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Breeze · 02-22-2019, 12:07 PM

Emory & Henry - ODAC Review

The ODAC Championship was probably the most fun I've had at a swim meet. Other meets have had moments of joy, even overwhelming joy with...High School swims against rival schools. Bear & Bailey swimming in A finals at State Championships. Fantastic finishes, huge time drops, compelling and breathtaking comeback charges, Bear even participated in a state championship relay that battled all 4 legs head to head to win by a hair at the end.

But, for all of that, the overall experience at ODACs was extremely different..

Big year round meets, like state championships and sectionals are very businesslike. Yes, teams do compete in these meets, like Chattahoochee Gold, SwimAtlanta, Dynamo, etc., but those are "teams" more in name than practice. Sure, each team will field relays, but that's about the only time it feels like a team meet. Once relays are over, things become much more focused on individual performance and fall into a very monotonous pace of heat followed by heat with the overall outcome of the meet almost always a forgone conclusion. These big year round meets limit participation only by time cut standards so the largest teams will always win because they'll put the most swimmers into an event giving them more opportunities to score. Meaning, there is little to no excitement around the standings. In our case, the Gold team kids are pretty tight and so are the parents. While we are at the meet we follow all of them, but even with that, there are maybe 8 to 10 kids you are rooting for in total, out of thousands who are swimming.

At high school meets, the team aspect is present, but the execution is off and the swimming is lacking in fundamental ways. For us the teams are very large, with 80+ kids on the roster, and well over half of those non-year round swimmers. So there is a distinct lack of ability in many cases and heats can be painful to watch because the swimming is so poor. Moreover, there is little to no coaching. In fact, the coach's lack of interest often hinders the team's ability to perform, because swimmers are put into the wrong events, or the wrong kids are used in the relays. It can be very frustrating.

At ODACs, the energy and team atmosphere was evident from the first race through the last, with loud cheering and chants taking place every session. The pool of swimmers was much smaller so the sessions were shorter, and the level of swimming was on average very good. In our case it was great to root for every E&H swimmer because we know every one of them and we knew every swim and every point was going to be important. ODACs was truly a combination of the best of year round and the best of high school with a smaller pool of competitors so it was easier to follow along and less time was spent waiting for a race you had interest in.

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E&H did very well in during the meet. I believe Coach Cody has to be extremely pleased with the outcome. In all here is how the team scoring broke down:

Women

Oliva "Liv" Anson - 44 points - Second Team All ODAC
Cat Sweigart - 27 points - Third Team All ODAC
Savannah Scarbrough - 19 points
Anne Louise "Al" Tunstall - 10 points
Leah Mumpower - 8 points
Taylor Simmons - 1 point

In total 6 of the 7 women scored in the meet, and his 3 freshmen all contributed, accounting for ~43% of the individual points earned. Here is a breakdown on each swimmer:

Liv Anson - did exactly as expected. There was a hope she might challenge an NCAA D3 'B' cut, but she didn't
Cat Sweigart - had an excellent meet, probably slightly out-performed expectations
Savannah Scarbrough - did exactly as expected
Anne Louise Tunstall - the one female swimmer that may have under-performed a little. Mostly due to insistence on swimming 100 free, when she should have been in a mid-distance free or fly race instead.
Leah Mumpower - dropped a significant amount of time in every race. Significantly outperformed expectations
Taylor Simmons - earned a point this year, which probably wasn't expected.
Lauren Trotter - improved significantly in her swims, may have moved up into a bigger role next year.

Men

Brett Breeze - 15 points
Braxton Justice - 11 points
Mack Henningsen - 8 points
Blake Madaris - 7 points

4 of the 6 freshman accounted for all the individual points earned by the men. They also were the most frequent names on the relays as well. Here is a breakdown on each swimmer:

Braxton Justice - knew with more significant training he had a huge upside and he showed some of that early in this meet.
Mack Henningsen - grinder who improved a bunch at championships and appears to be positioned for a nice career.
Blake Madaris - his results were probably a bit disappointing. He is significantly overweight which hindered his performance, if he can get back in shape could be more of a factor next year.
Tariq Gardner - didn't step up as hoped
Nick Barr - only returner from last year improved significantly this time around.
Jarod Bracero - non-swimmer with no expectations - did drop a good bit of time
Nice Moore - project swimmer from the start with no expectations, but form improvement is dramatic and upside appears good

Brett Breeze - given that he exceeded my most grandiose expectations, I have to believe he exceeded Cody's as well. I do know that he basically swam goal times Cody wanted him to hit as a sophomore in all three of his races. I also would bet the farm that Cody didn't expect Brett to be the top male point earner on the team! (In fact, in some of the videos of the races, even from across the pool, you can tell by Cody's body language that he is stunned by Brett's performance)

If anyone is interested, the entire meet was broadcast on the Internet. You can watch by choosing a session here:

http://www.odaconline.com/tournament...eaming-channel

02-22-2019, 12:07 PM	#1110
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Emory & Henry - ODAC Review The ODAC Championship was probably the most fun I've had at a swim meet. Other meets have had *moments* of joy, even overwhelming joy with...High School swims against rival schools. Bear & Bailey swimming in A finals at State Championships. Fantastic finishes, huge time drops, compelling and breathtaking comeback charges, Bear even participated in a state championship relay that battled all 4 legs head to head to win by a hair at the end. But, for all of that, the overall experience at ODACs was extremely different.. Big year round meets, like state championships and sectionals are very businesslike. Yes, teams do compete in these meets, like Chattahoochee Gold, SwimAtlanta, Dynamo, etc., but those are "teams" more in name than practice. Sure, each team will field relays, but that's about the only time it feels like a team meet. Once relays are over, things become much more focused on individual performance and fall into a very monotonous pace of heat followed by heat with the overall outcome of the meet almost always a forgone conclusion. These big year round meets limit participation only by time cut standards so the largest teams will always win because they'll put the most swimmers into an event giving them more opportunities to score. Meaning, there is little to no excitement around the standings. In our case, the Gold team kids are pretty tight and so are the parents. While we are at the meet we follow all of them, but even with that, there are maybe 8 to 10 kids you are rooting for in total, out of thousands who are swimming. At high school meets, the team aspect is present, but the execution is off and the swimming is lacking in fundamental ways. For us the teams are very large, with 80+ kids on the roster, and well over half of those non-year round swimmers. So there is a distinct lack of ability in many cases and heats can be painful to watch because the swimming is so poor. Moreover, there is little to no coaching. In fact, the coach's lack of interest often hinders the team's ability to perform, because swimmers are put into the wrong events, or the wrong kids are used in the relays. It can be very frustrating. At ODACs, the energy and team atmosphere was evident from the first race through the last, with loud cheering and chants taking place every session. The pool of swimmers was much smaller so the sessions were shorter, and the level of swimming was on average very good. In our case it was great to root for every E&H swimmer because we know every one of them and we knew every swim and every point was going to be important. ODACs was truly a combination of the best of year round and the best of high school with a smaller pool of competitors so it was easier to follow along and less time was spent waiting for a race you had interest in. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E&H did very well in during the meet. I believe Coach Cody has to be extremely pleased with the outcome. In all here is how the team scoring broke down: Women Oliva "Liv" Anson - 44 points - Second Team All ODAC Cat Sweigart - 27 points - Third Team All ODAC Savannah Scarbrough - 19 points Anne Louise "Al" Tunstall - 10 points Leah Mumpower - 8 points Taylor Simmons - 1 point In total 6 of the 7 women scored in the meet, and his 3 freshmen all contributed, accounting for ~43% of the individual points earned. Here is a breakdown on each swimmer: *Liv Anson* - did exactly as expected. There was a hope she might challenge an NCAA D3 'B' cut, but she didn't *Cat Sweigart* - had an excellent meet, probably slightly out-performed expectations *Savannah Scarbrough* - did exactly as expected *Anne Louise Tunstall* - the one female swimmer that may have under-performed a little. Mostly due to insistence on swimming 100 free, when she should have been in a mid-distance free or fly race instead. *Leah Mumpower* - dropped a significant amount of time in every race. Significantly outperformed expectations *Taylor Simmons* - earned a point this year, which probably wasn't expected. *Lauren Trotter* - improved significantly in her swims, may have moved up into a bigger role next year. Men *Brett Breeze - 15 points* Braxton Justice - 11 points Mack Henningsen - 8 points Blake Madaris - 7 points 4 of the 6 freshman accounted for all the individual points earned by the men. They also were the most frequent names on the relays as well. Here is a breakdown on each swimmer: *Braxton Justice* - knew with more significant training he had a huge upside and he showed some of that early in this meet. *Mack Henningsen* - grinder who improved a bunch at championships and appears to be positioned for a nice career. *Blake Madaris* - his results were probably a bit disappointing. He is significantly overweight which hindered his performance, if he can get back in shape could be more of a factor next year. *Tariq Gardner* - didn't step up as hoped *Nick Barr* - only returner from last year improved significantly this time around. *Jarod Bracero* - non-swimmer with no expectations - did drop a good bit of time *Nice Moore* - project swimmer from the start with no expectations, but form improvement is dramatic and upside appears good *Brett Breeze* - given that he exceeded my most grandiose expectations, I have to believe he exceeded Cody's as well. I do know that he basically swam goal times Cody wanted him to hit as a sophomore in all three of his races. I also would bet the farm that Cody didn't expect Brett to be the top male point earner on the team! (In fact, in some of the videos of the races, even from across the pool, you can tell by Cody's body language that he is stunned by Brett's performance) If anyone is interested, the entire meet was broadcast on the Internet. You can watch by choosing a session here: http://www.odaconline.com/tournament...eaming-channel Last edited by Breeze : 02-22-2019 at 12:18 PM.