[Breeze]

Season Wrap Up

With the GRPA event in the books, our season(s) come to a close. The next 3 weeks will be our time-off. All of the kids were very pumped up after their swims this weekend, and all are looking forward to some time off, but all appear to be eager to build on their recent performance. Brett and Bear even went as far as to ask about starting their workout routine to try and get them stronger, (which I told them we’d start after the vacation).

Looking back on the kids goals, here is how I believe they feel…

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Bailey

Overall – Bailey did really well this season, probably better than expected. She even earned another AAA time, which will qualify her for the State All-Star banquet again. She’s shown significant improvement, and a real dedication in practice.

Gold Short Course – Had a strong season, topped off by 4 top 10 finishes at state and several more races that were in the top 15. She dropped considerable time across the board, earning numerous state cuts for 2015 and sectional cuts. She is poised for a huge 2015…

Gold Long Course – Honestly, I believe Bailey was disappointed in her flys at LC state. I think she was pretty pleased with the rest of the meet, but I believe she had high hopes in the fly, and didn’t perform up to her own expectations. She did do well enough to earn a fly leg on the B relay, which is a big deal especially given that she turn 12 right before the season started.

Summer League – With 3, fourth place medals and a silver at the GRPA State Meet, combined with a Gold and Bronze at the county meet, it is hard to believe she could be unhappy with the results. Sure, she wanted to make the A relays, sure she’d have loved to have beaten Emilie in the IMs at some point…but all-in-all it was a great season. Moreover, it looks like she may have figured out how to use the underwater portion of her races to go even faster. This could have a significant impact on the Short Course Age Group State Championship in February (assuming she doesn’t forget how to do it following the vacation).

2015 Outlook – Though we really haven’t discussed it at this point, I can tell you that Bailey is very focused on the short course for 2015. She is expecting to be the main performer for Gold in the age group. She’s going to have some pretty tough time goals for her fly, and she really wants to improve her free and breast as she feels they are holding her back (the GRPA meet showed some indication she may be getting her free figured out). As for long course…she’ll age up to 13, so she isn’t sure what to expect, but I do know she’s planning on getting a large number of the cuts in short course before she ages up.
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Bear

Overall – Bear had a great season, improving a bunch across the board. In addition, he earned a coupld of AAA times, which makes him a State All-Star swimmer. He is very pumped up right now, and it appears he’s prepared to put in extra time this coming season so he’ll continue to improve and have a big season.

Gold Short Course – Bear’s state meet was unbelievable, as he earned 3 bronze and 1 silver medal. He also cemented his reputation as an effort swimmer, the tougher the race the better he does. He now loves the challenges of the distance free as well as the effort required for the 400 IM and the 200 Fly. I was so pleased with his state meet, because of how much he struggled the year before with his ill-timed growth spurt. He is extremely excited about his chances for another big state meet, and he’s planning to do some additional endurance work on his own, in hopes of improving his swims in the distance frees.

Gold Long Course – Another great state meet for Bear. He was disappointed he didn’t medal, as that was one of his goals. But he swam well, especially, in the distance swims. In fact, his 19:26 time in the 1500 Free is currently the 74th best time in the nation for 12 year olds, and he just aged up a few months before the swim.

Summer League – Bear had a good Summer League. Breaking the 12U Medley relay county record was a big deal, and he got to do that with his friends. I’m sure he was disappointed that he didn’t qualify for GRPA State in the IM, and just barely made it in back…but he swam well at the State Meet, and he’s showing signs of improving his sprints.

2015 Outlook – Again, we haven’t had any serious discussions yet about next season, but Bear is very excited right now. He’s planning to do additional work (Stationary Bike, Rowing Machine, and dry land exercises) to make sure he’s in prime shape for the new season. He’s also planning to really focus on his sprinting, as he feels he’ll have to get better at that, or it will hold back his ability to swim distance. His times at GRPA may indicate he’s ready to start dropping time there as well.

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Brett

Overall – Brett showed some significant signs of improvement during short course, unfortunately, he didn’t build on that in long course (I covered that a few posts back…so I won’t go into it again here). Following some serious discussions he appears to be refocused, and his swim at GRPA definitely lifted his spirits. He’s currently scheduled to move up to the Senior Team practice when he starts back up. This will allow him to get away from Bailey and Bear and hopefully, focus on what he needs to do to get better. He’s also planning to do extra work to get stronger (this isn’t the first time he’s said he wanted to do this, so we’ll have to see if he follows through).

Gold Short Course – significant improvements in Back and Free (especially distance Free), really encouraged his coaches. Unfortunately, he didn’t get any of the cuts in breast, which are always his goals.

Gold Long Course – Injured, lost focus, and didn’t perform well for these reasons and probably several others as well. He did really start to grow leading into and during this season, so hopefully, he’ll start to fill in and get stronger. He didn’t get his Breast cuts, again his goal, and in fact, he saw some younger swimmers our perform him, which was painful for him to see. It may provide the initiative he needs to put in extra work to get stronger…and if he does that, who knows how much he’ll improve.

Summer League – this was Brett’s saving grace in 2014…he made the State Team, he would have earned a medal if not for an over anxious butterflyer, and he started working on a new breaststroke, raced it after only 3 days of practices and almost dropped a second in time.

2015 Outlook – I don’t really know what to expect here. He’s going to be practicing much more if he moves up, but he’ll also have a new coach, and I don’t know how that relationship is going to work. I believe Brett is eager to get better, so it may work well, as the new coach has a good track record. With extra work, and the new breaststroke, he might be able to get another cut. His other strokes have also improved a bit these last few weeks, as his focus has gotten better in practice. I am extremely hopeful, he has a big (for him) 2015 season…