will be covering all the Minnesota athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Trials in as much detail as humanly possible. We will have a post per day that we will update with results the best we can throughout the day.
Day 7 Preliminary Heats
Men’s 100 Butterfly
Kaiser Neverman – 27th – 53.15
Jack Dahlgren – 14th – 52.51
Haakon Naughton – 39th – 53.47
Women’s 200 IM
Megan Van Berkom – 16th – 2:15.16
Women’s 800 Freestyle
Eliot Kennedy – 35h – 8:51.07
Katie McCarthy – 16th 8:41.00
Day 7 Semis and Finals
Women’s 200 Backstroke Finals
Regan Smith – 1st – 2:05.16
Isabelle Stadden 0 7th -2:08.77
Men’s 100 Butterfly Semis
Jack Dahlgren – 10th – 52.02
Women’s 200 IM
Megan Van Berkom – 13th- 2:14.46
In true Minnesota Swim and Vibe fashion, we will be covering all the Minnesota athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Trials in as much detail as humanly possible. We will have a post per day that we will update with results the best we can throughout the day.
Day 6 Preliminary Heats
Women’s 200 Backstroke
Regan Smith – 5th – 2:09.30
Isabelle Stadden – 1st – 2:08.53
Men’s 50 Free
Jack Dahlgren – 26th – 22.49
Conner Hogan – 66th – 23.01
Men’s 200 IM
Kaiser Neverman – 34th – 2:01.65
Day 6 Semis and Finals
Women’s 200 Butterfly Finals
Regan Smith – 1st – 2:05.70
Women’s 200 Backstroke Semis
Regan Smith – 1st – 2:06.41
Isabelle Stadden – 6th – 2:08.40
In true Minnesota Swim and Vibe fashion, we will be covering all the Minnesota athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Trials in as much detail as humanly possible. We will have a post per day that we will update with results the best we can throughout the day.
Day 5 Preliminary Heats
Women’s 200 Breaststroke
Reese Dehen – 34th – 2:33.20
Men’s 200 Backstroke
Ryan Slonac – 47th – 2:02.21
Women’s 200 Butterfly
Regan Smith – 2nd – 2:07.24
Megan Van Berkom – 12th – 2:10.25
Day 5 Semis and Finals
Women’s 200 Butterfly Semis
Regan Smith – 1st – 2:04.91
Megan Van Berkom – 14th – 2:10.75
Men’s 200 Butterfly Finals
Jack Dahlgren – 6th 1:56.63
In true Minnesota Swim and Vibe fashion, we will be covering all the Minnesota athletes competing in the 2024 Olympic Trials in as much detail as humanly possible. We will have a post per day that we will update with results the best we can throughout the day.
Day 4 Preliminary Heats
Men’s 200 Fly
Kaiser Neverman – 10th – 1:57.31
William Christenson – 20th – 1:58.72
Haakon Naughton – 39th – 2:00.87
Jack Dahlgren – 5th – 1:56.45
Women’s 1500 Freestyle
Katie McCarthy – 31st – 16:56.72
Women’s 100 Freestyle
Caroline Larsen – 30th – 55.52
Men’s 200 Breaststroke
Logan Kelly – 52nd – 2:15.87
Michael Phillips – 61st – 2:16.48
Charlie Egeland – 28th – 2:13.97
Men’s 100 Freestyle
Chris Morris – 46th – 50.03
Day 4 Semis and Finals
Men’s 200 Butterfly Semis
Kaiser Neverman – 10th- 1:57.31
Jack Dahlgren – 5th – 1:56.45
Women’s 100 Backstroke Finals
Regan Smith – 1st – 57.13 (New World Record)
