The term “Triple Crown” is used across sports and always to reflect an accomplishment higher than simply being a one-time champion. In cycling, it refers to winning the Giro d'Italia, the Tour de France and the UCI Road World Championships Road Race in the same season. In 1999-2000 the University of Arkansas Men’s Track & Field programs became the first SEC team to ever to win the Triple Crown when they won NCAA championships in Cross Country, Indoor Track & Field and Outdoor Track & Field. And of course in 1912, Sir Barton became the first horse to win the Triple Crown by winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

In February, Excel Aquatics won the 8 & Under Championship, the Region 1 Championship and Southeastern Championship all in a span of only 8 days. However, our Triple Crown is unique in a very important way. In cycling, track, or horse racing, the Triple Crown is a celebration of the same athletes while for us, it’s won by distinctly different groups of athletes. 

The 8 & Under Championship is the least predictable because it sees the most turnover from year to year. As a majority of the point scorers are 8 years old, typically each athlete gets only one year to help win that meet. The winning team is the one who has done the best job attracting, retaining and developing young swimmers. The scoreboard is a one-year snapshot of success and our title this year doesn’t reflect our chances of repeating next year. It does, however, bode well for future Region 1, SES and national championship teams. 

The Region 1 meet, which has a qualifying standard, precludes those swimmers who have achieved a SES cut time. Swimmers in the 9-10, 11-12, 13-14 and Open age groups, can only swim in an event in which they are still striving for, but have not yet hit, an SES “A” time standard. Therefore, athletes on this team typically come from our “2” level groups. With all our growth in the 2022-23 season, Teal 2, Junior 2, Varsity 2, and Senior 2 all expanded  and it showed in the scores. Winning this meet, with our SES level swimmers sitting on the sidelines, reflects our investment in developing athletes. In fact, over half of our current National Team swimmers have come through the 2 levels. 

Finally, the SES Championship meet is a third and entirely distinct group of swimmers. While there were 11 swimmers who qualified for the SES meet at Regionals, a large majority of the SES team were swimming their first Championship of the season. Winning the SES meet is a reflection of years of effort. The SES meet highlights those teams that have developed talent at all ages. Incredibly, of the 8 age groups this year, Excel won 4 of them and placed second in 3 more. 

While we celebrate each Championship, the Triple Crown is special. By design, these 3 championships offer a spot for EVERY one of our Excel swimmers. Nobody had to ride the bench as everybody had a spot on 1 of our championship teams. What’s truly remarkable about the Triple Crown is that it requires a full-team focus. It demands that teams balance their energy on developing every age, every level and every swimmer. 

Congratulations to our whole Excel Family for a truly remarkable accomplishment.

A personal note to the Excel Family 

2032 Awards Ceremony

USA Swimming's Virtual Club Championships

IM Tough (8 and Under): Successfully complete the 50 Fly, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 200 Free and 200 IM in a meet before the end of the short course season or their 9th birthday (whichever comes first) to win an "IM TOUGH" T-shirt.
IM Tough (9-10): Successfully complete the 100 Fly, 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Free, 500 Free and 200 IM in a meet before the end of the short course season or their 11th birthday (whichever comes first) to win an "IM TOUGH" T-shirt.
Heat Winner: Place in the top three swimmers in your age group for number of races won throughout the year. This award to favor  those athletes that are attending meets, swimming  lots of events, racing hard but most importantly, improving throughout the year.  Winners will receive a "Heat Winner" bag tag.
IM Hall of Fame Level 1- Attain a Southeastern Championship Qualifying time standard in every event available for your age group.
IM Hall of Fame Level 2- Attain an Age Group Sectionals Championship Qualifying time standard in every event available for your age group.
IM Hall of Fame Level 3- Attain an NCSA Junior National Championship Qualifying time standard in every event available for your age group.  

Our Weekly Update for 3-3-23 has been released so check it out! You may have noticed that we are receiving intros from a wide variety of sources. Olympians, SEC Champions, officials, swim moms and vendors are just some of the folks who have made an appearance. If you are traveling and want to send us an intro from a unique location, we'll be sure to include it. Interested in seeing where they all come from so far? Check out Excel Aquatics from around the world below!

Gavin Fu 13-14 50 Fly- 24.08
Zara Kocak 13-15 50 Back- 27.65
Bryce Winzenread 13-14 50 Breast- 30.63
Gabe Luepke 15-18 50 Back- 23.69
Gwen Bakker 15-18 50 Breast- 28.67
Mason Schaefer, Caleb Asebrook, Gavin Fu and Kingston Dealy
13-14 200 Free Relay- 1:30.72
Mason Schaefer, Gavin Fu,  Caleb Asebrook  and Kingston Dealy
13-14 200 Medley Relay- 1:41.95
Mason Schaefer, Gavin Fu, Kingston Dealy and Caleb Asebrook
13-14 400 Free Relay- 3:20.22
Mason Schaefer, Gavin Fu, Caleb Asebrook  and Kingston Dealy
400 Medley Relay- 3:42.41
Zara Kocak, Avery Domitrovich, Lyndel Laudencia and Madeline Webb
13-14 200 Free Relay- 1:40.47