Everyday he's hustlin. . .

Heeeeeyyyyy! Remember us?

We’re slowly getting back into the swing of things. That means we’re bound to be slow on general swim news for a while. We tend to peak during the summer when we’re up to our armpits is lots of swim news and swim trips. We hope this summer is no exception.

But for now, we thought we should say a little something as founders of the Austin Staab Fan Club. The latest news is that he has taken a leave of absence from Stanford.

“In other news, defending NCAA 100-yard butterfly champion, Austin Staab, has taken a leave of absence from Stanford University for a private and personal matter and will return to Stanford at a later date. Staab (Westerville, Ohio), a junior and 13-time All-American for the No. 2-ranked Cardinal, informed the team of his decision this week. Stanford asks for privacy in regards to this matter, both to the Staab Family and the Stanford Swim Program”

We’re not going to pry, not that we’d know how to even if we wanted to. We wish Austin well, but are a little bummed given that the Men’s NCAA Swimming & Diving Championship are right here in his hometown (Columbus, OH) and you know he would have received a ton of support as he defended his 100y Fly title.

That’s life, though. Best wishes, Austin! But in his absence, the Fan Club will carry on!

The Staabster strikes again!

It’s only been a short while since we revived the Austin Staab Fan Club and here comes news that Austin has claimed the NCAA record — and his first individual title — in addition to bettering his own brand new American Record set at the recent Pac-10 Championships. The new record stands at 44.18.

It’s been an eventful month for Austin, and it’s nice to see him continue to excel! The Fan Club is impressed.

Thanks to my local newspaper, the Columbus Dispatch, I finally have learned that Austin was M.I.A. last Spring/Summer due to shoulder surgery. Yay for the internet research!

I know it’s appeared that our posts reppin’ for Austin Staab have disappeared. We can explain!

See, what had happened was…

#1. He completely fell off our radar last Spring/Summer after NCAAs. And, to our knowledge, did not compete at the Olympic Trials.

#2. Our West Coast Correspondent left the Bay Area, in favor of SoCal, and no longer can make a short 20 minute trip to Stanford to check in on young Austin.

I’m from his hometown, but it’s not like he competes for WAC anymore. So, our bad!

Anyway….this post is to congratulate Austin on that bad ass 100y Fly he swam Friday at the Pac-10 Championships. He turned in a 44.69 to establish not only a new Pac-10 and Stanford Record, but also American Record that previously belonged to teh Crockah. You may now refer to Sir Staab as ‘American Record Holder Austin Staab’. Bad. Ass.

It does have a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

No really! You’d be surprised what info gets through on some psych sheets!

I was checking out the competition for this weekend’s Long Beach Grand Prix, which is rockin’ a new main sponsor in Vintage Design Incorporated (instead of Toyota).

Everything seemed normal, including the Lochtenator taking on fiftyeleven events. You know how he do!

Anyway, I noticed an entry by the name of “Miracle Man J Ritter” from Tuscon Ford Aquatics. Miracle Man J is better known as Columbus area native (represent!) Adam Ritter.

I’d love to know the story behind that! But he gets some major keepin’ it real points for entering a meet in this manner. Bad ass, Adam. Bad. Ass.

Check out the proof below the cut… Continue Reading »

I had another dentist appoint today. You know what that meant, right? Yup. More swim chat with my hygienist.

We talked about NCAAs and how the OSU women put together a Top 15 finish with only diving points. Then we talked about how the women’s head coach had been let go. No NCAA swimming points from a program like Ohio State was unacceptable.

After I returned home, I went to the Ohio State athletic website to see if there were any updates on the coaching search and sure enough there was. The new OSU women’s swim coach is Bill Dorenkott, who has coached the Penn State Nittany Lion women for 10 years and the men for 7.

Departing coach Jeanne Fleck, who was at the helm of the program for 9 years, has taken the head coaching job at Fresno State.

Here’s to hoping the new hire ushers in an era of change for the lady Buckeyes. Lord knows they could use it!

Continuing our role of being the Austin Staab Fan Club, we are pleased to report that Austin has just been named the “Pac-10 Swimming Newcomer of the Year”. Congrats to him!

Austin Staab, Fr., Stanford
Staab, from Westerville, Ohio, is a six-Time All-American in his freshman season and Pac-10 Champion in the 100 fly. Staab finished third at the NCAA Championships in the 100 fly (45.61). He was a member of the school-record 400 medley relay team (3:05.43) that finished third at the NCAA Championships. He also was a member of the 200 free relay (1:17.47) team that finished 4th. Staab was a member of the 200 medley relay (1:24.95) that finished 4th at the NCAA Championships and a member of the 400 free relay (2:51.46) that finished 4th at the NCAA Championships. Staab finished 15th in the 50 free (19.59) at the NCAA Championships and 20th in the 100 free (43.33) in the prelims of the NCAA Championships. Staab also tied Ben Wildman-Tobriner’s school record in the 100 fly (45.36).

I saw Austin’s former club team at the Ohio State Grand Prix last weekend. I thought about how cool it would have been if her were here competing too. But he was likely recovering from his awesome showing at NCAAs the previous weekend.

Check out some pics from NCAAs at TheSwimPictures.com.

Ok, maybe I’m annoyed because it’s my hometown and the first big USA Swimming National meet that it’s hosted. Maybe it’s because I’m still tired from the alteration of my sleeping schedule.

This meet’s official title was Toyota Grand Prix at the Ohio State University. To many locals it was simply the Ohio State Grand Prix.

But nowhere has or was this meet ever named the “Columbus Grand Prix”, so stop calling it that! This reminds me of last summer’s Japan International Meet that so many mistakenly referred to as the Japan Open. That truly puzzled me.

The Ohio State University is located in Columbus, OH. We’re glad people know that.

No one was calling the Stanford Grand Prix the “Palo Alto Grand Prix” were they? No.

Stop the madness, I say!