Swimming and diving alums to reunite this weekend
November 21, 2008 | Men's Swimming & Diving
Former athletes from across the generations of the Wisconsin men's and women 's swimming and diving teams will gather in Madison this weekend to celebrate a program with more than a century of history on the UW campus.
More than 100 swimming and diving alumni have registered to take part in a reunion weekend for the program, which is being held in conjunction with the 2008 National W Club Weekend .
The swimming and diving alums will gather tonight with hundreds of former Badgers at Monona Terrace for the National W Club's annual banquet before hosting their own dedicated social event afterward.
The event offers the former swimmers and divers a chance to catch up with old teammates while getting to know Badgers from other generations of the UW program.
'We thoroughly enjoy getting to sit down with people from the '40s, '50s, and '60s all the way up to those who competed in the last decade, ' said former UW swimmer Patrick Finley, who has helped organize the reunion. 'You get to share your experiences and share some laughs.
'It's just a terrific time.'
Saturday, the swimming and diving alumni will take part in the National W Club Tailgate Party at the UW Field House before joining their fellow former Badgers on the field at Camp Randall Stadium for the eighth-annual Letterwinners Tunnel to welcome the UW football team onto the field for the Badgers' 2:30 p.m. contest with Cal Poly.
'We're just very excited to bring back so many of our alumni for the weekend,' said Finley, who swam for the Badgers in the early 1980s. 'We all feel like part of the same team.'
Wisconsin Swimming and Diving: By the Numbers
- 313 All-America honors
- 93 Big Ten championships
- 27 Top-20 finishes at the NCAA Championships
- 11 U.S. National Team members
- 10 Olympians
- 1 Olympic gold medalist (Carly Piper, 2004)
