One of the lesser known branches of our sport is Open Water Swimming. Open water races can be in freshwater lakes and rivers, oceans or even indoor pools (usually with the lane lines removed). Like conventional swim meets, races can be different lengths but open water meets usually only occur in the summer months. While open water races are generally open to anyone who wants to swim, we have two coming up that have highly competitive selection processes. The first is Open Water Nationals held next week, April 4-6th, in...

The National Swimming Club Swimming Association has selected their All-Star Team from last week's NCSA Junior National Championships and Excel will be sending 2 of our athletes to compete at the Adam Peaty Race International meet in London, UK. Zara earned her spot by co-winning the 200 Butterfly in a team record 1:58.09 while Bryce punched her ticket in the 100 Breast, also with a team record swim of 1:01.30. Earning a spot on the NCSA All-Star team is highly competitive that this is the first time in Excel Aquatics'...

Our final two meets of the 2024/2025 Short Course Season are in the books and much like the rest of the season, we have a whole lot to be proud of! While our National Team was split between two different meets, the combined results ended up with a National Champion, new team records, new Winter and Summer cuts and finally two members of the NCSA International Team. Congratulations to everyone who competed this weekend to close out the Short Course season. By The Numbers (both meets combined) 21 Excel Swimmers...

Congratulations to our Age Group Sectional Team who just returned from Cary, NC where we had the most successful team finish in our history! Excel's combined team score placed us second, only behind the host team Triangle Aquatics. Additionally, congratulations go out to our 11-12 age group as we swept the high point awards with Boston Boyd and Caroline Dealy. 14 year old Jacob Keen hit his first NCSA cut in the 100 Back only to do the same in the 200 Back which was also fast enough for a...

Congratulations to the our newest Southeastern Championship Excel Team! Our win by over a 1,000 points is the biggest in our history and we couldn't be more proud of the effort by all our swimmers. Not only is this now our 5th consecutive SES championship but it also completes our 3rd consecutive Triple Crown win! A special "Congrats!" goes out to: - Arden Ford for winning the 9-10 Girls High Point award - Bryce Winzenread for her Summer Junior qualifiying time - Claire Calhoun, Marios Gerasimopoulous, Campbell Johnson and Mae...

Congratulations to all of our swimmers who competed this last weekend in both the 8 & Under and Region 1 Championships. Our championship teams sure made us proud! We ended up sweeping the championships with first place finishes in the boys, girls and combined team scores for both meets. Congratulations to Addie Willard and Bode Mello for winning the High Point Awards and to Abi Brownyard for her runner-up finish. Congratulations also to Arden Ford for breaking the 23 year old 10 & Under 200 Breast record with a time...

Congratulations to Zara Kocak who won this week's "Female Athlete of the Week" hosted by The Tennesseean. She ran away with the win gaining a staggering 53% of the vote. Of the 16 nominees, only 3 were swimmers so her victory was a great show of support for swimming! The voting was done by readers and her total of 34,391 votes was enough to beat her closest rival, basketball player Amelia Richardson. Other swimmers nominated Libby Helmer from NAC with 263 votes and Lily Robertson from Ensworth with 107. Congratulations...

Senior Swimmer Zara Kocak was among 52 female athletes selected this year to attend USA Swimming's National Select camp. Hosted last week at the Olympic Training Center, USA brought together some of the very most talented swimmers across the country to take part in a 3 day intensive training experience which is aimed at identifying the next generation of American Olympians. The selection process for the camp allows athletes to qualify in a couple of different ways but Zara's ticket was punched by her versatility. Her 2024 Long Course IMX...

This short course season, Excel swimmers will be participating in no less than 9 different championship meets. For some of our families, this can seem a little confusing. No worries, we have you covered! Take a little time to explore our Excel Championship meet guide and you'll soon be an expert. However, if you still have any questions about which meet is for your swimmers, please remember that your coaches will always be your best resources. Championship Meet Guide

Congratulations to all of our swimmers who competed this last weekend in the 2025 TYR Mardi Gras Meet. With just over 400 swimmers competing, we finished up the regular short course season with a bang! We want to extend a huge thank you to our visiting teams who made the meet so much better. Thanks as well to the coaches, volunteers and officials who always put in long hours on meet weekends. By The Numbers: 439 Number of Excel Swimmers 2,423 Number of Excel Races 1,459 Number of Lifetime Best...