Connor Jaeger: Olympian Family Pride

Part II: Olympian swimmer Connor Jaeger's family on a son, brother

This article was originally published on July 24, 2012. Connor Jaeger recently won two events in the NCAA Swim Championships.  “The idea was just to get him swim lessons so we could go to the beach club and he wouldn’t drown,” said Bernadette Jaeger, mom of Olympian swimmer Connor Jaeger as she casually chatted about her son at the breakfast nook in the kitchen of her Fair Haven home. Jaeger, now 21, was 5 years old then; those status quo lessons to stay afloat in the pool at Surfrider Beach Club, Sea Bright, turned out to be the starting line of an unbeknown lap to the 2012 Olympics. Bernadette also will be the first to tell you that there was no stage mom thrust catapulting her son’s swimming success, either. “Swimmers and swim families …

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Fair Haven to Honor Olympian Connor Jaeger With a Motorcade Friday Night

Hometown hero to ride through Fair Haven, Rumson

Fair Haven’s hometown Olympic hero, Connor Jaeger, is home. And those at home who cheered him on from the 1.7-square-mile sleepy peninsula suburb that he came home to Monday night from London will now get a chance to give him one more collective “Hoorah!” on Friday. “The plan is to ride him through Fair Haven and Rumson on a fire truck in an emergency vehicle motorcade early Friday evening,” Mayor Ben Lucarelli said. "It will start at 5:45 p.m. at the corner of Harrison Avenue and River Road. It will travel east to Ridge Road. It will then turn right onto Forest Avenue, left onto Black Point Road, right onto Bingham and back to River Road, where it will travel west on River back to the Fair Haven firehouse." The fire, EMS and police …

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Kathy's Chaos: Loving the Olympics

I wanted to be Nadia Comaneci when I was little

When I was a young girl, I dreamed of being Nadia Comaneci. You may recall that Nadia was the first female gymnast to score a perfect 10 in the 1976 Summer Olympics. She also went on to win two gold medals in the 1980 Summer Olympics. I was obsessed with Nadia. I got a leotard. I lined up the picnic table benches in my backyard and pretended they were a balance beam. I practiced back bends and hand stands. However, much to my dismay, I later discovered that one cannot be five feet 10 inches tall as I am and be an Olympic gymnast. I could dream though, couldn’t I? Now my children are at about the age I was when my Olympic dreams began. We have been watching the current London Olympic games as much as we can. There are several things I love …

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London 2012: U.S. Still Atop Medal Count

You Ess Ay, You Ess Ay, You Ess Ay!

Following "Super Saturday'' where 25 gold medals were awarded at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the U.S. retains the top spot with the highest number of gold medals at 27. The U.S. is tied with China for total numbers of all medals, knotted at 55. Host country Great Britain has made a strong showing of late, pulling in at third with 14 gold and 30 medals overall. Russia has slipped in the standings, despite winning 29 medals overall. The Russian Federation has fetched only 3 gold medals. The standings are as of Sunday morning, Eastern time. Things change quickly, however.   Rank   Country Gold  Silver Bronze Total 1 United States of America 27 13 15 55 2 People's Republic of China 25 16 14 55 3 Great Britain 14 8 8 30 4 Republic of Korea …

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Connor Jaeger's Olympic Journey

After the Race: Jaeger Pride Prevails

Fair Havenite and Olympian swimmer Connor Jaeger a hometown hero

"A great race for Connor ... So proud. Then a walk around Olympic Park. Fantastic. This is a great experience. Thank you Connor!" ~ Olympian swimmer Connor Jaeger's dad, via Twitter, on his son's race in the finals Saturday. Medal or not, Connor Jaeger is seen as a hometown hero. The 21-year-old graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and incoming junior at Michigan University came in sixth in the 2012 Summer Olympics 1,500 meter freestyle swim category in Saturday's finals. He did not win a medal, but friends and fans of the swimmer could not be more proud of Jaeger's accomplishment, stressing that he's sixth in the world, with a time of 14:52.99, and the only American to qualify for the Olympic in the finals in his category. A…

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Friday's London 2012 Olympics TV Schedule

Track & Field starts today, plus other sports continue

On today, the seventh day of the Olympic games, the Track & Field competitions begin and will continue through the remainder of the games. Things really get into gear today, so the schedule is extra packed today. This may be the day to tap into NBC's live streaming on its website. The full schedule of Olympic games is on London2012.com. On all NBC channels there is no lack of events to choose from. Click here for the full TV schedule. The final in women's K-1 whitewater, plus the men's singles final in Table Tennis. Gymnastics crowns its women's all-around champ, plus Swimming finals (Phelps vs. Lochte in 200m IM) and more. The opening day of Track & Field kicks off with qualifying rounds, including the women’s 400m, featuring Sanya …

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Trivia: Test Your Olympic Knowledge III

The Summer Olympics begin on July 27, but how well do you know the games? All this week, Patch will post trivia questions to test your knowledge.

From Michael Phelps winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics to Nadia Comăneci receiving the first perfect 10 in 1976, there have been several unforgettable moments in Olympic history. As hundreds of world-class athletes prepare to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games beginning July 27, Patch is celebrating the start of the games by posting Olympic trivia questions all this week.  We'll post the correct answers in the comments later today.  1. "Which of these cities has never hosted the Games?" 2. True or false. The United States has never won a gold medal in any fencing event that is currently still part of the Olympics 3. When were women first allowed to compete in the modern Olympics? 4. One of the events in which men …

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Swimming in Olympian Signs for Jaeger

Another sign of a unique kind found at Surfrider Beach Club

Everyone knows that Fair Havenite Connor Jaeger is in training for the 2012 Olympics. But, what many may not realize is that the first venue in which the hometown Olympian hero swam, besides lessons, was the Surfrider Beach Club, Sea Bright. His parents, Eric and Bernadette, and fellow swimmer and big sis Dana told Patch all about it this week. Members of the swim team there made their own sign for him and posted it on the Surfrider Swim Team's Facebook page. Check it out. And take a look at the photo, provided by the Jaegers, of Connor and sister Dana in the early days of swimming at Surfrider.

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