Elizabeth Pelton Moving to T2 Aquatics; Erika Erndl Earns First International Trip

NAPLES, Florida, August 23. WORLD Championship gold medalist Elizabeth Pelton is on the move, heading from the North Baltimore Aquatic Club to T2 Aquatics in Florida.

Pelton, who won her first World gold medal as a part of the U.S. women's 400 medley relay winning team at the 2011 FINA World Championships in Shanghai, has elected to spend her senior year in Naples with former personal coach Paul Yetter. Pelton trained with Yetter from 2006-09 while Yetter was a member of the coaching staff at NBAC.

"Elizabeth just started with us yesterday, and was wearing a T2 cap in our pool," Yetter told Swimming World. "I come at this from a very humble, and appreciative, angle. My mentor is Coach Bob Bowman at NBAC, and the team I've learned much from as a coach is NBAC. One of the great things about being part of Team USA is that we have a lot of coaches contributing in a lot of ways. It's my hope that however long I am coaching Elizabeth, I can help contribute to her progression just the same as Coach Bowman did at NBAC, and how Coach Teri McKeever will do when Pelton moves on to swim for the University of California."

T2 Aquatics had some other exciting news as well as Erika Erndl made her first international team at the age of 33. Erndl was basically the first team member at T2 when it formed in July 2010. Erndl had been a swimmer at the University of North Carolina, but stopped swimming as she moved on with her life.

Erndl caught the bug to swim again in 2007 when her husband, Kevin (now the T2 team president), began training for triathlons. Erndl wound up competing in 2008, going so far as to swim at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. This summer, she made her first international team with a spot on the U.S. roster headed to Guadalajara, Mexico in October for the 2011 Pan American Games.

"Erika knows she's a good swimmer, and could potentially improve and get even better," Yetter told Swimming World. "Nowadays, we realize swimmers even in their 30s and 40s can continue to get faster as they get stronger and more mentally capable to deal with the daily challenges of training at a high level. Making an international team has certainly been one of Erika's goals. The opportunity to wear a USA cap and flag with your name on it is the type of honor that just doesn't get bestowed on everyone. It's an honor we take very seriously. We are thrilled that she has been chosen, and we couldn't be more excited for the upcoming Pan Am meet."

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