The Jersey Gators program originally started as the
Cranford Aquatic Club (CAC) in 1983. CAC had a total of about
50 swimmers when Coach Lou Petrozziello started there in his first
head coaching position. He immediately hired his brother Jimmy
as his assistant coach.
In 1984, as the team began to grow to about 100 swimmers,
Donna Breheney was added to the staff to assist with the younger
swimmers. In only the second year together they produced 4 Junior
National qualifiers and 1 New Jersey State Record. This was
quite an accomplishment since the previous year they had scored
only 12 points at the N.J. Junior Olympics and were 5th
in the dual meet league.
In 1985, CAC merged with a club training at Newark Academy
and the team became known as the Gator Aquatic Club (GAC). By
the end of 1986, the Gators had 4 U.S. Senior National qualifiers.
After two years of confusions at the nationals with all the
clubs calling themselves Gators, we changed the name, in 1987,
to the Jersey Gators, leaving no doubt who we were and where
we lived.
The Olympic Trials in 1988 is where the Jersey Gators gained
national recognition. We entered 4 swimmers and all 4 performed
very well. Joan Wojtowicz improved 31 places in the 400 Freestyle
and Todd Schroeder improved 27 places placing them both as runner
ups for Rookie of the Meet. John Kennedy finished 19th
in the 200 Freestyle breaking the Junior National Record. Ron
Karnaugh, in a heart breaking 3rd place finish, missed
the Olympic Team by just .03 seconds. After this meet the Jersey
Gators became only a Cranford based operation as coach Tom Weltchek
left for another coaching job.
In 1989, Coach Petrozziello was appointed as a U.S. National
Team Coach. He met many world class swimmers who were interested
in the Jersey Gators and would eventually swim for them. It
was known in the Soviet Union. Alex Savtchenco, a Soviet national
team member, contacted Coach Petrozziello from the Goethels
Bridge, about swimming on our team. He knew that we were someplace
in New Jersey! Our club became the first in U.S. swimming history
to have a Soviet swimmer as a team member. The team finished
14th at the U.S. Senior National Long Course Championships
in Los Angeles that summer.
Shortly afterward the team merged with the Sussex-Warren
Aquatic Club (SWAC) coached by the illustrious Ed Dellert, who
had just come out of a one year retirement. The Jersey Gators
name was retained because of the national recognition and scholarship
opportunities.
The merger was a reunion of sorts for the two coaches who
had coached together in 1980 and 1981. At Fanwood-Scotch Plains
YMCA, Coach Dellert with his assistant, Coach Petrozziello,
finished a shocking 4th place at the YMCA Nationals.
The two had so much fun and the team swam so well, that the
dynamic duo knew that when the opportunity to coach together
arose, it would be an exciting time.
Quickly, Coach Dellert developed 4 Junior National swimmers
in his first 2 years matching what Lou had done in 1984. This
got Lou's attention and they were off to the coaching races.
In 1991, the age group program started to improve at a tremendous
rate as the coached focused on their future stars. The team
finished 3rd at the N.J. Senior State Championships.
At the 1992 Olympic Trials, the Jersey Gators entered 4
swimmers as in 1988 but this time the team would not be denied.
On the first day, Scott Jaffe, one of the swimmers Coach Petrozziello
met as a result of his National Team experience, made the team
in the 200 Freestyle finishing fourth and qualifying for the
800 Freestyle Relay. (He later won an Olympic Bronze medal on
the 800 Freestyle Relay).
On the third day, John Miranda slipped on the block in the
100 Free and came up on Matt Biondi's knees at the start. He
finished in 9th place just missing the finals where 6 people
were chosen as Olympic Team members. John's tough break did
not hurt his other teammates.
Ron Karnaugh won the 200 Individual Medley in Trials record
time and finally realized his Olympic dream after 4 hard, frustrating
years. The Jersey Gators were now an internationally recognized
U.S. Olympian-producing club.
The Jersey Gators started to diversify and took on new and
different types of challenges. In the summer of 1996, a new
first for a New Jersey Club developed. The Jersey Gators would
try their hands at Marathon Swimming. Again, the Gators struck
gold with a first place finish by John Gatti, in the annual
swim around Manhattan. Gator John Gatti, or 'Johnny Gator' as
we called him, swam the 28 1/2 mile course in 7 hours and 14
minutes breaking the old course record by 12 minutes. Johnny
Gator was a New York Celebrity and the 'D-Man' ruled King of
Manhattan.
In 1997, Ron Karnaugh, now 30 plus years old, qualified
for 1997 World Short Course Championships in Sweden by winning
his 4th National Championship. After 25 years of
competitive swimming, 'The Big Old Gator' realized 2 of his
lifelong goals: The American Record in the 400M Individual Medley
and graduating from medical school! Breaking the old record
held by Eric Namesnick and beating out Chad Carvin in the process,
Ron showed that he was one smart, mean, 'Big Old Gator!'
The Jersey Gators success is not all at the top. The little
Gators have produced a remarkable dual meet record (Over 75%
wins) showing great pride and determination to be the best they
can. We hope to develop a few more Olympians from this group,
since we have the experience to get you there!
