[Breeze]

Gold Invite Results

Bailey

Bailey had a very good meet and she did exactly what she needed to do, which was maintain form even in the face of competition. This was a huge step forward and hopefully, she'll get to start racing more moving forward.

50 Back - Her first race was quite entertaining. As I mentioned in the preview, she was under strict orders not to win her races, even if she was entered in a heat with swimmer that are typically 10 seconds slower than her time. In this case the difference was more like 5 seconds...but in a 50 yard race, 5 seconds is a lot of time. The race started and Bailey was well out in front off the blocks and through the underwater part of the race. She was very deliberate with her strokes, but she still finished first at the 25 yard turn. She was slopply with the turn, mostly because she was catching a peek at the other swimmers, but coming off the wall, she was still in first. From there she really shut it down, with long, lazy strokes. To give you a visual perspective, if you go to the Y and watch an older person swim back for exercise, then you've got a pretty good representation of Bailey coming home in the back half of her race. She ended up posting a 45.02.

100 Breast - Bailey asked and was given permission to race this event, due to the fact her Breast is pretty good technically and it doesn't hurt her shoulder. Her seed time was a 1:47.52, her actual personal best was a 1:37.52. She was strong through the stroke, she stayed low and pushed forward for the full 100. She finished with a personal best time of 1:35.90. I do think the excitment of getting to race helped...but this is very promising as she hasn't even been able to do full practices until just a few days prior to this race. Hopefully when she gets in better shape she'll be able to improve on he 50.38 back half split.

50 Free - This was the pivitol event for Bailey. She had to maintain her form...and she did. She looked very good, kicking hard and using long arms and keeping her wrists and shoulders in the correct position. She swam a 38.43. The interesting thing is that this is only 4 seconds off her personal best, with her approaching the race with the mindset to not go fast. I'm hopefully, this means the improved form will allow her to increase her speed once she is freed to race the stroke.

100 Back - Because Bailey's 50 back the first day was so good, she was given the permission to race the stroke as long as her form held. Which it did...she did pretty well. She was racing, but deliberately...She didn't come close to her personal best of 1:25.66, but her time of 1:29.9 was very good under the circumstances.

50 Breast - Bailey was also given the ability to race this event. Though she didn't remember that initially. After pullout, she took 3 very slow, very easy strokes...before she apparently remembered that she could race. She ended up posting a 46.51, which is ok, but not her best time of 45.44 and actually it is also slower than her opening 50 from the 100 Breast the day before which was a 45.52. I expect once she is in better shape, this time will drop a good bit...

------------------------------------------------------------------

Brett

100 Free - Brett's improved form and kick is really starting to pay off, as he posted a personal bes time of 1:15.93...a second straight time drop in this event and this time he cut another 1.57 seconds. As good as this sounds, it easily could have been a lot better. Brett's turns were awful (that is a theme that will be repeated a good bit)...the worst was the turn at the 50 mark. He fliped so early, that he almost couldn't touch the wall to push off. He completely lost all of his momentum. That turn alone cost him at least 2 seconds, probably more. It is a terrible mistake for a kid that has been swimming year round as long as he has, but it is also one that he can quickly correct...so looking forward to see how much faster he might be moving forward.

50 Back - another personal best with a time improvement of .46 seconds and an overall time of 41.48. Again could have been better with better wall work. Flipped to his belly way to early and had to coast into the wall for the turn, and slowed down on the finish, but at least he didn't try to peek at the wall.

100 Breast - this was one of the few disappointments from the weekend. The 2 seconds Brett dropped in this even from the previous meet, he put back on this time. He finished with a 1:31.88...and the inability to generate enough force on the pullouts is killing him. We are planning to have him work with a coach this weekend on turns and pullouts...

100 IM - Brett improved on his time from the last meet by about 2 seconds posting a 1:29.71, but it wasn't a personal best. His fly, back and free look so much better I'm a bit surprised by the fact wasn't a best time, but I believe it was due to slow turns...

100 Fly - First time the kid has swum this event, so obviously it is a personal best. But the big news wasn't his time, but that he didn't panic about it. He simply got up, got in line and dove in when the race started. He posted a pedestrian 1:43.86...but he did it, and his form early was pretty good (before he fatigued). Also one of the best moments of the meet for me happened in this event. Another boy on Brett's team, Hunter, a big kid and a strong swimmer, was in the lane next to him. Obviously, he finished well before Brett, but as Brett was coming down on the last 25, every time he lifted his head to breathe, Hunter was cheering and urging him on. It was nice to see him get support from the better swimmers. (Oh, and he didn't get DQed as I predicted he would)

100 Back - the other first time event...and he again did it without any anxiety. He was a strong (for him) 1:29.77, and again it could have been much better...terrible walls. Same problems with flipping to the belly too soon for the flip, flipping to far from the wall, and then not finishing on the wall. In fact, his last stroke went over the wall and he ended up hitting the touchpad timer with his head. He easily could have been a couple seconds faster...

50 Breast - this was again disappointing. He came in .84 seconds slower than his personal best with a 40.66...

200 Free - I was really interested to see this race, because with his improved form, I really felt that he might drop several seconds. As it turns out he added 3...the problem was....you guessed it Turns. Also fatigue as this was his last race on the second day...2:50.81

---------------------------------------------

Bear

Bear did a nice job overall. He swam well with many personal bests, but...and this is going to sound bad I'm sure, but he lost several races to some kids he practices with Grant1 and Grant 2, and I really want him to beat these two. I don't tell him this, and I don't put pressure on him, but Bear works so much harder than they do at practice and I just want to see Bear get in that top relay team, and with both of these kids in front of him, he'll be hard pressed to make it...

100 Free - Bear finishes the event 5th overall with a personal best time of 1:14.04 and improvement of almost 2 seconds. Unfortunately, he lost to both of the Grants here. He was really racing Grant 2 the whole time as they were back and forth but he ended up being out touched by .12 seconds

50 Back - 6th overall...and a personal best of 39.23. He raced this better than he has recently, but he was still a bit deliberate. Also, he had an incident in practice where he cracked his head swimming back and messing up his wall count. Ever since, he's been very timid on the walls which is costing him time. (Lost to both Grants again).

50 Fly - 5th overall...this time it wasn't a personal best...40.38. Early his stroke looked good...late he seemed to get stuck with the arms and his head was too high...beat Grant 1, Grant 2 didn't swim it...

100 IM - 2nd overall...1:27.40, off his personal best by .5 seconds. Needs to charge the wall in the back, and get stronger in the Breast (though it didn't look bad in this race)...to get below his best time moving forward. Beat both the Grants bad in this one...

50 Free - 6th overall - personal best time of 33.57...finished 3rd for Gold swimmers, which is good but...still lost to Grant 2...

100 Back - Bear started feeling bad right before this race. He had an upset stomach and quite queezy. He still managed a personal best 1:25.23 and finished 4th overall.

50 Breast - Bear was still not feeling well in this one, and he swam a very slow 50.67. It is the first time he hasn't broken 50 in this stroke in a while. The coach told us not to worry about it. That he has just started getting the wide elbows that she's looking for, and she'll now work with him on the second part of the pull phase which should greatly improve his time. But we are still looking at a learning curve.

200 Free - Bear overcame his nausea to swim a personal best in a 200 yard race. I was very proud of the determination and effort. He posted a 2:40.47 and improved by .51 seconds. He finished 4th overall, but the only bad part is he lost to both Grants...