MADISON – This continues to be Phoebe Bacon’s year.

The University of Wisconsin swimmer qualified for her second Olympic Games on Friday night with a second-place finish 200-meter backstroke at the USA Swimming Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Defending Olympic champion Regan Smith won the race in 2 minutes 5.16 seconds. Bacon came back during the final 50 meters to pass Claire Curzan and claim the second and final qualifying spot in the event. Bacon finished with a time of 2:06.27 seconds. Curzan touched the wall in 2:06.34.

This will be Bacon’s second Olympic appearance. She finished fifth in the event at the 2020 Games in Tokyo.

At the college level, Bacon put together a sterling career at Wisconsin that included national championships in the 200-yard backstroke as a freshman in 2021 and as a senior this year and second-place finishes in the event as a sophomore and junior.

The Maryland native’s performance at the NCAA championship this year also included a fourth-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke.

Those performances came on the heals of a Big Ten meet where Bacon won championships in the 200 back and 200 individual medley and was named the Swimmer of the Championships.

A large continent of Badgers will compete in the Games

With the addition of Bacon, there are now 10 athletes with Wisconsin Badgers ties who will compete in the Olympics.

Seven of those athletes will represent the United States: Lauren Carlini and Dana Rettke in volleyball, Grace Joyce, Lauren O’Connor, Maddi Wanamaker and Sophia Vitas in women’s rowing and Alev Kelter in women’s rugby.

Mohammah Ahmed (men’s track, Canada) and Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (men’s swimming, New Zealand) will represent other countries.

GRAND CHUTE, Wis. (WBAY) – Northeast Wisconsin farmers are asking for the rain to stop, as it’s hurting their chances of planting and harvesting their crops.

This comes after a drought was declared last year due to the dry conditions farmers were facing.

Last year, farmers were concerned that it was too dry for their crops hoping for more precipitation. This year the amount of rain we’ve gotten might be too much of a good thing.

Mark Petersen of Petersen Dairy Farm says he hasn’t been able to consistently get out onto his fields because of the weather. Many of the crops he has planted are under too much moisture, while crops waiting to get put into the ground may not make it in time. He says he’s heard multiple farmers complain about this year’s season as they remain at the mercy of round after round of rain.

“We’ve still got some dry hay to harvest yet and that’s a nightmare,” says Petersen. “We can’t do it because of the weather forecast. It should’ve been harvested optimum the last week of May so we’re getting a month late and it’s getting overly ripe and feed quality is not worth a darn at this point.”

Last year, farmers were dealing with the effects of a flash drought in late May that turned into a full drought in late June and lasted until about March of this year. Around April, heavy showers started to help farmers, but now it has become too much rain for them to plant and harvest their crops.

Regional crops and soil educator Kevin Jarek says that soil typically has 25% pore space and 25% moisture. When he was gathering soil samples in March, the percentage of moisture was between 16 and 23%, which Jarek says is unheard of for that time of year.

“For that number to be down at 16, 20, 23% during a time when the soil should have been the wettest, we were sincerely worried about ‘Are we going to have moisture to grow our crops if we plant them in the ground’,” says Jarek.

Jarek says farmers can plant cover crops, which will help benefit soil health and control erosion, but it may not be enough.

“It’s going to be too late to try and plant corn and soybeans and have those crops reach maturity, so we do the best we can,” says Jarek.

Jarek says farmers do have insurance and preventative planning payments that are available during times like this, but says it doesn’t come close to replacing what a farmer has lost.

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MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – The Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) announced on Friday that it has awarded five grants of $10,000 to Wisconsin projects supporting housing and economic development.

These grants also were awarded to projects supporting housing literacy, community investment and financial and cyber literacy in Wisconsin.

“Affordable housing and housing literacy are acute needs for individuals and families in our state and are critical drivers for our economy’s workforce needs,” WBA President and CEO Rose Oswald Poels said. “We are proud to offer this inaugural grant opportunity, which showcases the partnership of Wisconsin banks and non-profit organizations to strengthen programming that empowers Wisconsinites to become financially capable, promotes homeownership, and builds wealth that can be passed on to future generations.”

Projects awarded the grants include:

• Community First Bank in Boscobel – The bank plans to develop and distribute educational resources throughout southwest and south-central Wisconsin, with a focus on current and prospective homeowners in rural areas. WBA says resources could include video content on credit repair strategies and steps to homeownership.
• Peoples State Bank in Prairie du Chien – In partnership with Couleecap, Inc., a United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) counseling agency, the bank plans to provide a three-part community education series and one-to-one counseling sessions.

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