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Mission
& History
In Summer 2006, Ann
Arbor-area swim clubs joined swimmers, leadership and resources to
become Club Wolverine Swimming serving the needs of area swimmers
from developmental instruction, to age-group competition, to
national and international experience.
As two clubs joined
together, the nationally recognized CW offers unique opportunities
for Ann Arbor-area swimmers of all ages and training levels. In the
team’s first championships after reorganization, CW swept
National Long Course Championships as well as Michigan State
Championships. We look forward to exciting developments at
age-group, national team, and Oympic levels.
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Club Wolverine is a
501(c)3 nonprofit corporation registered in the State of Michigan.
The club is affiliated with Michigan Swimming, Inc., and USA
Swimming, the governing body for amateur swimming in the United
States. Since the club’s establishment, generally more
than 400 age group swimmers participate in the club over the course
of the year. Also, approximately 40
swimmers, including some former age group athletes, were training
in the club’s High Performance program leading up to the
2008 Olympic Trials. The club continues to attract new
swimmers who must be evaluated by a coach prior to registering for
the team (see
Swim
Groups).
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Our
Mission:
“Club Wolverine’s
mission is to develop swimmers of all levels in a
nationally recognized program that represents the greater Ann Arbor
community, as part of a team supported by outstanding coaches and
parents."
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Club
Wolverine
For almost 30 years,
Club Wolverine had been the summer training program for University
of Michigan swimmers. The legendary Gus Stager started the program
so his Michigan swimmers could train year-round without having to
leave campus in the summer. In 1983, Jon Urbanchek directed the
program while also taking over as head coach of men’s
swimming at Michigan. Having sent more than two dozen athletes to
the Olympics in his 40 years of coaching, Urbanchek credits the CW
program as key to developing a long list of national and
international success. Athletes such as Mike Barrowman, Tom Dolan,
Tom Malchow, Eric Namesnik, Chris Thompson and many others achieved
Olympic success under Coach Urbanchek.
In 2004, Coach Bob Bowman became head coach of
the Michigan men’s program and coached the Club Wolverine
High-Performance athletes through the 2008 Olympics in Beijing,
before leaving to return to the North Baltimore Aquatic Club. He
built on the success of coaches Stager and Urbanchek. As the
long-time coach of multiple Olympic Gold medalist and world record
holder Michael Phelps, Bowman continued the CW tradition of
developing world-class swimmers, including 2008 Olympic medalists
Peter Vanderkaay (1 Gold, 1 Silver), Eric Vendt (1 Gold), and
Allison Schmitt (1 Bronze), in addition to Michael Phelps record
setting 8 Gold Medals.
In late 2005, Coach Bowman tapped Wolverine
Aquatics Head Coach
Eric
Namesnik to expand the CW
collegiate/national program into a full-spectrum age-group swim
program. "Snik," a two-time Olympic silver medalist (1992, 1996)
and a former Michigan assistant coach under Urbanchek, was an ideal
choice to lead Ann Arbor age-group swimming programs under the
unifying banner of Club Wolverine.
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By the time a tragic
car accident ended Snik’s life in early January 2006, his
vision for the future of swimming in Ann Arbor was
clear.
Ann Arbor age-group
swim clubs, including Wolverine Aquatics and Ann Arbor Swim Club,
remained committed to a full-spectrum program from development to
national team. Even after Snik’s death, the clubs continued
the work of bringing this vision to reality.
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Learn
more about the life of Eric
Namesnik and donate to the Memorial Fund for his young
children.
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Wolverine Aquatics
Founded in Ann Arbor,
the age-group program known as Wolverine Aquatics was formed in
1997 on the premise of "teaching competitive swimming with a focus
on the individual, at all levels."
Research, biomechanics and kinesiology
formulated a technique-oriented focus that began with Wolverine
Aquatics first head coach Jason Lancaster and was further developed
by Bethany Williston. Head Coach and engineer Joe Plane elevated
training and skill development during the program’s
evolution.
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Desire.
Dedication.
Determination.
Snik 3D
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Finally, head coach, kinesiologist and
educator
Eric
Namesnik brought the premise of
"teaching the individual at all ability levels" to its full
potential. The club, with its philosophy of "Building quality
people, in and out of the water, every day," enhanced the lives of
hundreds of area age-group swimmers since
1997.
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Ann Arbor Swim
Club
During the
short-course season just before the reorganization, the Ann Arbor
Swim Club proudly celebrated its 50th anniversary as an age-group
swim club. Founded in 1956 by the legendary RoseMary Mann Dawson,
daughter of one-time Michigan swimming coach Matt Mann, II, AASC
also traces its roots back to Michigan
swimming.
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The Ann Arbor Swim
Club produced about 60 state champions; several YMCA National
Champions; hundreds of National Top 16 swims; and advanced many
young swimmers to collegiate swim programs where they went on to
experience national, international and Olympic
competition.
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To learn more, see the
online anniversary journal,
"50 Split: The
First 50 Years of Ann Arbor Swim
Club."
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In its 50 years the
club saw many changes in the sport of swimming and saw its numbers
swell from about 60 in the late 1950s to about 300 by 2006. AASC
was ranked a two-time Silver medal club by USA Swimming for its
performances during 2004-05 and 2005-06.
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