[Breeze]

South Forsyth - County Championships - RESULTS

Bailey - Bailey's career is winding down, and she's absolutely read for it to end. She really hasn't practiced at all in the last month, so I had not expectations coming into this event. In fact, I was just watching intently knowing that it would be one of the last times I get to see her race.


PRELIMS

#2 Girls 200 Yard Medley Relay - B Team - Out of the 7 teams that were present, South's B relay was the second B to finish and 6th overall in prelims, so not bad. Bailey's split was a 29.21, which is a bit slower than she was swimming earlier in the season, but given the lack of practice mentioned above that wasn't surprising.

#6 Girls 200 Yard IM - This is where Bailey's history hurts her. She was a very good 200 IM swimmer for South for 3 years so the coach continues to put her in this event despite Bailey requesting the 100 back and despite the fact her results indicate that she tends to run out of gas in 200 yard swims. She had a decent swim under the circumstances finishing in 2:27.86, and making the A final as the 10th seed. I was extremely impressed that she managed to make the A final, given the lack of pool time.

#12 Girls 100 Yard Fly - Earlier in the year Bailey had been able to maintain her typical 1:04 mid swims in this event, but recently she posted a 1:05, so that's what I was expecting, and it was a good projection as she logged a 1:05.57. This was good enough for 14th seed a spot in the B final.

#18 Girls 200 Yard Free Relay - B Team - In prior meets, when several of the year round girls are missing due to swimming in other meets, I've noted that the coach had Bailey in the wrong relays. However, with everyone present, she had Bailey exactly where she belonged. She anchored the B and managed a 28.31 split. The 5th fastest time for all South relays, behind the 4 girls swimming in the A group, and honestly, even Bailey's PB wouldn't have been as fast as the 4 other girls.

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FINALS

#6 Girls 200 Yard IM (2:27.86) - Bailey came into finals seeded 10th. The race started and her fly was about .3 slower than the morning, but then things changed. She was much faster in the back, a little faster in the breast, and slightly faster in the free as well. She ended up improving on the time from the morning by going 2:26.22, and she moved up to 9th place. This was on heck of an effort, and it showed how competitive she is, as she picked up the effort in finals and battled the girls around her.

#12 Girls 100 Yard Fly (1:05.57) - In finals, like in the 200 IM, Bailey picked it up...she raced the girl next to her and brought it home in 1:04.59. I was sitting next to her former coach Andy during the race, and he was absolutely blow away with her form and effort. He flat out stated that had she been training, with that form, she'd be looking at posting some extremely fast times. That was bittersweet to hear, because it's been my feeling all season. I really felt that after her strong finish to 2018 that she was headed for a big 2019, but circumstances stole that from her.

Bailey now has just 1 swim left before she hangs up her goggles, and to be honest, I'm struggling a bit. It's really odd, I didn't have this same feeling about my athletic career coming to an end, and no one else I knew did either. However, the one big difference is - we all bounced from sport to sport as the seasons changed, so stopping was expected at the end of every season. I was never dedicated to a single purpose the way she has been to swimming, and watching that come to an end is tough. It's also, I guess, a sign that she's growing up and moving on and that one, though inevitable, is tough to swallow as well. In Bailey's final swim, she'll represent South in the 100 Fly at the high school state meet.