Husky Swimming Foundation

The Husky Swimming Foundation is proud to announce some exciting news:  the 63rd Annual Husky Invitational will be the biggest edition of the meet since it’s inception in the 1940s!  We will be hosting over 650 athletes and 50 clubs from around the United States and Canada.

This is a huge endeavor and we are in need of volunteers.  Due to the size of the meet, we will be running two competition pools for the preliminary sessions, which means we need to double our volunteer effort.  If you can find a way to donate a few hours of your time, the Husky Swimming Foundation would greatly appreciate it.

We are seeking timers for all sessions.  The meet begins on Friday, December 2nd and concludes Sunday, December 4th. Morning sessions begin at 9:30am. Evening sessions begin at 6:00pm on Friday and Saturday and at 5:00pm on Sunday. We need volunteers to arrive 30 minutes prior to each start time.

The swimming community is supporting our organization in incredible numbers and we need the Husky community to help make the Husky Invitational a great experience for everyone.  If you can help us out, please email Ryan Stratton as soon as possible…

For more meet information, or to see the Psych Sheet for this year’s meet, please visit our meet information page.

The Husky Swimming Foundation is hosting two BIG events, both of which are less than one month away.  We need the help of our alumni and supporters to ensure the HSF Holiday Party and the 63rd Husky Invitational are successful:

HSF Holiday Party:

• WHEN: Thursday, December 1, 2011 at 6:00pm
• WHERE: Columbia Tower Club in downtown Seattle, Washington
• WHO: Alumni and Supporters of Husky Swimming
• WHY: To celebrate Husky Swimming; to further the mission of the Husky Swimming Foundation; and to celebrate the ASCA Hall of Fame induction of Coach Earl Ellis
• RSVP: We have over 70 committed alumni and we’re looking for more–please don’t miss out!  Click Here to RSVP via Email

63rd Husky Invitational Swim Meet:

We need volunteers!!  We need timers.  We need runners.  We need heat sheet salesmen.  Please help us make this year’s addition of the Husky Invitational as successful as the last.  We can’t do it without your help.

• WHEN: Friday-Sunday, December 2-4, 2011 (morning & evening shifts)
• WHERE: King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Washington
• WHO: You…we need you!
• VOLUNTEER: Please contact Ryan Stratton to volunteer your time

We look forward to seeing all of you next month.  Come see old teammates, friends & coaches and be a part of something special.  Our efforts to support swimming in the Northwest and to keep Husky Swimming alive are dependent on you!

By now you should have received your invitation to the Husky Swimming Foundation Holiday Party.  We will be reuniting as Alumni and Supporters, celebrating the ASCA Hall of Fame Induction of Earl Ellis, and soliciting support for the Foundation and the 63rd Husky Invitational:

The HSF board is issuing a challenge to our alumni and supporters!  As we near the 63rd edition of the Husky Invitational, we are reaching out to you for help in making this year’s meet more successful than ever.  Last year, HSF was able to raise significant funds and build incredible community goodwill at the Husky Invite.  However, we want to do even better in 2011.  We need your help in two areas:  (1) Financial Support and (2) Volunteers.

At the suggestion of the “old guard” we are seeking help in areas based on your era of Husky Swimming.  The charter members of the original Husky Swim Club are working to sponsor the awards for this year’s meet.  Why not get our other generations involved as well?!?  So here is the challenge:  Reach out to your old teammates and encourage them to join you in opening your wallets just a bit (no donation is too small).  Each generation of swimmers will be charged with an area of the meet and we’ll see who can meet their goal first.  Here are assignments for each major expense of the meet:

• Charter Members: Awards
• 1960-1975: Hospitality
• 1976-1995: Meet Supplies
• 1996-2009: Programs & Postage

If each of our groups can raise $1,500, then the bulk of our costs will be covered and the Husky Invite will see another successful and fast meet.  The winning “team” will get a commemorative medal for each contributing member of the team.

You can contribute by check or by using our online contribution format (allows for both credit card and PayPal transactions).  If you are able to support the meet, please make sure to send Ryan Stratton an email with your name, address and Class Year and then contribute online or by mailing a check to: Husky Swimming Foundation, 398 S. 9th St., Suite 290, Boise, ID  83702.  Remember, all contributions to the Husky Swimming Foundation are tax deductible!

If you are interested in contributing a few hours of volunteer efforts, then please get in touch with Ryan or Kelly Corcoran.  The meet is December 2-4 and we will need timers and officials for morning and evening sessions!

Thanks for all of your support!

-The HSF Board

As the summer draws to a close, we’re gearing up for the first annual Pacific Northwest Swimming Cocktail Party, presented by the Husky Swimming Foundation. Mark your calendars for December 1st and we hope to see everyone at the Columbia Tower Club in downtown Seattle—invitations with event details will be mailed shortly. If you aren’t sure we have your current contact information, please drop us a line at info@huskyswimmingfoundation.com. Looking forward!

The Husky Swimming Foundation is hosting the 2011 Western Region Short Course Sectionals this coming week.  It promises to be an exciting five days of swimming with 900 athletes competing from across the western United States. We are in desperate need of some volunteers to help with a few areas of the meet.  If you are a supporter of Husky Swimming and can donate some time to help with one or more sessions, please email Bill Patterson.

We look forward to seeing you on the deck for what promises to be an exciting meet!

We have closed the book on the 62nd Edition of the Husky Invitational and are now setting our sights on the 2011 Western Regional SC Sectionals.  The Husky Swimming Foundation will serve as the meet host for this event and will again be seeking volunteers, participants and sponsorships.  If you have any questions or are willing to help, please consult our meet information page or contact the meet director, Brandon Drawz.

The sun has finally set on 2010, and along with it, the 62nd Edition of the Husky Invitational.  The Husky Swimming Foundation made a commitment to revive this meet as a way to preserve one of many proud traditions of Husky Swimming. We faced a stiff challenge, but the resolve of this group successfully re-established one of the great meets in the Pacific Northwest.

We had a modest goal of 300 swimmers and a handful of teams.  Instead, we welcomed 450 collegiate and club swimmers representing 30 teams.  We welcomed teams from Arizona, Montana, Oregon, California, Idaho, Washington and Alaska. We witnessed incredibly fast swims, countless standards surpassed, unbelievable sportsmanship, and an undeniable buzz about the long-term objectives of the Husky Swimming Foundation and the future of this meet.

It was wonderful to see so many former Huskies at the meet as well—participating, coaching, helping.  Cat Clark, Ryan Stratton, Kelsey (Keller) Stratton, Robert Roosa, Fergus Hudson, Brian Nelson, Brandon Drawz, Jody Braden, Tommy Hannan, Joann Brislin, Mark Prothero, Bill Patterson, Genevieve Patterson, Julie Massey, Jana Vincent and others… And we all enjoyed seeing Coach Earl Ellis walk the deck, stop watch in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

There is a long list of people to thank and we’ll start with the those whose sponsorships made this meet happen:

• The Jeker Family Trust
• Sylvia’s Swimwear
• The Law Offices of Catherine C. Clark
• Stratton & Associates PLLC
• The Jody Braden Family
• Crane Dunham LLC
• Olive Garden
• Chipotle Mexican Grill
• Ivars
• Zeeks Pizza
• Quiznos

We also need to recognize many of our volunteers whose commitment to Husky Swimming was unwavering over the course of a long meet:

• Brandon Drawz (Meet Director)
• Ron Van Pool (Meet Referee)
• Bill Patterson (Hospitality)
• Mark Prothero (Announcer)
• Cam Gravrock (Sponsorships)
• Kiko Van Zandt (Clerk of Course)
• Joann Brislin (Clerk of Course)
• Patty Stratton (Clerk of Course & Entries)

And last, but certainly not least, our many volunteer timers and officials.  We could not have done it without these people!

So hats off to everyone for helping the Husky Swimming Foundation put together a truly wonderful event.  We have received a lot of positive feedback and perhaps most importantly, commitments from our attendees to compete again in 2011 at the 63rd edition of this great meet.  Mark your calendars—we’re already looking forward to it!

We are off and racing!  We started with a modest goal of 300 swimmers.  We begin the meet today with 450 enthusiastic swimmers and supporters of the Husky Swimming Foundation.  We need to give a HUGE thank you to all of our volunteers:  timers, officials, runners, and everyone in between–this meet is a success because of you–THANKS!

Live results are available on our meet page (click tab above) and we will update our site each day with a full PDF version of the session results.

If you would still like to come down and help, we’d love to have you!  Please join us and enjoy the resurgence of the Husky Invitational!

The Husky Invitational is fast approaching and we are seeking volunteers to help us put together a great meet.  We primarily need timers and runners and we will also have a few other random jobs to assign.  If you can donate just a few hours of your time, it would go a long way towards re-establishing Husky Swimming in the Northwest.

We will need at least 16 timers for all six sessions and we anticipate each session to last less than four hours. If you are interesting in lending support, please contact Ryan Stratton and we will get you assigned to a session and lane!

Go Dawgs!

HSF Board