Weekend Swim Meet Report

regiolanthe · Mar 17, 2008

First - congrats to all racers this weekend with great times - PRs for BrewDad, Ronbo, Hobey, BoyerDave (no longer a tri-virgin), DonSkiMan, AlaskaMike, Niemsco, and Stitch's free (esp the 1000yd) - and solid races for JRoden (as ever) & Garbino, plus a new job for Kristin25DH - Dancing Bananas All Around!!!!! 
Also, sorry about the stressed toe 4BM (scratches suck), and heal up soon Flip. 
Myself - about 16 hours spent sitting on my butt this weekend for the last kids meet of the season. At least it was a very satisfactory way to wrap-up the months of hard work (on their part). DD9 had a big meet - one that she was a bit nervous about - but she definitely made a statement in her own turf (home pool advantage). She swept her 4 events, PRd in everything, and ended up high-point scorer for the 9/10 AG (first official hardware - trophies this year!) - Also a 3rd/4th place in relays. She's verging on AA times - and continues to have fun. Just amazing to watch, especially in the turns and closing speed (she was second at the wall split in two events). 100 Fr - seeded 4th 1:12.63; Final 1:09.88 (-2.75) 100 IM - seeded 1st 1:22.46; Final 1:20.65 (-1.81) 50 Fr - seeded 2nd 32.82; Final 31.51 (-1.31) 50 Fl - seeded 2nd 35.74; Final 35.35 (-0.39) (New meet record - to make up for her previous three 8&U meet records that were broken by a teammate) DS11 got a 2nd in 11/12 breast stroke and PR'd all other strokes -and also a 3rd/6th place in relays. Race of the day for me (and him) was his breast. He was already fairly good going in, and to drop another 2+ seconds off his best stroke was huge. Bodes well for possibly making Age Groups next year in breast (which would give him an enormous sense of accomplishment as he swims in the shadow of DD), esp. because at his age he's on the small lean side (and there are comparatively gi-normous 12 YOs, depending on the puberty factor). He was also happy to see improvements in free/fly, although I think he was a bit disappointed in the fly. 200 Fr - seed 3:14.95; Final 3:09.02 (-5.93) 50 Br - seeded 2nd 43.22; Final 40.98 (-2.24) 50 Fr - seed 38.68; Final 36.96 (-1.72) 50 Fl - seed 43.82; Final 42.79 (-1.03) So, all in all - couldn't have wrapped up the season on a better note. The team was 2/8 or 9 (second overall to a jumbo team from Nashua), but it did have 6/12 of the top 3 point scorers in the 10&U AGs (8&U M/F, 9-10 M/F), and 3/24 in 11&U AGs (11-12 M/F, 13-15 M/F, 15-16 M/F, 17&O M/F) 
This was the first season that we added 6 or 7 private technique lessons for both DKs (our team is long on distance, short on technique in practice), and it really paid off for them. 
Overall, as Stitch says, it's just amazing to watch a meet - from the speedies (13 YO boys doing a 200IM in 2:13; 50 Fr in 23.87; 13YO girl in 230 for the 200IM: 50Fr in 26.22) - to the not so speedy who still PR, or legally swim a race, or swim the relays (although I DO think that the 5YO who took 4:50 for the 100 free should have waited a year or two before joining the swim team!). Water is a great equalizer, and a team offers great camaraderie/support for those kids who might otherwise shun all forms of athletic activity for one reason or another. 
Reg.

LookiLoo · Mar 17, 2008

Coupla fishies you have there! My hats off to all the parents spending their days at these meets as well - I did it to my parents when I was on the swim team, and I know that was a long day! Sounds like they both did fabulous~

niemsco · Mar 17, 2008

Your kids are fast! Must have been amazing to watch this. Congrats to all of you!

hobey · Mar 17, 2008

Wow your kids are fishies! Way to go!

kcwoodhead · Mar 17, 2008

Awesome swimming!! That is something I should be doing a little more of.....

LeftRightRepeat · Mar 17, 2008

Wow. Wish I could swim like a 9 year-old!

regiolanthe · Mar 17, 2008

Me too. I think my 8 yo self might have given her 8 yo self a run for the money. It's been all downhill since then. 
Reg.

Tri_coach06 · Mar 17, 2008

That's a typo. Please tell me that's a typo... <img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif"> 
Very impressive swiming times. 
CS

bcc594 · Mar 17, 2008

That's awesome, Reg! You must be really proud of your kids! I can't wait to cheer on my own someday.

Stitcher · Mar 17, 2008

Your daughter and I swim about as fast as each other, except in BR and FL...she smokes me! lol 
I've said before, I'm as fast as a speedy 9 yr old. BUT, I've likely been swimming as long as she has, too. lol 
Great job to your kids. 
The thing about swimming is that while each person is racing their own race, all the scores go together for a team score. So, it's possible for a team not to have a single person take first in any race, yet still win the meet....if they "flood the finals" and have multiple swimmers in the top 8. 
I"m glad the kids are still having fun.....that's the best!! 
You must be very proud.

regiolanthe · Mar 17, 2008

Very true - the reason we lost and the reason we came in second. Lots of younger kids on the team (it's pretty big), but a big shortfall in the older groups - even with a few fast swimmers in the older ages. I'm guessing the winning team probably had 40-50 more swimmers in total. Also - not sure if it's standard - but double points are given for the relays, so if you can field a lot of relay teams, you automatically get a lot more points than teams with relays that can only go 2-3 deep. 
One interesting stroke this week was a "flyer" who breathed to the side; I'd never seen that before. At any rate, must have worked for her because she walked away with the race. 
Thanks all for the kind words. Yes - I AM very proud of the two (though I can only humbly submit half of their gene pool, but none of their coaching/technique, or natural feel for the water). Just watching and loving it, and hoping to keep up the spectating for many years. Definitely recommend being a swim parent to anyone who is sitting on the fence about getting their kids into a swim team. It's quite a big time commitment, esp. for DW (who has taken up officiating and is on the swim team board), but definitely a good way for the kids (and ourselves) to build strong friendships. 
Much as I'm looking forward to the 6 week break, I'm almost ready for the spring/summer session to begin! Sort of weird not having to sit through practices for the next few weeks. Of course - the kids are probably quite ready to reclaim a bit of their kid free time! 
Reg.

Stitcher · Mar 17, 2008

Breathing to the side on fly is legal...although not all that common. 
We saw a master's swimmer doing it in my Feb. meet. My swim coach said that if she saw a kid swimmer doing it, she'd train it out of them....but, at the master's level, it wouldn't make sense since those muscles had already been trained to work that way. 
I think that it's a modification to help a swimmer who has a hard time keeping the right body alignment and rhythm while breathing to the front. 
Yes, double points for relays is standard....or, at least more for relays than for individual events. Even at the master's level this is true. 
Enjoy the break!

Tri-Tammy · Mar 17, 2008

Great job for your kids!!! 
Ahhh... to swim like that! <img alt="smile.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/smile.gif">

Dougie Fresh · Mar 17, 2008

Reg., that's terrific. Your kids are super speedy in the water. I can feel your pride leaping off the page. Thanks for sharing that with all of us.

Weekend Swim Meet Report

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