Swim Like A Champion (a real life journal)

[Breeze]

Brett - College Swimming

Amazingly, despite all of his issues this season, and his inability to actually swim, Brett got his first interest from a college. He received a notice on his swim profile that Lawrence University is Appleton, Wisconsin is interested.

[Breeze]

General Update - Bear

So Bear, who's continued his hard training with an eye towards potentially breaking the team record in the 500 Free and the 1650 Free...was just diagnosed with walking pneumonia. This is a total shock because he has been according to his reports and his coaches comments - killing practice. Hopefully, the antibiotics will work quickly and he can still make a run at the records in 10 or so days.

[Breeze]

March Madness Meet @ GaTech – 3/11-12

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Bailey – not sure what to expect from Bailey this weekend. She’s still struggling with her fly timing, so I don’t expect a good swim in that event, but the rest could be time drops given how hard she’s been working at practice.

# 11 (d1/s1): G 13-14 200 Back (2:17.77Y) – Bailey only swam this once during the season in January right in the middle of intense training. She only managed a 2:26…which is obviously way off her personal best. The PB time is just over a year old, so not sure what she’ll do with this one tapered. I think she’ll easily beat the 2:26, but I don’t think we see a PB swim.

# 15 (d1/s1): G 13-14 100 Free (57.56Y) – She went a 57 low in a relay during state. I think that’s a good potential number for her. I hope she gets into the 56s.

# 23 (d1/s1): G 13 & Over 500 Free (5:34.85Y) – This time is from her most recent swim…but it was all the way back in December. She has the ability to further drop time in this one. I expect she’ll drop a little.

# 65 (d2/s4): G 13-14 100 Back (1:05.15Y) – Hasn’t raced this since October- and that was a really bad swim…She’s better than a 1:05…

# 73 (d2/s4): G 13-14 100 Fly (1:01.25Y) – I won’t venture a guess here, but I will state if she can get close to her PB it will be a huge lift to her self-esteem and her motivation

# 75 (d2/s4): G 13 & Over 400 Medley (4:55.19Y) – At state she was only a second off of her personal best. If her fly is improved at all from her recent struggles she might be able to get a PB here.


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Brett – This season Brett has only competed in 5 total swims for year-round meets. Moreover, with all his issues he hasn’t had a single swim this season when he was actually even close to being in shape. He still isn’t in peak shape, but he is making it through practices right now. Hopefully, this translates to good swims.

# 2 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 50 Free (27.07Y) – Brett was able to improve on this time during his few high school swims. His real personal best is a 26.34…and I think he can beat that this weekend.

# 10 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 200 Breast (2:34.31Y) – Ironically, Brett is nervous about this one. He feels he isn’t in shape to race a 200 breast and maintain his form and speed. (I know it sounds crazy, because when we swim breast it is more of a restful stroke…however, it is worth noting in a recent poll of elite swimmers the 200 breast was voted the toughest race to swim) He’s probably right, he isn’t really in shape to do this one…but he’s so much stronger now than he was last year, he could still challenge his PB.

# 22 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 100 Medley (1:25.99Y) – It’s been forever since he did this one. It’s only recently been added as a championship swim for senior aged competitors, so no idea what to expect – I’d guess a 1:06 to 1:08.

# 56 (d2/s4): B 15 & Over 200 Medley (2:23.02Y) – This will be interesting. It’s his improved strength and fly (which is much better) vs his lack of stamina. I still think he could drop time.

# 60 (d2/s4): B 15 & Over 100 Breast (1:12.60Y) – I’d love to see him get under 1:10…he typically starts out strong enough to do it, but fades badly in the back half. Stamina may not be up to it, but he was close to this time during high school before he was even making it through practice…now that he’s swimming more yardage every day (and practicing water polo for a couple of hours three times a week), I’m hopeful to see a drop.

# 68 (d2/s4): B 15 & Over 100 Free (58.22Y) – With his 26 low personal best in the 50, that could easily be a 25 and change this meet, he’s on pace to do better than a 58 second 100. If you figure double the 50 time +4 seconds as a guide, he might be able to pull off a 56 and change.

[Breeze]

March Madness Meet - RESULTS

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Bailey

Day 1

# 11 (d1/s1): G 13-14 200 Back (2:17.77Y) - PRELIMS – Awesome turns in this race really helped her times. She was getting so much further underwater than the rest of the heat. In fact, she finished second in the heat overall, and every turn she closed on the leader only to fall back slightly in the middle of the pool. Managed a personal best time of 2:16.09 - and a nice start to the meet.

# 15 (d1/s1): G 13-14 100 Free (57.56Y) - PRELIMS – This swim was disappointing...didn't pick up on any specific reason for the mediocre time, but she only managed a 58.13. It wasn't a good time, but it was good enough for her to come back for finals...

# 23 (d1/s1): G 13 & Over 500 Free (5:34.85Y) – After the poor 100 wasn't sure what to expect here...however, it was obvious early she was going to drop time. She opened with a 1:01...then she was solid with three 1:05 splits...only the 1:07 mid split in the 400 turn was poor. Overall she dropped over 8 seconds and posted a time of 5:26.82

# 11 (d1/s1): G 13-14 200 Back (2:16.09Y) - FINALS – Turns were still really good, except for the last one. She popped up pretty quickly on that one (said she needed to breathe). Did manage to improve her time and post her second personal best on the day with a 2:15.42

# 15 (d1/s1): G 13-14 100 Free (57.56Y) - FINALS - This swim was very different from the morning - and she reached the time range I was hoping she would - 56.91


Day 2

# 65 (d2/s4): G 13-14 100 Back (1:05.15Y) - PRELIMS – After her drop in the 200 back expected one here. She improved by over a second 1:04.07


# 73 (d2/s4): G 13-14 100 Fly (1:01.25Y)– PRELIMS - Another terrible swim dropping back once again over 5 seconds off of her personal best...it appears things continue to get worse with this stroke - 1:06.02

# 75 (d2/s4): G 13 & Over 400 Medley (4:55.19Y) – This was a ridiculous situation. She finished her 100 fly, then swam the 400 IM less than 2 minutes later. Yes you read that right...she got out of the even pool in the last heat of the 100 fly...ran the length of the long course pool to the odd starting blocks and was in the first heat there. So we didn't expect much. Did manage to post a 5:00.95, which under the circumstances I thought was great.

# 65 (d2/s4): G 13-14 100 Back (1:04.07Y) - FINALS - back looked good again, but she didn't improve...in fact she almost matched her time exactly - 1:04.08

# 73 (d2/s4): G 13-14 100 Fly (1:01.25Y)– FINALS - For stretches here, she appeared to be closing on the field rather than the field leaving her behind. She didn't maintain that, but she did improve back to a 1:04.37...not good, but maybe she's starting to get the new stroke timing down a bit.

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Brett – So my thinking that by being able to make it through practice Brett would be in better shape and that would translate to improved time wasn't very sound. Yes, Brett is making it through practice, but that also means he isn't tapering. He's having to work hard in make it through practice. I'm proud of him for sticking with it, because I've seen several kids quit when the issues start piling up. However, expecting good swims was probably wishful thinking. I do believe they are coming, just not yet...

# 2 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 50 Free (27.07Y) – A little sluggish off the start..and the dive lacks some of his explosion from earlier in the season...but still managed a 26.97

# 10 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 200 Breast (2:34.31Y) – streaky race...periods of solid strokes followed by some up and down and choppy ones. Plus fatigued bad in the back half. 2:39.17


# 22 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 100 Medley (1:25.99Y) – My guess was close...he did get in the 1:08s...1:08.69. Fly was much better. Needs to relax more when he swims it, but the form is miles improved over the stroke last year. Back was too deliberate, breast was fine, but obviously fatigued. Free was a grind to finish. He'll go much faster here when he's in shape and tapered in the future (if he ever swims it again)

# 56 (d2/s4): B 15 & Over 200 Medley (2:23.02Y) – See the 100 IM above, and magnify the fatigue factor - 2:28.84


# 60 (d2/s4): B 15 & Over 100 Breast (1:12.60Y) – A little better form than the 200 Breast, but working hard in practice coming in really took it's toll. Didn't even match his 1:14s he had been swimming at high school. 1:15.97

# 68 (d2/s4): B 15 & Over 100 Free (58.22Y) – At this point, he was really dragging...but he managed to pull out a 59.44...just over a second off his best...so not bad under the circumstances.

[Breeze]

ESSZ Age Group Sectionals @ Greensboro Aquatic Center - 3/16-19

Time for the Eastern Section of the Southern Zone, regional swim meet. Bailey actually has qualifying times for this meet, but chose not to swim due to the fact she is struggling with her fly (the 2 cuts she has) and she wanted to swim some of her off strokes to improve her times and potentially set her up for additional cuts in the future. Therefore, Bear and I will be heading up to Greensboro tonight and he will swim tomorrow. We are missing the first day of competition, but the decision was made to skip the 1000 free (which is being swum today) because he already has the team record in that event, and by skipping it the hope is his he will have more left for his other races, especially the 500 Free and the 1650 Free.

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Bear - tough to have any sort of expectation on how Bear will do, given his improvement at State just a few weeks back...

# 10 (d2/s2): B 13-14 200 Free (1:50.20) : Seeded 24 - Wants to get under 1:50

# 18 (d2/s2): B 13-14 100 Fly (58.39) : Seeded 71 - Scratched this at State, so looking for an improvement here

# 22 (d2/s2): B 13-14 400 Medley (4:18.88) : Seeded 12 - Would like to get into the A final and earn a medal (means top 10)

# 40 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Fly (2:00.22) : Seeded 6 - Wants to go under 2 minutes

# 56 (d3/s5): B 13-14 500 Free (4:52.75) : Seeded 11 - Wants a top 10 medal, also wants to get under 4:50...

# 74 (d4/s8): B 13-14 100 Free (52.75) : Seeded 65 - Another one he didn't swim at State...hoping for a 51 and change.

# 88B (d4/s8): B 13-14 1650 Free (17:12.44) : Seeded 12 - Bear hasn't swum this all year...so no idea what to expect, but he should drop a good bit of time. He's hoping to be under 16:50.

Relay (Entered by Admin)

# 26 (d2/s2): B 13-14 400 Free Relay (Team A) - Will be swimming 1 relay...probably would have been in two if we were going to swim on day 1...

[Breeze]

ESSZ Age Group Sectionals - RESULTS


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Bear - For a few days prior to heading up to the meet, Bear developed a pretty bad cough, which only seemed to get worse as the weekend progressed. It was so bad on Sunday that I took him to a doc in the box to see if his pneumonia was back (it wasn't, but that almost certainly meant his asthma was acting up).

# 10 (d2/s2): B 13-14 200 Free (1:50.20) : Seeded 24 - He was off pace early and struggled home in 1:53.87. This was concerning given he was sick just 10 days earlier and he was coughing a good bit. I was hopeful it was just a bad first swim.

# 18 (d2/s2): B 13-14 100 Fly (58.39) : Seeded 71 - Added time to an old personal best - 59.44 - at this point it was pretty obvious it wasn't going to be a good meet.

# 22 (d2/s2): B 13-14 400 Medley (4:18.88) : Seeded 12 - Added 9 seconds...4:27.91

# 40 (d3/s5): B 13-14 200 Fly (2:00.22) : Seeded 6 - Another poor swim - 2:05.81 - At this point I was feeling bad for him. He's worked so hard for this meet and he's been undone by a virus/bacteria.

# 56 (d3/s5): B 13-14 500 Free (4:52.75) : Seeded 11 - Figured this one was going to be painful...longer swim with his poor previous showings, I expected an add of over 10 seconds. Instead I got a personal best swim of 4:52.63 - just fractionally better but still a personal best. Also qualified for finals...

# 74 (d4/s8): B 13-14 100 Free (52.75) : Seeded 65 - Scratched - he didn't really have this cut, and with him struggling we didn't want to pay the fine if he failed to reach the cut time in the race.

# 88B (d4/s8): B 13-14 1650 Free (17:12.44) : Seeded 12 - Wasn't sure what to expect in this...after his solid 500 free swim I thought maybe he might be able to challenge 17 minutes. He started off strong...he was hitting his splits dead on, then all of a sudden he dropped off by more than a full second. He said his arms were dead and he couldn't get them to turn and pull they way he wanted. He did manage a slight improvement and a personal best swim, but he's capable of going faster so next season should be interesting. - 17:08.10

# 56 (d3/s5): B 13-14 500 Free (4:52.63) : FINALS- Almost an identical swim to the morning. Slightly off pace and he finished with a 4:53.24.


Relay (Entered by Admin)

# 26 (d2/s2): B 13-14 400 Free Relay (Team A) - scratched himself. He didn't want to hold back the relay so he begged off...

[Breeze]

Gold Cup Grand Prix @ Cumming Aquatic Center - 3/25

This meet is basically an intramural competition designed to be more like a team building exercise. The Gold team divided up the swimmers from all the locations into 4 color teams (Purple, Orange, Blue, Green). The idea was to force swimmers from different pools to interact and root for each other. The way the teams were determined and the events the kids will swim was put together in a haphazard way...so no telling how this will ultimately play out.


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Bailey - PURPLE

# 11 (d1/s1): G 13-14 50 Free (27.25Y Approved)
# 53 (d1/s1): G 13-14 100 Fly (1:01.25Y Approved)
# 63 (d1/s1): G 13-14 200 Free (2:05.69Y Approved)


Bear - BLUE

# 12 (d1/s1): B 13-14 50 Free (24.95Y Approved)
# 34 (d1/s1): B 13-14 100 Free (52.75Y Approved)
# 54 (d1/s1): B 13-14 100 Fly (58.39Y Approved)


Brett- BLUE

# 10 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 50 Free (27.07Y Approved)
# 20 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 100 Breast (1:12.60Y Approved)
# 62 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 200 Free (2:05.30Y Approved)

[Breeze]

Gold Cup Grand Prix @ Cumming Aquatic Center - 3/25


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Bailey - PURPLE

# 11 (d1/s1): G 13-14 50 Free (27.25Y Approved) - not really interested in this event - 28.66
# 53 (d1/s1): G 13-14 100 Fly (1:01.25Y Approved) - went through the motions to post a 1:08.70
# 63 (d1/s1): G 13-14 200 Free (2:05.69Y Approved) - no stamina at the end due to very little practicing leading into this meet results in a 2:15.21


Bear - BLUE

# 12 (d1/s1): B 13-14 50 Free (24.95Y Approved) - Bear managed to swim a personal best despite not really having just come off taper for Sectionals and not training the week before this meet - 24.48
# 34 (d1/s1): B 13-14 100 Free (52.75Y Approved) - He got yet another personal best - 52.60 - at this point the coach was really lamenting the fact that Bear wasn't healthy for Sectionals...
# 54 (d1/s1): B 13-14 100 Fly (58.39Y Approved) - Didn't have the stamina to go 3 for 3...58.71


Brett- BLUE

# 10 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 50 Free (27.07Y Approved) - managed a 28.43...but had to withdraw afterwards with a strange sore on his inner thigh - ends up it was a staff infection, which has kept him out of the water this past week.
# 20 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 100 Breast (1:12.60Y Approved) - WD
# 62 (d1/s1): B 15 & Over 200 Free (2:05.30Y Approved) - WD

[Izulde]

Man, Brett just can't catch a break.

I've visited Lawrence - small, private college. Excellent academic reputation and rigorous. Also noted for its music conservatory. I liked it, but not enough to apply there (tuition is obscene).

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Man, Brett just can't catch a break.

I've visited Lawrence - small, private college. Excellent academic reputation and rigorous. Also noted for its music conservatory. I liked it, but not enough to apply there (tuition is obscene).

Yeah, I noticed the tuition issue when I investigated the school. I doubt, even with financial aid for being an athlete at the school that I'd be able to afford to send him there.

Brett has really struggled this year. It would be almost comical if some of the problems weren't so serious. His staff infection is much better and he should return to water polo practice tonight. He's really enjoying the team sport - so much so I believe he might even give up swimming year round in the near future.

[Breeze]

Brett - College Swimming

Brett received his 3rd recruiting letter. This one from Emory & Henry in Southwest Virginia. Another expensive D3 school, that I probably can't afford, but we may go check it out and see what sort of financial aid package they can put together. It appears from photos to be a really pretty campus...I'll let you know if we set a date to head up that way.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Breeze

Brett - College Swimming

Brett received his 3rd recruiting letter. This one from Emory & Henry in Southwest Virginia. Another expensive D3 school, that I probably can't afford, but we may go check it out and see what sort of financial aid package they can put together. It appears from photos to be a really pretty campus...I'll let you know if we set a date to head up that way.

I've observed the D3 process, albeit secondhand, a fair bit with a couple of Will's friends. FWIW, based on what I learned from that, I'd definitely at least explore if Brett is interested.

Will's best friend is at a similar school (same conference) and what happened in his case was a series of slowly improving offers when the family made it clear that finances were so far apart that the school simply wasn't a realistic option. It was still a pretty narrow run thing (and required considerable effort
to piece together a number of private scholarship & such) but as the family narrowed the gap the school incrementally improved their offer at least a couple of times and eventually they made it work.

IF he investigates and remains interested then my (unsolicited) advice would be to be pretty candid with the coach/AD after you see their initial offer. If their interest level is high enough then that seemed to be what kept the process moving, though it was definitely incremental & stretched out over several stressful months.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I've observed the D3 process, albeit secondhand, a fair bit with a couple of Will's friends. FWIW, based on what I learned from that, I'd definitely at least explore if Brett is interested.

Will's best friend is at a similar school (same conference) and what happened in his case was a series of slowly improving offers when the family made it clear that finances were so far apart that the school simply wasn't a realistic option. It was still a pretty narrow run thing (and required considerable effort
to piece together a number of private scholarship & such) but as the family narrowed the gap the school incrementally improved their offer at least a couple of times and eventually they made it work.

IF he investigates and remains interested then my (unsolicited) advice would be to be pretty candid with the coach/AD after you see their initial offer. If their interest level is high enough then that seemed to be what kept the process moving, though it was definitely incremental & stretched out over several stressful months.

Thanks for the advice Jon, I'll keep updating the college recruiting stuff as updated as I can.

[Breeze]

General Update - Bear

So we just found out the Gold Awards Banquet is on the 7th. Which is a very disappointing because Bear will be unable to attend. Bear, who is planning to work at the Cumming Aquatic Center this summer as a lifeguard, will be doing his training this weekend to get certified. We wanted to get him in earlier but, he wasn't allowed to take the course until he turned 15 (which was just a few weeks back). Also, this is the last class offered until after the Summer.

What makes this so disappointing is that Bear broke the team's 1000 Free record during the season, and he's supposed to be recognized by the team for his effort. So because of the conflict he will be unable to stand on the stage in front of his peers and be recognized for being the fastest 13/14 1000 yard freestyler in the history of Gold swimming. After how hard he worked to get this achievement I really wanted him to have his moment of glory.

[Breeze]

General Update - Bailey

I believe that I've mentioned in this thread as some point, that Bailey has had episodes where she passes out. Typically the incident lasts about a minute or so, and then she's back to normal. It's been a while since it has occurred, and generally the thought was that it was related to low blood sugar, because it almost always happened when she didn't eat well, (which is why we are so insistent that she eat a good breakfast before a meet or practice).

This morning Bailey had one of her episodes. She had been swimming warm ups, got out of the pool for instruction. Then she felt the dizziness, tried to grab one of the other swimmers to steady herself, then she fell back into the pool. The girl who was her targeted anchor, immediately jumped in after her, and as is the norm, she was ok after about a minute. However, this time she informed us that when she's about to have an episode that not only does she get dizzy and her vision starts to tunnel, but apparently her heart races too. That's the first we've heard about the heart part of the equation. She is not scheduled to see a cardiologist tomorrow, and she's not allowed to swim again until the cardiologist clears her.

[Breeze]

2017 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational @ UWF Aquatic Center - June 3-4

First long course meet of the season and it is also a travel meet. Because this is the first long course race, because it has been so long since they raced at all, because it is a travel meet (and they alway are difficult to gage performance), I' have no idea what to expect.

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Bailey

# 47 (d2/s3): G Open 50 Fly (32.65L Approved)
# 51 (d2/s3): G Open 200 Free (2:22.86L Approved)
# 59 (d2/s3): G Open 200 Fly (2:32.27L Approved)
# 65C (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 400 Free (5:07.11L Approved)
# 85 (d3/s5): G Open 100 Free (1:09.09L Approved)
# 89 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Back (2:38.21L Approved)
# 97 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Medley (2:41.86L Approved)
# 99D (d3/s5): G 15 & Over 800 Free (10:36.92L Approved)

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Bear

# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (2:11.80L Approved)
# 60 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Fly (2:25.62L Approved)
# 64 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:17.21L Approved)
# 66C (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 400 Free (4:32.74L Approved)
# 86 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (1:01.54L Approved)
# 90 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Back (2:36.75L Approved)
# 98 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Medley (2:28.87L Approved)
# 100D (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 1500 Free (17:45.75L Approved)

[Breeze]

General Update - Bailey

Initial reports on Bailey's passing out is that it appears to be a classic fainting spell. The doctor will do a stress test on her soon, but he said it's ok for her to swim. In fact, he typically tells people that have this issue that they should swim. So he doesn't expect that she's going to pass out while swimming. He also told her to drink a lot more water and eat more salt.

[Breeze]

2017 SE GPAC Tom Lalor Invitational- RESULTS



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Bailey - typical in season, no taper adds for Bailey

# 47 (d2/s3): G Open 50 Fly (32.65L Approved) - 35.13 - this was a bit of a surprise. I thought she'd have been closer here.
# 51 (d2/s3): G Open 200 Free (2:22.86L Approved) - 2:31.47 - again, her improved freestyle over the short course season, I felt would lead to times closer to here PB.
# 59 (d2/s3): G Open 200 Fly (2:32.27L Approved) - 2:46.03 - This is a painful result and it is starting to become worrisome. She needs to get this fly figured out soon or it will significantly hurt her college prospects.
# 65C (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 400 Free (5:07.11L Approved) - 5:09.61 - this was a pretty good effort giving her other results
# 85 (d3/s5): G Open 100 Free (1:09.09L Approved) - 1:09.52 - explain this one to me after her poor swims in the 50 and 200 how can she come so close to her personal best in the 100???
# 89 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Back (2:38.21L Approved) - 2:45.65 - this one is about what I would have guessed.
# 97 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Medley (2:41.86L Approved) - 2:48.26 - no splits available...would have been interesting to see how her swim broke down.
# 99D (d3/s5): G 15 & Over 800 Free (10:36.92L Approved) - 10:35.85 - one personal best on the last swim of the meet.

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Bear

# 52 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (2:11.80L Approved) - 2:07.62 - a nice drop in his first swim.
# 60 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Fly (2:25.62L Approved) - 2:24.56 - another improvement, and good enough to finish 6th in the meet (as a 15 year old in the 15 and over age group)
# 64 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:17.21L Approved) - 1:17.61 - just missed a PB.
# 66C (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 400 Free (4:32.74L Approved) - 4:35.28 - not a great swim but for a travel meet and during intense training, it isn't terrible either.
# 86 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (1:01.54L Approved) - 1:00.40 - good swim, but I'm sure he's disappointed he didn't go sub60.
# 90 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Back (2:36.75L Approved) - 2:37.01 - again close in the back, but can't get a PB
# 98 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Medley (2:28.87L Approved) - 2:31.15 - again would have like to have seen splits...I'm especially interested to see if Bear's breast improvements are holding up.
# 100D (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 1500 Free (17:45.75L Approved) - 18:07.64 - he wasn't all that pleased with this distance swim either.

[Breeze]

SCAT Sizzlin Summer Invite @ GaTech - 6/16 - 6/18


This is a huge prelim/finals meet, that has already created numerous changes in the scheduling to accommodate all the swimmers. This meet is so close to the previous one I don't expect much in the way of improvements. Maybe Bailey can go a little bit faster in her races because she should be more well rested. Bear had several improvements so I don't know that he'll drop any time (note the seed times may not be personal bests because the previous meets results may not have been loaded into the national database yet). Regardless, it will be nice to see the kids race again. It's been a long time since we've watched them.

Here is what the twins are competing in:

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Bailey


# 3B (d1/s1): G 15-16 200 Medley (2:41.86L)
# 19B (d1/s1): G 15-16 100 Fly (1:09.73L)
# 21 (d1/s1): X 11 & Over 400 Medley (5:38.00L)
# 44B (d2/s4): G 15-16 50 Fly (32.65L)
# 48B (d2/s4): G 15-16 100 Back (1:16.63L)
# 52B (d2/s4): G 15-16 200 Free (2:22.86L)
# 65 (d3/s7): G 11 & Over 200 Fly (2:32.27L)
# 67 (d3/s7): G 11 & Over 200 Back (2:38.21L)
# 70 (d3/s7): X 11 & Over 400 Free (5:07.11L)


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Bear


# 4B (d1/s1): B 15-16 200 Medley (2:28.87L)
# 20B (d1/s1): B 15-16 100 Fly (1:10.78L)
# 21 (d1/s1): X 11 & Over 400 Medley (5:08.43L)
# 41B (d2/s4): B 15-16 50 Free (30.24L)
# 45B (d2/s4): B 15-16 50 Fly (38.65L)
# 53B (d2/s4): B 15-16 200 Free (2:07.62L)
# 64 (d3/s7): B 11 & Over 200 Fly (2:24.56L)
# 70 (d3/s7): X 11 & Over 400 Free (4:32.74L)

[Breeze]

SCAT Sizzlin Summer Invite - RESULTS


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

Bailey


# 3B (d1/s1): G 15-16 200 Medley (2:41.86L) - 2:48.50...almost identical time to the meet a few weeks earlier.
# 19B (d1/s1): G 15-16 100 Fly (1:09.73L) - 1:13.15 - given how much time she's added in other events, this one was closer than I expected by about a second or two.
# 21 (d1/s1): X 11 & Over 400 Medley (5:38.00L) - 5:53.75 - not a good swim, given she has room to improve at the longer events.
# 44B (d2/s4): G 15-16 50 Fly (32.65L) - 33.52, which means she isn't as fast at this stroke as she was as a 12 year old...given her seed time was from 3 years ago. Pretty sure this one broke her heart and was probably the biggest reason she didn't go back on Sunday.
# 48B (d2/s4): G 15-16 100 Back (1:16.63L) - She had a pretty good swim here only adding around 1.2 seconds - 1:17.88
# 52B (d2/s4): G 15-16 200 Free (2:22.86L) -NS
# 65 (d3/s7): G 11 & Over 200 Fly (2:32.27L) - NS
# 67 (d3/s7): G 11 & Over 200 Back (2:38.21L) - NS
# 70 (d3/s7): X 11 & Over 400 Free (5:07.11L) - NS


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

Bear


# 4B (d1/s1): B 15-16 200 Medley (2:28.87L) - 2:29.41 - 2 seconds better than the meet a few weeks earlier
# 20B (d1/s1): B 15-16 100 Fly (1:10.78L) - 1:07.06 - this personal best isn't surprising, it's the first time he swam this race all season, and he had quite a few drops in his last meet.
# 21 (d1/s1): X 11 & Over 400 Medley (5:08.43L) - terrible swim - 5:20.17 - not sure what the problem was and the splits didn't register so I can't see the raw data. It's probably breaststroke again. He doesn't practice it enough so he's probably lost his technique a bit.
# 41B (d2/s4): B 15-16 50 Free (30.24L) - 28.23 - good swim and another personal best
# 45B (d2/s4): B 15-16 50 Fly (38.65L) - like Bailey the seed time was from 3 years ago, so I expected a huge drop - 30.89
# 53B (d2/s4): B 15-16 200 Free (2:07.62L) - He wasn't happy about this one - but the PB seed time was from just a few weeks ago so not being able to drop again isn't all that surprising - 2:09.13
# 64 (d3/s7): B 11 & Over 200 Fly (2:24.56L) - in this one he does manage to drop a fraction of a second over his previous personal best from a few weeks ago - 2:24.28
# 70 (d3/s7): X 11 & Over 400 Free (4:32.74L) - huge improvement here over his swim a few weeks ago, and his personal best - 4:28.39

[Breeze]

Kevin Bacon Invite @ Cumming Aquatic Center - 7/7 - 7/9

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

Bailey - due to her recent struggles and the fact that as a 15 year old she doesn't have many cuts for the state meet, Bailey is going to skip that event in a few weeks and instead focus on this meet. Bailey will be tapered coming into this, so I'm hopeful that she'll be able to post some personal bests. She really needs to, as this lack of improvement is really starting to take a toll on her self confidence.

# 1C (d1/s1): G 15 & Over 200 Medley (2:41.86L Approved)
# 5C (d1/s1): G 15 & Over 800 Free (10:35.85L Approved)
# 7C (d2/s2): G 15 & Over 200 Free (2:22.86L Approved)
# 19C (d2/s2): G 15 & Over 200 Fly (2:32.27L Approved)
# 23C (d2/s2): G 15 & Over 400 Medley (5:38.00L Approved)
# 57C (d3/s4): G 15 & Over 200 Back (2:38.21L Approved)
# 63C (d3/s4): G 15 & Over 100 Fly (1:09.73L Approved)
# 69C (d3/s4): G 15 & Over 400 Free (5:07.11L Approved)


Bear - will not taper for this event, thus the reduced schedule. He's just getting a few swims in prior to state.

# 8B (d2/s2): B 15 & Over 200 Free (2:07.62L Approved)
# 64B (d3/s4): B 15 & Over 100 Fly (1:07.06L Approved)
# 70B (d3/s4): B 15 & Over 400 Free (4:28.39L Approved)

[Breeze]

Kevin Bacon Invite - RESULTS

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

Bailey

# 1C (d1/s1): G 15 & Over 200 Medley (2:41.86L Approved) - I missed this race, so I don't have any specifics, but I'm happy to report a personal best and a drop of over 3 seconds - 2:38.71
# 5C (d1/s1): G 15 & Over 800 Free (10:35.85L Approved) - She was a little dizzy heading into this one, which was a concern, and she definitely held back (from her own comments), but still posted a personal best 10:33.38
# 7C (d2/s2): G 15 & Over 200 Free (2:22.86L Approved) - A nice swim, but couldn't quite get a personal best - 2:23.83, this one was much closer than her non-taper swims and that was a huge improvement.
# 19C (d2/s2): G 15 & Over 200 Fly (2:32.27L Approved) - this was a big one, I was really hoping for a drop, but she didn't pull it off - 2:33.30. Another slight add and a huge improvement over her typical non-taper times. This one was good enough to be a AA time, which earns her another all-star designation. This was important because her personal best time is about to expire. Had this swim been before the 200 free, she might have managed a drop.
# 23C (d2/s2): G 15 & Over 400 Medley (5:38.00L Approved) - This wasn't a good swim - 5:42.03, which had me concerned about Sunday...
# 57C (d3/s4): G 15 & Over 200 Back (2:38.21L Approved) - Almost! 2:38.58...an add of only .37...
# 63C (d3/s4): G 15 & Over 100 Fly (1:09.73L Approved) - another huge one I was hoping for a pb in, but again, just short - 1:10.62
# 69C (d3/s4): G 15 & Over 400 Free (5:07.11L Approved) - She closed out the meet with a big improvement in the 400 free - 5:02.16


All in all, this was a great meet for Bailey, with 3 personal bests and 4 swims around 1 second off out of 8 total is a real improvement.

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

Bear

# 8B (d2/s2): B 15 & Over 200 Free (2:07.62L Approved) - managed a personal best 2:07.37 even without the taper.
# 64B (d3/s4): B 15 & Over 100 Fly (1:07.06L Approved) - Sunday was a fun day for Bear. Both of his events came down to races against his buddies. In this one he raced Alex, who just a couple of years ago really figured out how to swim fly, so much so that he's been able to beat Bear in the 100 fly several times. In this one, the two of them ended up running away with the event. They were dueling it all the way to the wall, but Bear ended up winning the heat and beating Alex to the wall by .2 seconds. He posted a personal best time of 1:05.30
# 70B (d3/s4): B 15 & Over 400 Free (4:28.39L Approved) - In this event, Bear was in a 3 way race. Initially an older boy named Haddon took it out extremely fast. In fact, he opened with a 1:02 first 100. Bear was a couple of seconds back, slightly trailing his good friend Seth. Seth and Bear battle the entire pool, and Haddon, suffering from the early effort fell off the pace and out of contention. In the final 50, Bear really started to press his lead and he won the event by about 1.5 seconds, with a time just off of his personal best - 4:28.59

[Breeze]

Bailey - General Update

Earlier this summer I mentioned that Bailey had passed out at practice. She has passed out a few times throughout her life (I may have mentioned that before too, but this thread goes way back and I can't remember), and we've never really known why. As part of the investigation into the cause she had a stress test yesterday, and here is basically how it went.


- initial vitals showed blood pressure elevated, somewhere in the neighborhood of 140/95...

- the testing started, and after about a half hour of running, Bailey's blood pressure was 190/???

- then they had her stop and stand perfectly still. Her heart beat was around 190 initially. After about 20 seconds it dropped to 90. It was at this point that she admitted that she wasn't feeling good.

- about 2 minutes later her heart beat was 47, and she said she felt nauseous and she was seeing spots.

- they had her lay down and put her feet up and her heart beat returned to 80 almost immediately.

Basically, what the doctor told her is that her blood pressure and heart don't work in conjunction very well. That she needs to be aware of her issues, and when she exercises to never immediately just stop. It is important to continue walking around, not to stand still, so her blood pressure and heart beat can come down slowly. He also told her to drink more water and consume more salt.

We will have a follow up with her specialist soon to go over the results in more detail, and I'm sure we will discuss all of our treatment options at that point.

[Breeze]

General Update - College Swimming

The collegeswimming.com website has come out with their rankings of the 2020 swimmers. In Georgia Bailey is currently 52nd and Bear is currently 15th.

There is a bunch of time for these rankings to change before they graduate so I won't put too much effort into explaining or investigating the standings at this point. In fact, it won't be until September of 2019 when colleges can contact the twins, so these rankings are at most just interesting at this point.

I will be happy to answer in questions about the rankings if you have any though.

[Breeze]

2017 Georgia Senior Long Course State Championships @ UGA Gabrielsen Natatorium - 7/28 - 7/30


The senior state meet will take place later this week. Bailey will not be swimming this one, as I touched on in the write up for the previous meet. Bear will be participating, but not in everything he's qualified for. He will only do the 200 fly on Saturday and the 200 IM and 1500 Free on Sunday. The reason for the limited schedule is because we are going on vacation tomorrow. We always schedule our vacation during this week, because typically all the major swim meets are finished by now. Unfortunately, the Georgia Swim Organization elected to move the senior meet back a week this year. So I'll be getting up early during my vacation to take Bear to a pool where he can get a workout in. The problem is, the pool will almost certainly be a short course one, but that's better than nothing.

Honestly, I don't expect that he will swim all that well. We are going to a lake in the mountains and he'll be doing quite a bit of skiing. Combine that with the lack of a long course pool for practice and I just don't see him doing all that well. At least this is just his 15 year old season, so his first of many senior state meets.

I don't know where he is seed wise because the Psych Sheet hasn't been published yet. Given that I'm going on vacation, I doubt I'll be here to publish that information prior to the event, but I did want to make sure to announce the upcoming meet.

[Breeze]

2017 Georgia Senior Long Course State Championships - RESULTS

#18 Mens 200 LC Meter Butterfly - 2:24.28 - Bear came into this one as one of the last swimmers seeded, as his personal best time listed above really wasn't a cut time for this event, however, he qualified with his short course time. Because he competed all season without any benefit of a taper, his personal best in this event was only about 1.4 seconds faster than his time a Long Course State in 2016. This meant he had a good chance to drop quite a bit of time. He was hoping for a 2:!5, but that was a little ambitious. He ended up swimming a 2:18.82. Obviously, this is a huge drop in time and an excellent swim. He wasn't satisfied though. In fact, he was upset with his results. We pushed him to do a 200 Free time trial, in an effort to add the cut time to his resume, but he wasn't feeling it and refused. This is a huge departure from Bear's normal attitude and it illustrates his frustration with the swim. The coach, who was irritated with Bear for not doing the 200 Free, felt this goal was a bit too strong, but did admit that Bear probably could have gone in the 2:!6s...but he didn't have anyone to race in his heat (he won that going away) and he had to train for a few days in a short course pool while we were on vacation.


#38 Mens 200 LC Meter IM - 2:28.87 - Another event where Bear qualified for the swim based on his short course performances. His seed time above was from the state meet last year, therefore another race in which he could drop a bunch of time. In this race, he was seeded right next to one of his buddies Brandon (he's the boy with the Asian features in the sports demo pictures I posted back a few pages with Bailey in the center). The two of them had one heck of a race.

Here is how it went:

Fly Leg - Bear opened with a 30.15, while Brandon swam a 29.93 - Brandon with a slight lead at the turn

Back Leg - Brandon who is a very good sprint backstroker swam 37.13 and Bear countered with a 36.33 - Bear is leading at the turn by about half a second, but next up is Breast, Bear's weakest stroke

Breast Leg - Bear started out good, keeping pace with Brandon, but as the leg approached the wall, Brandon began to open his lead - Brandon 41.98, Bear 43.63 - Bear was just over 1 full second back heading into the 50 Free

Free Leg - Bear came off the wall hot...charging after Brandon, and it was apparent he was faster, but only just...it was going to come down to - is there enough pool for him to close the gap. Bear finished in 31.86 while Brandon came home in 32.96...

Overall, Bear out-touched him 2:21.79 to 2:22.00. It was pretty exciting to watch. Bear won the shootout and dropped 7 seconds in the process. He admitted that the race was funny, because if he were to race Brandon in 4 sprint 50s, 1 of each stroke, he'd lose all 4, but when you put them together without rest he was able to beat him.


#42 Mens 1500 LC Meter Freestyle - 17:45.75 - Again, the seed time ends up being last years time in this event. Bear set a strong pace, but unfortunately there was no one in his heat to help push/pace him. He ended up winning his heat by almost 1 full lap over the second place finisher, and he nearly lapped the 3rd swimmer in the heat. He finished with a respectable 17:17.92 - another huge drop in time.

[Breeze]

General Update - Bailey

Bailey met with the doctor to go over the results of her stress test, and here is what he said:

"Your heart is in great shape, in fact you are currently operating on a physical level even with professional cyclists and marathon runners. The typical person scores around a 52 on the test we put you through, you scored 146, which is the best I've ever personally seen in all my years of doing this."

He went on to tell her she really should wear compression socks, drink lots of water, and he urged her to take salt tablets 3 times a day. After Bailey did some research, and the salt tablets were almost a problem, she read somewhere that they can cause you to again weight (water weight obviously), and she was convinced they would make her fat. After talking her off the ledge, she's been taking the pills regularly and she's pushing close to 4 liters of water a day. The results, at least initially, appear to indicate this treatment might help. In the 3 days she's been doing this, she's appeared to have more energy, she hasn't complained about headaches (which was common and according to our research potentially related to her circulation issues), and she seems happier. Fingers crossed this continues and maybe it will carry over to the pool and she can get back to dropping time.

[Breeze]

General Update

The 2017-2018 season kicked off today with their first practice.

[Breeze]

Brett - College Swimming

It's funny...as I mentioned earlier in this thread, Brett has stopped swimming. He is still planning to swim his senior year for the high school team, and he might even rejoin Gold for a couple of months to get in shape for the season, but that is hardly in the same ballpark with the time and effort he used to put into the sport. Moreover, he hasn't competed in a meet in 6 months or more. What's so funny is that despite the fact that he isn't swimming currently, and that his times are decent but hardly spectacular, he's continued to receive interest from colleges. Here is a list of colleges that have contacted him:


- Lawrence University - Appleton, WI
- Emory & Henry College - Emory, VA
- St. Norbert College - De Pere, WI
- Warren Wilson College - Asheville, NC
- Barton College - Wilson, NC
- Grinnell College - Grinnell, IA
- William Paterson University of New Jersey - Wayne, NJ

Even though he isn't swimming, I think he's taking some pride in the fact there are numerous colleges that were interested in bringing him in.

[Breeze]

Gold Invite @ Cumming Aquatic Center - October 13-15

First meet of the new season. I haven't watched any of the kids practices and I don't really have a feel for how they will do, but here is what they will be swimming:

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

Bailey

# 1 (d1/s1): G Open 200 Medley (2:18.42)
# 3 (d1/s1): G Open 50 Free (27.25)
# 7 (d1/s1): G Open 500 Free (5:26.82)
# 41 (d2/s3): G Open 200 Free (2:05.69)
# 45 (d2/s3): G Open 100 Back (1:04.07)
# 53 (d2/s3): G Open 100 Fly (1:01.25)
# 83 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Fly (2:13.79)
# 87 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Back (2:15.42)
# 95 (d3/s5): G Open 100 Free (56.91)

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

Bear

# 2 (d1/s1): B Open 200 Medley (2:03.83)
# 4 (d1/s1): B Open 50 Free (24.48)
# 8 (d1/s1): B Open 500 Free (4:52.63)
# 42 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (1:50.20)
# 46 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:05.35)
# 54 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Fly (58.39)
# 84 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Fly (2:00.22)
# 92 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Breast (1:15.59)
# 96 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (52.60)

[Breeze]

Gold Invite - RESULTS


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

Bailey - she really struggled again during this meet. In fact, the coach was extremely frustrated because he sees no reason for the poor times. He says her form looks good, her practice habits are good, and her attendance is excellent, so she shouldn't be struggling like this. He even stated to me that he thinks she's swimming faster during interval sets at practice then she is in meets. We'll have to see what he comes up with to get her going. One thing to note...most of the girls were well off of their personal best times. Time submitted for the most part without comment:

# 1 (d1/s1): G Open 200 Medley (2:18.42) - 2:25.83
# 3 (d1/s1): G Open 50 Free (27.25) - 28.72
# 7 (d1/s1): G Open 500 Free (5:26.82) - 5:44.55
# 41 (d2/s3): G Open 200 Free (2:05.69) - 2:10.84
# 45 (d2/s3): G Open 100 Back (1:04.07) - 1:08.25 - this one wasn't too bad. Her start was excellent and she really took it out better than she normally does. She just didn't bring it home well.
# 53 (d2/s3): G Open 100 Fly (1:01.25) - 1:06.29
# 83 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Fly (2:13.79) - 2:22.62
# 87 (d3/s5): G Open 200 Back (2:15.42) - 2:23.30
# 95 (d3/s5): G Open 100 Free (56.91) - 1:00.64

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

Bear

# 2 (d1/s1): B Open 200 Medley (2:03.83) - An ok swim - 2:07.42 - all the splits were good - no single stroke killed him this time, he just needs to go a little faster in general
# 4 (d1/s1): B Open 50 Free (24.48) - PB swim 24.44 - untapered and early in the season this is exciting, much more so than .04 would lead you to believe
# 8 (d1/s1): B Open 500 Free (4:52.63) - 4:58.56 - got under 5 minutes early in the season, not bad.
# 42 (d2/s3): B Open 200 Free (1:50.20)- 1:51.08 - good swim, just off his personal best for early season is a good sign.
# 46 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Back (1:05.35) - Fantastic start and strong underwater and turns led to a personal best swim of 1:00.13. This swim was good enough to put the state cut in his sights. It's been a long time coming but it appears Bear's backstroke might be solid again.
# 54 (d2/s3): B Open 100 Fly (58.39) - A great swim and another personal best 56.73
# 84 (d3/s5): B Open 200 Fly (2:00.22) - faded late 2:03.04
# 92 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Breast (1:15.59) - Not sure the last time he swam this one...plus his breast has looked good at times in IMs so I expected a drop - I didn't expect a 1:11.25
# 96 (d3/s5): B Open 100 Free (52.60)- Another Personal Best swim 52.30 - hoping he'll get to 51 low or 50 high by the end of the season.

[Breeze]

High School Swimming - Try Outs

The kids tried out for high school swimming earlier this week. Obviously, I didn't have any concern about the twins, but there was a bit of concern about Brett. Having not swum for months, I was concerned that he might struggle to make the cut times. However, he swam the 50 free in 27.02 and was easily under the time. The interesting thing is the 27.02 is the second fastest 50 free for Brett ever...it's too bad he won't get back into swimming, with his new strength if he'd just get back in the water even if just on the year round high school level team that practices 3x a week, I think he'd see some dramatic improvements.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Breeze

High School Swimming - Try Outs

The kids tried out for high school swimming earlier this week. Obviously, I didn't have any concern about the twins, but there was a bit of concern about Brett. Having not swum for months, I was concerned that he might struggle to make the cut times. However, he swam the 50 free in 27.02 and was easily under the time. The interesting thing is the 27.02 is the second fastest 50 free for Brett ever...it's too bad he won't get back into swimming, with his new strength if he'd just get back in the water even if just on the year round high school level team that practices 3x a week, I think he'd see some dramatic improvements.

That's great he was able to do well after a break at least.

[thealmighty]

On a different note, has there been any growth spurt worth mentioning?

[Izulde]

Great to hear Brett is getting interest from a number of D3 schools - albeit private ones. Will be very curious to hear of financial offers, etc.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by thealmighty

On a different note, has there been any growth spurt worth mentioning?

Great question - I hadn't really thought about that.

Bailey at last check had grown fractionally taller and actually reached 5' 3", but that's probably going to do it for her. I was hoping early on she might get to 5' 5", but it became pretty obvious over the last couple of years that wasn't going to happen. Her short stature is hurting her swimming as many girls that she was competing with have grown much bigger and they are pulling away from her. It will hurt her recruiting as well. Coaches will often take a flyer on a tall girl assuming she'll develop, but short girls better be fast before they get recruited.

Brett went to the doctor for his annual check up last year and the doctor told him he was just under 5' 8" and was done growing. However, he's now 5' 9", so he wasn't done. I suspect he probably is finished now. I could be wrong, my side of the family has had some late growth, but even if he grows more, I'd be surprised if it was a full inch.

Bear has grown a little over an inch in the last year. That puts him right at 5' 8". At one point it looked like Bear would be much taller than Brett. He wears a 10.5 shoe to Brett's 8.5. He was taller at the same age pretty much every year, but that has slowed. I don't think he's finished growing, but I'm starting to think there won't be any dramatic leaps for him either. It's looking like 5' 9" might be his final height as well. This will hurt Bear's recruiting too. If he could get to 5' 11" or 6' it would be a huge help. Hopefully, his distance focus will reduce the amount of focus placed on height.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Great to hear Brett is getting interest from a number of D3 schools - albeit private ones. Will be very curious to hear of financial offers, etc.

Izulde,

I doubt we ever get to that point. After his rough season last year Brett stopped swimming year round. In fact, it's been months since he last had a swimming work out. He keeps hedging on going back to Gold's year round high school level training group, which is 3 days a week, but so far no commitment. Today is his first day of practice for the high school. He'll be doing that every morning 5 days a week if he doesn't sign up for the Gold team again. I guess there is an outside shot that once he starts practicing he enjoys it and sees enough improvement to start thinking about doing it for 4 more years in college. Any information that comes up on that front I'll make sure to post. I'll even try to remember to post any and all of Brett's comments/thoughts around this topic.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Breeze

I'll even try to remember to post any and all of Brett's comments/thoughts around this topic.

I think that's an interesting aspect of this (fwiw I guess). I've known one kid who had a chance to continue his sport in college but opted not to. Great kid, he'd basically just had enough of it & wanted to move on with the rest of his life instead of putting in four more years.

He was near his ceiling with it -- probably an eventual DIII football starter for a year or two if he'd opted to stay with it but that was realistically as far as it might have gotten -- and just seemed to feel like it was time to let it go. Having known so many who would have pretty much literally killed for the same opportunity it was interesting to see his choice.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I think that's an interesting aspect of this (fwiw I guess). I've known one kid who had a chance to continue his sport in college but opted not to. Great kid, he'd basically just had enough of it & wanted to move on with the rest of his life instead of putting in four more years.

He was near his ceiling with it -- probably an eventual DIII football starter for a year or two if he'd opted to stay with it but that was realistically as far as it might have gotten -- and just seemed to feel like it was time to let it go. Having known so many who would have pretty much literally killed for the same opportunity it was interesting to see his choice.

I had a few friends in high school that were the same...could have played some small college ball but elected not to. There were a number of reasons, some just didn't want to think about having to do practice for 4 more years, some decided if they weren't D1 they didn't want to play, and others just wanted to go to a big school and party (most of them failed out pretty quickly).

For swimming, unfortunately, this isn't uncommon at all. And if you think about the sport - starting at a young age, getting up extremely early several days a week, the hours of training, and the monotonousness of the training (staring at a black line for hours at a time), it really takes an extreme level of dedication to even take up the sport much less take it through college. Interestingly, a large number of kids that I've mentioned in this thread through the years have quit...

Lexi - Bailey's friend that moved to Arizona quit last year
Ryan - Lexi's brother quit 3 years ago
Carmen - quit this year
Ainsley - quit over the Summer
Sammy - quit last summer
Haley - Bailey's friend at SwimAtlanta just quit this season
Rayley - quit last year
Caroline - quit last year
Haylee - quit 2 years before graduating high school


I'm sure there are more...but these are just the ones off the top of my head.

[Breeze]

General Update - Brett

So Brett's conflicted nature with swimming continues. His first practice with the high school was yesterday. However, the practice was dry land training. He got up early and went to practice without complaint, but he called me to check him out said he had hurt his hip. He apparently tweaked it early in practice but pushed through to finish it. I pulled him out of school and he took some advil, iced his hip and took a nap (which I believe it what he really needed).

Later that night when we were fixing dinner he volunteered out of the blue that he might use high school swimming to get back in shape and then he'd join Gold again, but he wasn't talking about the Gold high school level team, he was talking about rejoining the Senior team that he was on prior to the break. I was totally shocked. I knew he still has an interest in the sport, but something or more likely several somethings are holding him back. I suggested that he should swim high school for a couple of weeks, if he likes it, we can put him on the Gold high school team, and if likes that and wants to swim more, then on the days when Gold doesn't practice he can do the South Forsyth team practice. That will keep him in the water 5 days a week and with his increased strength he could see some significant time improvements even though he won't be practicing as hard as he did with the Gold senior team. The enthusiasm was definitely present and that's something we hadn't seen in months.

Fast forward to this morning. I go to wake him up and he's wanting to skip practice. He eventually got up, and he did go. Not sure if he practiced or hid in the bathroom and slept. Hopefully, he'll decide what he wants to do soon, rather than end up with a decision due to indecision. I'll keep you updated on which way he's leaning moving forward.

[Breeze]

General Update - Brett

The conflict within Brett about swimming continued yesterday. He once again complained about having to get up early to go to practice, and he even tried to convince me that he shouldn't have to go. However, he ended up going and he admitted that he enjoyed the practice.

One major issue, in addition to the desire to sleep, is that Brett is sore, and truth be told he's probably as sore as he's ever been. I told him that he was going to have to gut it out and work through the soreness, that missing a day because of it would simply make it take longer to get over. I also noted that he was out of shape for the first time in his life. Up until the last several months, Brett never went 3 weeks without a swim workout, and he's now be out of the pool for over 6 months. This is a new experience for him and I'm interested to see how he handles it.

[Breeze]

2017 Beach Bash - Greenville County Aquatic Complex - Nov 3-5

It's the short course travel meet, so again no idea what to expect. I hope the kids take this seriously, eat well, and get the rest they need.

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Bailey - is tapering for this meet. She really needs to swim well. It would be a huge confidence boost if she can get a couple more cuts and swim her fly close to or better than her PB.

# 37 (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 100 Free (56.91Y) - seeded 29th. Needs to get 56.09 for the cut...
# 41 (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 200 Back (2:15.42Y) - seeded 24th. - Needs a 2:13.99 for the cut.
# 45 (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 100 Fly (1:01.25Y) - seeded 13th. She has this cut.
# 51 (d2/s3): G 13 & Over 400 Medley (4:55.19Y) - seeded 26th. She needs a 4:47.89.
# 83 (d3/s5): G 15 & Over 200 Free (2:05.69Y) - seeded 47th - needs to drop 5 seconds here, so not likely.
# 91 (d3/s5): G 15 & Over 200 Fly (2:13.79Y) - seeded 12th - She has this cut by almost 10 seconds.
# 101 (d3/s5): G Open 500 Free (5:26.82Y) - seeded 27th - Needs to drop 7 seconds, not impossible in a 500 free. I wish she'd embrace this more because this is an event I believe she could do well in.

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Bear - will get just a short drop taper for this event. Coach wants him to get more state cuts (State is in December so this is the last chance to get them), but he doesn't want to mess up his training for state in his strong events. It's a very delicate balance.

# 38 (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 100 Free (52.30Y) - seeded 28th, needs to drop 2 seconds for the cut, which isn't likely. But as a 15 year old in a 15 and over age group a non-sprint specialist probably isn't supposed to get this cut this early.
# 42 (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 200 Back (2:18.94Y) - seeded 35th. Cut is likely not in reach here either, but a good drop could be. He managed to almost go under 60 seconds in the 100 at the last meet. I'll be very interested to see what happens here.
# 46 (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 100 Fly (56.73Y) - seeded 18th. Needs a 55.99 to earn the cut - this one is definitely one he's targeted.
# 52 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 400 Medley (4:18.88Y) - seeded 7th, he has this cut.
# 84 (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 200 Free (1:50.20Y) - seeded 13th, needs a 1:49.49 - another one that is in the bullseye...
# 92 (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 200 Fly (2:00.22Y) - seeded 7th, he has this cut.
# 96 (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 50 Free (24.44Y) - seeded 38th, needs a 23.19...that's a huge drop in a 50, but...maybe.
# 102 (d3/s5): B Open 500 Free (4:52.63Y) - seeded 8th. According to the latest sheet he has this cut, but he seems to think he doesn't. Regardless, he's looking to swim a PB here.

[Breeze]

2017 Beach Bash - RESULTS


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Bailey

# 37 (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 100 Free (56.91Y) - 57.47 - not great, but much better than she had been doing. The taper shows that she can still get close to personal bests - disappointed she didn't actually get one.
# 41 (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 200 Back (2:15.42Y) - 2:16.85 - another one that is better than the typical 7 second add she was getting when she wasn't tapered but again I'd really like to see some PBs
# 45 (d2/s3): G 15 & Over 100 Fly (1:01.25Y) - 1:02.07 - again disappointing but it is good enough to renew her state cut in this event for another year.
# 51 (d2/s3): G 13 & Over 400 Medley (4:55.19Y) - 4:50.18 - a huge improvement - not sure how she drops 5 seconds here but none in the individual strokes swum earlier.
# 83 (d3/s5): G 15 & Over 200 Free (2:05.69Y) - 2:03.01 - another personal best, but not good enough for a state cut...
# 91 (d3/s5): G 15 & Over 200 Fly (2:13.79Y) - 2:20.29 - terrible swim...this one is much more like her untapered times, but she told us she wasn't feeling well before this race. Back was hurting and a bit nauseous. The back we believe is due to wearing the super tight competition suits and the shoulder straps pulling down hard. She typically has a bikini top she puts on between events to relieve this stress but she forgot to pack it on the trip.
# 101 (d3/s5): G Open 500 Free (5:26.82Y) - 5:31.03 - started off real good, but the not feeling well and fatigue got her in the last 200 and she fell off her pace.

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Bear

# 38 (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 100 Free (52.30Y) - 51.56 - Nice swim and drop into the 51 second range.
# 42 (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 200 Back (2:18.94Y) - Huge drop down to 2:08.07. As good as this is, with his 100 around 60 seconds he should be closer to a 2:05 mid...In other words, I expect he could drop more here soon.
# 46 (d2/s3): B 15 & Over 100 Fly (56.73Y) - 56.48 - he was very disappointed that he didn't get the state cut.
# 52 (d2/s3): B 13 & Over 400 Medley (4:18.88Y) - 4:28.55 - bad swim in this one...
# 84 (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 200 Free (1:50.20Y) - 1:48.87 - another personal best and well under the cut time.
# 92 (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 200 Fly (2:00.22Y) - 2:10.67 - a surprising...no ALARMING result here. Especially when we looked at the splits that saw him swim a 1:14.48 in the back half. I initially started wondering if he had hurt himself or experienced an asthma attack...then I realized, he already has the 200 fly cut, but not the 100 fly, I bet he tried to get the 100 fly cut to open this race. In looking at the splits he opened with a 56.19, which is a personal best in the 100 fly, but still an eye blink from a state cut.
# 96 (d3/s5): B 15 & Over 50 Free (24.44Y) - No show - rested following the 200 fly and before the 500 free.
# 102 (d3/s5): B Open 500 Free (4:52.63Y) - Disappointing swim here at 4:57.95

[Breeze]

High School Swim - Tri-Meet @ Cumming Aquatic Center - 11/10/17

Bailey

200 Free - 2:08.35 - this isn't her personal best but the best she swam this event last year for the high school team, as the coach only takes times for the team to slot her swimmers (more on this later). Keep in mind that the kids often practice right before swimming for the school, so they are not only not rested but worn out. She is coming off of a taper, so maybe she can go 2:05...

100 Fly - 1:04.24 - Hopefully, she can approach this number again, so she'll knock the state cut out right away. Especially given when she's not tapered she's swimming 1:05s or worse.

400 Free Relay B - 3rd Leg - she's only got 1 relay, and with the strength of the girls on the team and the fact she's been struggling this is probably correct.

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Bear

200 IM - 2:11.30 - I suspect Bear will beat this time, even tired.

500 Free - 5:03.10 - He should probably go under 5 minutes...though it probably won't be necessary for him to win (unless his teammate Jake is also swimming it, in which case he'll end up second as Jack is one of the 3 fastest 500 swimmers in the nation for his age group)

200 Free Relay B - Anchor - You need 6 swimmers to field your 3 A teams (each swimmer can swim only 2 of the 3 relays). Bear is absolutely one of the top 6 on the team. In fact, there are 2 kids on the 400 Free A relay that will race at a time that Bear practices at. But because Bear doesn't get to swim the 100 and 50 frees because they need him in other events, he doesn't get to post times to move up on the relays. It's lazy coaching and it hurts the team.

200 Medley Relay B - Breast leg - you read that correctly, they have Bear doing the Breast??? And he's on the B team again which also stupid.

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Brett

Brett is currently ineligible to swim. Because he is a senior he's only taking 5 classes, and in Georgia HS sports you have to be passing 5 classes to be eligible, and the doh-doh failed to turn in several assignments in his...get this...office assistant class. Yep, the kids that help in the office have to do stupid little assignments to get a grade and my son decided they weren't necessary. So until those assignments are made up he'll be unable to swim (he's apparently turned them in now, but the lineup was already set so he can't participate - serves him right...)

[Breeze]

High School Swim - Tri-Meet - RESULTS

This meet ended up being against West and North...

Bailey

200 Free - 2:08.35 - Bailey swam a 2:07.83, which is better than she did last year and she finished 3rd for the team in the heat...

100 Fly - 1:04.24 - 1:04.46 - not quite her best even for high school, but good enough for a high school state cut.

400 Free Relay B - 3rd Leg - Bailey's relay finished 2nd, only losing to the South A team. Bailey swam a 1:00.36 leg and the team went a 3:59.80 which is good enough for a high school state cut as well.
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Bear

200 IM - 2:11.30 - Bear swam a 2:06.39, which is a high school cut. He also finished 3rd in the event.

500 Free - 5:03.10 - Bear wasn't expecting to do well in this one, but as the race progressed he found himself right on Jake's hip, and he remained there for the first 300, then he realized he might be able to beat Jake so he picked it up for the final 200 and he close about half a second on Jake, but still lost by .29. He finished in a personal best 4:51.40, and yes that is a personal best for year round as well, and yes it was after he had completed 2 practices that day and swim approximately 12 to 13,000 yards...I was blow away by this result. He and Jake were so far ahead that 3rd place was making the turn for his last 25 yards when they finished, and every other swimmer was lapped.

200 Free Relay B - Anchor - the 200 free relay is literally the next event after the 500 free so Bear had almost no rest coming into this one, but he still managed to go 24.11...not bad.

200 Medley Relay B - Breast leg - no idea how Bear did here because the splits didn't save in the system...but he said he had his worst relay start ever, so his split probably wasn't that great anyway.

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[Breeze]

High School Swim vs Lambert @ Cumming Aquatic Center - 11/17

The kids have high school meets tonight and again on Monday. I know the individual events for the kids but not relays. I'll post the relay stuff with the results (assuming the official results include who swam what in the relay)

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Bailey

#6 - Girls 200 IM - 2:24.00
#12 - Girls 100 Fly - 1:04.24

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Bear

#5 - Boys 200 IM - 2:06.39
#15 - Boys 500 Free - 4:51.40

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Brett - not sure if Brett is going to be allowed to swim. He turned in his missing assignments, but the teacher hasn't graded them and he's stated he's not sure he will grade them (in other words he's being an asshole. Not sure why you'd choose not to take a late assignment in an office assistant class. However, until those grades are entered he's still ineligible. If he swims this is what he's scheduled for:

#7 - 50 Free - 26.34
#21 - 100 Breast - 1:12.53

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[Breeze]

High School Swim vs Lambert- RESULTS

So this was one exciting meet. With about 3 events to go, I said to the group I was with, "This is going to be a close meet." And as it turned out, it came down to the very last event. Lambert ended up winning by 8 points.


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Bailey

#6 - Girls 200 IM - 2:24.00 - 2:21.44 - this is a high school best for Bailey and a good note her fly leg was under 30 seconds...she hasn't been there in a while. Her breast is still killing her at almost 45 seconds...
#12 - Girls 100 Fly - 1:04.24 - 1:04.91 - a pretty good swim considering she just finished practice about 90 minutes before. And considering she was swimming this time or worse in year round meets most of last season.
Girls 400 Free Relay - B team - 1st Leg - Bailey led off the relay with a respectable 59.72...
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Bear

#5 - Boys 200 IM - 2:06.39 - 2:06.81 - didn't quite equal his time from last week, but he had a nice swim regardless. He managed to beat a couple of other year rounders pretty bad...
#15 - Boys 500 Free - 4:51.40 - 4:54.56 - also not as quick as last week, but Bear had no one to race. A Gold teammate that is on Lambert swam against him, but Bear had a 2 second lead after the first 100 and before the race was over he led by 12 seconds or 2/3rds of a lap.
Boys 200 Medley Relay - B Team - Fly Leg - Bear's relay beat the Lambert B relay and Bear had a nice split on his leg going a 25.84...
Boys 200 Free Relay - B Team - leadoff - Again the South B relay beat Lambert's B team, this time by .01 seconds. Bear opened in 24.15 the fastest split of all 4 swimmers on his relay despite the cold start.

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Brett - he was able to swim...

#7 - 50 Free - 26.34 - 26.19 - And yes this is a personal best. Not just a high school best but an outright personal best.
#21 - 100 Breast - 1:12.53 - 1:11.92 - Also a personal best and again this is regardless of team.

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[Breeze]

High School Swim - Tri Meet vs Central, Cambridge and Pinecrest @ Cumming Aquatic Center - 11/20

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Bailey

#6 Girls 200 Yard IM - 2:21.44
#12 Girls 100 Fly - 1:04.28
#24 Girls 400 Free Relay - B Team - 3rd Leg

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Bear

#1 Boys 200 Medley Relay - B Team - Fly leg
#5 Boys 200 IM - 2:06.39
#13 Boys 100 Free - 54.88 - This is an important swim for Bear, this might be his 1 shot to show he's faster than some of the kids currently swimming on the A relays. He really needs to go 52 low in this one.
#17 Boys 200 Free Relay - B Team - anchor
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Brett

#7 Boys 50 Free - 26.19
#21 Boys 100 Breast - 1:11.92

[Breeze]

High School Swim Tri Meet -RESULTS

South won the meet going away...

Men

South - 682
Cambridge - 481.5
Central - 472.5
Pinecrest - 320


Women

South - 710
Cambridge - 567
Central - 495
Pinecrest - 230


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Bailey

#6 Girls 200 Yard IM - 2:21.44 - 2:22.94
#12 Girls 100 Fly - 1:04.28 - 1:05.75
#24 Girls 400 Free Relay - B Team - 3rd Leg - team finished 4th and her split was 1:00.17

Not a good day for Bailey, but most of the kids added several seconds to their swim during this meet.

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Bear

#1 Boys 200 Medley Relay - B Team - Fly leg - Team finished 4th - Bear's leg was a 26.36 and a clear sign he wasn't going to have a great day either.
#5 Boys 200 IM - 2:06.39 - 2:10.18
#13 Boys 100 Free - 54.88 - Didn't manage to swim what I was hoping for...finished in 53.01. We'll have to see if that is good enough to get him on an A relay.
#17 Boys 200 Free Relay - B Team - anchor - The relay finished 3rd and Bear managed a 24.29
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Brett

#7 Boys 50 Free - 26.19 - 27.05 - disappointing to see him add a full second after his good swim on Friday.
#21 Boys 100 Breast - 1:11.92 - 1:11.54 - another personal best for Brett...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting to see Pinecrest fielding a team. (cause I know the gap in school sizes between them and the others)

edit to add (for those who are unfamiliar): I dare say that the senior class at the other schools is larger than the gr 9-12 population at Pinecrest.