Announcements

• Registration for Fall Express programs will be held on August 30th & 31st at Downers Grove North HS in the pool area from 6:00-7:00 PM. Practices will begin on Monday, September 13th. Details and forms are here! Link

• NEWS FLASH!!
Haley Sims has been named to the Junior Pan Pacific Team!! Haley will be competing Aug 26-29th in Maui, Hawaii. This event features the top National Youth Teams from the Pacific Rim including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zeland, South America, Hong Kong, Japan and others. Twenty men and twenty women have been selected to represent the USA in this competition. Congratulations, Haley .. Good Luck! We are very proud of you!!

• National Meet Results .. Congratulations, Adrienne, Haley and Lisa on your outstanding performances at Nationals!!
Conoco-Phillips National Championships - Irvine, CA
*Adrienne Bicek: 200 Fly-17th, 400 Free-48th, 100 Fly-64th, 400 IM-73rd

Junior National Championships - Irvine, CA
*Haley Sims: 100 Fly-2nd, 50 Free-8th, 200 IM-22nd, 200 Fly-36th, 100 Free-37th, 200 Free-48th
*Lisa Boyce: 100 Free-8th, 200 Free-16th, 100 Back-50th, 50 Free-54th, 100 Fly-61st, 200 Back-134th

• Express Swimmers represent Illinois at Central Zone Championships!!
Congratulations to Ellie Benge, Kierston Farley-Sepe, Kate Joyce, Mike Tegeler and Daria Wick on an outstanding meet!!
*Kierston Farley-Sepe: 200 Free-1st, 200 IM-2nd, 50 Fly-3rd, 100 Fly-3rd, 50 Free-4th, 50 Back-7th Link

• Age Group State Championship -
Great Job Express Swimmers!!
*Ellie Benge: 100 FY-5th
*Kierston Farley-Sepe: 50 Fly-1st; 100 Fly-2nd; 50 Free-3rd, 50 Back-3rd, 200 IM-3rd
*Frank Errichiello: 100 Back-16th
*Kate Joyce: 200 Back-13th, 100 Back-14th
*Gabby Sims: 50 Free-1st, 100 Free-1st, 100 Fly-1st, 200 Free-2nd, 100 Back-2nd, 200 Fly-2nd
*Maddy Sims: 200 Free-1st, 400 Free-1st, 200 Fly-1st, 200 IM-2nd, 400 IM-2nd, 100 Free-4th
*Mike Tegeler: 200 Free-13th, 100 Free-15th, 50 Free-16th
Relays: 13-14 Girls
400 Medley (Joyce, Arand, Sims, Sims)-4th
800 Free Relay (Sims, Joyce, Daria Wick, Sims)-5th
400 Free Relay (Sims, Wick, Joyce, Sims)-7th

• Congratulations Senior Swimmers !!
Express Women finish in 1st Place at the Illinois Senior State Meet!! Combined Men & Women - 2nd Place!!Women set a STATE RECORD in the 400 Free Relay!
*Elliott Bachelder: 200 Fly-15th
*Adrienne Bicek: 400 Free-1st, 800 Free-1st, 200 Fly-1st, 400 IM-1st, 200 Free-2nd, 200 IM-2nd
*Lisa Boyce: 100 Free-2nd, 200 Free-4th, 100 Back-6th, 50 Free-9th, 200 Back-9th
*Peter Errichiello: 100 Back-10th
*Vince Errichiello: 400 IM-4th, 200 IM-8th, 100 Back-9th, 200 Back-11th, 100 Fly-15th
*Mike Reed: 50 Free-4th, 100 Free-11th, 100 Breast-11th
Gabby Sims-50 Free-6th
*Haley Sims: 100 Fly-2nd, 200 Fly-3rd, 200 IM-3rd, 100 Free-4th, 100 Back-9th, 200 Free-10th
*Maddy Sims-400 IM-5th
*Alexis Spivak: 100 Fly-14th, 200 Free-16th
*Emily Wilkinson: 400 IM-7th, 200 Fly-14th, 100 Fly-15th
Relays: Womens: 800 Free-1st, 400 Medley-1st, 400 Free-1st (State Record: Bicek, Boyce, G. Sims, H. Sims)
Mens: 400 Medley-5th, 400 Free-8th

• HALEY SIMS IS GOING TO IRELAND!! At the recent NCSA Junior National Swim Meet, Haley qualifited to represent the United States at the Irish National Swim Meet. Haley was named to the NCSA All-Star Team based on her performance in the 100 Butterfly. The long course meet will take place April 29-May 2 in Dublin, Ireland. GREAT JOB, HALEY!

• CONGRATULATIONS MADDY SIMS!! Maddy will be one of only 3 Illinois 12 and 13 year old girls to participate in the upcoming CENTRAL ZONE SELECT CAMP! The camp will be held at Miami University in Oxford, OH on May 27-30. Maddy qualified based on her outstanding performance in the 200 Butterfly. WE ARE PROUD OF YOU, MADDY!

• AGE GROUP STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
Congratulations Express swimmers on a fantastic meet! The Girls finished in 8th Place! Combined Scoring - Express Finished in 18th! Way to Go!! Here's the recap .. Link

• Congratulations Senior Champ Swimmers!!
What a GREAT MEET! Express finished in 7th Place in the Combined Scoring and the Girls finished in 3rd Place. Special Congratulations to 100 Butterfly State Champion Haley Sims!! Check-out the results here .. Link

• Express Swimmers have a GREAT Regional Meet!!!
31 Swimmers...
141 Swims...
37 Medals!!
18 STATE CUTS !!
Woo-Hoo!! Congratulations to all and Good Luck at State!

• Congratulations Express swimmers on an Outstanding High School State Meet!!!
*Mike Reed - DGN - 6th - 50 Free; 12th - 100 Free
*Vince Errichiello - DGS - 9th - 200 IM; 14th Backstroke
*Elliott Bachelder - Benet - 21st- 100 Butterfly
*Jake Mueller - DGS - 29th - 100 Butterfly
*Alex Barylowicz - DGN- 36th - 100 Breast
*DGS- 200 Free Relay- 16th - V. Errichiello, Jake Mueller
*DGN-200 Free Relay - 17th - Alex Matuzewich, Umesh Rajan, Mike Reed
*DGN-200 Medley Relay - 23rd - Mike Reed
*Benet - 200 Medley Relay - 30th-Elliott Bachelder
DGN - 21st - 11 points
DGS - 22nd - 10 points

• Final Regional Entries are posted on the Meet Page

• CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON IS HERE!!
Just a few reminders regarding participation in Championship meets (Regionals, State and Beyond!!) .. Our contract with Speedo requires that ALL of our athletes are outfitted in Speedo gear when competing or on the Award stand. This means team suits or legal Speedo Tech suits-only and Express/Speedo-logo caps. Deck-wear - Express/Speedo-logo team shirts and Team warm-ups for the award stand. We have a short time to make sure all Express swimmers competing are "good-to-go". Check-out the Swimmers Edge link for team discounts if you need to order or replace Express-Wear.

• Congratulations Express Swimmers on a fantastic High School State Meet!!
*Haley Sims - DGN - 2nd - 200 Free; 2nd - 100 Fly
*Alexis Spivak - DGS - 5th - 100 Fly
*Cat Cortesio - Benet - 12th - 100 Fly
*DGN Medley Relay - 10th - Emily Wilkinson, Kate Smith, Haley Sims & Emma Buckley.
Congratulations on an outstanding season!!

• NEWS FLASH!! ...ADRIENNE BICEK named Illinois Swimming's 2009 FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR!! This top honor goes to the best finish of any Illinois swimmer at the highest level National meet. Adrienne finished in 7th place at the World Championship Trials.
Special Congratulations to Express Swimmers Peter Errichiello, Vince Errichiello, Haley Sims and Alexis Spivak for recognition as Illinois' Top Swimmers in their respective age groups! Way to go EXPRESS!!

• We have just received word that HALEY SIMS will be added to the Scholastic All-America list due to a snafu error that has been corrected!! CONGRATULATIONS to Express swimmers, Vince Errichiello Adrienne Bicek and Haley Sims, for receiving the USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Award. Recepients must have a 3.5 GPA and have achieved a Junior National Bonus time to be recognized. We are proud of you!!!

• More great news from Washington ... Haley Sims makes it back in the 50 Free and finishes in 24th posting another sub-27 second swm !! THAT'S FAST !!

• News Flash from Junior Nationals in Washington!!
HALEY SIMS qualifies for "BIGS" in the 100 Fly ... and finishes in 8th! Congratulations!!

• Central Zone Results!! - Congratulations Express Swimmers on a GREAT meet:
*Cat Cortesio: 100 Fly-1st; 100 Fly-2nd; 50 Free-2nd; 100 Free-2nd; 400 Free-5th;
*Vince Errichiello: 100 Back-3rd; 200 Back-3rd; 200 IM-3rd; 400 IM-3rd; 50 Free-7th
*Peter Errichiello: 100 Back-4th; 100 Breast-11th; 200 Medley Relay-1st

• Day 3 Results from Age Group State:
Peter Errichiello - 9th - 200 BK
Maddy Sims - 5th - 200 Fly
Gabby Sims - 7th - 100 Free, 11th - 200 Fly
400 Free Relay - 12th - Sims, Sims, Jen Gockman, Kate Joyce
Contratulations everyone - Team Finish - 20th Place

• Day 2 at Age Group State ... another GREAT one!!
Elaina Ricci - 8th - 50 Free
Gabby Sims - 7th - 50 Free, 12th - 100 BK
Peter Errichiello - 2nd - 100 Back, 6th - 50 Free
Maddy Sims - 8th - 200 IM, 10th - 400 Free
Taylor Lifka - 10th - 200 BR
400 Medley Relay - 12th - Kate Joyce, Lifka, Sims, Sims

• Age Group State Day 1 recap:
Peter Errichiello - 5th - 200 BR
Maddy Sims - 6th - 200 FR
Gabby Sims - 7th - 300 FR, 8th - 100 Fly
Elaina Ricci - 12th - 200 Free
800 Free Relay - 7th - Sims, Taylor Lifka, Kate Joyce, Sims
Congratulations!!

• Good Luck at Age Group State!!
Peter Errichiello, Jen Gockman, Kate Joyce, Courtney Kaminski, Taylor Lifka, Riley McDaniel, Elaina Ricci, Gabby Sims, Maddy Sims, Gabrielle Veselik and Daria Wick. We know you will do well! Go Express!!

• RYAN DOWNEY MEDALS AT SPEEDO CHAMPIONSHIPS!! Congratulations, Ryan, on your two 5th place finishes in the 800 and 1500 Free!! The Sectional Team of Emma Buckley, Cat Cortesio, Downey, Vince Errichiello, Morgan Piasecki, Mike Reed, Colleen Webb and Emily Wilkinson had a GREAT MEET!! Ryan also picked up his Junior National cut in the 800 Free and will join HALEY SIMS and ALEXIS SPIVAK in Federal Way, Washington at the Junior National Championships in mid-August. Good Luck - GO EXPRESS!! Link

• EXPRESS WOMEN ARE SENIOR STATE CHAMPIONS!!! Team finishes in 3rd in Combined Men/Women scores for the long course meet!!! Congratuations to all particapants - it was a total team effort!!!

• ADRIENNE BICEK PLACES 7th AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS!!! Adrienne closes out her Express Swim Team career with a fantastic 7th place finish in the 200 Butterfly. Thank You Adriennne for positively representing Express on the National and International sceenes. We know you will do fantatic things at the University of Georgia. We are proud of you. Good Luck ... Go Dawgs!!

• REGIONAL RECAP ... By the numbers ... 36 athletes .. 159 swims .. 115 season best times .. 80 medals .. 19 state cuts by 10 different swimmers. OUTSTANDING JOB! Congratulations to all!!

• BICEK WINS THE BRONZE!! In the first day of competition at the Junior Pan Pacs in Guam, Adrienne Bicek swims to a bronze medal in the 200 Meter Butterfly ... her first international competition medal!! Check out the pictures in the SwimCam ... Link

• Good Luck Adrienne Bicek!! Adrienne will be representing the USA as she competes in the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Guam. We are PROUD of you!!

• CONTRATULATIONS ADRIENNE BICEK !!! Results from the Short Course National Meet in Atlanta ...
200 IM - 18th Place - 2:00.61
100 Fly - 18th Place - 54.51
200 Fly - 4th Place - 1:56.99
We are PROUD of you!!

• Congratulations to the following EXPRESS swimmers who were recognized at the Illinois Swimming Award Banquet ... to Adrienne Bicek who received the Breakthrough Female Swimmer of the Year Award!! .. Top Times Recognition: Adrienne Bicek, Ryan Downey, Peter Errichiello, Vince Errichiello, Gabby Sims, Haley Sims and Maddy Sims. We are proud of you!!

• Congratulations Express Senior Champ Team!! First Place for the Women and Third Place Overall! Way to go team!
Results: Link

• Speedo Sectional Recap: Haley Sims swam to a Junior National Cut in the 100 Fly! Ryan Downey is the High Point for Express - 3rd - 1500, 5th - 800, 10th - 400. Lexi Spivak, Vince Errichiello & Kayla Redig post Excellent Swims.

• Congratulations Adrienne Bicek on an outstanding Olympic Trials meet. Seeded 101st, Adrienne finished in 42nd place in the 200 M Butterfly in a personal best time of 2:15.13. Adrienne also clocked personal best times in both the 100 M Fly and the 400 M IM. Contratulations!

• NEWS FLASH !!!! ADRIENNE BICEK QUALIFIES FOR THE OLYMPIC TRIALS in Omaha ... Congratulations to Adrienne on an OUTSTANDING performance in the 200 Fly capturing her Trial cut with a time of 2:16.46. WE ARE SOOOOO PROUD OF YOU!!! Press Release Link