Swim Like A Champion (a real life journal)

[law90026]

Thanks for sharing btw. I wish my parents were as focused on my sport when I was growing up but it's cool to see how you handle it, especially now that my kids are starting to show an interest in sportst themselves.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by law90026

Thanks for sharing btw. I wish my parents were as focused on my sport when I was growing up but it's cool to see how you handle it, especially now that my kids are starting to show an interest in sportst themselves.

Thanks for reading along...

[Breeze]

Time Standards - Update

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

Bear

   

      
Freestyle
      
50
      
100
      
200
      
500
      
1000
      
1650
   
   

        
Personal Best
      
25.50
      
53.72
      
1:52.15
      
4:59.71
      
10:09.27
      
17:12.44
   
   

        
Age Group State
      
24.49
      
52.09
      
1:54.19
      
5:11.89
      
10:59.89
      
18:35.89
   
 

        
Age Group Sectionals
      
24.59
      
53.19
      
1:54.69
      
5:12.09
      
10:48.49
      
18:26.99
   
 

        
Senior State Cut
      
23.39
      
51.19
      
1:52.89
      
5:05.09
      
10:42.49
      
17:50.29
   
 

        
Senior Sectional Cut
      
22.49
      
49.19
      
1:48.29
      
4:52.59
      
10:14.29
      
17:03.89
   
 

        
High School State Cut
      
23.50
      
52.00
      
1:55.00
      
5:20.00
   



   

      
Backstroke
      
100
      
200
  
   

        
Personal Best
      
1:05.73
      
2:18.94
  
   

        
Age Group State
      
1:00.49
      
2:12.39
 
 

        
Age Group Sectionals
      
1:00.49
      
2:10.79
  
 

        
Senior State Cut
      
59.59
      
2:09.49
   
 

        
Senior Sectional Cut
      
55:29
      
2:00.29
   
 

        
High School State Cut
      
1:00.00
      
N/A
   



   

      
Butterfly
      
100
      
200
  
   

        
Personal Best
      
1:00.07
      
2:08.23
  
   

        
Age Group State
      
59.59
      
2:14.89
 
 

        
Age Group Sectionals
      
59.69
      
2:16.09
  
 

        
Senior State Cut
      
58.93
      
2:10.39
   
 

        
Senior Sectional Cut
      
54.39
      
2:01.29
   
 

        
High School State Cut
      
58.00
      
N/A
   


   

      
Individual Medley
      
200
      
400
  
   

        
Personal Best
      
2:10.22
      
4:28.79
  
   

        
Age Group State
      
2:11.99
      
4:43.09
 
 

        
Age Group Sectionals
      
2:11.79
      
4:39.09
  
 

        
Senior State Cut
         
2:06.19
         
4:34.09
   
 

        
Senior Sectional Cut
          
2:00.99
         
4:19.09
   
 

        
High School State Cut
      
2:12.00
      
N/A
   

[Breeze]

General Update

Bear has the flu so he'll be out of practice for several days. But if he had to get sick, this is probably the best time to do it. The team will be off during Spring Break anyway.

Not sure if coach will want the kids to practice at all during the Spring to try and stay in shape. I'll be finding that out soon. If so, we'll probalby be arranging time to practice with the Sarasota YMCA team (extremely strong group)...as we are heading down to Anna Maria Island for our vacation.

[Breeze]

General Update

There are some interesting news items in swimming today that I thought I'd pass along.

First, and clearly the biggest news only months away from the Olympics is the announcement that WADA will be looking into systematic doping in the Russian and Chinese swim teams. The link takes you to the SI article, but there is a bunch more out there if you are interested.

The second item is related to the Georgia Tech Pool where we have many of our events. That facility played host to the NCAA Championships (women 3/16-3/19, men 3/23-3/36), and the women broke every single pool record over the 4 days they competed.

[Breeze]

General Update

Bear will finally return to practice today, after being out of the water for 6 days. He's really going to struggle to keep up for a while.

[Breeze]

General Update

Bailey and Bear will officially move up to the Gold Senior team this evening (4/12), joining Brett. This is a huge help as they will now practice on the same schedule...

[Breeze]

Summer League - General Update

So we are really on the fence when it comes to Summer League right now. And when I say we, that includes the other Gold Families that we have been swimming with. Basically, Tommy wants to swim because he wants to break the county relay records, which if they all join is basically a forgone conclusion, but Tommy is the only one that really wants to do it. Bear is interested for the same reason as Tommy, only problem is if Skyler swims, he'll take Bear's spot in the relays, which makes Bear less enthusiastic about it. Seth’s family doesn’t really have the money but they are willing to sacrifice to allow him to swim with his friends, but ultimately they’d rather save the money. Brett just wants to hang out with his friends (at meets or somewhere else), and Bailey will only do it if everyone else does.

Have to make the decision before Friday – not sure where this will end up…

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Summer League - General Update

So we are really on the fence when it comes to Summer League right now. And when I say we, that includes the other Gold Families that we have been swimming with. Basically, Tommy wants to swim because he wants to break the county relay records, which if they all join is basically a forgone conclusion, but Tommy is the only one that really wants to do it. Bear is interested for the same reason as Tommy, only problem is if Skyler swims, he'll take Bear's spot in the relays, which makes Bear less enthusiastic about it. Seth’s family doesn’t really have the money but they are willing to sacrifice to allow him to swim with his friends, but ultimately they’d rather save the money. Brett just wants to hang out with his friends (at meets or somewhere else), and Bailey will only do it if everyone else does.

Have to make the decision before Friday – not sure where this will end up…

So we have elected to skip summer league this year. Part of me is disappointed that we will not swim. Unlike year round, summer is fun and laid back, plus watching the kids (especially the twins) dominate is also pretty cool. In addition, Brett was 5 or 6 years old the very first year CRC fielded a team...and the twins were pretty quick to jump on the team as little more than toddlers, so we've been involved with the team for a long time. Also, I've been personally invested in helping the team to maximize their points at the county meet, spending hours analyzing the time data from as many different points as I possibly can. It has been a part of our life every Thursday in late May and early June for around 10 years.

On the flip side, it will be very nice to save the $500+. It's really expensive for 3 kids to swim, when the kids don't go to practice and there are 7 meets (counting the intra-team time trial and county)...and we won't be able to participate in all of them. Plus the ability to relax on Thursdays and not hectically run around from pool to pool and not having to volunteer will be refreshing.

It will be interesting to see if the team reaches out to us once they realize we didn't sign up. I do know a couple of long time families that we are close to are aware that we aren't going to do it, and they have called to say they will miss having us and watching the Breeze kids swim. If the team leaders say anything to us I'll post it...

[Breeze]

General Update

So just a quick update on practice now that the twins have moved up to the Senior team.

From day 1 Bear was put in the fastest interval lane, with the top swimmers on that team. Coach Andy indicated he was really sloppy following his time out of the water (sickness and spring break), and that disappointed Bear. However, he seems to be quickly turning that around.

With the move up of some very strong Sectional Advanced Swimmers (Bear, Tommy, Riley, Skyler, and more), Brett was affraid he was going to be moved way down. However, Coach Andy has kept him in a lane on the fastest interval (not Bear's but the one next to it). Andy also complemented Brett on his improved Freestyle kick.

Bailey was disappointed when she moved up because she was in a slower lane. Her goal was to get moved up by the end of the Month. Well...last night she completely destroyed the other girls in her lane, lapping them numerous times. So she was moved up - and then she proceeded to do the same thing in the next lane over. If this continues she'll be looking at swimming on the fastest interval soon (and she was really pumped up - more than I've seen her about swimming in years).

[Breeze]

Brett – College Swimming

Brett is finishing up his sophomore year and he’s now realizing it’s time to start thinking about college, especially, if he wants to swim. In college recruiting, schools can begin contacting potential swimmers in September of their junior year. While Brett’s posted times and performances in the pool aren’t going to attract colleges on their own, it isn’t unusual for mediocre swimmers to find teams, especially if they let “targeted” schools know they are interested.

In Brett’s case, we have used some online tools to identify schools where, believe it or not, his current times fit in pretty well, even though he still has 2 more years of high school to improve. Having seen this, Brett has really increased his level of effort in practice and he has started an extra workout routine at the house doing chin ups and resistance band work in an effort to get stronger. He is planning to reach out (email) several schools in the next few weeks to let them know he’s interested in swimming there.

The biggest problem is going to be matching up a school in a location that fits what he needs and also matches up with his swimming, budget, and academic interests/performance. All of these items combine in one way or another to limit his options…

Obviously, Brett’s swimming ability limits the number of schools where he would fit in. However, it may surprise most of you to know that even with his marginal performances he has at least 1 event where his current time would place him around the top 3 performances for the 2015/2016 season at 135 schools. Given that he has 2 more years of swimming, I expect that number will climb some and his attractiveness to the 135 he is currently a fit for will increase.

The first ancillary limiting factor is going to be Brett’s personality. If you’ve been reading for any period of time you know about Brett’s ADHD and the issues with focus and organization that it causes. Given these weaknesses, he really needs to avoid big universities and schools in or around big cities. Which for the most part is fine, because even if he improves dramatically over the next 2 years; he’s unlikely to get to the point a Division 1 school would consider him, so that eliminates the big universities off the top. The location limitation then only impacts smaller schools in/around big cities. Ironically, there are a number of schools where Brett could compete that fall into this category. For instance, he would be a very solid contributor if he swam on some of the New York conference teams. In addition, it would probably be wise to keep him somewhere within a reasonable distance from home. Knowing that he could come home on short notice or we could be at his place within hours would probably be a comfort to him. I won’t insist that he remain in the Southeast, but I do believe he’ll perform better in school if he does.

The second limiting factor and probably the biggest is going to be budget. First off, I should probably explain the scholarship angle, just to get it out of the way. In college sports, only Div 1 and Div 2 schools offer scholarships (Junior College teams can, but there aren’t any in the Southeast so that means those teams are an unlikely fit). In Division 1 there are 9.9 men’s scholarships available and in Division 2 there are 8.1. However, unlike football and basketball that most of you are probably familiar with, in swimming the scholarships are carved up. Meaning, very few swimmers get a full ride, and Brett clearly isn’t going to be a candidate to receive an entire scholarship, if he even receives a scholarship (he could be asked to walk on). Moreover, most of the schools where Brett fits are Division 3, which don’t offer scholarships at all. Making matters worse, Division 3 schools are mostly private, which means they can get very expensive. I want to be able to allow Brett to go wherever he fits, but unfortunately, there is a high probability I won’t be able to afford it.

Finally, Brett will have a difficult time matching up his academic interests with some of the schools. Brett would like to be an engineer (though he isn’t likely to get into an engineering school directly out of high school, as his grades don’t support it). That means he will have to decide what he wants to focus on that might allow him to get into engineering later or potentially as a Master’s program. I suggested he consider Math or Physics, and with his interests typically falling in these areas, they are a possibility.

One more minor item that he is considering…he would like to play Ultimate Frisbee on a college’s club team. Ultimate Frisbee is one of the games the Gold Swim team plays when they are between seasons, and Brett is quite good. He can make all 3 of the forehand and backhand throws as well as the hammer throw both right and left handed. He can do the thumb throw and the chicken wing right handed as well. This probably isn’t going to be a significant factor, but it will be a nice to have…

I will fill you in with details when he finally contacts schools he’s interested in.

[Breeze]

General Update

Brett got his first real paycheck every yesterday. He was paid for 10.5 hours of orientation training. We also found out after he works a total of 20 hours, he'll be reimbursed $100 for the lifeguard training classes he finished in the Spring.

Bailey and Bear will be having their 8th grade trip at the end of May, which would be ok, if they weren't leaving the very next weekend to go to Pensacola for their first long course meet of the season. Given they will be out of the water for several days leading up to the meet; combined with the fact it is a travel meet, I'm not expecting much from them...

[Breeze]

General Upate - Olympic Warm Up Event

As we approach the Olympic Trials, there are several warm up meets taking place over the next several weeks. I thought I'd post some interesting stuff the occurs. One of the warm up meets is at GaTech, so several of the top swimmers in the state (the ones with qualifying times) are competing.

Atlanta Classic Swim Meet - Day 1

Lauren Case - a Gold swimmer (different pool then my kids) who had an Olympic cut at 14 and recently signed to swim at Texas. Made the B final in the 200 Free, and is the top qualifier in the 100 Fly.

Jackie Hill - a Gold swimmer (formerly from our pool, now a different one), qualified for the A final in the 100 Breast

Tristan Ulett - 13 year old swimmer in Bailey's age group - qualified 47th in the 200 Free, 26th in the 100 fly

Abby Grottle - 14 year old swimmer in Bailey's age group - qualified 68th in 200 free

Addie Rose Bullock - 14 year old swimmer in Bailey's age group - qualified 35th in the 100 fly

Some other names you may recognize from these write ups that are competing:

Liam Bell
Lanie Bell
Arion Solomon
Jack Dalmonin
Tiger Pilkington

Note: Keep in mind, this is an elite swim meet with some of the following top talent competing:


Katie Ledecky
Natalie Coughlin
Amanda Weir
Breeja Larson
Melanie Margalis
Maya DiRado
Shannon Vreeland

Nathan Adrian
Bruno Fratus
Gunter Bentz
Jack Conger
Ryan Murphy
Tom Shields
Josh Prenot
Wil Licon
Caleb Dressel

Some of these names may be unfamiliar to you, but with trials coming up you will probably recognize them soon.

[Breeze]

2016 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational - UWF Aquatic Center (Pensacola, FL) - 6/3 - 6/5

This is the first long course meet of the season for my kids, but for several reasons, I don't have high expectations on how they will do. Heres is why:

1. These next couple of weeks are finals at school, which will lead to missed practices in order to prepare

2. Bailey and Bear will be going to Savannah for their 8th grade trip Monday to Wednesday (5/23 - 5/25) and will miss 5 full practices right before the meet

3. It is a travel meet, which means they will stay up late, not eat great and probably not be as focused on their actual performance

4. An unfortunate problem with the pool pump has occurred at our facility forcing the kids to miss practice on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning (so far, the issue still isn't resolved), which is just more time out of the water...

Anyway - hopefully, they will get off to a good start despite all these items working against them. It will be hard to make any prediction/comment about what to expect given the items above, and the fact that being long course I don't have a point of reference yet, but I'll provide some thoughts and we'll see how intuitive I am. Here is what they will be competing in.

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

Bailey

# 49 (d2/s3): G 13-14 200 Free (2:27.07L) - Given Baileys improvement in Freestyle at the end of short course, and the fact she's continuing to report improved performance in the stroke at practice I expect a drop here...maybe 2:23 range.
# 57 (d2/s3): G 13-14 200 Fly (2:39.32L) - says she's working on a deeper dig with this stroke, and she's not completely comfortable with it, also said it causes some discomfort in her lower back (because she's having to use those muscles more so there is soreness there)...given these, a slight improvement would be welcome, but before the end of the season, she could be looking at an 8 second drop or more if all the pieces fall together.
# 61 (d2/s3): G 13-14 100 Back (1:19.50L) - reports she's still struggling with her rotation on one side (can't remember which one). Don't expect much here, maybe a slight drop.
# 65B (d2/s3): G 13-14 400 Free (5:13.89L) - hasn't done any distance or mid-distance frees in a while. I expect a drop, just because it's been so long.
# 83 (d3/s5): G 13-14 100 Free (1:10.32L) - similar to the 200 free, but given workload at the meet, fatigue could start to become a factor here.
# 87 (d3/s5): G 13-14 200 Back (2:43.24L) - should drop just because it's been so long, but like the 100 back there is some technique work to be done in the stroke, and fatigue could again be an issue.
# 95 (d3/s5): G 13-14 200 Medley (2:45.66L) - don't expect much here...but improved breaststroke could lead to a pleasant surprise.
# 99C (d3/s5): G 13-14 800 Free (10:36.92L) - won't be thrilled about having to swim this, but she needs to start embracing the mid distance and longer swims, given she'll be too short to naturally compete in sprint events...

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

Bear

# 50 (d2/s3): B 13-14 200 Free (2:18.25L) - Bear's dramatic improvement over the last year could be reflected here...he could actually drop close to 10 seconds and I wouldn't be surprised. Just don't know how hard the coaches will work them in practice headed into this event.
# 58 (d2/s3): B 13-14 200 Fly (2:34.45L) - similar situation to the 200 free...could be much better if he isn't overworked headed into the meet.
# 62 (d2/s3): B 13-14 100 Back (1:19.49L) - Haven't heard much about this stroke, so not sure what to expect...
# 66B (d2/s3): B 13-14 400 Free (4:43.05L) - again another big drop is possible. In fact, if he doesn't improve by about 10 seconds I'm sure he won't be happy.
# 84 (d3/s5): B 13-14 100 Free (1:03.33L) - Slight drop would be good...bet his goal is to go sub60 before the end of the season...
# 88 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Back (2:36.75L) - see 100 back...
# 96 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Medley (2:35.54L) - improved breast, even with the expected fatigue at this point, probably means a pretty decent drop.
# 100C (d3/s5): B 13-14 1500 Free (18:42.57L) - who knows...because fatigue is such an issue in this event he could do almost anything. Last year, he didn't do well in this event at this pool. He was ok, but not great. I expect more of the same this time around. A drop, but not a substantial one. Of course, based on his short course times, he could drop almost a minute if he's feeling right...

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

Brett

# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (2:26.94L) - could drop a few seconds here...hope he does so it gives him confidence moving forward.
# 56 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Breast (1:27.36L) - no idea what to expect. His form is all over the place and coach is working with him on something right now...just not sure what.
# 64 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:24.42L) - Should improve a bunch here, but he never seems to do it. If he'll attack this race and drop a good bit of time, it will help his college profile page a bunch.
# 66C (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 400 Free (5:28.07L) - should drop time here based on his improvement in the 500 free, and the fact he really should be faster than his recorded time in that event as well...hopefully, the extra strength work will pay off and he'll be able to maintain a harder pace.
# 86 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (1:09.03L) - another area where improved strength could pay off...
# 90 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Back (2:48.93L) - like the 100 back, but even more important for his college profile. He seems to fit better on most of the colleges he's eyeing in the 200 back...
# 94 (d3/s5): B Open 50 Breast (40.56L) - this could be a huge drop, because it isn't an event that swimmers older than 12 typically swim. I have to beleive he's in this event because the coach wants to work on Brett's pacing in the stroke...but the coach hasn't confirmed that with us.
# 98 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Medley (2:47.84L) - improved fly, back and free vs. fatigue...hopefully the strength and stroke improvement will prevail.
# 100D (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 1500 Free (20:25.23L) - I don't know what to expect here...my guess is he'll probably pack it in a bit due to last race, fatigue, and lack of comfort racing the event.

[Breeze]

General Update - Olympic Swimming

Huge news in the sport - 31 Athletes Caught in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Drug Re-Testing

[Breeze]

General Update

Funny but poignant article about dating a swimmer. I figure with 3 teen swimmers these items are going to be issues moving forward...


1. The smell isn’t going anywhere. Get used to it. We might not be able to smell it, or notice, or frankly, care, but the smell of chlorine is our natural scent.

2. Free time is a rare commodity. Most weekends are off limits. Either there is a swim meet, or we are catching up on sleep, eating, and sleep. Weekdays aren’t much better either between unpacking and packing swim bags, homework, inhaling food and promptly passing out.

3. If you plan on buying, don’t take us out for dinner without a sizable brick of cash in your wallet. Suggestions: anywhere that has an all you can eat menu. We eat. A lot. (Here’s a tip: don’t make a face—whether you are impressed or disgusted—when we order seconds. This is what we do.)

4. If you don’t like muscles, move along. If you are a guy who isn’t into girls who have muscles, or a girl who isn’t into guys whose shoulders are as wide as doorways, than hit the bricks.

5. Movie theaters are a risky date choice. The combination of the darkness, full-backed, plush chairs and a double of distance workouts that day is a sure-fire recipe for a 2-hour pass out session.

6. If the teammates don’t like you, watch out. It’s hard enough dating someone who has the ever-judging parents and siblings, but swimmers take this to another level with teammates. They sweat, bleed and cry together. They swim up and down that black line for 15-20 hours a week, spend weekends traveling to compete, and see one another at their best and their worst.

7. The 1-2 punch to a swimmer’s affection. Ultimately, there are two keys to every swimmer’s heart: food, and excellent massage skills.

8. Don’t slag the sport. Swimmers can complain about the hours they put in, the lack of attention it gets compared to major sports, but you can’t hate on the sport. Yes, it’s bizarre that we complain about all the meters we have to swim, and then still do it anyway, but we earned it.

9. Your idea of “sleeping in” is different than a swimmers. A nice leisurely 7am wake-up call is a luxury for your little swimming crush.

10. Don’t be the bad influence. Don’t be the guy or gal that tells their swimmer, “Oh, it’s just one morning workout.” The routine of a competitive swimmer doesn’t leave a lot of time for extracurriculars. This is the sacrifice that they have chosen to make. If you put them in a place where they have to choose between the sport they love and you, odds are pretty good you won’t like the answer.

11. When we say we are too tired to hang out, we actually are. Sure, the “I’m so tired” excuse might come across as suspect when it comes from a non-swimmer, but when your prospective datee says, “I can’t feel my shoulders and can’t move from the couch” they mean it.

12. Have our back. We don’t need you to obsess over the sport we love, nor do we want you at every one of our practices and meets (it’s great to have a non-swimming element in our life to provide balance, after all). But we certainly do appreciate someone who is a positive influence and is supportive as we tumble along the journey of swimming competitively.

13. Shaving - Men shave, and we mean the entire body which sometimes even includes the head - relax it'll grow back. Women don't shave, until they do - get over it or go date a cheerleader. (added from reader comments - kids thought it was so perfect it should be added to the list)

[Breeze]

General Update

So Bear gets home from Savannah yesterday around 7:15 and immediately has me run him to the pool so he can catch the last part of practice (actually the coach stayed late so he got about 2000 yards in). He really doesn't want the time out of the pool to impact his performance in Florida.

Bailey was angry with Bear, telling him that he was making her look bad for not going.

Brett has switched over to swede goggles. They are similar to the kind he's been wearing, only these don't have any padding at all. They go in the eye socket and utilize suction only. He seems to like them and is excited to have them.

[Breeze]

General Update

The Cumming pool was converted to long course on the 27th so the kids are now swimming the 50 meters at practice. Good to get it converted about a week before heading to Pensacola for their first meet

The first summer practice started today, and the kids will be getting up around 5:30 every morning to go to practice. Meaning they actually sleep in longer most days when school is in session.

[Breeze]

2016 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational - UWF Aquatic Center (Pensacola, FL) - 6/3 - 6/5

The psych sheet for this event is out. These times are old (last year), but figured I’d update where the kids are seeded (not that it matters much here, but it is a bit interesting). Seeds will be posted like this - seed/number of swimmers in the event

It also looks like Gold will be fielding relays. I don’t think the lineups will be determined until the day of the race, but the kids could end up swimming in those as well.


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

Bailey

# 49 (d2/s3): G 13-14 200 Free (2:27.07L) – 11/43

# 57 (d2/s3): G 13-14 200 Fly (2:39.32L) – 1/13

# 61 (d2/s3): G 13-14 100 Back (1:19.50L) – 16/47

# 65B (d2/s3): G 13-14 400 Free (5:13.89L) – 31/64* (open event so 31st 18 and under)

# 83 (d3/s5): G 13-14 100 Free (1:10.32L) – 24/50

# 87 (d3/s5): G 13-14 200 Back (2:43.24L) – 9/42

# 95 (d3/s5): G 13-14 200 Medley (2:45.66L) – 10/44

# 99C (d3/s5): G 13-14 800 Free (10:36.92L) – 12/31* (open event, so Bailey is 12th out of 18 and unders)

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Bear – on Wednesday he came home with a strained hip flexor, which is really causing him a good deal of pain. Given his injury I expect he’ll struggle this weekend, and he may not even swim all the events.

# 50 (d2/s3): B 13-14 200 Free (2:18.25L) – 13/47

# 58 (d2/s3): B 13-14 200 Fly (2:34.45L) – 2/23 (behind his buddy Tommy)

# 62 (d2/s3): B 13-14 100 Back (1:19.49L) – 23/39

# 66B (d2/s3): B 13-14 400 Free (4:43.05L) – 14/61* (open event so 14th 18 and under)

# 84 (d3/s5): B 13-14 100 Free (1:03.33L) – 12/52

# 88 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Back (2:36.75L) – 10/40

# 96 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Medley (2:35.54L) – 9/45

# 100C (d3/s5): B 13-14 1500 Free (18:42.57L) – 6/24* (open event, so he is 6th out of 18 and unders)


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Brett – seeds here for 18 and under

# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (2:26.94L) – 32/46

# 56 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Breast (1:27.36L) – 18/32

# 64 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:24.42L) – 22/33

# 66C (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 400 Free (5:28.07L) – 47/61

# 86 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (1:09.03L) – 38/48

# 90 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Back (2:48.93L) – 20/31

# 94 (d3/s5): B Open 50 Breast (40.56L) – 15/26
.
# 98 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Medley (2:47.84L) – 32/40

# 100D (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 1500 Free (20:25.23L) – 16/24

[Breeze]

2016 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational - RESULTS

Finally, some swimming results to report...



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

Bailey - so, after rereading my initial thoughts on the races and seeing the actual outcomes, I think my expectations were a bit high. After she struggled so much in short course to even come close to her personal bests until a taper race, I should have realized that anything close to a personal best is a sign that she is doing very well, especially given it's a travel meet and she's in the middle of the ramp up period.

# 41 (d2/s3): G 13-14 400 Free Relay B Team - Bailey did end up on the "B" 400 Free Relay. According to the unofficial splits she swam a 1:08.96...and the team finished second behind only the "A" team.
# 49 (d2/s3): G 13-14 200 Free (2:27.07L) - First race and she was basically right on her personal best - 2:27.63
# 57 (d2/s3): G 13-14 200 Fly (2:39.32L) - again right on the PB seed time - 2:40.98
# 61 (d2/s3): G 13-14 100 Back (1:19.50L) - slight improvement here 1:19.05
# 65B (d2/s3): G 13-14 400 Free (5:13.89L) - another one almost dead on the seed time - 5:13.87
# 83 (d3/s5): G 13-14 100 Free (1:10.32L) - an improvement swimming 1:09.09, which is really pretty good when you consider she swam a 1:08 high with a rolling start in the relay.
# 87 (d3/s5): G 13-14 200 Back (2:43.24L) - 2:44.71 - as you can see she's right there again.
# 95 (d3/s5): G 13-14 200 Medley (2:45.66L) - another close swim - 2:46.23
# 99C (d3/s5): G 13-14 800 Free (10:36.92L) - here she added quite a bit of time, but the coach said he was pleased with her effort and swim here. She took it out fast and couldn't hold up, but given this isn't an event she's used to, the last race of a travel meet, I'm not surprised she couldn't maintain pace. Glad the to hear the coach was pleased with the time of 10:46.80

All in all, the coach was extremely pleased with Bailey's swims this weekend. I think the times indicate she could have a solid season by the end of the Summer. Especially, if she responds well to the taper.

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

Bear

# 42 (d2/s3): B 13-14 400 Free Relay B Team -Bear also got on the "B" relay, and he opened the meet swimming a 1:04.84. Not a great swim for him, but close enough to his personal best for it not to be alarming.
# 50 (d2/s3): B 13-14 200 Free (2:18.25L) - 2:21.68, added a few seconds here. Not sure how much hip was aa factor...
# 58 (d2/s3): B 13-14 200 Fly (2:34.45L) - Almost dead on his personal best 2:34.55
# 62 (d2/s3): B 13-14 100 Back (1:19.49L) - a nice improvement here 1:17.46. This was huge for 2 reasons - first, he's really needed to start improving in back again. It's been a while. Second, other than breast,the back was the stroke that hurt his hip the most...so hopefully, this indicates it won't be a lingering issue.
# 66B (d2/s3): B 13-14 400 Free (4:43.05L) - Added about 1.7 seconds - 4:44.88
# 84 (d3/s5): B 13-14 100 Free (1:03.33L) - In his personal 100 free, he significantly improves on his time from the relay and his personal best 1:02.72
# 88 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Back (2:36.75L) - Couldn't carry over the improvement in the 100 to the 200...settles for a 2:38.08
# 96 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Medley (2:35.54L) - in this one he added several seconds, I believe the breast was the biggest issue but it's been so long since he swam breast long course, I don't really have a good reference point. Will know more later in the season - 2:39.22
# 100C (d3/s5): B 13-14 1500 Free (18:42.57L) - good news and bad news here...Good news he dropped time 18.37.89, Bad news - he was beaten by several kids that he normally beats bad. Coach indicated he appeared to be too concerned with his technique and he wasn't focused on swimming fast. Not really concerned right now, as he typically doesn't swim all the distance races well before state.

Overall, I believe the coach was pleased with Bear's efforts as well. Bear didn't say much after I picke him up, and he went straight to bed when he got home, so almost no feedback from him. If I find out something different I'll update the thread

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Brett - This meet for Brett was a complete debacle. Friday night Brett ended up catching a stomach bug, and he was up all night dealing with the effects. On Saturday, he felt so poorly, that he didn't even take his swim bag from the hotel to the meet, and he fell asleep in the stands. The coach didn't see him there, and ended up having to announce his name over the intercom to find him (this irritated the coach even though Brett hadn't done anything). The coach made him borrow a suit and goggles and swim, thinking that Brett had simply eaten too much junk the night before and made himself ill. Obviously, Brett didn't do well. Saturday night Brett still wasn't feeling well. He didn't eat dinner (though for some strange reason he ordered crab claws and spent $35 of my money ), and he was up again most of the night dealing with the bug. On Sunday, Brett was still dealing with the stomach issues, as well as a splitting headache from dehydration. After Riley who was rooming with Brett (yes the same Riley that occasionally is part of the spend the night crew) told the coach that Brett wasn't faking it, he relented and let Brett scratch all of his events.

(Note: Riley really stood up for Brett after he fell ill. On the way home, Brett fell asleep, and Tommy, another of the crew, was going to wake him up and video the reaction, then post it on Instagram, but Riley got in his face and told him to leave Brett alone, that he was sick.)

When I picked the kids up from the bus, the first thing I did was check Brett's temperature, and he was running a fever (still is on Monday morning as well). I'm quite irritated with the coach for not taking the time to check this, and for just assuming Brett was trying to avoid swimming the 400 and 1500 races. Also, making matters worse, the coach forgot to give Brett his ADHD medication on Saturday, which added the distracted, impulsive and unfocused behavior to the illness.

One of the points the coach was making to Brett, was the need to swim and work through obsticles when you aren't 100%. I can absolutely appreciate that, as I've mentioned to Brett on numerous occasions that he needs to figure out how to have a good practice when he's sore and to not simply mail it in; thinking soreness is an excuse to accept a poor practice. However, in this case, I'm not sure it was the time to make that point.

Not that it really matters, but here are his swim times...

# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (2:26.94L) - 2:38.30
# 56 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Breast (1:27.36L) - 1:35.45
# 64 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:24.42L) - 1:26.40
# 66C (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 400 Free (5:28.07L) - No Show - coach let Brett skip this one on Saturday.
# 86 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (1:09.03L) - scratch
# 90 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Back (2:48.93L) - scratch
# 94 (d3/s5): B Open 50 Breast (40.56L) - scratch
# 98 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Medley (2:47.84L) - scratch
# 100D (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 1500 Free (20:25.23L) - scratch

[Breeze]

2016 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational - Quick Follow Up

Just heard, the coach is now sick...

Hopefully, it a bunch of other kids don't catch it too...

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Breeze

2016 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational - Quick Follow Up

Just heard, the coach is now sick...

Hopefully, it a bunch of other kids don't catch it too...

Correction

So apparently I'm an idiot and I misread my wife's text. It isn't the coach that got sick, it is one of Brett's roommates in Pensacola.

Bear also came down with it yesterday at dinner. He was up dealing with episodes until 2 or so. Given how often and violently he was ill and assuming Brett was dealing with something similar, I really tip my cap to Brett. Bear even said, there is no way I could swim feeling like this, and yet, Brett did.

We also talked to Brett a bit last night, and he was very sad, to the point of almost tearing up. He said that the Pensacola meet is the best meet of the year. That he looks forward to it all year long and this time around he wasn't able to enjoy it. Also, making matters worse, several of the other kids were teasing him about being "sick". I believe this occurred because the coach set the tone with his mindset that Brett's problems were self-inflicted from not eating right.

[Breeze]

Swim with Dad @ GaTech – 6/11-12

So this is a quick turnaround meet, given they just got back from Pensacola on Sunday (6/5). But the long course season is extremely compressed, and given they only have 1 meet after this one before state, we decided to sign them up. I don’t expect much from the kids here. Turnaround from last week is too quick and practices are still pretty brutal as they are ramping up effort right now.

However, I’d like to see the Bailey hang around her personal bests like she did last weekend. I was hoping Brett could rebound from feeling poorly to show some of the improvements that I’m seeing, in bursts, at practice, but Tuesday night (6/7) he started experiencing symptoms of the stomach bug again, that carried over into Wednesday. Not sure he’ll be in any shape to do much of anything physical by Saturday. Not sure what to expect from Bear…his sickness may work like a taper, allowing his muscles to rest and thus he’ll swim well if he’s feeling well. But, it is just as likely he’s still fatigued from the bug or even sore from having time off before jumping back into a hard practice on Friday (as he's been out of the pool since getting sick)

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Bailey

# 2 (d1/s1): G 13 & Over 200 Medley (2:45.66L )
# 5 (d1/s1): G 13 & Over 200 Fly (2:39.32L )
# 17 (d1/s1): G 13 & Over 200 Back (2:43.24L )
# 20 (d1/s1): G 13 & Over 400 Free (5:13.89L )
# 42 (d2/s3): G 13 & Over 200 Free (2:27.07L )
# 51 (d2/s3): G Open 100 Back (1:19.50L )
# 57 (d2/s3): G 13 & Over 100 Fly (1:11.69L )
# 63 (d2/s3): G 13 & Over 400 Medley (5:44.28L )

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bear

# 3 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 200 Medley (2:35.54L )
# 6 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 200 Fly (2:34.45L )
# 12 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 50 Free (30.24L )
# 21 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 400 Free (4:43.05L )
# 43 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 200 Free (2:18.25L )
# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:19.49L )
# 61 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 100 Free (1:03.33L )
# 64 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 400 Medley (5:28.62L )

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brett

# 3 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 200 Medley (2:47.84L )
# 15 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 100 Breast (1:27.36L )
# 18 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 200 Back (2:48.93L )
# 21 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 400 Free (5:28.07L )
# 43 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 200 Free (2:26.94L )
# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:24.42L )
# 55 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 200 Breast (3:08.53L )
# 64 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 400 Medley (6:06.58L )

[Breeze]

Swim with Dad – RESULTS

It’s been so long since I’ve seen the kids race I was really looking forward to this meet. The illnesses running around the house really lowered my expectations, but I was still excited. Unfortunately, things didn’t go according to plan...

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Bailey

On Friday afternoon, Bailey went from – starving and begging the wife to stop and get something to eat on the way to meet a friend at the mall - to – throwing up. This transition was about 20 minutes apart. Obviously, she didn’t swim at the meet, but thankfully the illness apparently didn’t impact her as bad as it did the boys. She returned to practice Monday (6/13), but had a relapse of symptoms that night. She missed practice Tuesday morning, but hopefully, that will be the end of it.

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

Bear

After having a couple of days without incident, Bear returned to the pool on Friday (6/10). However, despite his best efforts he was only able to swim 1000 meters before he gave out of gas. With this showing, the coach and we determined it was in Bear’s best interest to just rest through the weekend. Which turned out to be wise as he had a relapse of symptoms (similar to Brett’s relapse) that same evening. He did swim a little on Sunday (~900 meters) and he returned to practice Monday (6/13) morning.

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

Brett – not a great meet for Brett, but given his limited practice time while recovering it wasn’t as bad as I expected, and the coach told him he thought he did pretty well overall.

# 3 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 200 Medley (2:47.84L ) – Brett’s fly looked significantly better, but overall he could only manage a time of 2:57.28. While this 10 seconds is poor, under the circumstances and after researching his swimming last Summer and finding out last year about this time he only managed 2:52… it really doesn’t seem that far off.

# 15 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 100 Breast (1:27.36L ) – started out pretty good and kept it reasonably close to his personal best 1:30.17. Coach said he was about 3/4s of the way back with his stroke after this race. Biggest issue is making the stroke repeatable every time.

# 18 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 200 Back (2:48.93L ) – Way to deliberate for my taste, and he ended up adding 9 seconds - 2:57.28

# 21 (d1/s1): B 13 & Over 400 Free (5:28.07L ) – Never challenged himself. I’m pretty sure he was concerned about being able to finish – so he was too conservative. Managed a 5:38.16

# 43 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 200 Free (2:26.94L ) – Second day, Brett definitely seemed to push a bit more. Maybe he had more confidence after making it through the first day. Opened with a 2:35.05, which seems disappointing compared to his seed time, but again I looked up last year at this meet and he swam a 2:32. So only 3 seconds after being sick, not too shabby.

# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:24.42L ) – Definitely went out harder in this back race. Form was a bit sloppy, and he has a lot of little items to clean up, but he almost popped a personal best 1:24.61

# 55 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 200 Breast (3:08.53L ) – started out really well…posting a 1:32.31 to open. Which was only 1 second behind a teammate that has been just slightly faster than Brett recently. Unfortunately, in the back half he ran out of steam and he limped home in a 1:40.09 to finish at 3:12.40. To give a reference point, Chris (the teammate mentioned above), went 1:31 front and 1:35 low, for a 3:06. Had Brett stayed on his pace in the second 100, he’d have been close to a personal best. Hopefully, improved stamina will allow him to do that soon.

# 64 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 400 Medley (6:06.58L ) – The fly leg looked great early. For about the first 30 meters is was better than he had ever done…then his stroke started to come about little by little. Even with this the first 50 was solid, the second 50 was ugly, but he still managed to go 1:36.31, which is a personal best 100 fly – a good 2 seconds better than the 100 fly he swam to open a 400 IM last year at this time. The effort associated with that leg, really took its toll, and he struggled the rest of the race. He finished in 6:16.61 – which is honestly better than I thought he’d do. I was expecting something around 6:20…figuring the lack of stamina would eat him up.

[Breeze]

General Update - Olympic Trials

Jack Dolan, one of Brett's first real friends on Gold who moved to St. Louis a couple years back, has qualified for Olympic Trials. He currently has 1 cut and will be going for a couple more over the weekend. I'll fill in details once his meet is over.

[Breeze]

2016 Henry VIII Invite @ Cumming Aquatic Center – June 24-26

This is a prelim / finals meet all 3 days, so there will be a bunch of swimming (I'll miss the Friday prelims due to work, but should see most everything else). I don’t believe the coach is planning on doing much of a taper for any of the kids. In fact, I expect it to be a drop taper, where he backs off of the work on Thursday night only (maybe a slight decrease Wednesday). I have gotten good reports on all the kids efforts recently. Especially the twins…but I don’t know if it is going to translate into fast times yet.

Here are the events the kids are swimming:

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Bailey

# 1 Girl 13-14 200 Free 2:27.07L – Bailey is hoping to make a move here. One of her friends who used to be faster than her in the freestyle is seeded ahead of her by 3.5 seconds. Bailey is hoping to beat her and her time.

# 9 Girl 13-14 100 Fly 1:11.69L – One of the other 14 year old girls currently has a slightly faster time than Bailey…she wants to fix that this weekend.

# 13 Girl 13-14 400 Medley 5:44.28L – needs a strong breast to improve a bunch. Her improved stamina from working harder in practice might be enough to get a personal best.

# 43 Girl 13-14 200 Fly 2:39.32L – she is so much more comfortable with this race. Hoping she continues to improve her time

# 47 Girl 13-14 100 Back 1:19.05L – Would really like to see a drop in this one. She’s been flat in back for a while. Coach told her it has to do with her rotation, and she said she’s getting better at the technique. Fingers crossed.

# 51 Girl 13-14 400 Free 5:13.87L – As she embraces longer swims, she gets better at them. Could improve her just because she is more comfortable. She will probably try to beat the same girl mentioned in the 200 free here.

# 73 Girl 13-14 200 Back 2:43.24L – see 100 back…only improved practice efforts could help with time due to better stamina

# 81 Girl 13-14 200 Medley 2:45.66L – breast and back have to be better. I expect free at the end will be much improved over last year.

# 85 Girl 13-14 800 Free 10:36.92L – Coach wants her to get a state cut in this…that means she needs to be 10:17…that’s a big drop, but I honestly think she can do it.


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Bear

# 2 Boy 13-14 200 Free 2:18.25L – Bear was very disappointed in his 2:21 time in Pensacola in this event. And several of his friends have improved in this one. We haven’t discussed it, but I expect Bear will be pushing hard in this one.

# 10 Boy 13-14 100 Fly 1:14.32L – haven’t done this one in a while…in Pensacola it was swum on Friday before the Gold team arrived and he was sick during Swim with Dad, so this time is from last year. Given his 200 fly at Pensacola was right on his personal best, I expect this will be close too.

# 14 Boy 13-14 400 Medley 5:28.62L – really struggling with Breast, and the breaststroke really bothers his hip injury. He might end up scratching this one, but if he swims, I don’t expect much.

# 44 Boy 13-14 200 Fly 2:34.45L – I expect he’ll be close to his PB again.

# 48 Boy 13-14 100 Back 1:17.46L – Hoping for continued improvement here. He seems to have a better stroke in back right now, hopefully he doesn’t go back to over-reaching

# 52 Boy 13-14 400 Free 4:43.05L – Added a little in Pensacola…will want to fix that here…

# 78 Boy 13-14 100 Free 1:02.72L – Not sure how much dropping he’ll be able to do here. Having not seen him swim, I just don’t have a point of reference.

# 82 Boy 13-14 200 Medley 2:35.54L – Breast is the issue again…hopefully, he either scratches or he swims it without inflaming his hip strain.

# 86 Boy 13-14 800 Free 10:05.37L – I know he’s eyeing this one. The state cut here…though he already has the 1500 so it is really irrelevant because boys don’t swim the 800 at state – is 9:59.59…I expect he’ll get that easily. Not sure what he’ll shoot for, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he tried to go 9:45 or even faster.


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

Brett

# 4 Boy 15 & Over 200 Free 2:26.94L – just hoping he can approach his personal bests. His sick swimming the last couple of times out really make it difficult to project. If he can come close he’ll show he’s ready to improve. If he is 5 or so seconds off, it will show he’s developed some issues he needs to overcome.

# 8 Boy 15 & Over 100 Breast 1:27.36L – even sick, Brett was only a few seconds off on this one. Hopefully, he can pull out a personal best. It would be really good for his self-confidence.

# 16 Boy 15 & Over 400 Medley 6:06.58L – should improve here with better fly and more stamina.

# 38 Boy 15 & Over 200 Breast 3:08.53L – even still recovering at Swim with Dad – in a 200 Breast he was only 3+ seconds off his personal best. Very hopefully, healthy he’ll drop some time.

# 50 Boy 15 & Over 100 Back 1:24.42L – was only +.2 at Swim with Dad…this should be a personal best, if it isn’t I’ll be disappointed.

# 54 Boy 15 & Over 400 Free 5:28.07L – Could do well here…or could settle into a practice pace and come out with a poor time. Depends on his mindset.

# 76 Boy 15 & Over 200 Back 2:48.93L – Added a bunch of time here at Swim with Dad…which was hopefully due to post sickness fatigue, especially considering how well he swam the 100. In fact, his 100 split at SwD was very similar to his 100 time…so all the added time was back half. Maybe this indicates he could do well in this one too…

# 84 Boy 15 & Over 200 Medley 2:47.84L – like the 400, the improved Fly and stamina could lead to a good swim…

# 88 Boy 15 & Over 800 Free 11:00.40L – like the 400 free it all depends on how hard he’s willing to push. Hopefully, he embraces this. Especially given that improving his distance frees will improve his chances of swimming in college.

[Breeze]

Brett - College Swimming

Well this took a good bit longer than I anticipated, but Brett finally started reaching out to colleges about swimming...

Basically, after a long discussion it appears a good bit of the delay was due to the fact Brett is hesitant about leaving home and getting away from his friends. Not sure your perspective on this, I know when I was looking at colleges, I was excited about getting out on my own, but I'm sure it isn't terribly uncommon for kids to be anxious about college. Also if you remember, Brett REALLY struggled to make friends all through elementary school, and even in middle school. In fact, he will tell you he had no friends at all during those years. It wasn’t until Hunter and Jack started interacting with him, and Seth moved into town that Brett finally started building a friend group. Now he’s basically got an extended family. The kids that are over all the time are more like close cousins than just buddies, and it his hard for him to contemplate giving that up. Making matters worse, he’s the oldest, so he’ll be the first to walk away. However, after much discussion we finally got him to understand that he can maintain his friendships and still go to college. Especially now where it is so much easier to stay in touch with each other. Once he embraced the process he started to show some excitement.

The first schools Brett reached out to are:

King University

Warren Wilson College

In both cases he filled out the online “recruit me” form, and sent a follow up email with more details.

Now, it will probably be a while before we get any response, as coaches aren’t supposed to contact potential recruits until some time in September of their Junior year. Given this is entirely new to me, I’m not sure what information to supply at this point. However, if there is something you’d like to know about the schools, their swim team, or Brett’s interest, feel free to ask, and I will happily fill in what I can.

[Breeze]

US Olympic Trials

Note: I posted this in a thread on the main board, but decided to post it here as well for posterity sake.


So the Psych Sheet for the Olympic Swimming Trials has been released. For those that don't know, the U.S. Trials is the fastest swim meet in the world. While the Olympics will have individuals that are faster than some U.S. Swimmers, the depth associated with the U.S. Trials is much better than at the Olympics.

You can find the Psych Sheet here:

https://swimswam.com/usa-olympic-tri...heet-released/

The actually Psych Sheet is a link at the top of the page.

Also, if you've been following along in this dynasty you may recognize a few names that are in the Trials...

Tristan Ulett
Liam Bell
Jack Dolan
Addie Farrington
Lauren Case (Gold)
Emma Cole (Gold)
Ari Lopez (Gold - signed with LSU last year)
Tan Dunn
Blake Atmore (a high school teammate of Brett's)

There are many others we swim at meets with on a regular basis, but most of them are older than my kids so I didn't include them in this list.

I suspect at the next trials 4 years from now, this list is going to be a lot longer.

[Breeze]

2016 Henry VIII Invite – Day 1 Results



PRELIMS
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Bailey

# 1 Girl 13-14 200 Free 2:27.07L – All reports, from Bailey directly, and from others in the group are that Bailey’s freestyle has improved significantly, but her prelim time was 2:27.62. Now that is an interesting time because of several things that have to be considered. First, while not a personal best, it is only a fraction off of PB time, which given how she added significant amounts of time during short course, was pretty encouraging. However, if her freestyle is that much better, why didn’t she improve on a pretty mediocre seed time? Finally, this was just a prelim, and she was coming back for finals. Would she perform better during the evening session?

# 9 Girl 13-14 100 Fly 1:11.69L – Prelim time of 1:13.47 was pretty disappointing. In fact, the coach asked her if she was holding back, to which Bailey replied she was. She was seeded second, and knew she would make finals, so she said she swam it about 90%...so very interested to see her swim it at finals…

# 13 Girl 13-14 400 Medley 5:44.28L – There was no prelim in this one…the top seeds came back to swim finals only.

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Bear

# 2 Boy 13-14 200 Free 2:18.25L – Bear’s 200 free in prelims was extremely strong as he managed to drop 3.45 seconds and post a personal best 2:14.80.

# 10 Boy 13-14 100 Fly 1:14.32L – Bear again swam well posting another personal best in prelims with a time of 1:12.40

# 14 Boy 13-14 400 Medley 5:28.62L – again this was only swum at finals…

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Brett

# 4 Boy 15 & Over 200 Free 2:26.94L – so my biggest fears here were realized…Brett swam slower than he did when he wasn’t feeling well, only managing a 2:42.59. He’s clearly developed some bad habits, and he informed us that he’s having some shoulder issues (we’ll be taking him to a Dr. this week). Regardless, this one hurt him emotionally/psychologically. That afternoon between sessions, he was talking to us and he said teary eyed, that had this been short course and he and Bear were racing that Bear would have lapped him. I’m not sure that is accurate, but it probably isn’t far off. He was crushed by this performance and didn’t want to return to the pool at all.

# 8 Boy 15 & Over 100 Breast 1:27.36L – another poor swim of 1:33.09…similar to times he posted when sick. Not sure if this was stroke related or a mental hangover after the 200 free…but this result simply piled on the impact to self-confidence.

# 16 Boy 15 & Over 400 Medley 6:06.58L – Brett wasn’t seeded in the top heat for this event, so he did swim it at prelims, and the two poor results above, were only a precursor to this bad swim… Brett’s fly improved – in fact this leg was almost 2 full seconds faster than when he swam is personal best in the 400 IM…so he was ahead of his PB pace. However, he felt his fly was terrible – probably because the rest of his heat got way ahead of him. I believe he was so far behind early, combined with his other bad swims that he just collapsed and quit. He struggled home to finish in a time of 6:16.47. Again during the afternoon break, he pointed out he was the only swimmer to finish over 6 minutes as he continued to focus on his short comings.

This was an alarming occurrence…he’s never been a really good swimmer, but this is the first time it’s really impacted him like this. There are several things going on that make this tough. First, the group of friends that he is a part of are all extremely good swimmers with a few on track to potentially swim at good Division 1 programs. Obviously, he pales in comparison and the gap between him and his friends just continues to grow. Second, the coach feels that he is much more capable than he is is showing, so he continues to swim him in events like the 400 IM. Brett, is far from the worst swimmer on the Senior team. In fact, there is a swimmer who is graduating and will swim with Emmanuel College that Brett beats on a regular bases, but that swimmer basically only swims certain events where he is at least semi-competitive, where Brett still swims everything but Fly because the coach is hoping he’ll make the jump and start improving. Finally, we aren’t sure how seriously his shoulders hurt. Apparently, he’d mentioned it to the coaches some days ago, but it hadn’t really seemed to impact him. His description of the pain makes it sound like tendentious…which is good in that it hopefully isn’t rotator cuff, but is bad because it can be very difficult to heal when you are part of a repetitious sport like swimming.

We were able to convince Brett to return for finals in the 100 Breast….


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FINALS
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Bailey

# 1 Girl 13-14 200 Free – Prelim Time 2:27.62 / Personal Best 2:27.07L – The question about if she would perform better in the evening session was confirmed quickly…from the start she was out quickly and her stroke did look much stronger (as I actually got to see this race). She ended up not only posting a personal best, she killed her previous time 2:22.86. This is huge for her moving forward, as it finally appears that her free is now going to move more into a strength rather than a weakness.

# 9 Girl 13-14 100 Fly – Prelim Time 1:13.47 / Personal Best 1:11.69L – She admitted holding back a bit in the morning session, and she improved on her pedestrian 1:13 time significantly, but she was only able to slightly improve on her personal best finishing in a time of 1:11.00. Still any improvement non-taper is a good swim.

# 13 Girl 13-14 400 Medley 5:44.28L – After two strong swims was eager to see how she’d do here. She opened with a 1:14.88 fly…not bad, but with a personal best of 1:11, was hoping for a 1:13 high. Her back was clearly better than it had been as she actually opened up a lead on several swimmers. Her breast wasn’t bad, she lost some ground, but she didn’t get steamrolled which is what I’m used to seeing, and she came home in a very good 1:13.16 free leg to post another personal best time of 5:38.00 – a drop of 6.28 seconds.


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Bear

# 2 Boy 13-14 200 Free – Prelim Time 2:14.80 / Personal Best 2:14.80 – coming off of his strong swim in prelims, Bear laid an egg at finals. Adding back most of his improvement time from the morning only managing to post a time of 2:17.73. Not sure what happened, but it wasn’t pretty.

# 10 Boy 13-14 100 Fly – Prelim Time 1:12.40 / Personal Best 1:12.40 – After the poor swim in the 200 Free, I wasn’t sure what to expect here. He started out looking sluggish, but his speed must have been pretty good as he stayed right with the field. As is his typical MO, he came home strong and finished with a time of 1:10.78

# 14 Boy 13-14 400 Medley 5:28.62L – One good swim, one bad swim…what to expect in this one. Well – how about an exact tie of his personal best, down to the hundredth spot - 5:28.62


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Brett

# 8 Boy 15 & Over 100 Breast – Prelim Time – 1:33.09 / Personal Best 1:27.36 – He looked pretty good early. Had some sloppiness and seemed to tire a bit late, but did much better than the morning, posting a 1:31.89 – not great, but still enough to take the edge off of his self-doubt a bit, and hopefully, put him in a better frame of mind for Saturday.

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[Breeze]

2016 Henry VIII Invite – Day 2 Results

PRELIMS
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Bailey

# 43 Girl 13-14 200 Fly 2:39.32L – Started out pretty good, but never seemed to hit high gear. Finished with a solid time of 2:40.40, which prompted coach to ask if she was holding back. She admitted she was and she told him she’ll get a PB during the evening session.

# 47 Girl 13-14 100 Back 1:19.05L – Another solid swim which put her close to her personal best 1:19.52, which made me very interested to see how this would play out at finals as well…

# 51 Girl 13-14 400 Free 5:13.87L – Only swum at finals.


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Bear

# 44 Boy 13-14 200 Fly 2:34.45L – Bear, unlike Bailey did not hold back at prelims…and in typical Bear fashion, he fell off the pace early, but rallied hard late to finish in a personal best time of 2:29.86

# 48 Boy 13-14 100 Back 1:17.46L – Bear’s back was a bit stiff, could have been fatigue from the 200 fly, as there wasn’t a bunch of time between the two races. In fact, I believe he said he only got about a 50 yard warm down before he had to get out and line back up. His time was 1:18.46

# 52 Boy 13-14 400 Free 4:43.05L – only swum at finals

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Brett

# 38 Boy 15 & Over 200 Breast 3:08.53L – DNS – due to shoulder pain

# 50 Boy 15 & Over 100 Back 1:24.42L – The backstroke doesn’t really bother Brett, which after taking him to the doctor makes sense (I’ll get into that later). He definitely went out harder than he typically does and he was pretty solid until late when his bad habits started slipping back into the stroke. He did end up posting a personal best 1:22.84. A nice occurrence following the terrible day on Friday.

# 54 Boy 15 & Over 400 Free 5:28.07L – DNS due to shoulder pain

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FINALS
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Bailey

# 43 Girl 13-14 200 Fly – Prelim Time 2:40.40 / Personal Best 2:39.32L – Obvious early she hadn’t tried hard in the morning. The opening 100 from the morning was a 1:16 mid, and her opening 100 at finals was a 1:13 low…She extended that 3 second opening split lead a little to finish with a personal best time of 2:36.53

# 47 Girl 13-14 100 Back – Prelim Time 1:19.52 / Personal Best 1:19.05L – apparently she did hold back on this in the morning as she swam a personal best in the finals posting a time of 1:16.63

# 51 Girl 13-14 400 Free 5:13.87L – The previous hints that her freestyle was much better technically and much faster was fully confirmed in this race. She had long arms (as long as a girl sub 5’ 3” can have) and an early grab, and she managed to drop 6.76 seconds finishing in 5:07.11


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Bear

# 44 Boy 13-14 200 Fly – Prelim Time 2:29.86 / Personal Best 2:29.86 – Wasn’t sure what Bear would have left after his strong swim in the morning, but his juices must have been flowing to race, as he worked hard to try and get top 3…he finished 4th, but did post another personal best 2:27.60

# 48 Boy 13-14 100 Back – Prelim time 1:18.46 / Personal Best 1:17.46L – A little more adrenalin, and slightly better turns resulted in a time of 1:17.21

# 52 Boy 13-14 400 Free 4:43.05L – And her is where the fatigue from the day hit Bear. This was a poor swim as he fell off the pace almost immediately, and never seemed to get into the flow. He was beaten by most of his friends and because this swim was so poor, and he views this as one of his mid to distance free events where he typically shines, he was extremely disappointed. So much so that for a long while overshadowed the improvements he put up in the earlier events. 4:49.43

[Breeze]

2016 Henry VIII Invite – Day 3 Results

PRELIMS
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Bailey

# 73 Girl 13-14 200 Back 2:43.24L – out and out poor swim for Bailey, especially given her previous improvements, coasting in with a time of 2:47.38, but before I overreact she’s been swimming much better in the finals, which gives me hope for the night session, though this one isn’t as close to her personal best as others that she’s dropped time in during finals earlier in the meet.

# 81 Girl 13-14 200 Medley 2:45.66L – she was ok through most of this one, but finished in a 2:46.66, exactly 1 second above her seed. Again, maybe she’ll drop during the night session, but she looked tired getting out of the pool after this one.

# 85 Girl 13-14 800 Free 10:36.92L – Bailey was actually looking forward to this one with her improved freestyle. During the race it was obvious her strokes were better. However, it didn’t translate as she only managed a 10:41.56. Coach was scratching his head after this one – and I was too. Only thing we could figure is she was holding back a bit, and honestly, that’s not unusual for someone who hasn’t done a lot of distance stuff. Hoping that moving forward she’ll be able to push through and we will start to see time drops.


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Bear

# 78 Boy 13-14 100 Free 1:02.72L – Bear came into this event seeded 16th overall – but he blistered his prelim swim finishing 9th, and beating his buddy Seth. This was big for Bear after the poor showing in the 400 the day before. 1:01.54

# 82 Boy 13-14 200 Medley 2:35.54L – This swim was uneventful. Bear cruised to a 2:37.60…not sure if he was holding back or still tired from the 100 free, because this was a really quick turnaround. Or maybe he was saving energy for the 800 – which was a prelim not a final swim, and was coming up as the next event – so only about 20 minutes of rest between this one and the distance free.

# 86 Boy 13-14 800 Free 10:05.37L – after getting beat in the 400 badly it’s my opinion that there were a bunch of things going through Bear’s head. One, he was concerned his friends were going to continue to beat him (remember he lost to a couple of his friends in the 1500 in Pensacola just a few weeks ago). Second, he had to be thinking about that 400 and why it was bad. Finally, I’m sure he wanted to make a statement – All the kids in the group use Bear as a measuring stick in the distance frees, saying they are going to beat him. Kind of like being a defending champ in a team sport, all the other teams circle the game and you end up getting their best shot. Well, Bear started out ok, but most of his friends were right with him early – and his buddy Riley was leading him through the first 250…Then Bear started to take control. Coach had me goose the sign to get him to pick it up, realizing he had plenty left and from there it was all Bear. From the 400 split through the finish he only had 1 split over 1:11 (a 1:11.08), and his last 100 was a 1:06.46. He posted a personal best time of 9:21.86. Came into the event seeded 5th and finished 2nd. Closest friend was 10 seconds back…


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Brett

# 76 Boy 15 & Over 200 Back 2:48.93L – After him improvement in the 100 the previous day, I was hoping he would improve here too. However, he never really seemed to engage. His opening 100 was 7 seconds off his personal best from the previous day. If he were really driving to improve it should have been more like 2 seconds over. He closed pretty well, but after the slow opening he really never had a shot at a personal best – 2:52.25

# 84 Boy 15 & Over 200 Medley 2:47.84L – Gave this one a shot…but didn’t improve on his PB. Came in about 2.3 seconds slower, which given his situation isn’t terrible – 2:50.12

# 88 Boy 15 & Over 800 Free 11:00.40L – DNS due to shoulder

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FINALS
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Bailey

# 73 Girl 13-14 200 Back – Prelim Time 2:47.38 / Personal Best 2:43.24L – As this one started, Bailey looked like a totally different swimmer. Racing the girl to her inside (she was in lane 10) and ultimately beating her a several others in the heat. She posted a personal best 2:39.98. That isn’t just a huge drop from prelims, it’s a huge drop from her personal best…this gave me a bunch of hope for the 200 IM.

# 81 Girl 13-14 200 Medley – Prelim Time 2:46.66 / Personal Best 2:45.66L – Fly leg was much stronger this time around, followed by another strong back. Breast was a bit labored, but not terrible, and the free was much improved. She did post another personal best 2:41.86, another big drop from her previous personal best.

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Bear

# 78 Boy 13-14 100 Free – Prelim Time 1:01.54 / Personal Best 1:01.54 – Very reminiscent of the 400 free from yesterday. Bear disconnected from the group early, and seemed to have no energy to get back into it. He looked sluggish and tired as he limped home with a time of 1:03.59. This made me think he had left all he had in the pool during the 800 swim and his IM was going to be ugly as well…

# 82 Boy 13-14 200 Medley – Prelim Time 2:37.60 / Personal Best 2:35.54L – labored but solid fly leg still made him look worn out. Back was good though as he raced the kid next to him for first place in the heat. His breast, while far from great was pretty good as he raced it hard trying to keep up with the boy he was racing for first, who was slowing pulling out a lead on this stroke. Then as Bear turned to Free he really kicked it into gear, and he started eating into the lead, by middle of the pool he had closed 1.5 body lengths, and by the flags they were even, then Bear left his in the dust – winning by half a body length. This was an impressive effort and a personal best 2:32.61.

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[Breeze]

Injury Update - Brett

We took Brett to the doctor following his announcement of shoulder pain, as that isn't an injury you mess around with as a swimmer. In fact, we have friends who's son pushed through shoulder pain for years, and when he finally went to the doctor, they told him that he had severe damage in the joint and they could repair it, but he would never approach his personal best times again, so ultimately he gave up the sport.

The doctor told Brett he had a rotator cuff impingement and a slight case of Scapular dyskinesis. This is good news because we caught the injury early before actual damage occurred, but bad news because he is going to have to go through some physical therapy, which means his season is basically over. In fact, he's been just kicking all this week and will continue to just kick the reason of this season.

The underlying problem behind Brett's injury is a typical one for the sport (and ironically it is the same underlying problem that caused Bailey's shoulder pain years ago), the front of his shoulder is too strong for the back of the shoulder and the upper back. So the physical therapy will be designed to teach Brett some exercises that will strengthen these areas to balance the joint's support.

Will keep you updated on how the recovery is going.

[Breeze]

General Update

There are some very disturbing things taking place right now with the team. Earlier this year Maddie and her sister Carmen (two girls Bailey used to swim with at SwimAtlanta) moved over to Gold. Bailey wasn't happy about it because she said they were mean and manipulative. Also Maddie, who is actually a very good swimmer, isn't committed and her attitude rubs off on other girls. Let's fast forward several months to this Summer, and we are seeing the girls and boys starting to drift apart, as the girls are for some strange reason irritated with the boys (who by the way don't like hanging out with the girls because of Maddie and Carmen).

On July 3rd, one of the parents had a party that the team was invited to (including Coach Andy), and after the party 5 girls stayed over to spend the night (Bailey wasn't one of them, because she didn't know that spending the night was an option and she didn't have her stuff with her). On the 4th the team had a practice scheduled for 1 o'clock, because we are so close to the state meet and this is a really bad time to be out of the water. Only problem, the 5 girls that spent the night together (including Maddie and Carmen) decided they weren't going to practice, but they were going to go tubing all day on the lake, and they were going to attend the fireworks party that night. In fact, there were wanted to attend a get together of the parents at the coach's house while practice was taking place. These absences extremely irritated Andy to the point on the 5th he kicked them out of practice following warm up.

In a response to this being kicked out of practice, MK went to Dynamo to try out. The mother says she's just keeping her options open. Apparently Bailey's other friends Maryann and Ainsley are thinking about it as well.

This is a really sad situation, especially for Bailey, as a large number of her friend group could be gone by next season. Moreover, the parents are about to split up a really tight group of friends and a solid support system, and the logic to me is extremely confusing. Honestly, did the parents of the kids expect they could miss a specially called practice as a large group and there wouldn't be any repercussions? The irony of this situation is that Gold (and specifically Andy) has been much more lenient on the kids than other teams are. Maddie and Carmen were already kicked out of SwimAtlanta for lack of attendance, and Dynamo is as hard or harder on attendance. In fact, Dynamo is practicing 7 days a week right now. If MK and the others move, they are going to find themselves kicked off the team pretty quickly if they don't adjust their practice habits.

Hopefully, this will all just blow over during the break between seasons and things will be back to normal in August.

[Breeze]

Injury Update - Brett


Brett had his first physical therapy session yesterday, and for the most part it was what we expected. The plan is to strengthen the upper middle back and the back of the shoulders. The interesting thing is they did acupuncture on him as well. Not sure if this will be a standard practice on every visit or just the first X number of visits, or if this was a 1 time thing. Ultimately, the therapist said that they expect Brett can be back to full swimming in 4 weeks, and in two weeks they will want him to swim some to make sure they are making progress. Of course the season is over in two weeks, but we can take him up to the pool to see how things are going.

[Breeze]

Georgia Long Course Age Group State Championships @ GaTech – 7/14 – 7/17

This will be the last long course age group meet for the twins as next year they will be swimming in the 15 and over senior level. They were both hoping to do well here. In fact, I believe that Bear had outside hopes of getting on the Zone team. Unfortunately, both kids inherit numerous good swimmers that age up in the late summer or fall that they don’t compete against during short course championships.

This year, like the short course meet in March will not differentiate between 13 and 14 year olds (whereas in the past they did). Previously, I have noted in the seed portion where the kids were for their age only…now I’ll note there overall seed as well as their seed for their age; because It might be interesting to look back at some point and see how that seeding changed year over year.

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Bailey

#15 Girls 13-14 100 LC Meter Butterfly – 1:11.00 : 36/26 – Bailey’s 1:11 is a nice time, especially given that she hasn’t had a taper all season. She is hoping to get down into the 1:08 range for this one, and a 1:07.99 is the time she’ll need to swim senior state next season. I’m not sure a 1:08 is reachable (unless she really improves on her walls), but I do believe a 1:09 low is attainable.

#41 Girls 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly – 2:36.53 : 18/15 – Bailey’s hope coming into this event was to make finals. I don’t know if that is the A final or if she’ll be happy with the B final. I hope it is the later because there are only 10 places in each finals, and this event has 3 girls that swam at Olympic trials, and 2 others that nearly got cuts at 14 years of age. That’s half of the A final right there. In fact, the slowest of those 5 is still 4 full seconds faster than the 6th girl. To make the A final Bailey is going to have to swim in the 2:29 low range at worst, and that is a 7 second drop. Improved walls might get it done, but that level of drop is a tough ask, even with a taper. A 2:32 would be a great swim, and if she can drop just 1.2 seconds she’ll earn her senior cut.

#83 Girls 13-14 200 LC Meter Backstroke – (2:39.98) : 63/35 – Bailey is entered here based off of her short course time. She never actually swam the qualifying time during the long course season, but the carry over still makes her eligible to swim this event. This one is more about her having another event than anything else. She isn’t going to make a final, and she probably isn’t going to earn her senior cut time either. A personal best would be a nice bonus.

This meet breaks down nicely for Bailey. It’s the first time she will have 1 event each day. Meaning, hopefully, fatigue won’t be an issue. She’s also not likely to swim on a relay, giving her the ability to further focus on her personal swims. Given how good she’s looked this season and how hard she’s worked; combined with the fact this is her first taper. I’m expecting 3 very nice swims.

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Bear

#2 Boys 13-14 1500 LC Meter Freestyle – 18:37.89 : 19/15 – This is the big one for Bear. He’s not really happy with his seed as several of his friends are currently in front of him. However, he only swam this once during the season and it was in Pensacola, and when it comes to travel meets I always lower my expectations. Bear does have some momentum going into this race after his really strong 800 in the previous meet. He hasn’t actually vocalized what he wants to swim, and the coach hasn’t given any indication as well. However, I suspect Bear is going to shoot to cut at least a full minute – which will give him a shot at a top 10 finish. If he can cut 75 seconds, he’ll definitely be top 10 and probably top 8. If he can cut 90 seconds, he’ll be right on the team record. 90 seconds would take one hell of a swim, but Bear really wants a team record and he’d love to sneak in here and get a medal and a swim of 17:07 or so would probably accomplish that. The minimum goal is probably the senior cut at 17:39.99.

#8 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter Freestyle – (2:14.80) : 44/24 – Like Bailey in the 200 back, Bear is entered here based on his short course time. The interesting thing is that only 23 fourteen year olds qualified during the season. That is an extremely small number for a 200 Free. No expectations here, but Bear could drop a good bit of time. He won’t even come close to the senior cut, but that isn’t surprising especially for Boys, given that there is 1 senior cut for ages 15 – 18…and they don’t want too many 15 year olds in the meet.

#24 Boys 13-14 400 LC Meter IM – (5:28.62) : 50/26 – Another entry off of short course results. Bear’s strokes are solid, but his sprinting hasn’t looked strong so far this season. Maybe a taper will have a huge impact. I could see him dropping a couple seconds, but anything more than that is probably wishful thinking.

#42 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly – 2:27.60 : 16/13 – This is an event where Bear might make it back to finals. B finals is probably the best he can hope for, given that to make the A final he’d need to swim somewhere in the neighborhood of 2:22 high, and that’s a huge drop. Things are pretty compressed here with times, and there are some strong swimmers right behind Bear so it will take a good swim to get into the top 20. However, Bear loves to race this one coming home, and his ability to gut it out and close hard will probably be on full display. I think that mental toughness will keep him pretty close to his seed position at worst.

#88 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter IM – (2:32.61): 62/29 – Another short course time, and while I think he can get a personal best, I don’t expect a huge improvement here. Sprinting as I mentioned above has been a bit sluggish, and this one is short enough that his grind style won’t have time to really take ahold of the field.

#92 Boys 13-14 400 LC Meter Freestyle – 4:43.05 : 31/26 – This is a frustrating event for Bear. Like the 500 in short course it is long enough he does well, but it is also short enough some of the sprinters can still beat him. The key here is that he’ll have to take it out much harder than he typically does. He can’t afford to disconnect because there isn’t time to close back in. If he really pushes he could do well in this one, but it is going to hurt.

Bear's results might hinge on his first event. If he swims well in the 1500 which I expect he'll do, he could have an amazing meet. If he swims poorly, he will probably still do ok, but he puts so much stock in how he swims the distance freestyles it could put him off of his game if he doesn't swim it well.

Bear could be on a B relay, as his personal best time right now is 9th or 10th on the team...

[Breeze]

Georgia Long Course Age Group State Championships – RESULTS – DAY 1

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Bear

#2 Boys 13-14 1500 LC Meter Freestyle – 18:37.89 : 19/15 – Bear really set some low expectation coming into this event. He was initially only concerned with breaking 18 minutes. The coach felt that was a little too easy so he gave him splits to try and swim 15 seconds faster than that, hoping that he’d kick it in on the back half and potentially get into the 17:37 or 17:35 range. Bear started out ok, for the first 200, then started to slip, which prompted a signal – which he responded too. Unfortunately, because it is long course and signaling is much less frequent combined with the fact my signals are based off of a spit that is a full 50 meters old he was often off pace for a full 150 at times before I could let him know. He was never terribly off pace, so these periods didn’t kill his time. He was able to battle through, but he didn’t have his typical back half charge in him. He did report his shoulder started to hurt a bit which made it difficult (thankfully, this didn’t occur again throughout the meet). All in all, he basically hit the mark the coach wanted clocking in with a time of 17:45.75. An impressive drop of 52 seconds. However, he was pleased but not thrilled with the result. His buddy Tommy beat him, and several of the kids he competes with for medals in short course beat him by 15 to 30 seconds. However, this happened last year as well, so I’m not sure there is anything to be concerned about. Ultimately, he finished 13th overall.

[Breeze]

Georgia Long Course Age Group State Championships – RESULTS - DAY 2

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Bailey

#15 Girls 13-14 100 LC Meter Butterfly – 1:11.00 : 36/26 – As expected she improved, and her walls were better, even though they still need some work, and she needs to stop breathing off the wall. She couldn’t get her 1:08s…but she did get 1:09.73, which is a personal best and a drop of 1.27 seconds. She also moved up to 31st overall in this event.

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Bear

#8 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter Freestyle – (2:14.80) : 44/24 – The drop was about what I expected it would be…he went out in a 1:02.8 and came home in a 1:09.00…the back half wasn’t as good as I was expecting given his propensity to really charge at the end. But regardless the time was a 2:11.80 which is exactly a 3 second drop.

#24 Boys 13-14 400 LC Meter IM – (5:28.62) : 50/26 – Bear really wanted to improve in this one. He was disappointed in his time coming in and he said before the start of this race he wanted to win his heat. Well the heat started and despite the fact that all swimmers in the heat came in with short course conversions, the fly leg was fast. Bear was fourth after the fly leg, but he swam his fly great. How well? His split was a 1:09.31 – his personal best in 100 fly long course was a 1:10.78…around a 1.5 second drop with 300 more meters to swim. In the back he passed everyone to take the lead with a 1:19.93 split (in hindsight he said he needs to have a better back split). Then came the breast, and I was expecting his typical stall, but as I prepared to watch the field reel him in and pass him, I realized that wasn’t going to happen. He was more than holding his own. In fact, only 2 swmmers in his heat had a faster split and 1 was well back and a non-factor. He split a 1:32.18. When he got to the wall, he was in a tight race to win his heat. But once the free leg started there was no doubt who was going to win. Bear charged home in a 1:07.01 opening a huge lead on the field. Overall his time was 5:08.43, a drop of over 20 seconds. My assumption that anything over a few seconds would be asking a lot was obviously wrong. With this swim he climbed all the way to 18th overall.

[Breeze]

Georgia Long Course Age Group State Championships – RESULTS – DAY 3
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Bailey

#41 Girls 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly – 2:36.53 : 18/15 – Better dive than what we’ve been seeing recently. Still about 4 inches too deep, but that is significantly better than 14”. This allowed her to stay in contact with the rest of the field early. Her turns were much improved, but again they still need work, and she still breathed coming off of most of the walls. However she looked strong and finished with a time of 2:33.15. That was good enough for 14th overall, which got her into the B final. It also insured she’d be swimming this event at Senior State next year, and it was also just barely off of the 2:32 time I suggested was possible. She would get another shot to improve several hours later.

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Bear

#42 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly – 2:27.60 : 16/13 – Bear opened this 200 fly with a 100 time that again was better than his personal best in the 100 fly. This time he posted a 1:09.78. Back half was a solid effort and he finished with a personal best time of 2:25.62, a nice drop of almost 2 seconds. He also finished prelims in 16th place and would be returning for finals that night.

[Breeze]

Georgia Long Course Age Group State Championships – RESULTS – DAY 3 FINALS
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Bailey

#41 Girls 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly – 2:33.15 – Bailey’s night time was interesting. She seemed to be off a bit as she fell behind early, but then she picked it up and her 100 split at the night session was only .05 slower than her swim from the morning. In the back half she started closing in the middle of the field to the point were coming off the wall for the final 50 she was in a tight race for 5th in the heat. She battled down the pool, but faded late and was passed by a couple of other swimmers. Regardless, she still managed to post another personal best time, improving on the morning swim by posting 2:32.27.

The finals of the State Meet were actually available to be streamed online. The video is currently available (don’t know for how long) in case you are interested in watching Bailey’s swim. You can find the video here:

http://atlantaswimming.azurewebsites...SwimAGLCState2

Bailey’s race starts around the 27:15 mark. She’s in lane 8 (black knee suit, black cap). Also, coming into the finish there is a really neat underwater shot. You can see Bailey clearly coming into the finish around 30:00 minutes in.
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Bear

#42 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter Butterfly – 2:25.62 – Bear’s form an effort in the night session looked good, but the speed wasn’t there. His opening 100 was a full second slower than it had been in the morning. That made it pretty obvious this wasn’t going to be a personal best. He ended up clocking in at a time of 2:27.37. Disappointing for him, but his improvement from the morning was still an excellent swim and something he was proud of.

Bear’s final swim is also on the video mentioned above in Bailey’s write up. In fact you can see a good bit of Bear early as he is on the edge of the screen that was focused on the leaders. Bear’s video stats at 37:20. Just like Bailey, Bear was in lane 8 (black cap, black jammer), and you see him finish underwater as well around the 39:45 minute mark.

[Breeze]

Georgia Long Course Age Group State Championships – RESULTS – DAY 4

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Bailey

#83 Girls 13-14 200 LC Meter Backstroke – (2:39.98) : 63/35 – Bailey was very indifferent about this race, talking down her performance coming into it. Talking about how she was probably going to come in last. However, when the race started to nonchalance stopped. She clearly wanted to swim well, as her stroke looked good and the rotation was a bit quicker than normal. She opened with a 1:17 high, and her personal best in the 100 is a 1:16 high. Obviously, she was pushing. She ended up fading in the last 20 meters, but still managed to improve on her time. She finished in 2:38.21. She also managed to finish 48th, passing quite a few other swimmers in the standings.

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Bear

#88 Boys 13-14 200 LC Meter IM – (2:32.61): 62/29 – Originally in this write up I stated [i]“I think he can get a personal best, I don’t expect a huge improvement here. Sprinting as I mentioned above has been a bit sluggish”. However, after his huge improvement in the 400 IM my expectations changed. I can’t sit here and admit I expected a huge improvement, the shorter distance makes that much tougher to accomplish, but given his improved Breast and solid remaining strokes, I thought a 2+ second drop could be achieved. Coming into this event, his opening 100 (fly and back legs) in his personal best swim was a 1:14.09…he opened here in a 1:10.81. Already a huge improvement. He finished the back half about half a second faster than his previous personal best swim to post a total time of 2:28.87

#92 Boys 13-14 400 LC Meter Freestyle – 4:43.05 : 31/26 – Bear hadn’t improved on this even all year. The 4:43 time that he was seeded with was actually posted at the long course state meet in 2015. He wasn’t happy about that so he attacked this race with a vengeance. Ultimately he dropped 10.31 seconds and finished in a time of 4:32.74. This swim was so strong he ended up jumping a bunch of swimmers in the standings. In fact, had this been a prelim/final swim (the 400 was a final only swim so the kids didn’t have to swim it twice in 1 day), he would have qualified for the B final in 20th place.

[Breeze]

General Update - Bailey

One of the parents in our swim group, owns a photography studio and she is in the process of starting a new type of picture - Sports Portraits. To create the marketing material for this new offering she took some pictures of the swim team, and Bailey was included. Here are a few shots...








Pictured left to right - Daniel (green suit), Maddie P, Bailey, Brandon (he just came over from Dynamo), Sammy, and Tommy

there are a few more pictures, I'll try to get them posted soon

[Breeze]

Long Course Wrap Up

Long course season is now over and the kids are enjoying a well-deserved break. I wanted to take a quick moment to look back on this season, how the kids did, and where the stand heading into short course.

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Bailey

After a terrible short course, which saw her go the entire season without a drop in time in any event until the state championship; she had a very successful long course. I believe getting moved up to the “senior” team and having a larger group of workout partners to pace off of help immensely. During short course she was stuck with only Mary Ann, who doesn’t practice hard (and honestly I don’t think she likes swimming, but she continues to do it so she can be around her friends and away from her parents).

Below is a breakdown of her times:

50 Free : 31.90, (-.36) – A Time – This is an event that Bailey didn’t swim often this season, and not at all tapered. She’s undoubtedly even faster than this shows, but sprint frees are not going to be her forte anyway, so the fact she didn’t get to swim it much is pretty irrelevant at this point in time (when she gets closer to recruiting age it will become an issue as sprint frees are a high point of interest for college coaches)

100 Free : 1:09.09, (-1.23) – A Time – Again another event she didn’t swim often and not at all tapered. However, the improvement here and in the 50 shows she’s starting to get her freestyle figured out. For too long she’s had an inefficiency that was holding her back. This could be big for her moving forward.

200 Free : 2:22.86, (-4.21) – AA Time – I can’t remember the last time Bailey had an AA time in a freestyle event. Another indication she could improve significantly in short course.

400 Free : 5:07.11, (-15,68) – A Time – Most of my comments here would simply be reinforcing what was mentioned above, with one exception. I believe if Bailey’s free continues to improve, this could end up be her sweet spot.

800 Free : 10:41.56, (-7.72) – A Time – Bailey has stated that she really wants to improve in her distance free swims. It’s an interesting reversal. I believe it is because she sees how the distance races enable swimmers to hold pace better in the back half of other events (like her 200 fly for instance).

100 Back : 1:16.63, (-3.4) – A Time – Decent improvement in this one, especially when not tapered and after the poor short course season. She needs to get this stroke going again in order improve her overall swim rating and it could drastically improve her IMs.

200 Back : 2:38.21, (-5.03) – AA Time – This is an event Bailey swam regularly, and it took some time to really start improving, but she put it together late and posted back to back strong swims at the end of the season, good enough to climb to a AA time.

100 Breast – Did Not Swim in 2016. If she can get this stroke to a BB time, she will take her IMs to a whole new level…

200 Breast – Did Not Swim in 2016

100 Fly : 1:09.73, (-1.94) – AA Time – Interestingly, Bailey only swam this event in two meets this season including state. I was initially surprised when I saw this, but then I remembered the 100 Fly at the travel meet was before the team arrived, then she got sick and missed a meet. The slight improvement isn’t a real surprise given her times are already really strong in this event so it is much harder to move the needle.

200 Fly : 2:32.27, (-7.05) – AA Time – This was a big improvement in a stroke where Bailey is already strong. In fact, she earned a AA time this season and last season she settled for an A Time. She’s really wanting to push this to a AAA next year.

200 IM : 2:41.86, (-5.25) – AA Time - Again managed to climb into the AA range from an A time the previous year. Her improved Breast and Free has a lot to do with this, but she still has some ways to go.

400 IM : 5:38.00, (-6.28) – AA Time – Only swam this event 1 time all season. I think with some more racing she probably would have gotten the state cut. Interested to see what she will do with this event during short course with her improved weaker strokes and better stamina.

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Bear

Bear continued his steady improvement during the long course season. However, like 2015, while he improved, he probably fell short of expectations. His long course swimming isn’t nearly as strong as his short course. Some of that has to do with the good swimmers he picks up when he ages up right before the long course season. Also, I believe that he has a harder time with pacing in the longer pool. I believe he will grow out of this as he gets older and continues to swim, but even if he doesn’t the strong short course is better for recruiting anyway.

50 Free – Did not swim in 2016 – This is a bit disappointing as Bear’s sprints have gotten a good bit better and I am curious how fast he would have gone.

100 Free : 1:01.54, (-1.79) – AA Time - Only swam with twice and never with a taper. Did climb into the AA time range, which he didn’t do last season. He needs to continue to improve in the sprint frees, not just for recruiting purposes, but because the improved speed does translate to the distance swims. Right now he’s competing with and even beating swimmers who’s 100 free time is 4 and 5 seconds faster than his. He needs to close that gap some and not rely entirely on effort and stamina.

200 Free : 2:11.80, (-6.45) – AA Time - This is a big drop in an event where Bear was already strong. His swim at state was very good and he is excited about where this might lead in short course.

400 Free : 4:32.74, (-11.30) – AAA Time – An all-star time for Bear in this one, and it comes in an event that he didn’t improve on at all during the season. He came into state with his personal best as his state swim in 2015, then managed to drop all of that time.

800 Free : 9:21.86, (-43.51) – AAA Time – A huge drop in this one, and it was a non-tapered drop (the 800 isn’t swum at the state meet). Another all-star time for Bear, and this one was a big morale booster, as he had struggled a bit before this swim. Also bodes well for his distance swims in short course.

1500 Free : 17:45.75, (-56.82) – AAA Time – A third all-star time, and a good, albeit a bit disappointing swim for Bear. Hard to believe he can be disappointed with a AAA time, but if it motivates him to work harder heading into short course (which is typically what happens), then good. This could really propel him to have a big distance portion of state and sectionals next season.

100 Back : 1:17.21, (-2.28) – BB Time – An area where Bear really needs to improve. He’s become far too stiff in this event for some reason. He needs to relax and go. Started to see a bit of an improvement in this during the IMs at State, but he has some work to do. If he can get this to an A time, his IMs will improve dramatically. I’d like to see him earn a state cut in this, and his underwaters might drive that, but he will have to learn how to manage his oxygen better. Right now when he stretches his underwaters he faids in the back half. If he gets that ironed out this will drop a bunch in short course.

200 Back : 2:38.08, (+1.33) – BB Time – This seems odd, Bear adding time over the entire season. But Bear only swam this event 1 time, in Pensacola during the travel meet. I’m not sure why he didn’t swim it more, but the lack of improvement here is understandable.

100 Breast – Did Not Swim in 2016 – His breast is improving, will be interested to see what his times are if he gets to swim it in short course

200 Breast – Did Not Swim in 2016

100 Fly : 1:10.78, (-3.55) – BB Time – This one is a bit disappointing. Bear needs to get his sprint fly up to at least an A time. He’s capable of an A time, not sure he has the stroke to drop to AA, especially in long course. He should really push to try and get a AA during short course…with strong walls he might be able to pull it off.

200 Fly : 2:25.62, (-8.83) – AA Time – If you ever wanted a perfect illustration of Bear’s stamina and drive, look no further than this. His 100 Fly time is a BB rating, his 200 Fly time is a AA. That has everything to do with heart and work ethic. His sprints in fly aren’t strong, but his effort is relentless. Improved 100 could lead to huge drops in the 200 during short course.

200 IM : 2:28.87, (-6.67) – AA Time – Improved breast helped Bear climb into the AA time range in this one. If that Breast continues to improve his time in short course could be very strong.

400 IM : 5:08.43, (-20.19) – AAA Time – A fourth all-star time and a big improvement from last year’s A time. This big drop again it can be highly attributed to his improved Breast…another even that looks to be a strong one in 2016/17 short course.

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Brett

Now a totally different review, as Brett didn’t even finish the long course season. He was really excited about swimming long course, as he’s usually better in the longer pool. But the season started off poorly with his sickness at the travel meet that he was unable to shake. It drained him badly as he eventually lost 15 lbs., and he’s still struggling to get that weight back. Then he had shoulder issues which shut him down the rest of the season. However, I must admit that I’m very proud of Brett. Once his season was basically over when he started physical therapy, it would have been easy for him to simply sleep in each morning and skip practice with the mindset of “my season is over anyway”. But that isn’t what he did – he went to practice almost every day, and just kicked, and kicked, and kicked. Hopefully, Brett used this problem as an opportunity to improve his kick technique, which if he did, it could carry over to an improved short course season.

Brett is still struggling with pain in the shoulder despite physical therapy twice a week for several weeks now. Hopefully, he gets it ironed out soon, so he’ll be prepared when the new season kicks off.

[Breeze]

General Update - Brett

So Brett is still doing rehab and it is coming along slowly, but he's not half way through it yet so it's ok. The therapist said he's starting to show improved strength in his back and the back of the shoulder and that she's going to be increasing his workout. In addition, she's said that while he is extremely fit and lean, his abs are actually a little weak for a swimmer (this probably helps to explain Brett's lack of improvement in breast and his struggles in fly), so she's adding ab work to his routine.

Interestingly, during his most recent visit, the therapist moved away from the dry needling that they have been doing and instead performed cupping on him. So Brett has 3 of those round bruises (albeit smaller ones) that you see all over the US Swimmers at the Olympics.

[Breeze]

General Update

Practice for the 2016-17 short course season starts today. The kids are pretty excited to get back in the water. Brett will still be limited in his efforts because of the shoulder rehab. He'll start doing only about 25% of the work before switching to just kicking, but he may get cleared to do backstroke soon (we will find out later this week).

Thankfully, we won't be doing morning or Saturday practice for a few more weeks...

[Breeze]

General Update - Brett's PT

So found out something very interesting from Brett's PT. Apparently, Brett's back was very sore on Wednesday afternoon (following Tuesday's PT session). I was a bit surprised because he's been sore before, but this time the discomfort was much more pronounced. I asked him why he thought it was worse and the answer ended up being a long story.

Basically, during one of new exercises they were doing, Brett was struggling to complete the reps, and the PT had him change his stance and grip and he figured out that Brett was overcompensating for his back by using his trap. They had noticed it before, but never to this extent. So they did some more testing and realized that his overcompensation is much more pronounced than they expected. So from that point forward, during exercises they would physically force him to keep his shoulder down (rather than allowing him to shrug them up so he could use his trap), this forces him to isolate the muscles in his back, and that isolation means the back muscles were worked harder than they have been before and more soreness set it.

Hopefully, they can break him of this habit, because by using the trap, lat, shoulder and back together his overall strength will improve significantly, and his swimming could improve as a result.

[Breeze]

General Update


So a big wet blanket was thrown on this upcoming season, only this one will impact the kids indirectly, we just don't know to what extent.

Background: I'm not going to go into the gory details, but suffice it to say I was treating a cough, shortness of breath, and side/back pain for about a week. After an ultrasound showed some fluid on my lung, I went back to get an x-ray which indicated I had a collapsed lung. I went to the emergency room and ended up spending 3 days in the hospital with a drain in my left lung. All that would be bad enough, but the big problem is that the fluid drained from my lung tested positive for cancer. So as a 47 year old, non-smoker, I am now entering cancer therapy.

We told the kids and they took it hard. We will have to see if it adversely impacts their practices and performances.

[jct32]

That must be quite a shocker to the whole family.

I'm hoping the best in your therapy Breeze. I'll be thinking of you and your family.

[thealmighty]

Thoughts and prayers to you and the family, especially your trio of young fish.

[Breeze]

General Update

So Brett's PT has been very interesting. He is learning a great deal about why he's struggled so much with swimming. To begin, when he has to do certain motions his natural tendency is to adjust his joint position (like shrug/raise his shoulders on a pull) in order to compensate with muscles he more comfortable using. He does this a great deal which has caused his trap and lat to become very strong while his back and shoulders are much weaker. This is what triggered the impingement. Also, his ankle flexibility isn't good because his knees and feet don't line up. His feet are very duck footed and his knees are inside of the line, which puts a huge strain on the ligaments and tendons that need to loose for the ankle to flex correctly.

Brett, realizing that he has been using the wrong muscle groups with his stroke, has very maturely moved himself down a couple of lanes in practice and he is working on fixing his stroke. Tough to do at this stage in his swimming, but necessary. The coaches are proud and I'm extremely proud to see him address this the right way. It won't be easy, as his muscle memory for hundreds of thousands of yards is incorrect, and when racing it is easy to revert back to bad habits. Fingers crossed for him.


Quick Note: Bailey had some discomfort in her shoulder last night. We will be watching that closely.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by jct32

That must be quite a shocker to the whole family.

I'm hoping the best in your therapy Breeze. I'll be thinking of you and your family.

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Thoughts and prayers to you and the family, especially your trio of young fish.

Thanks guys...appreciate the well wishes.