WestChesterBuzz.com

Rachel Richardson and Adam Kiefaber report

A Lakota West graduate and former member of the Mason Manta Ray swim team will go up against some of the nation’s best swimmers Thursday at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Nebraska.

Stephen Koch, who helped set school records at Lakota West and now swims at Ohio State, will compete in the 200-meter breaststroke against the likes of Michael Phelps, who won a record-breaking eight gold medals in swimming at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Koch is vying for one of 52 spots – 26 men and 26 women – on the USA Olympic swim team to represent the nation at the 2012 London Olympic Games.

Of the 300,000 registered swimmers in USA Swimming, only about 1,700 — or less than one-third of one percent — were invited to try out for the USA Olympic swim team.

The trials are being televised live each night from 8-9 p.m. on NBC. Results are also posted on the USA Swimming website.

Koch, along with Alex Hart, Michael Hart and Brendan McNamara hold the Lakota West record in the 200-meter medley relay with a time of 1.38.75, as well as in the 400-meter freestyle relay with a time of 3:15.51. Koch also holds the Lakota West record in the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 1.54.24. All three school records were set in late February of 2009, according to WestFirebirds.com.

Posted in: News, Sports |

Tags: Tags: 2012 Summer Olympics, Lakota West, Lakota West sports, Lakota West swimming, Olympics, Stephen Koch, Stephen Koch 2012 Summer Olympics, Stephen Koch Olympics

Olympic gold medal gymnast Jaycie Phelps will give fitness tips during the Health Challenge 6000 to be held this Saturday, Jan. 22, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Miami University Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester.

Phelps, who was a member on the 1996 Olympic gold medal U.S. women’s gymnastics team, will give advice on how to stay fit on a busy schedule at the event. Afterwards, Phelps will stay to sign autographs.

The event will also provide people with information regarding health resources offered within the local community. The event will also feature a group push-up relay challenge, which will feature 60 West Chester community leaders.

For more information, contact Destination Fitness at 513-623-8422 or e-mail info@yourdestinationfitness.com. Space is limited.

The Miami University VOA is located at 7847 VOA Park Drive.

Posted in: Events, Recreational events |

Tags: Tags: fitness, gold medal, gymnastics, Jaycie Phelps, Miami University, Olympics, VOA, Voice of America Learning Center

Olympic gold medal gymnast Jaycie Phelps will give fitness tips during the Health Challenge 6000 to be held Jan. 22 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Miami University Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester.

Phelps, who was a member on the 1996 Olympic gold medal U.S. women’s gymnastics team, will give advice on how to stay fit on a busy schedule at the event. Afterwards, Phelps will stay to sign autographs.

The event will also provide people with information regarding health resources offered within the local community. The event will also feature a group push up relay challenge, which will feature 60 West Chester community leaders.

For more information, contact Destination Fitness at 513-623-8422 or e-mail info@yourdestinationfitness.com. Space is limited.

The Miami University VOA is located at 7847 VOA Park Drive.

Posted in: Events, Recreational events |

Tags: Tags: fitness, gold medal, gymnastics, Jaycie Phelps, Miami University, Olympics, VOA, Voice of America Learning Center

The U.S. Girls’ Youth Olympic indoor volleyball team, which featured Lakota West senior Liz McMahon (photo), finished with the silver medal after losing the gold-medal match to Belgium, 17-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-12 Aug. 26.

McMahon, who is listed at 6-foot-6 on the Firebirds’ roster, didn’t play in the gold-medal match after breaking her arm in an accidental fall while in the Olympic Village.

“Unfortunately in sports there are things that you cannot control,” U.S. Girls’ Youth Olympic team head coach Rod Wilde said in a press release. “Elizabeth was simply walking up to the Village to get something to eat and tripped over a little chain that was across the road and landed on her arm and broke her arm.”

Prior to her fall, McMahon was playing extremely well.

In the team’s first match of the Olympics, a 25-22, 15-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-11 win against Belgium, McMahon led USA with 12 kills. She added 12 points (seven kills, three blocks and two aces) in a win against Egypt and 12 kills in the semifinal win against Japan.

“It’s something we had no control over. You take your top scorer from your team and obviously that’s a big part of your offense and transition. She was our top scorer, so obviously that impacts how well we can play,” Wilde said after the loss in the gold-medal match.

Photo is credited to Xinhua-SYOGOC

Posted in: Fall sports, Schools, Sports |

Tags: Tags: 2010 Youth Olympic Games, Lakota West, Liz McMahon, Olympics, U.S. Volleyball Team, University of Illinois volleyball, volleyball

Proctor & Gamble, which has an office in West Chester, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today a global partnership for the next five Olympic Games from London 2012 through the 2020 Olympic Games.

“P&G is proud to support the Olympic Movement for the next 10 years,” P&G Global Marketing and Brand Building Officer Marc Pritchard said. “But, we know from our successful results in Vancouver that this is about much more than a sponsorship.”

The financial terms were not released in the company’s official release, but the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that four-year Olympic sponsorships are worth about $100 million.

The company also announced that it would donate an additional $50,000 to help cover training and expenses for elite U.S. athletes.

“We are thrilled to continue our commitment to the global Olympic Movement with our new global Olympic partnership, but also by showing the families of all U.S. Olympians, Paralympians and hopefuls that we appreciate their dedication to Team USA,” Procter & Gamble Vice President Kirk Perry said.

Perry added that due to the success seen during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, P&G is in the early stages of evaluating plans to host a family home facility at the London 2012 Olympic Games for all U.S. athletes, similar to the one in Vancouver at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The P&G Family Home was a place where all U.S. athletes and their families could relax, do laundry, entertain their children and participate in other family activities.

Proctor & Gamble uses the Beckett Ridge Technical Center, which is located at 8256 Union Centre Blvd.

Posted in: Business, News |

Tags: Tags: London 2012, Olympics, Proctor & Gamble, sponsorship