Metropolitan King County Council 516 Third Ave., Rm. 1200 Seattle, WA 98104 Phone: 206-296-1000 Toll Free: 800-325-6165 TTY/TDD: 206-296-1024 Fax: 206-296-0198 council@kingcounty.gov |
Aug. 13, 2008 Local swimming enthusiasts take pride in Michael Phelps and other Olympic swimmers with regional tiesWith the Twenty Ninth Olympiad underway in Beijing, China, the eyes of the world and our community are fixated on a venue known as the “Water Cube.” China’s National Aquatics Center is hosting the Olympic pool competition from August 9th through August 17th, and the American team with regional ties has been making waves.
King Aquatic Club has been ranked as the number one swimming club in the Pacific Northwest and top ranked in the USA for more than 40 years. Now King Aquatic Club’s acclaim has gone global. This year’s United States Olympic Swim Team contains three members of King Aquatic Club who train at the King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Sean Hutchison, head swim coach for King Aquatic Club, was named to the 2008 U.S. Women’s Olympic Swim Team Coaching Staff as one of three assistant coaches. Margaret Hoelzer and former gold medalist Megan Jendrick (Quann) qualified for the 2008 U.S. Women’s Olympic Swim Team. Both Hoelzer and Jendrick are also members of King Aquatic Club.
Earlier this year the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way hosted some of the nation's best collegiate athletes from March 27-29 for the NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships.
"The King County Aquatic Center is one of the nation's top swimming and diving facilities, and is just one of only a handful in the country recognized as a world-class venue for international competitions," said Aquatic Center Director Mike Dunwiddie prior to the Championships.
King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer gave the opening remarks at the NCAA Championships and greeted the collegiate athletes prior to the start of the competition, as well as presented the awards to the top finishers in the 200-yard Individual Medley.
“As most of us have now realized by following the first week of this year’s Summer Olympics in Beijing, the United States is home to the greatest swimming talent in the world,” said Councilmember von Reichbauer. “While Americans watch with amazement as Michael Phelps seemingly breaks every record ever set in the pool, our community is also proud of our hometown heroes from King Aquatic Club who are representing our country admirably. I am just happy to have been a small part of the larger community effort over the years to support swimming in our region.”
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