Michael Duderstadt Qualifies For Olympic Trials!!

"Duder" Becomes First Member In PCST History To Qualify For The Nation's Most Prestigious Meet!

When one thinks of the most exciting pressure filled swim meet in the world, the first thing that comes to mind is the Olympics.  Those that are deeply involved in the sport, however, will tell you that the United States Olympic Trials take that title hands down.  Every four years the USA hosts the elite competition filled with many of the world's greatest swimmers to assemble the most powerful swimming team on earth.............the USA Swimming Olympic Team.  For the first time ever, the Panama City Swim Team will be a part of that event thanks to the dreams, ambition and determination of a young Tsunami named Michael Duderstadt.

Earlier this morning at the Richard Quick Invitational at Auburn University, "Duder" swam the 200 Meter Breaststroke in a blistering 2:20.62 to qualify for "Trials" or "OT's", as they are commonly known in the swimming world.  His best time coming into the meet was a 2:24.08, and the Trials qualifying time was a 2:20.79.  Needless to say, it was going to take a big swim for him to get down there and he came through in the clutch.  Although it was a somewhat quiet morning at the Auburn pool that is home to numerous Olympic Champions, medalists and qualiifiers, the entire building was quite literally buzzing for about 30 minutes after he touched the wall.  With about 15 meters to go in his race, the crowd started to realize just how close he was to achieving this amazing accomplishment and they really got into it.  Once he touched, the well informed fans knew immediately that he had qualified and the place ERUPTED!!!  Needless to say, I was leaping up and down about as high as an NBA player in the championship finals, haha! 

The instant Duder realized he had achieved his goal, he immediately pointed in my direction with a prideful and joyous look on his face that was lit up like it was the 4th of July!!  Of course, at that point I was still jumping up and down screaming, pumping my fists in the air!  He told me later that he knew he got the cut before he even looked at the scoreboard because he could hear me screaming over the crowd.  :)  As soon as he exited the pool, he was bombarded by an excited and emotional Victoria Hove who had also made the prestigious trip to Auburn for a shot at the most elite meet in the country.  Soon thereafter, countless swimmers and coaches made their way through to congratulate the latest Trials qualifier with hugs, congratulations and encouraging words.  Once he made his way through the crowd, I was able to give him a big congratulatory hug and did what any good coach would do.............I sent him to the warm down pool to celebrate by saying "we're not done yet!"  haha! 

During his cool down, I made a futile attempt to spread the great news to the countless friends, coaches, swimmers and family members that wanted me to keep them updated on Victoria and Duder's swims this weekend.  As I pulled out my phone to send a few text messages, I realized that my hands were still shaking too much to even type a word, haha!  In fact, amidst all of the excitement, it took me nearly 45 minutes to even get my first text message out and by then word had spread so quickly that I already had numerous messages of congratulations waiting for me before I could even tell one person.  :)

Once the buzzing had slowed down a little and Duder had completed his cool down, we finally had a few minutes to ourselves to go over the race itself, including the splits, things done well and spots to improve.  My favorite part about the entire accomplishment is that when I spoke with him about the couple of places I think we can still get better, he was a sponge and was as eager as I to make those improvements for that great swim coming up in Omaha at Trials.  That constant ambition to improve is one of the many things that makes Mr. Duderstadt one of the greatest swimmers in the country.  In fact, that swim today ranks Duder as the 9th fastest 17 year old in the entire country for the 2011-2012 long course season!!!

Regardless of how things turned out this weekend at the last chance meet, I can honestly say I would have been as proud as possible of both Victoria and Duder for getting to this point in their careers.  Simply being in a position where they each had a very legitimate shot at qualifying for Olympic Trials was a tremendous accomplishment in and of itself.  While Victoria is yet to reach that goal, she still had some very good swims this weekend that proved that not only has she established herself as one of the best swimmers in all of Southeastern Swimming, but she is one of the best up and coming freshman for a new and improved University of Alabama..............and her future could not be brighter!!!  Both she and Michael have proven to our young Tsunamis that when you set your goals high and you are willing to do the work necessary to achieve them, you too can reach levels and go places beyond your wildest dreams!!  I simply could not be more proud of these two OUTSTANDING model Tsunamis.  :)

More Amazing Swims From Duderstadt and Hove at the Auburn Invite!

While it is easy to focus this entire article on Duder qualifying for Trials, there were simply too many other great swims that came out of the weekend for me to leave out.  So please join me in celebrating all of the other amazing accomplishments that both of our Tsunami leaders enjoyed this weekend at the Richard Quick Invitational in Auburn.

Victoria Hove's Great Swims!
400 IM (5:15.04) 6th place in prelims (led off with 1:07.91 Fly split which was a best time!)
200 IM (2:25.45 prelims/2:26 finals) finished 3rd overall (led off with 31.02 Fly split which was a best time!)
100 Free (1:02.58)
200 Breast (2:57.63)

Victoria's 31.02 fly split ranks her as #1 all time for PCST, and her 1:07.91 fly split ranks her as #2 all time for PCST!

Michael Duderstadt's Great Swims!
50 Free Time Trial 24.42 (best time by 0.38!!)
100 Breast Prelims 1:05.50 (3rd) Team Record breaks Cody Bronnenberg (1:07.13) from 2010
100 Breast Finals 1:05.29 (3rd) Team Record breaks Michael Duderstadt (1:05.50) from 2012
200 IM Prelims 2:09.90 (3rd) Team Record breaks Chet Seaman (2:13.81) from 2011
200 IM Finals 2:09.15 (4th) Team Record breaks Michael Duderstadt (2:09.90) from 2012
200 Breast Prelims 2:20.62 (1st) Team Record breaks Michael Duderstadt (2:24.08) from 2012
200 Breast Finals 2:39; attempted 100 Breast 1:05.84 split to try for extra shot at Olympic Trials cut (finished 3rd still in 200!)

**Duder dropped 3.3 seconds in the 100 Breast and was only 0.60 off of Olympic Trials! 

**He also dropped 4.6 seconds in the 200 IM and was only 2.60 off of Olympic Trials!

Michael Duderstadt's New Amazing Qualifying Times!
Winter Junior Nationals: 200 IM
Summer Junior Nationals: 100 Breast, 200 IM and 50 Free (bonus)
Winter Nationals: 100 Breast
OLYMPIC TRIALS: 200 Breast

For years now, the Panama City Swim Team's transition into a national powerhouse has been progressing one small step at a time, with this latest one being a nice giant leap.  However, having swimmers at the highest level is not a new thing for the Tsunamis.  In fact, just last summer PCST qualified its first ever Summer National swimmer with Cody Bronnenberg.  At the time, that meet was the highest possible competition a swimmer could attend in the entire nation.  The only two levels higher than that were the Olympic Trials and the Olympics themselves which are only hosted every four years. 

Now the Tsunamis can say.............we have reached that next level!  And I say "we" because although Duder is the one who will be attending Trials this time around, this particular achievement is a team achievement in my opinion.  While swimming is an individual sport, success is reached through a team............a family..........working hard together for a common goal.  Our Tsunamis have been training harder each season for the past 6 years to reach this level.  Each swimmer improves the person next to them through their hard work, enthusiasm, encouragement and challenges.  While Victoria and Duder are perfect examples of how that positive environment can bring greatness, it is my hope that all Tsunamis reading this realize that they too can reach whatever level they strive for.

With the Olympics in London coming our way at the end of the summer, many young swimmers will begin to dream of one day reaching that special glory.  From the inception of that dream, to the journey that takes you there, to the moment when you have a true shot at achievement....................no matter what you do...............keep believing.  You will soon realize that by simply daring to dream in the first place, and being willing to give your all to get there, you have already succeeded in ways that most others will never even understand. 

Congratulations to Michael and Victoria for daring to dream, and congratulations to each of you ahead of time for the amazing swims you have coming your way in the future.  You continue to inspire us all and I am forever thankful for each of you.  :)

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan