Badger Swim Club Holds Off New York Athletic Club Postgrads to Win Metropolitan Championships

BRONX, New York, February 28. A few Olympians and national team members gave the Metropolitan senior short course winter championships a boost last weekend in New York City, where the Badger Swim club took the overall team title a few points ahead of the New York Athletic Club.

Badger’s team of mostly 18-and-under swimmers was able to score 1,382 points over the postgrad squad from NYAC, who finished with 1,365. These were the only two teams to accumulate more than 1,000 points at the meet.

Ryan Feeley, a postgrad from the University of Michigan and a top open water swimmer, was the meet’s male high point winner with 104 points. Feeley, a New York state native who trained at Badger under John Collins’ guidance, won four events and broke four meet records. He won the 1000 free in a 9:01.12, breaking a 30-year-old meet record of 9:01.30 set in 1983 by Tony Corbisiero, a standout at Columbia University in the 1980s. Another meet record fell to Feeley in the 200 free, as he posted a 1:36.12 to break Nicholas Schwab’s record of 1:38.10 from prelims that erased a 1984 record of 1:38.88. The 200 free time was just three tenths off his lifetime best of 1:35.81 from the 2012 Big 10 conference championships.

Feeley’s next win and meet record came in the 500 freestyle, where he posted a 4:20.09 to beat the 1994 record of 4:25.76 by Ken McFayden. Feeley’s final record came in the 1650 free, posting a 14:54.36 to break his own record of 15:11.36 from 2009. In addition to those wins, Feeley was fourth in the 50 free with a 20.59 and ninth in the 100 free with a 45.42.

Brett Fraser, an Olympian from the Cayman Islands, won the 100 free with a 43.85. He beat out Australian Olympian Matt Targett, who notched a 44.29 for second place. Targett got a win of his own, posting a 19.73 in the 50 free.

Kim Vandenberg, a 2008 Olympian for the USA, was the star of the women’s competition, winning five events to take the high point women’s award. She took the 200 free with a 1:49.43 and the 100 fly with a 54.83 in back-to-back races. She also won the 50 free (23.44), 100 free (49.86) and 200 fly (2:00.05).

Nick Schwab and Patrick Conaton each set meet records for Badger. Schwab swam a 3:50.35 in the 400 IM prelims to break Michael Domagala’s mark of 3:53.54 from 2013 before scratching from finals. He also won the 200 breast with a 2:00.34 to break Ryan Hurley’s meet record of 2:01.05 from 2012. As for Conaton, he posted a lifetime best 1:44.64 to win the 200 back and break the meet record of 1:44.72 he swam in prelims, which Domagala’s 1:47.15 from last year. Conaton’s previous best was 1:45.46 from the December nationals.

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