Our blog is officially up and running! YAY!

We are very excited and can't wait for all that we want to post and Nationals coming in July.

Featured swimmers this month- Ricky Berens and Christine Magnuson.

RICKY BERENS:



DOB: 4/21/1988
Height: 6'2
Hometown: Charlotte, NC
Current Residence: Austin, Texas
College: University of Texas (2010)
Club: Longhorn Aquatics
Major: Business
Coach: Eddie Reese
Where have we seen him?:
He made his Olympic appearance this year in Beijing with a personal best time in the 800M (4X200) Freestyle Relay with a time of: 1:46.14.
Records Held: Holds AR in 800y FR-R, set at 2008 Big 12 Championships Holds USO in 800y FR-R, set at 2008 Big 12 Championships Holds NAG (13-14) in 100y FL, set at 2003
NC Southern Zone Eastern Holds
NAG (13-14) in 200y FL, set at 2003 NC Southern Zone Eastern
Hobbies outside of swimming: Golf
Most Influential Person: Parents "They have always been there for me and are always supportive no matter what happens. They both are great people and parents and I look up to them a lot."
Favorite Movies: 300, Superbad, Supertroopers, Knocked Up
Favorite TV: Sports Center
Favorite Music: O.A.R., Umphrey's McGee, Counting Crows, Dispatch.

Noteworthy Mention: Ricky and one of our favorite bloggers and swimming legends Mel Monroe Stewart A.K.A. GOLD MEDAL MEL have a connection. Growing up Ricky swam for Olde Georgetown pool in Charlotte, where his mom, Leslie coached. Mel used to swim there as a kid and Berens met GMM at age 6 when he returned to his childhood stomping grounds to flash his gold medal to the kiddies. What a small world...

Baby Berens is one of the youngest members swimming for Team USA. Personally, we think he has great potential to do bigger and better things especially in London 2012. Berens is in the company of some epic swimmers everyday. Some of our personal favorites- The Texas Trio (Ian Crocker, Aaron Peirsol and Brendan Hansen) Garret Weber-Gale, Eric Shanteau... the list could go on. Not to mention, his coach, Eddie Reese is freakin' amazing. Much love for the Longhorn Aquatic Club!

On a side note, I am SUPER STOKED because Ricky's birthday is 7 days after mine. We'll both be turning the big 2-1 this coming year!! Can we say FIESTA?

(Written by Kimmie- thanks to swimmingteamusa.org and about.com)


CHRISTINE MAGNUSON:



DOB: October 17, 1985
Hometown: Tinley Park, Illinois
Childhood Nickname: Mags
Current Residence: Knoxville, Tennessee
College: University of Tennessee (2009)
Club: Tennessee
Major: Exercise Science
Coach: Matt Kredich

Where have we seen her?:
She competed in her first Olympics at Beijing 2008 where she came away with two silver medals. The medals are in 100 meter Butterfly and 4 x 100 meter Medley Relay. In her collegiate competitions, she won 100 yard butterfly at the 2008 SEC and NCAA Championships as well as being the recipient of the Commissioner’s Trophy after winning four gold medals at the SEC Championship. She was also named SEC Female Swimmer of the Year.
Personal Bests (as listed on the U of TN athletics website)
50m free 25.78
100m free 55.13
200m free 2:00.68
100m fly 57.30

We were lucky enough to get in touch with Christine and she took time out of her busy schedule and answered some questions that we didn’t know about her already.

How old were you when you broke your first record? I honestly don't remember
Do you remember what you first award was? What was it for? No idea.
What is your favorite place to travel to? Anywhere overseas, I love seeing new places and experiencing new cultures.
Favorite place to swim? University of Tennessee
Favorite beverage? Sunkist
Favorite food? Patio Ribs
Favorite NFL/MLB/NBA team? Chicago Bears. Other than that, I don't really get into the pro teams. I love college sports.
Celeb you look up to? None. I prefer to be inspired by my family, my teammates, and normal people that do extraordinary things.
Celeb you think or someone has told you you look like? The girl from X Men with the white strip in her hair.
What made you want to become an Olympic athlete? Just the desire to be my best.
If you weren't a swimmer what would you be doing right now? I'd probably do another sport of some kind, I love athletics.

Christine Magnuson is one of the fresh faces that appeared in the Beijing Olympics. Coming off of big wins at the SEC and NCAA Championships, she showed great promise at Beijing with her two silver medal wins. I see her doing great things to help to elevate the sport of swimming and coming home with even more medals in international competition. Something that I found exciting about Christine is that she started swimming when she was 3 and tried other sports throughout her childhood before sticking with swimming. This is exciting for me because I started playing soccer when I was 3 and tried every sport under the sun and have stuck with soccer and taekwondo into the beginnings of my adult life. Big ups to starting something early on and continuing it to the brink of perfection. Be sure look out for Christine Magnuson's name in swimming news because she will be doing big things like she has done while she was in college.

(Written by- Renae thanks to swimmingteamusa.org, about.com and the U of TN athletics website)

Labels: bb berens, christine magnuson, gold medal mel, nationals, ricky berens, swimming