Two Jersey Wahoos Earn Their Stars & Stripes This Summer
COLORADO Springs, Colo. - The opportunity to represent your home country is something that very few people ever get to experience.
Two current members of the Middle Atlantic Swimming family have that exact privilege this summer as Henry McFadden and Maddie Waggoner, members of the Jersey Wahoos, earned their Stars & Stripes with Team USA.
McFadden was selected to be a part of Team USA for the Junior Pan Pac Championships in Honolulu, Hawaii in late August, while Waggoner represented Team USA at the Mel Zajac earlier this month in Canada.
Waggoner qualified for the National Junior Team after her performances last summer. She was second in the mile at Winter Junior National Championships back in December and followed that up by earning the Middle Atlantic Senior Championship High Point Award in March. She followed that up by winning the 500 free at the New Jersey High School State Championship with a new state record.
“We are so proud and excited for Maddie to have the opportunity to represent Team USA,” Jersey Wahoo head coach Paul Donovan said. “Maddie has continued to develop her training and racing skills through her great attendance and positive attitude towards the sport. It is clear she loves what she does and her energy positively impacts all around her, coaches included!”
The Moorestown, N.J. native not only represented Team USA, Middle Atlantic Swimming and the Jersey Wahoos, she dominated at the Mel Zajac meet, winning the 1500 free in a time of 16:37.63, eight seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.
Like his club mate, McFadden also won the Middle Atlantic Swimming High Point Award at Senior Championships earlier this year and was also a New Jersey high school state champion, taking home the 200 and 500 free titles this year.
“We are proud of and excited for Henry to represent team USA this Summer!,” Donovan said. “He is a great young man, turns up to practice, listens and tries his best on a consistent basis. His strength is his work ethic and he has focused on making gains in other areas of his performance.”
McFadden, who attends Haddonfield High School, will be swimming the 200 free at the Junior Pan Pac Championships later this summer. The championships will be held from August 24-27 in Honolulu.
