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Old 12-19-2013, 05:35 PM   #351
Breeze
Grizzled Veteran
 
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
2013 Gold Esperanto Invite - RESULTS

Bailey

200 Medley : 2:42.17 – She expects a drop here
RESULT: Got a drop of 3.59 seconds…Breast looked better. This is also a State Cut…2:38.59

50 Free : 30.19 – Doesn’t talk about her Free much right now, so not sure where she stands on this one.
RESULT: Like Brett, terrible dive did her chances of improvement in, but still swam right on personal best time 30.26

1000 Free : NT – currently two swimmers from getting into this event. I think she’ll have to swim it though, she’s apprehensive…
RESULT: She said she hated this race, and she was very grumpy when she finished. I think she was a little embarrassed because she didn’t match Bear’s pace, and the coach told her she didn’t do great…that she could have done much better. Regardless, I thought her 13:16.14 time was good…and it was good enough for a state cut (though I don’t think she wants to swim it at state…)

200 Free : 2:31.13 – See the 50 Free, but her increased practice reps, should result in an improvement here.
RESULT: Huge improvement. Dropped 5.70 seconds for a 2:25.43

200 Back : 2:43.82 – Says her back is getting better…
RESULT: like the 200 Free she had a huge drop…almost 6 full seconds..2:37.83 and her third state cut of the meet.

200 Fly : NT – Anxious about swimming this one, but Coach told her that if she swims it the way he expects, she could challenge the sectional cut…he expects her to get the state cut. Did work with her on Breathing every other stroke on fly for this race in particular.
RESULT: Went into it pretty confident and it showed. She had to swim against older kids because she was in the open, and she hung with girls 4 and 5 years older than her. She finished with a 2:44.95…and her forth state cut. In fact, this swim was so good she got her 12 year old state cut as well. This also meets one of her goals for the year (FINISH A 200 FLY)

400 Medley : NT – swam it in long course, and has been chomping at the bit to do it short course. For a girl that doesn’t like long swims, she is pumped for this one.
RESULT: She was excited, but tired…she did well posting a 5:40.47 for another state cut.

100 Free : 1:07.57 – Don’t know what to expect, but a guess would be about a full second drop.
RESULT: My guesses aren’t always this good 1:06.62…

100 Back : 1:16.96 – see 200 Back
RESULT: Like the 200, her comment that her back was getting better was dead on…dropped 3.57 seconds, finished with a 1:13.28 and just missed a state cut by .09 seconds…

100 Breast : 1:34.77 – she might be finally ready to break her really old Personal Best here…
RESULT: A huge improvement over her recent breaststroke swims. She had been going anywhere from 1:38 to 1:46 recently, in fact her personal best went back to 11/10/12, with regression immediately following that. Now her personal best is 1:32.28, also her opening 50 was a personal best for that distance as well.

50 Fly : 32.99 – Even at the end of the meet, I think she’ll drop time here.
RESULT: Poor dive, and clearly tired, but still an improvement 32.16. and yet another state cut.
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Old 12-19-2013, 06:07 PM   #352
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
2013 Gold Esperanto Invite - RESULTS

Bear (important note…I was with Bear for the Friday and Saturday swims, but I had to take Brett home on Sunday to get some school work done and to prepare for exams, so any writing on the Sunday swims is second hand accounts)

200 Medley : 2:52.71 – with improved strokes all around, I expect a drop here
RESULT: Huge improvement in the fly leg, finishing it in 35.27, had been swimming it in the 38 second range. Also dropped the Breast leg to under 50 seconds (48.86). Overall, managed to drop 13.73 seconds and finish in 2:38.98, and a state cut

50 Free : 30.11 – One of the coaches tweaked the way Bear breathes on the Free and his times in intervals have been dropping. If he can do it in a race, might go sub 30…
RESULT: Like Bailey and Brett, failed to get a PB here 30.67.

1000 Free : 12:59.00 – This is a made up time, to ensure Bear got to swim this event…Coach thinks the improved breathing technique might by itself lead to a 15 second drop in this event
RESULT: Already had a state cut in this (we believe), based on the time from Long Course States 1500 meter swim. But regardless, he really wanted to go out and swim a good time. He was too conservative again early, but finished very strong and posted a 12:28.33 good enough for a state cut this year, a state cut next year, and a sectional cut!!!

400 Medley : 5:59.00 – This is a made up time, not sure what to expect, I doubt his form will hold through this entire event.
RESULT: unbelievable swim for Bear. I knew he was getting better, but I had no idea he was capable of this. Swam a 1:17 mid fly leg (which is a personal best in the 100 fly by 7 seconds), 1:24 back (barely off of his personal best in the 100 back before November), 1:36 breast (less than half a second from his personal best in this one) and he closed with a 1:11.35 free (which is almost identical to his time at state in the 100 free last year). Finished with a 5:29.85, easily good enough for another state cut. Only 4 seconds from a 12 year old cut, and obviously sets the state for the rest of the results. He also thought it was pretty cool that he lapped a couple of his friends.

200 Free : 2:23.73 – Went 2:18 in an interval at the end of a 2 hour practice, then followed it up with a 2:24 after an 18 second rest.
RESULT: Didn’t seem as explosive as I would have liked, but still dropped a second 2:22.79.

200 Back : 2:45.26 – All about body position for Bear. If his legs are in the right spot he’ll drop time
RESULT: Looked significantly better than he has in the past in this one. Strong underwater work coming off the turn, but needs to work on coming out of the hole and swimming hard as he breaks the surface. That will come. Dropped 7.68 seconds for a 2:37.58 and another state cut.

50 Breast : 45.82 – His Breast has improved a bunch, should drop time here.
RESULT: As expected after the 400 IM, he didn’t just drop some time, he dropped a bunch 41.08…within striking distance of a cut.

200 Breast: 3:18.36 – This time included a stop on the last 50 in the middle of the pool. If he swims through should drop time and maybe get a state cut
RESULT: After the strong 400 IM and 50 Breast, I was really excited to see what he would do here. He finished with a 3:06.25…a 12 second drop, and beat the state cut by 8 seconds.

100 Free : 1:06.52 – Another area where Breathing changes could make a big impact.
RESULT: Dropped 2.24 seconds, 1:04.28

100 Breast : 1:35.73 – End of the meet swim, not sure how much he’ll have left.
RESULT: like the other breast swims, big improvement -7.27. 1.28.46, also within striking distance…

200 Fly : NT – This could be torture at the end of the meet…
RESULT: didn’t expect much here. Guess I should have…blew it away..2:44.47…State cut for 11 and 12 year olds…

Last edited by Breeze : 12-24-2013 at 12:58 PM.
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Old 01-08-2014, 02:11 PM   #353
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
General Update

At the beginning of this season I was looking at the new times for State Cuts and for Sectional Cuts and I noticed that Bear's strong swim at Long Course State in the 1500 Meters was under the time for a 1650 Sectional Cut using the conversion methods. We weren't sure if that was applicable or if he was going to have to swim the event to qualify, but yesterday we confirmed that he is qualified for Sectionals in the 1650...so he'll be swimming the 1000 and the 1650 at the Sectional Meet in March.

I have to say I'm so proud of him. If you don't recall, last year in short course, Bailey started late due to a shoulder injury, but came on like gangbusters and earned several Sectional Cuts...(6, I think). Bear was killing it at the beginning of the season, but then he hit a growth spurt and really struggled, with the exception of the 500, where he was challenging for the Sectional Cut from the first time he swam it. Twice he finished within a blink of an eye of earning the cut, but he never actually got it. We allowed him to swim at Sectionals thinking the big stage, adrenalin, etc. would spur him on to the cut, but instead he put too much pressure on himself and he had a terrible swim. This year he's earned the rigth to be there...Twice...
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Old 01-13-2014, 01:45 PM   #354
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
Times Update

Let’s get some general housekeeping out of the way. Below, please find the Short Course State Cut times and personal bests for each of the kids…


Bailey

Code:
50 Free 29.09 30.19 100 Free 1:04.29 1:06.62 200 Free 2:19.09 2:25.43 500 Free 6:13.89 6:21.40 1000 Free 13:24.29 13:16.14 50 Back 33.89 35.20 100 Back 1:13.19 1:13.41 200 Back 2:40.09 2:37.83 50 Brst 38.59 44.34 100 Brst 1:23.89 1:32.28 200 Brst 3:04.59 3:20.06 50 Fly 32.59 32.16 100 Fly 1:14.59 1:12.63 200 Fly 3:04.99 2:44.95 100 IM 1:13.29 1:17.43 200 IM 2:39.19 2:38.58 400 IM 5:51.89 5:40.47

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Bear

Code:
50 Free 29.19 30.11 100 Free 1:04.39 1:04.28 200 Free 2:21.38 2:22.79 500 Free 6:25.89 6:20.64 1000 Free 13:27.39 12.28.33 12:34.89 (sectionals) 50 Back 34.49 37.18 100 Back 1:14.69 1:19.79 200 Back 2:42.99 2:37.58 50 Brst 39.39 41.08 100 Brst 1:26.69 1:28.46 200 Brst 3:14.29 3:06.25 50 Fly 32.79 38.44 100 Fly 1:17.09 1:24.14 200 Fly 3:14.49 2:44.47 100 IM 1:14.19 1:20.65 200 IM 2:39.99 2:38.98 400 IM 6:01.39 5:29.85

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Brett

Code:
200 Brst 2:38.29 2:45.48


Note: Sectional Qualifying is based on age group, so the time to qualify is the same for 11 year olds as 12 year olds. Bailey and Bear are in a prime position to get several sectional cuts next year when they are on the top end of the age group.

Last edited by Breeze : 01-13-2014 at 01:48 PM.
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:41 PM   #355
Izulde
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Join Date: Sep 2004
So, to refresh my memory, there's Short Course State, Short Course Sectional, Long Course State, Long Course Sectional cuts?

Great work by all three of your kids, by the way. Wonderful to see their improvements!
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Old 01-14-2014, 05:59 PM   #356
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
Quote:
Originally Posted by Izulde View Post
So, to refresh my memory, there's Short Course State, Short Course Sectional, Long Course State, Long Course Sectional cuts?

Great work by all three of your kids, by the way. Wonderful to see their improvements!

Izulde,

Thanks for checking back in...so for the season we have:

Short Course State - @ mid February
Short Course Sectionals - @ mid March

Long Course State - @ mid July


There are other meets if the times are good enough like Jr. Nationals, Nationals, and Zones

Zones is an interesting meet, kids have to apply to be considered, and then based on their performance in the State Meet applicants are chosen to swim...all in all, the Zone Team will only have something like 6 kids/age group (1 swimmer/stroke, +2 wildcard/high point selections)...Brett's good friend Jack Dolan swam Zones last year. Zones comes at a bad time for the twins as it is a Long Course Meet and they will have just aged up...it is good for Brett, but he needs to grow before it will matter.

Last edited by Breeze : 01-14-2014 at 06:01 PM.
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Old 01-15-2014, 01:57 PM   #357
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
SCAT Winter Kickoff @ GaTech - 1/18-1/19

This will be the last meet for the twins until the state meet in February. They have enough State Cuts, so the coach doesn’t want them to race the Last Change Meet 2 weeks prior to State, so their practice taper will be more effective. Brett on the other hand will swim the Last Chance, though he likely won’t earn a cut. Like the coach told him, time drops for 13 year olds is significant, and you still haven’t grown yet, so earning a cut will be very difficult.

Unlike most of our meets during the season the one this weekend is a prelim/final meet, and therefore a very important one in the eyes of the coaches. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this in the past, but the prelim/finals format prepares the kids for big meets (State, Sectionals, etc.) which require kids to qualify for the final swim later that same evening. In this meet, all prelims will be swim by age group (i.e. 11/12, 13/14), however, all event finals will be swum based on age only. In other words, there will be an 11 year old finals, 12 year old finals, 13 year old finals, etc. This means the likelihood of making finals for us goes way up. Unfortunately for us, this means we’ll be at the pool for warm ups around 6, the meet will run and finish around 1, then we are supposed to be back at the pool at 5:30. Tech is a good hour drive from the house, so we are sort of in a no-win situation when it comes to finding ways to relax and stay comfortable during that window. We’ve contemplated getting a hotel room that we can retreat to, but that will be very expensive…anyway…here is what the kids will be racing…

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Bailey

200 Fly – 2:44.95 – Only 8 kids in the 11/12 age group are swimming the prelim, and Bailey is the top ranked 11 year old. 2 do come in with NT and may be very fast, but looks like we’ll be in this final…

100 Back – 1:13.41 – seeded 15 overall and third for 11 year olds

500 Free – 6:21.40 – this is a timed finals (don’t have to do it twice). She should drop a decent amount of time if she swims it hard. I have a sneaky suspicion she might just mail it in to conserve energy for the finals later in the day

100 IM – 1:17.43 – seeded 21 overall and ninth for 11 year olds. However, this seed time is from March of 2013…I could easily see a 5 second drop, which would put her third (assuming everyone else swims around their seed time)

100 Fly – 1:12.63 – eighth overall and first for 11s.

50 Back – 35.20 – 15 overall and third for 11s, but again this seed time is from March of last year. I could see a time in the 33s…

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Bear

100 Back – 1:19.79 – Bear is the twelfth eleven year old and 21 overall

50 Fly – 38.44 – Bear hasn’t swum this since he cleaned up his fly so he should drop a good bit of time. I could see him drop 3 seconds, if he does he has a change to get in the top 10 and make finals

500 Free – 6:20.64 – Did it way back in October and really went out way to easy. Should drop around 10 seconds

100 Fly – 1:24.14 – seeded eighth for 11 year olds

200 Free – 2:22.79 – seeded third for 11 year olds and 10 overall

100 Breast – 1:28.46 – big drop last month in this one, not sure he’ll drop again, but he’s seeded 9 for 11 year olds and 16 overall

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Brett

200 Breast – 2:45.48 – Been dropping time in this one all season, big fly kick on pullouts and he’ll drop more time. Currently seeded third for 13 year olds

200 IM – 2:40.70 – Big drop last month in this one, not sure if we’ll drop again.

500 Free – 6:09.02 – might end up racing Bear in this one (event is 11 & over)…

200 Free – 2:20.68 – dropped in this one last time out, but I thought he was a little conservative early. I do think he can drop here again. Especially, given he’s been doing 100s in interval training at practice in 1:05s…I think a 2:18 is very reachable

100 Breast – 1:20.01 – seeded 8 for 13 year olds…

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Old 01-21-2014, 03:31 PM   #358
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
SCAT Winter Kickoff – PRELIMINARY RESULTS

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Bailey

200 Fly – 2:44.95 – Only 8 kids in the 11/12 age group are swimming the prelim, and Bailey is the top ranked 11 year old. 2 do come in with NT and may be very fast, but looks like we’ll be in this final…

Bad Dive – as usual…but almost immediately fell in behind the two very good 12 year olds. Hung with them for the first 75, then started to fall back. Breathed too much in the last 50, and really seemed to wear out, but improved her time by 1.59 seconds to a 2:43.36. She also was the top seeded 11 year old heading into finals.

100 Back – 1:13.41 – seeded 15 overall and third for 11 year olds

Nice swim…seemed a little to deliberate, but still improved her time by 1.55 seconds – 1:11.86. Qualified third for finals, and earned a state cut.

500 Free – 6:21.40 – this is a timed finals (don’t have to do it twice). She should drop a decent amount of time if she swims it hard. I have a sneaky suspicion she might just mail it in to conserve energy for the finals later in the day

Must better effort than normal…dropped 9.23 seconds. Finished in 6:12.17, and was the second 11 year old overall, and earned a state cut.

100 IM – 1:17.43 – seeded 21 overall and ninth for 11 year olds. However, this seed time is from March of 2013…I could easily see a 5 second drop, which would put her third (assuming everyone else swims around their seed time)

The estimate on the drop was pretty good. Dropped 4:48 seconds, to finish 1:12.95, finished third and earned a state cut.


100 Fly – 1:12.63 – eighth overall and first for 11s.

Dropped 1.07 seconds, following a terrible dive, finished with a 1:11.56 and in second.

50 Back – 35.20 – 15 overall and third for 11s, but again this seed time is from March of last year. I could see a time in the 33s…

33.68, earns a state cut…and is in third heading into finals

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Bear

100 Back – 1:19.79 – Bear is the twelfth eleven year old and 21 overall

Dropped 3 and a half seconds to a 1:16.33, finished tenth…so just got into finals.

50 Fly – 38.44 – Bear hasn’t swum this since he cleaned up his fly so he should drop a good bit of time. I could see him drop 3 seconds, if he does he has a change to get in the top 10 and make finals

I was afraid that a good bit of Bear’s fly improvement was tied to his stamina, and that it might not translate to a sprint. He wasn’t able to match Bailey’s sprint times, but he exceeded my estimate of a 3 second drop. He actually dropped almost 4 seconds finishing with a 34.66, and he qualified for finals.

500 Free – 6:20.64 – Did it way back in October and really went out way to easy. Should drop around 10 seconds

Bear was pumped for this one, went out much harder and it was obvious early he would drop time. The question was only how much…as it turned out my 10 second drop projection was only half right. He dropped 20.64 seconds and finished with a time of 6:00.00

100 Fly – 1:24.14 – seeded eighth for 11 year olds

Good swim here…his form was strong and he held it through the race. Even saw spurts where he pushed himself not to breath so he could go faster. Dropped 7.29 seconds, finished second, earned a state cut with a time of 1:16.85

200 Free – 2:22.79 – seeded third for 11 year olds and 10 overall

Was hoping his strong distance frees might provide the confidence needed to really take this out fast. He finished his race at 2:20.69, dropping 2.1 seconds and finishing third.

100 Breast – 1:28.46 – big drop last month in this one, not sure he’ll drop again, but he’s seeded 9 for 11 year olds and 16 overall

New form didn’t really hold up here. He was actually fractionally slower than his seed time. 1:28.78, but he still qualified for finals.

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Brett

200 Breast – 2:45.48 – Been dropping time in this one all season, big fly kick on pullouts and he’ll drop more time. Currently seeded third for 13 year olds

Brett was excited to lead off with Breast…he was hoping to stay with the other 11 year olds…and he did a pretty good job dropping 2.26 seconds and finishing with a time of 2:43.22…third in prelims.

200 IM – 2:40.70 – Big drop last month in this one, not sure if we’ll drop again.

I wasn’t sure he could drop more time in this one, but he not only dropped time, he dropped a bunch of time…finished with a 2:36.04…dropping 4.66 seconds…first alternate in finals…

500 Free – 6:09.02 – might end up racing Bear in this one (event is 11 & over)…

Thankfully, Brett and Bear didn’t race each other, unfortunately, they did swim in separate pools at the same time. I only got to watch the first quarter or so of Brett’s race, which started out good. He was clearly pushing himself this time around. After I moved to count for Bear, I kept an eye on Brett’s times, and he dropped. 9.68 seconds and got under the 6 minute mark…5:59.34

200 Free – 2:20.68 – dropped in this one last time out, but I thought he was a little conservative early. I do think he can drop here again. Especially, given he’s been doing 100s in interval training at practice in 1:05s…I think a 2:18 is very reachable

The strong 500 gave me hope on this one…and it was well placed hope. He dropped 7.39 seconds and posted a 2:13.29…he qualified for finals in this one.

100 Breast – 1:20.01 – seeded 8 for 13 year olds…

Overworked the start, and still needs stronger pullouts, but still dropped 2.3 seconds and finished with a 1:17.71…qualified seventh in the prelims.

400 IM – 5:46.86 – I missed this one in the initial write up for the meet. Sorry about that…

Given the fact that he has improved across the board, and his stamina just keeps getting better, I expected an improvement here…but nothing like this! Brett dropped time in every split of every stroke for the entire 400. Overall he dropped 26.67 seconds and finished with a 5:20.19.

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Last edited by Breeze : 01-22-2014 at 09:39 AM.
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Old 01-22-2014, 12:26 PM   #359
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
SCAT Winter Kickoff – FINALS RESULTS

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Bailey

200 Fly – 2:43.36 – Coming into the finals, Bailey was clearly the top seed for 11 year olds. Even with a bad dive in the finals she had the lead at the 25 yard mark. By the 50 yard mark, she was up by several body lengths, and she just kept pressing her advantage. The only catch in the entire race was a very slow turn at the 125 mark. She apparently swallowed some water and held on the wall for a second to clear her throat. She ended up winning by a considerable margin and dropped her time an additional 3.03 seconds to a 2:40.33

100 Back – 1:11.86 – Came into the prelim seeded fourth and finished prelims third. I was hoping for a bit more effort in this one, but given the fact that the 200 fly and the 100 back were close to together, and in finals, there was only 1 heat per age group separating the events. I expected the 200 Fly to have taken too much out of Bailey for an improvement...I was right as she added less than a half a second to post a 1:12.13…but she did finish second overall in the event.

100 IM – 1:12.95 – Fly/Back split in this one was a very good 32.22…the breast wasn’t great, but she held her ground, and finished the back half in 39.57. Dropping time down to 1:11.79 a full 5.64 second improvement from the seed time. Finished third overall

100 Fly – 1:11.56 – came into finals seeded second, and wanted to win this one…but a bad dive did her in. The girl she was chasing for the win had a body length lead on her out of the chute, and she could never overcome it. She did however, drop more time, finishing with a 1:11.24, and a second place finish.

50 Back – 33.68 – Real tight race, and Bailey had an excellent start…let me repeat that Bailey had an excellent start!!! Unfortunately, she crowded the wall on the turn or she might have won the event. As it turns out she dropped .05 seconds 33.63 and finished fifth in an extremely tight race. She missed third by .12 seconds.

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Bear

100 Back – 1:16.33 – came into the race seeded tenth, managed to drop more time (barely)…1:16.10 and finished eighth.

50 Fly – 34.66 – did a great job in prelims…but needed to drop another couple of seconds to get a state cut. He didn’t manage it, finishing with a time of 33.91, but he did finish third overall after entering the event seeded 12 and entering the finals seeded 5.

100 Fly – 1:16.85 – finished prelims seeded second in a very tight heat with the top 5 swimmers being bunch up based on time. Bear really wanted to win this one, and was excited about the race because it was going to be so tight. Unfortunately, the top seed scratched, so Bear didn’t get to race him…but it probably wouldn’t have mattered. Bear got a quick start and had excellent form from the beginning. He was trying not to breath, but even when he did it appeared his chin wasn’t even coming completely out of the water. He starting pulling away early, and completely dominated the field. He dropped another 5+ seconds to post a 1:11.71, and won the race by that same amount. The runner up swam almost the exact time Bear from prelims 1:16.87…This also earned Bear a state cut.

200 Free – 2:20.69 – Another strong swim from Bear, only losing to a kid who will be 12 in a couple of weeks and another teammate that is a big powerful kid with a great freestyle. Dropped another 3 seconds finished with a 2:17.19.

100 Breast – 1:28.46 – 1:28.78 was the seed time from prelims, and he backed up further. He was clearly tired and like I mentioned in his prelim, the form was slightly off. He added a 1.5 or so seconds to finish 1:30.62

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Brett

200 Breast – 2:43.22 – Did a better job keeping up with the 2 bigger 11 year olds in the finals. Seemed his stamina was better as he improved slightly…dropping just under 1 second to a 2:42.45, but he was much closer to the leaders as they were just 3 seconds ahead of him this time.

200 Free – 2:13.29 – Couldn’t match the swim from the morning, but was close with a 2:14.32.

100 Breast – 1:17.71 – Again, couldn’t match the swim from the morning but was close with a 1:18.26

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Old 01-23-2014, 09:52 AM   #360
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
General Update

Following his strong showing at the meet this weekend, Bear has been promoted to Sectionals Advanced. He's now using resistance bands during dry land and will practice on Fridays.
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Old 01-30-2014, 10:10 AM   #361
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
General Update

Due to the weather practice was cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday, which really impacts the preperations for State. In order to get the water time back up, the kids will practice on Sunday this week.
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Old 02-04-2014, 11:29 AM   #362
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
Lanier Aquatics Last Change Meet – 2/7-9 @ Lanier Aquatics

There is some confusion as to the order of events in this meet. The sign-up sheet shows one thing, while the psych sheet shows something different. So I’m not sure what order these swims will be in…
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Brett

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – This is probably Brett’s only shot at a state cut, and it really isn’t a good one, considering he’s dropped so much time already and he still needs to cut another 4.2 seconds. He’s been opening his 200s around a 1:18…he’d have to basically hold that pace for the second 100 to get the cut. I don’t see it happening…he does come into this seeded 4.

100 Fly – 1:29.94 – Due to shoulder issues early in the season, Brett has been held out of fly. He’s now back to swimming it (though he still doesn’t practice it as hard as he should). His form is much improved, but because he doesn’t swim it much, he’s strength and confidence in this stroke is lacking.

200 Back – 2:37.54 – Improving soooo much in the back. Still needs to work on keeping the legs out and a steady consistent kick, as well as a faster arm rotation, but this is miles from where it used to be.

100 Free – 1:04.83 – Brett is confident he’s gone 1:02 at practice during interval training, and coach has been busting his chops about kicking harder in practice sets. Hoping he’ll go 1:02…

100 Back – 1:17.21 – See the 200 Back…

50 Free – 31.07 – Couldn’t even venture a guess as to the last time Brett swam this. My vague recollection says it was in October…he could drop some time here…fingers crossed – (I looked it up…his best time is October…last time he swam it was in December…)

100 Breast – 1:17.71 – Though this is Breast and you might think Brett could have a shot at a cut here…you’d be wrong. This race is still short enough that the big kids with bad form can muscle through and post good times. To get a cut in this one Brett would need to drop almost 5 full seconds. He’s just not strong enough to do that yet.

500 Free – 5:59.34 – Dropped 10 seconds in January when he swam it, but he didn’t have anyone giving him signals based on his pace. Might be able to drop a little more with some prodding, but to get a cut, he’d have to drop 32 seconds…(this is where the lack of a good kick kills him)

1000 Free – 12:20.73 – Last swam this in November. He’s improved on his 500 free a bunch in the interim, and his confidence in the long swims has gotten better so he could drop a significant amount of time here, but to get a cut it would have to be just over a full minute. I’m thinking he’ll drop around 30 seconds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Old 02-10-2014, 03:20 PM   #363
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Lanier Aquatics Last Change Meet – RESULTS

So the jack-legs that run Lanier Aquatics stopped updating the Meet Mobile app about halfway through Saturday's swimming. While I have times written down, I prefer to wait until I have the semi-official time before writting up my results. In this case, I'll probably have to wait until the official times are loaded at USA Swimming, because I don't see the app getting the data pushed to it now.
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Old 02-13-2014, 03:37 PM   #364
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Lanier Aquatics Last Change Meet – RESULTS
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The LA pool is a slow one, and it didn’t help that they utilized the first two lanes for warm down, creating a lot of chop in the water. Brett was also forced to swim Open the entire weekend, which meant he was swimming against kids from 13 to 18…this created even more chop as the bigger kids disturb the water more, and when you only weigh 88 lbs, waves can bounce you around a bit.

Brett

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – The breaststroke events were the ones most impacted by the choppy water. Brett was constantly buffeted sideways and it really impacted his speed and form. He came in slower with a 2:45.09.

100 Fly – 1:29.94 – Nice effort here for Brett. Still breathed too much, but even with that he finished with a 1:22.18, and he can go even faster. If he’ll sell out in practice and really work hard on the fly during those sets, I suspect he’ll be within a few seconds of the twins by end of long course.

200 Back – 2:37.54 – Another personal best 2:35.40.

100 Free – 1:04.83 – Was hoping for 1:02, didn’t come close to that, settled for a 1:04.72, and was disappointed.

100 Back – 1:17.21 – Major improvement here. The 200 gave him confidence, and I told him that his 200 Back would have been even better if he had taken the one overhand stroke going into the wall each turn. He did in this race, and it allowed him to win his heat and beat 2 kids that were ahead of him off the start. He passed one on the second turn and the other on the third turn, then held them off into the wall. 1:12.87

50 Free – 31.07 – Wanted to go sub 30…just missed – 30.33.

100 Breast – 1:17.71 – Same issues here as the 200, added time with a 1:19.01. Was very frustrated with this.

500 Free – 5:59.34 – Set a nice pace, improved again in this one 5:55.14. Could have done even better, but he doesn’t do underwater work on the turns and he circle swims which costs him about 15 seconds.

1000 Free – 12:20.73 – Like the 500, circle swimming and lack of effort underwater off turns costs him speed, but still dropped 15 seconds – 12:05.69

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Old 02-17-2014, 11:34 AM   #365
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2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - Feb 21-23 @ GaTech

The short course state championships are this weekend and Bailey and Bear will be swimming the maximum 9 individual events. Due to the nature/magnitude of this meet, and the relative position of the twins, I'm going to try and be more specific in my writeups in order to help you get a better overall understanding of where things stand (which probably means I'll thoroughly confuse you). I haven't determine yet how I'll outline the information...but I'm thinking in addition to providing you the standard seed times, seed locations, I may also provide how close they are to moving up/down based on performance.

This event will be a prelim final meet for each individual age group (10U, 11, 12, 13, 14). So the twins will be swimming in 11/12 heats, but actually only racing 11 year olds. The shorter races (all 50s, 100s, and the 200 Free and 200 IM) will be raced prelims with the top 10 returning in the evening for finals. The remaining races will all be timed finals with the top 20 swimmers (A & B finals), regardless of age, swimming in the evening.

Each swimmer that finishes in the top 10 will earn points based on the following scale...11-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, with medals awarded for a top 3 finish. Relays earn points based on the following...48-42-40-38-36-34-32-30-28-26--22-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2. (I don't know yet if either of the twins will qualify for a relay...I doubt it, but we might sneek into one).
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Old 02-17-2014, 01:08 PM   #366
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2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - Feb 21-23 @ GaTech

Before I post the kids times/seeds, it is important to note, coming into the State Meet that times can fluctuate significantly. Kids are prepping for this event all season, and while most coaches will allow a slight taper going into a typical meet, they try to keep the effort levels high, so the final taper for the state meet will be that much more effective. Obviously different coaches and different teams have their own philosophy on this, but for the most part this is the only significant taper the kids receive. Some kids that respond well to the taper will drop large amounts of time in the meet…hopefully, my kids respond well. The two snow storms in Atlanta really impacted the team’s taper routine, so we’ll have to see how the kids are impacted.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Below you will see the following type of information outlined…50 Free : 45/25 – 30.05 (28.97/10) : (30.09) –

Here is how to read it 50 Free is the event, 45/25 – the 45 is the overall seed in the event (usually that means 11 &12 year olds), 25 is the seed for 11 year olds. The (28.97/10) is the seed time for the person in this case in tenth place (the /# may change based on the race and seed), so a point of reference for what it would take to move up into points, medals, etc. (it is possible that there will be more than 1 point of reference provided. The final (30.09) in this example is the time of the 11 year old behind the kids. Hope that is clear enough…
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Old 02-17-2014, 01:36 PM   #367
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2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - Feb 21-23 @ GaTech

DAY 1

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Bailey

200 IM* : 42/20 - 2:38.58 (2:33.37/10) : (2:38.91) – Bailey is swimming well, and if her breaststroke holds up, and she gets a better dive than usual, I could see a significant improvement, but I don’t think she comes close to earning points (top 10) in this one. Similar to golf, it isn’t how much you are behind, but how many are between you and the lead. Even if she were to drop 5 seconds, someone between 11 and 19 will probably drop 4 and stay in front of Bailey.

200 Back : 44/19 – 2:37.83 (2:35.27/10) : (2:38.57) – This one is intriguing. There are quite a few kids between Bailey and the top 10, but this time rather than being 5 seconds off the pace, like she is in the 200 IM, she’s only 2.5 off. Also I recognize several swimmers fractionally ahead of Bailey, and I know that Bailey has historically beat them. With a good clean start and good turns, I expect Bailey will challenge for top 10, but my guess would be 12-14.

100 Fly : 34/10 – 1:11.24 (1:10.70/9) (1:06.99/3) : (1:11.76) – Bailey is pretty excited about this one. She really wants to make finals, even if she finishes tenth. She has set a goal to go 1:09.XX, and I think she can do it, as the coach has worked on her not overreaching with her arms, which allows a quicker transition through the stroke and puts her arms in a more powerful position at the beginning of the pull. I don’t think she can get anywhere close to medals, as I expect it will take a 1:05 high to be in the running. I hope she cleans up her dive a bunch this week in practice, or she might find herself just outside of the top 10.

*Note: I was a bit surprised they elected to put Bailey in the 200 IM and not the 1000 Free. While Bailey hates the 1000 free she would have been seeded ninth with a strong possibility of staying in the top ten and earning points for the team. My best guess is they were saving her for the 200 fly the next day…


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Bear

200 Back : 32/6 – 2:37.58 (2:37.48/5) (2:36.50/3) : (2:36.84) – This was surprising to me. Bear is already seeded in a point position, and he is within striking distance of a medal. I don’t expect that he’ll get a medal, but he should earn points. I hope the coach works with him on exploding out of the hole. He is strong underwater, but typically there is a transition delay from underwater to above water that he’ll need to eliminate to get down into medal territory.

100 Fly : 36/7 – 1:11.71 (1:10.73/6) (1:09.41/3) : (1:12.20) – Again surprised to see Bear in a point position, and again he has an outside shot at a medal. Two seconds in a 100 Fly is easily doable, but if I had to guess, I figure he’ll finish around his seed location and earn more points for the team.

1000 Free : 49*/3 -12:28.33 (11:57.85/2) (11:54.45/1)** : (12:37.67)*** - Bear comes into this one in third and he hasn’t swum it in two months. Brett and Bear have been very close in their 1000s this season, and Brett just dropped time down to around 12:05 from 12:30. So maybe Bear can get down to around a 12:00.00. If he can at least hold on to his seed he’ll earn a medal. The biggest problem with this event is not racing the people that you are competing with…because this is swum 14U, Bear will have no idea which kids in the race are 11 and therefore won’t know who to actually “race” in the event. He’ll simply have to set a pace, and hope it is fast enough.

*This event is swum 14 and under so Bear is seeded 49 out of all kids at the meet.

**The top seed in this event has not swum the 1000 this year. The time was a coach entered figure, based on a guess of what the child might be able to do. That isn’t to say that the number is completely bogus, the child in question swims a very fast 500 Free and may be able to hit the time listed, but it is interesting to note.

***The child seeded behind Bear is from the same team as the top seed, and he didn’t swim the 1000 this season either. Therefore he may be significantly faster or slower than the time listed, another interesting note.
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Old 02-18-2014, 10:02 AM   #368
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2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - Feb 21-23 @ GaTech

Day 2
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Bailey

100 Back : 39/14 – 1:11.86 (1:10.25/10) : (1:11.92) – Like the 200 back there are a number of girls ahead of Bailey that she has beaten regularly in the past. Hoping she’s able to really make a charge here and compete for a top 10 spot.

50 Fly : 43/18 – 32:16 (31.41/10) : (32.19) – Coach is really excited about Bailey’s new arm position in the fly. He thinks she's in a good position to improve, it could come down to her dive again…

400 IM : 38/11 – 5:40.47 (5:38.52/10) : (5:41.99) – Bailey’s breaststroke has to be tight for this event. If it is, she’ll do well…if not, she’ll fade back in the pack. In case you were wondering…to get in the top 3 and earn a medal Bailey would have to swim around a 5:26…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bear

200 Free : 42/12 – 2:17.19 (2:14.70/10) : (2:19.89) – Bear is in a really interesting spot here…he is several seconds behind the top 10, and couple seconds ahead of 13…He could get into the finals in this event, as I’ve seen him step up in big moments in the past. I just hope he doesn’t wear himself out trying to reach the finals (I’ve seen him do that in the past as well)…

200 Breast : 38/12 – 3:06.25 (3:05.54/10) : (3:06.61) – Call me a pessimist, but I don’t think Bear challenges for top 10 here. I just haven’t seen any consistency in his breast to think he’s going to drop time in this stroke. In fact, last time he raced it, he added a good bit of time. I suspect he’ll swim a 3:08/9…But just earning any Breast cuts was fantastic and I’m proud of him, because this stroke was a bad one for him until now…

400 IM : 28/5 – 5:29.85 (5:27.64/3) : (5:40.25) – This is where I hope his breaststroke holds up. If he swims the 200 Breast well, I like his chances to challenge for a medal here. His confidence in the stroke will be high and he’ll want to get on the podium, and 2 seconds in a 400 IM is not much. Unfortunately, again, he won’t be lined up next to all the kids he’ll need to beat. Some will be in different heats as this is swum combined 11/12…

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Old 02-18-2014, 01:47 PM   #369
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2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - Feb 21-23 @ GaTech

Day 3
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Bailey

100 IM : 31/11 – 1:11.79 (1:11.71/10) (1:08.33/3) : (1:13.15) – I don’t think Bailey has a legitimate shot at top 3, her breaststroke simply isn’t good enough yet. I only put the time down to illustrate how tight this one is. I’m hoping she can get in the top 10…making finals would be a big boost to her confidence.

200 Fly : 21/5 – 2:40.33 (2:36.83/4) (2:28.16/3) : (2:40.94) – Not going to get in the medals here…as the top 3 swimmers are clearly on another level, but Bailey should earn a good number of points for the team.

50 Back : 45/23 – 33.63 (33.02/10) : (33.65) – Only about a half a second out of the top 10, but just too many swimmers between Bailey’s seed and the top 10 to figure she’ll get into the finals.
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Bear

100 Free : 46/15 – 1:04.28 (1:01.98/10) : (1:04.33) – This and the breaststroke from day 2 are probably the only races I believe Bear has no shot of earning points. I believe he is capable of a 1:02 low, but I don’t think he can go a 1:01 low or 1:00 high, which it will take to get into finals.

200 Fly : 20/2 – 2:44.47 (2:34.36/1) : (2:44.70) – This one amazed me when the psych sheet was released. I remember the swim when Bear posted this time, it was the December meet, and he blew the field away. It was impressive, but I never realized it was the second fasted 200 Fly swum in the state for the year. It was the only time he swam the race, and typically with long races we find the kids go faster the second time, because they are more comfortable with what is required, but Fly is such a technical stroke, and if anything is off the slightest bit, he could add significant amounts of time. I’m really hoping he has a swim equal to or better than his seed time. Then whatever happens – happens. I just don’t want him to back up…

500 Free : 26/5 – 6:00.00 (5:54.12/3) : (6:00.07) – Another top 5 seed time for Bear. Brett swam this just two weeks ago in a 5:55.14…and with Bear and Brett pretty equal in times in this event throughout the season, I’m guessing he’ll finish somewhere in that range. If I can keep him from circle swimming, he might cut an additional 15 seconds from that time, which would allow him to challenge for a medal.

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Old 02-18-2014, 04:05 PM   #370
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The State Meet Banquet is tonight. I'll find out if either of the twins slipped into a B relay. I don't expect it, but looking at the numbers, there is an outside shot.

Also the final Psych Sheet was released today, I'll look at it and post an update to any changes in seeding due to late entries.
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Old 02-18-2014, 04:19 PM   #371
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Originally Posted by Breeze View Post
2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - Feb 21-23 @ GaTech

The State Meet Banquet is tonight. I'll find out if either of the twins slipped into a B relay. I don't expect it, but looking at the numbers, there is an outside shot.

Also the final Psych Sheet was released today, I'll look at it and post an update to any changes in seeding due to late entries.

I'm confused -- given how close your kiddos are to the top 10 in so many events, how on earth could they not be on relays, which I presume have dozens of relay squads partaking times four participants each??
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Old 02-18-2014, 04:36 PM   #372
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Originally Posted by RPI-Fan View Post
I'm confused -- given how close your kiddos are to the top 10 in so many events, how on earth could they not be on relays, which I presume have dozens of relay squads partaking times four participants each??

Good question...the issue this year for Bailey and Bear is that they are 11 in the 11/12 age group. While they (Bear especially) are in the top 10 of many events in the 11 year olds, there are a number of 12 year olds on the team that are still faster. Combine that with the fact that the 11/12 year olds only swim 200 and 400 medley and free relays, which are the sprints (50 and 100 legs for individuals) and Bear and Bailey are both highest rated in 200 Yard races, and that's why we probably won't be in a relay.

To illustrate, I think the 100 Fly is the best chance for both the kids...both appear to be the 4th ranked Gold swimmer in those events. Obviously one of the four in front will swim the Fly leg in the A relay...but the other 3 could swim a different stroke either on the A or B relay, thus giving Bailey and/or Bear a shot to swim the Fly on the B team.

If there was an 11 year old relay, both would be on the A team and probably the strongest swimmer on the relay. Which, if they are still swimming well, sets us up nicely for next year.

Hope that cleared things up, and thanks for reading...

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Old 02-19-2014, 09:43 AM   #373
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So as expected no relays for the twins.
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Old 02-19-2014, 11:50 AM   #374
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After reviewing the final Psych Sheet this is where the twins are seeded going into the finals...


BAILEY

Code:
200 IM 43/20 200 Bk 49/22 100 Fl 37/11 100 Bk 41/15 50 Fl 47/19 400 IM 43/15 100 IM 34/11 200 Fl 21/5 50 Bk 50/25


BEAR

Code:
200 Bk 40/6 100 Fl 39/7 1000 Fr 50/3 200 Fr 45/12 200 Br 42/13 400 IM 30/5 100 Fr 50/17 200 Fl 21/2 500 Fr 28/5

*Note the red numbers are the changes for seeding from the writeups above, but I only did it for the 11 year old age group, almost all the 12 year old seedings changed...

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Old 02-20-2014, 10:50 AM   #375
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There is one last point of interest for this meet. Because the twins will turn 12 at the end of short course, but before long course, they will have new state cut requirements. Listed below is where the kids stand in relation to the 12 year old state cuts, the numbers are the seconds they need to cut to earn the cut (obviously, the red number indicate they already have that cut)...

BAILEY

Code:
200 IM 9.69 200 Bk 9.24 100 Fl 2.15 100 Bk 3.37 50 Fl 1.77 400 IM 16.28 100 IM 1.9 200 Fl -5.06 50 Bk 1.54


BEAR

Code:
200 Bk 6.89 100 Fl 0.72 1000 Fr -31.56 200 Fr 4.1 200 Br 10.36 400 IM 4.26 100 Fr 3.89 200 Fl -10.42 500 Fr 1.71
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Old 02-21-2014, 08:49 AM   #376
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State Meet - Day 1


On my phone so will be brief...

Kids got a good night sleep. A little late to bed due to practice/Brett arrangements/dinner/getting downtown to hotel (more on hotel later)

Bailey

got bad draw on 200 back - in lane 1
Ok 200 Im - 4
Lane 2 in 100 fly

Bear

Terrible draw on lanes...got 10 in 200 back and 1 in 100 fly...
Won't know 1000 until later

Last edited by Breeze : 02-24-2014 at 09:43 AM.
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Old 02-22-2014, 09:21 AM   #377
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State Meet - Day 1 Results


Still on a phone so I'll be brief...I'll add detail later

BAILEY

200 Im - dropped about 6 seconds finished 13
200 back - dropped about 6 seconds finished 12
100 fly - dropped 1 second in prelims finished 10...in finals dropped 2 more seconds and finished 8

BEAR

200 back - dropped 6 seconds finished 6
100 fly - added 2 seconds finished 13
1000 free - dropped 35 seconds finished 3

Last edited by Breeze : 02-24-2014 at 09:42 AM.
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Old 02-22-2014, 09:26 AM   #378
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State meet - day 2



Another good night sleep for kids. Bailey struggled to eat this morning, which isn't unusual but she eventually got enough down. Based off of yesterday I'm very eager to see how they do today

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Old 02-23-2014, 09:59 AM   #379
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State Meet - Day 2 RESULTS



BAILEY
100 Back - dropped 2.6 seconds moved up to 12
50 Fly - dropped 1 second...finished 10 qualified for finals
400 im - dropped almost 28 seconds - finished 5

50 fly finals - dropped another .2 finished 9

BEAR
200 free - dropped 4.5 seconds..qualified for finals in 9th
200 breast - dropped 2.3 seconds - finished 16
400 im - dropped almost 14 seconds. .. and finished 3rd in state. .

200 free final - dropped another .1 but couldn't hold on to 9... finished 10

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Old 02-24-2014, 09:46 AM   #380
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State Meet - Day 3

Tried to post this yesterday, but obviously something went wrong...

Got in late last night...so late room service was closed, and fast food was out of the question, so we got Chinese delivered and it was really late when we finally ate...

BAILEY

Her goal coming into the day was to earn a sectional cut in the 200 Fly

BEAR

He said he was going to win 2 more medals...(200 Fly, and 500 Free)

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Old 02-24-2014, 10:02 AM   #381
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State Meet - Day 3 RESULTS

BAILEY

Didn't do much in the 50 back or 100 IM, but dropped a ton of time in the 200 fly and she did get her sectional cut...

BEAR

Got on the 4x100 Relay due to his strong swimming the first 2 days...
Dropped time in the 100 Free
Dropped a ton of time in the 200 Fly, got his sectional cut and held on to second place in state.
Dropped a ton of time in his 500 Free, enough that he climbed into third and earned his second medal of the day...
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Old 02-24-2014, 10:02 AM   #382
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I'll post details of each event later...
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Old 02-25-2014, 09:53 AM   #383
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2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - RESULTS

DAY 1

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

Bailey

200 IM* : 42/20 - 2:38.58 (2:33.37/10) : (2:38.91) – Bailey is swimming well, and if her breaststroke holds up, and she gets a better dive than usual, I could see a significant improvement, but I don’t think she comes close to earning points (top 10) in this one. Similar to golf, it isn’t how much you are behind, but how many are between you and the lead. Even if she were to drop 5 seconds, someone between 11 and 19 will probably drop 4 and stay in front of Bailey.


Bailey actually dropped 6.09 seconds, to post a 2:32.49, and while her Breast leg wasn’t great at a 47.10, it was much better than it normally is. This drop was exciting in a number of ways…first is showed that she was swimming well and we would probably have a good weekend, also, her opening fly leg was a 31.81, which was a personal best in the 50 fly, and indicated her fly was particularly strong. Overall, as I anticipated, there were just too many people between Bailey and the top 10, as she finished 13 overall…

200 Back : 44/19 – 2:37.83 (2:35.27/10) : (2:38.57) – This one is intriguing. There are quite a few kids between Bailey and the top 10, but this time rather than being 5 seconds off the pace, like she is in the 200 IM, she’s only 2.5 off. Also I recognize several swimmers fractionally ahead of Bailey, and I know that Bailey has historically beat them. With a good clean start and good turns, I expect Bailey will challenge for top 10, but my guess would be 12-14.

Unfortunately, Bailey didn’t get a good start. This time she didn’t go too deep, she slipped, and was well behind at the beginning of the race. But, her form was good and she kept working hard, slowly reeling in the swimmers in her area. She posted a very impressive improvement of 5.11 seconds (2:32.72) and ended up 13. A good start wouldn’t have likely been enough to get her into the top 10, as she would have needed to drop an additional 2.65 seconds, and from looking at the splits the start probably only cost her 1.5…


100 Fly : 34/10 – 1:11.24 (1:10.70/9) (1:06.99/3) : (1:11.76) – Bailey is pretty excited about this one. She really wants to make finals, even if she finishes tenth. She has set a goal to go 1:09.XX, and I think she can do it, as the coach has worked on her not overreaching with her arms, which allows a quicker transition through the stroke and puts her arms in a more powerful position at the beginning of the pull. I don’t think she can get anywhere close to medals, as I expect it will take a 1:05 high to be in the running. I hope she cleans up her dive a bunch this week in practice, or she might find herself just outside of the top 10.

Bailey, got a better start than normal, and her fly looked strong, though she didn’t match the opening 50 from the 200 IM…posting a 32.77. She ended up dropping .86 seconds (1:10.38), which was a good improvement, but I didn’t expect it to be enough to make finals…but I was wrong as she qualified 10. I felt she breathed way to often and was hoping she could clean it up before the finals.

100 FLY FINALS - In the finals, Bailey really stepped up. She breathed much less, got another good dive, and with the exception of coming a bit high on her turns, she really swam a perfect race. She dropped almost 2 more seconds to 1:08.43. In total she dropped 2.81 seconds from her initial seed time. She ended up beating 2 girls from the morning and finished 8 in state.



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

Bear

200 Back : 32/6 – 2:37.58 (2:37.48/5) (2:36.50/3) : (2:36.84) – This was surprising to me. Bear is already seeded in a point position, and he is within striking distance of a medal. I don’t expect that he’ll get a medal, but he should earn points. I hope the coach works with him on exploding out of the hole. He is strong underwater, but typically there is a transition delay from underwater to above water that he’ll need to eliminate to get down into medal territory.

Bear’s race was very similar to Bailey’s in this event. He set a good pace, and just kept it up throughout. He was behind early, mostly because the other kids in his heat sprinted the start and faded a bit, whereas Bear kept up a much stronger pace, He dropped 5.63 seconds and finished with a 2:31.95, but he was unable to move up from sixth place.

100 Fly : 36/7 – 1:11.71 (1:10.73/6) (1:09.41/3) : (1:12.20) – Again surprised to see Bear in a point position, and again he has an outside shot at a medal. Two seconds in a 100 Fly is easily doable, but if I had to guess, I figure he’ll finish around his seed location and earn more points for the team.

Right from the start it was pretty obvious Bear’s fly wasn’t right. Way to much head movement, breathing too much, and while he had a strong hip lift and kick, it was deliberate. He added time in this one, and that was concerning to me at the time, especially, given that he was in medal contention for the 200 Fly, and it would adversely impact his IMs if he couldn’t swim the fly leg effectively. All in all he added 2.19 seconds to finish with a 1:13.90 and in thirteenth place. The wife and I weren’t completely surprised, because his fly has been up and down and his 1:11 personal best wasn’t that long ago and it was a huge drop when he did it.


1000 Free : 49*/3 -12:28.33 (11:57.85/2) (11:54.45/1)** : (12:37.67)*** - Bear comes into this one in third and he hasn’t swum it in two months. Brett and Bear have been very close in their 1000s this season, and Brett just dropped time down to around 12:05 from 12:30. So maybe Bear can get down to around a 12:00.00. If he can at least hold on to his seed he’ll earn a medal. The biggest problem with this event is not racing the people that you are competing with…because this is swum 14U, Bear will have no idea which kids in the race are 11 and therefore won’t know who to actually “race” in the event. He’ll simply have to set a pace, and hope it is fast enough.

The pace Bear set was a fast one. He opened with a 1:10.10, the followed that with a 1:12.59…which would be his slowest 100 of the entire race. Here are his entire splits
1:10.10
1:12.59
1:11.40
1:12.47
1:12.13
1:12.13 (no this isn’t a typo…he swam the same spit two times in a row)
1:11.53
1:09.07
1:11.81
1:09.40
He finished with an 11:52.63 and a 35.7 second drop in time. This was good enough to hold onto his third place position and earn a medal…

Last edited by Breeze : 02-25-2014 at 09:56 AM.
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Old 02-26-2014, 11:12 AM   #384
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - RESULTS

Day 2

After the strong first day, I came into this one with high hopes…

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

Bailey

100 Back : 39/14 – 1:11.86 (1:10.25/10) : (1:11.92) – Like the 200 back there are a number of girls ahead of Bailey that she has beaten regularly in the past. Hoping she’s able to really make a charge here and compete for a top 10 spot.


A little deep on the start, but not terrible…Strokes looked good from start to finish, and did challenge for a medal finishing 12 and dropping 2.64 seconds to post a 1:09.22

50 Fly : 43/18 – 32:16 (31.41/10) : (32.19) – Coach is really excited about Bailey’s new arm position in the fly. He thinks she's in a good position to improve, it could come down to her dive again…

A good dive and a strong swim - She dropped 1.31 seconds in a 50 to finish with a 30.85, which is excellent when she is already fast in the event, making this a bit of a surprise…the big surprise was her passing 8 other girls to get tenth in the prelims and qualify for the finals that evening…

400 IM : 38/11 – 5:40.47 (5:38.52/10) : (5:41.99) – Bailey’s breaststroke has to be tight for this event. If it is, she’ll do well…if not, she’ll fade back in the pack. In case you were wondering…to get in the top 3 and earn a medal Bailey would have to swim around a 5:26…

Bailey opened this race with a pedestrian 50 fly…finishing in 33.36…way off the time from the 200 IM, and from the 50 Fly earlier in the day. Obviously I didn’t expect a 30 or 31 second split but I though something in the mid 32s was likely, especially given that this was Bailey’s best stroke and I felt she’d want to take advantage of it. But the coach instructed her to not go out too hard…and by the time the 100 fly portion was finished she was still sitting on strong 1:10.63 split. Her back leg was good as she and a girl next to her began to pull away from the field. Bailey was in first in her heat at the turn for breast. I felt certain Bailey would fall behind on this leg, and was hoping she would stay close enough to catch the other girl in the freestyle. As it turned out, Bailey began to open a lead on the other girl, and it wasn’t because the other girl had a horrible breaststroke. Bailey, seemed to figured hers out. She posted two 50 splits both under 46 seconds, where she had been around or over 50 for both. All in all she swam the 100 breast in a 1:31.82, which would be a personal best for that stroke and without a dive…At the end of the breast Bailey was up by half a lap on the field and finished closer to three-quarters of a lap up after Free. She dropped 27.35 seconds, posted a 5:13.12, and finished fifth in state.

50 FLY FINALS – came in seeded tenth, dropped another 1.2 seconds in finals and ended up ninth in state…30.72
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bear

200 Free : 42/12 – 2:17.19 (2:14.70/10) : (2:19.89) – Bear is in a really interesting spot here…he is several seconds behind the top 10, and couple seconds ahead of 13…He could get into the finals in this event, as I’ve seen him step up in big moments in the past. I just hope he doesn’t wear himself out trying to reach the finals (I’ve seen him do that in the past as well)…

Bear came into this event with a lot of confidence, after the 1000 the day before. He felt he could sprint this event the entire way…He opened with a 30.94, with his personal best 50 a 30.07, it’s was pretty obvious he was going to try. Second fifty was a 33.59, followed by a 34.25 and a 33.90. Coach was extremely pleased with this effort. Bear dropped 4.51 seconds and finished with a 2:12.68 and qualified for finals in ninth place.

200 Breast : 38/12 – 3:06.25 (3:05.54/10) : (3:06.61) – Call me a pessimist, but I don’t think Bear challenges for top 10 here. I just haven’t seen any consistency in his breast to think he’s going to drop time in this stroke. In fact, last time he raced it, he added a good bit of time. I suspect he’ll swim a 3:08/9…But just earning any Breast cuts was fantastic and I’m proud of him, because this stroke was a bad one for him until now…

I had few expectations on this race. I was more interested in how he would do because of how it would impact his 400 IM. If he could swim around a personal best, I felt is set up for Bear to have strong next race. As it turns out, he didn’t just swim around his personal best, he dropped 2.3 seconds to finish at a 3:03.93. He ended up losing ground to other swimmers and finished sixteenth, but it was a great swim regardless…

400 IM : 28/5 – 5:29.85 (5:27.64/3) : (5:40.25) – This is where I hope his breaststroke holds up. If he swims the 200 Breast well, I like his chances to challenge for a medal here. His confidence in the stroke will be high and he’ll want to get on the podium, and 2 seconds in a 400 IM is not much. Unfortunately, again, he won’t be lined up next to all the kids he’ll need to beat. Some will be in different heats as this is swum combined 11/12…

Opened with a 1:13.68 – 100 Fly – slightly faster than the 100 Fly from Friday, which was good in that his fly didn’t get worse, but concerning for the 200 fly on day 3. The fly kept him in a good spot, and his 1:17.28 back, caught and passed many swimmers around him. Then bear managed to stay under 48 seconds on both 50 fly splits and he closed with a 1:09.77 free. He dropped 13.66 seconds to finish at 5:16.19 and he ended up third earning his second medal of the weekend.

200 FREE FINALS – Came into this one seeded ninth, swam strong, improved his time almost exactly like Bailey by another .1 , but unlike Bailey he couldn’t move up, in fact, he couldn’t hold the ninth spot and had to settle for tenth…2:12.58
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Old 02-27-2014, 11:09 AM   #385
Breeze
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Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships - RESULTS

Day 3

After 2 good days, the kids’ confidence was really high. Bailey announced she was going for a sectional cut in the 200 fly, and Bear told me he was going to get 2 more medals today.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bailey

100 IM : 31/11 – 1:11.79 (1:11.71/10) (1:08.33/3) : (1:13.15) – I don’t think Bailey has a legitimate shot at top 3, her breaststroke simply isn’t good enough yet. I only put the time down to illustrate how tight this one is. I’m hoping she can get in the top 10…making finals would be a big boost to her confidence.

This was a surprise…given how well Bailey swam her Fly and her improved Breast up to this point, I felt certain that she would get into the top 10, make finals, and earn points…but she didn’t. The fly leg was good, not great, and the back seemed overly deliberate. Breast/Free were fine, but seemed to lack urgency. She ended up posting a time .03 slower than her seed and finished twelfth with a time of 1:11.83. I believe Bailey was so focused on, and probably a bit concerned about the 200 fly, that she didn’t get prepared for this race.

200 Fly : 21/5 – 2:40.33 (2:36.83/4) (2:28.16/3) : (2:40.94) – Not going to get in the medals here…as the top 3 swimmers are clearly on another level, but Bailey should earn a good number of points for the team.

Bailey opened with a 34.60…and I was shocked. I was starting to worry that maybe she was out of gas, given her poor 100 IM followed by her slow start in the 200 fly. At the first 25 turn she was around eighth, and but the first 50 turn she was seventh…but the coach had instructed Bailey to take it out slow and then build on the back. Every other swimmer took it out fast, and opened a lead on Bailey. But she, after the 75 turn, quickly began to real in the other kids. By the 125 turn she had passed everyone, but the one girl in lane 1 (way out to the side). Bailey continued to close on that girl and out touched her at the wall with a time improvement of 8.26 seconds. She finished with a 2:32.07 and earned a sectional cut. She also held on to her fifth place spot. One interesting side note…the girl next to Bailey is a SwimAtlanta swimmer that is a fellow CRC Summer League team swimmer. She is 12 so how she and Bailey finished really was irrelevant, but she finished about 2 seconds back. The funny thing is we still get to hear how great a swimmer she is, every time we see the CRC Swimmer families that are still at SwimAtlanta.


50 Back : 45/23 – 33.63 (33.02/10) : (33.65) – Only about a half a second out of the top 10, but just too many swimmers between Bailey’s seed and the top 10 to figure she’ll get into the finals.

Bailey got a great start on the 50 Back, and I thought that would lead to a second or so drop in time, but like the back in the 100 IM, she seemed pretty deliberate. She did manage to drop a fraction of a second (.15) and ended up with a 33.48 and a nineteenth place finish…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bear

4x100 Free Relay – Bear was a last minute insert into the 4x100 Free Relay. We aren’t sure why the change…but my guess is because Bear had been swimming so well up to this point, they wanted to reward him some, but that may be a father’s glorified view of it. It could have been as simple as the forth boy just didn’t make it that day…anyway he swam a 1:03.75, which was the slowest of the 4, as you would expect, and the team overall dropped almost 2 seconds from the seed time and climbed from 14 seed to eighth.

100 Free : 46/15 – 1:04.28 (1:01.98/10) : (1:04.33) – This and the breaststroke from day 2 are probably the only races I believe Bear has no shot of earning points. I believe he is capable of a 1:02 low, but I don’t think he can go a 1:01 low or 1:00 high, which it will take to get into finals.

Good opening 30.65…only about a half a second off his personal best. Held on in the back half to post a personal best 1:03.95…and finish seventeenth.


200 Fly : 20/2 – 2:44.47 (2:34.36/1) : (2:44.70) – This one amazed me when the psych sheet was released. I remember the swim when Bear posted this time, it was the December meet, and he blew the field away. It was impressive, but I never realized it was the second fasted 200 Fly swum in the state for the year. It was the only time he swam the race, and typically with long races we find the kids go faster the second time, because they are more comfortable with what is required, but Fly is such a technical stroke, and if anything is off the slightest bit, he could add significant amounts of time. I’m really hoping he has a swim equal to or better than his seed time. Then whatever happens – happens. I just don’t want him to back up…

This is the swim I’ve been worried about since the 100 fly on day 1. He opened the race with a 1:14.60 split and that concerned me, but similar to Bailey, the coach told him to be conservative out of the gate. While the form still seemed a little off, he was getting strong pulls and was getting good hip lift indicating a strong kick, the stroke was just a bit slow, start to finish. However, he was able to maintain strong splits, and he came from behind to beat a teammate from another pool, that had bested him in the 1000. He ended up winning his heat and dropping 10.03 seconds to finish with a 2:34.44 time, which was good enough for second place and it was a sectional cut.

500 Free : 26/5 – 6:00.00 (5:54.12/3) : (6:00.07) – Another top 5 seed time for Bear. Brett swam this just two weeks ago in a 5:55.14…and with Bear and Brett pretty equal in times in this event throughout the season, I’m guessing he’ll finish somewhere in that range. If I can keep him from circle swimming, he might cut an additional 15 seconds from that time, which would allow him to challenge for a medal.

Bear had his heart set on a medal here…but it was going to be tough sledding…not that the 6 seconds from third indicated in the seeding would be the problem, but the names in third and fourth were kids that had dominated the meet, and therefore you would expect that they would drop a significant amount of time. As I indicated in the 1000…there was no way for Bear to know exactly who he was racing, so again he needed to set a time to achieve and hope it was fast enough. The time Bear set was a 5:45, which would be the sectional cut, but would require splits of 1:09. The race started and the first 100 was ok, but the second 100 was already almost 3 seconds off his goal. Pumping the numbers got his attention and he dropped back to his goal time 1:08.91, followed by a 1:08.94. He closed with a 1:09.07, which means he never got the 3 seconds he lost early back. Fortunately, it didn’t matter. His time of 5:48.14, almost a 12 second drop, was good enough to finish third, but just barely…the top point getter for the 11 year old age group, who was seeded ahead of Bear finished .24 seconds behind him.
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Old 02-28-2014, 10:33 AM   #386
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
2014 Georgia 14&Under Short Course Championships – Wrap Up

A few more tidbits to wrap up the State Meet…

- By rough count there were 15 kids from the Cumming Sectional and Sectional Advanced Team that made state cuts
- Those 15 kids combined in all their swims to post 87% personal bests. Bailey and Bear, both, swam 93% personal bests.
- Of the 15 kids only 3 earned medals…and in total they earned 8 of them (with Bear getting 4)
- Bear now has sectional cut times in the 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1000 Free, and 1650 Free*
- Bailey has sectional cut times in the 100 Fly and 200 Fly
- Bear’s point total was good enough for eighth in the state for 11 year olds
- The Gold team finished third for large teams (201+ swimmers), which is typical, as SwimAtlanta and Dynamo have much larger teams and therefore more swimmers to earn points

I know I haven’t posted pictures or videos in a while (still looking for an easy way to do this moving forward), but we did purchase pictures from the meet vendor for both kids doing the 400 IM, thus we get shots of all 4 strokes. If you are interested in seeing them click the links provided below**…

Bailey

Bear


*Note: While Bear has 4 sectional cuts, he may end up only swimming two events, because currently it looks like the sectionals are not offering the 1650 for 11-12 year olds (though they have in the past), and the 1000 and 400 IM are the same evening, which makes it unlikely that Bear can do both effectively. Meaning he’ll pick either the 400 IM or the 1000 Free and then swim the 200 Fly. There are some queries as to why the 1650 isn’t being offered this time around, and we are waiting on a response. I’ll keep you updated on the status of this…


**Note: By the way...there are some old photos (several years old actually) of the kids on the photography site linked above...if you want to see old pictures let me know and I'll link them in...

Last edited by Breeze : 02-28-2014 at 10:34 AM.
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Old 03-03-2014, 10:09 AM   #387
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
General Update

Some tid-bits of information that I thought I'd pass along...

- Bear was one of the Sectional Swimmers of the Meet for the State Meet
- Bailey's friend Haley got pneumonia around Christmas and while her lungs are ok, she is still struggling to regain her swim form
- Reese, from Summer League may have torn her MCL playing soccer last weekend
- Raley another Summer League teammate is out of the pool and in therapy for a shoulder injury.
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Old 03-03-2014, 05:45 PM   #388
Izulde
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Rough news on the injuries, but holy crap, what an amazing weekend for Bailey and Bear, especially Bear, who I seem to remember from the beginning of the dynasty had the most potential, but the least experience.

Fantastic pictures, too.
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Old 03-05-2014, 09:31 AM   #389
Breeze
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Izulde View Post
Rough news on the injuries, but holy crap, what an amazing weekend for Bailey and Bear, especially Bear, who I seem to remember from the beginning of the dynasty had the most potential, but the least experience.

Fantastic pictures, too.

Hey Izulde,

Yeah, twins did awesome...even better than I had hoped they would, and I'm extremely pleased for Bear, who struggled so badly last year at State. You have a good memory too...I'm pretty sure I did state that Bear might have the most potential of the bunch. Partially because I think he'll be bigger than Brett, and he has the mentality to push himself.
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Old 03-13-2014, 09:29 AM   #390
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
General Update

So it is time for the last short course meet of the USA Swimming Season. Unfortunately, the wife and I have some scheduling that we are going to have to figure out. Next week (3/20-3/23) Bailey and Bear will be swimming in the ESSZ Sectional Championships, whereas Brett will be swimming in the Atlanta Northern Divisional Meet. So we are going to have to divide and conquer. I'm not sure who will go where when yet...especially given that there will be quite a few long Frees swum by both Brett and Bear and the wife doesn't feel comfortable doing the numbers.

The pre-race write ups will be posted soon.


Also, another small note. A swimmer Bear is friends with from Summer League, Bohn, has moved from SwimAtlanta to Gold. He is an excellent swimmer having won 2 state championships a few weeks back. He switched over, according to his parents because, "other kids were picking on Bohn, and he was so unhappy he was prepared to quit." Yesterday was his first day with Gold and the boys reported that he was having a good time, laughing and hanging out with his new team. In fact, Bear reported that Bohn said, "I've talked more with you guys today, than I did with everyone at SwimAtlanta for the entire season..."
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Old 03-17-2014, 02:09 PM   #391
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
Northern Division Meet @ Cumming Aquatic Center – 3/21-3/23

Brett will be the only one swimming this meet, as the twins will compete at the ESSZ Section Meet. Brett is swimming in the 13/14 age group (unlike State where kids just competed against kids their own age). This is also a prelim/final meet, and given Brett’s events for this one, he might log quite a few yards before the weekend is over…

400 IM – 5:20.19 – This one is being swum open (18U) and it could be fun, as some older teammates are actually seeded behind Brett…if he swims a good fly he should beat them.

200 IM – 2:36.04 – A kid Brett likes to beat (due to a Breaststroke rivalry) is seeded ahead of him. Again, fly will be a key. Right now looks like he should make the B final in this so he should be swimming it twice.

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – Actually he’s been struggling a bit with his Breast. It isn’t bad, but he hasn’t reclaimed his sharp stroke from earlier in the year. He might be hard pressed to better his time. A good goal here would be to make the A final. He’s currently seeded ninth (with the rival mentioned above right behind him in tenth)

200 Back – 2:35.40 – could make b finals here too…rival is 2 slots up, just 3 seconds faster…a good swim and Brett might catch him.

100 Breast – 1:17.71 – see 200 Breast. Currently seeded 10…so a good swim gets him in the A final.

200 Fly – NT – never done this before. He actually requested it. He’s been caught in practice several times doing 1 arm fly, which results in him having to swim 200 or 300 flys as punishment. Because he’s been swimming them as punishment he figures he can do it in a race. I don’t expect a great time, but if he finishes without a DQ, he’ll earn the IronMan award for swimming every event offered during the season. Oh, and he should make the B final as only 15 kids are signed up.

1650 Free – 20:48.55 – not sure how he’s going to go after this one. If he can swim his 1000 pace for the whole 1650, he’ll challenge for the state cut…I hope he gives it a go…

Brett also will swim the Breast in the B 200 Medley Relay...

Last edited by Breeze : 03-17-2014 at 02:10 PM.
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Old 03-17-2014, 03:52 PM   #392
Breeze
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Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
ESSZ Age Group Championships – @ GaTech - 3/20-3/23

This event, unlike state makes no distinction based on age. All events are by age group, so Bailey and Bear are on the low end of the 11/12 year olds...


Bailey

100 Fly – 1:08.43 – 74 kids around the Southeast qualified for this event, and Bailey is seeded last…My guess is she won’t end up last. There are 9 girls less than half a second faster than her coming in, and I’ll bet she beats a couple.

200 Fly – 2:32.07 – Bailey’s ability to swim the fly for longer distances effectively is obvious here as she is seeded 30 out of 46, much better than her seed in the 100 Fly…

100 Back – 1:08.69 – Actually, Bailey doesn’t have this cut, but the coach thinks she can get it, and if we are going to be down there, might as well give her another race to swim. She needs to cut about .6 seconds, and I think she will. However, she’s also likely to finish last out of the 83 swimmers in the event. But again, last in a Southeast Regional race is nothing to be ashamed of.

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

Bear

1000 Free – 11:52.63 – Currently the psych sheet doesn’t show Bear in this event, because it is the same day as the 400 IM and Bear was initially scheduled to swim that race. That is until the 1650 was dropped from the event list for 11/12 year olds. Once that drop occurred Bear changed to the 1000. The 1000 is swum open and the finishes adjusted based on age, so determining he seed is difficult, but regardless of age he’s got about 20+ kids that will be seeded behind him.

500 Free – 5:45.69 – Like Bailey in the 100 Back, Bear doesn’t actually have this cut, but he’s only 2 seconds off, and the coach feels good he can get it.

200 Fly – 2:34.44 – Bear is seeded 25 out of 25…

200 Free Relay – Bear will be on the B 200 Free Relay as well…

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

Obviously, as you can see from the comments above, and the kids seeds, this is a meet we are doing for the experience and fun of doing it. We have no level of expectation, we just hope the kids do well and walk away with a lot of confidence and good memories.

Maybe next year, we can hope to crack the top 10 somewhere...

Last edited by Breeze : 03-17-2014 at 03:52 PM.
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Old 03-21-2014, 11:43 AM   #393
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
ESSZ Age Group Championships- DAY 1 RESULTS

Bear

1000 Free - 11:52.69 - before this race the coach talked with Bear and me (I become part of the conversation on the long races because I will be passing him signals through the lap counter). The coach explained that Bear's state swim averaged a split of 1:11.2...therefore, he wanted me to make sure Bears stayed at or below 35.6 (make it 35.5 so the math will be easier)...He urged Bear not to become too complacient with the second and/or third 100, as he has a tendency to do. He told me after Bear had gone to line up, that he felt Bear was capable of swimming 1:09 splits, that he didn't think he would, but he was capable...

The race started and Bear swam the following 100 splits...

1:07.69
1:10.66
1:11.60 (had to signal him to pick it up here...)
1:10.05
1:09.60
1:07.76
1:09.02
1:08.34
1:08.52
1:07.48

He dropped another 22 seconds to finish at a 11:30.72. He also managed to finish 3rd for 11 year olds. Unlike State, he won't get a medal as I mentioned before, this is by age group and there were fifteen 12 year olds that beat him, but it does motivate him for sectionals next year, as the goal of a top 10 now seems understated.

By the way...quick math on the splits indicates he average a 1:09.07 splits...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Notes

Some additional notes of interest from the meet...

- A friend of the family's 14 year old daughter, who swims for Gold won the 1000.

- The Gold 13/14 Boys 4x200 Free Relay broke the Georgia State Record

- THE GOLD 13/14 GIRLS 4X200 FREE RELAY BROKE THE NATIONAL RECORD BY AN ASTONISHING 2 SECONDS...

Last edited by Breeze : 03-21-2014 at 12:09 PM.
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Old 03-24-2014, 10:01 AM   #394
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
ESSZ Age Group Championships- DAY 2 RESULTS

Bear

Boys 11/12 200 B Free Relay - Bear's relay wasn't going to be extremely strong, especially at this level of competition, in fact, they would have struggled to finish in the top 15. As it turns out they were DQed, Bear actual had an early take off, by .09 seconds. The kid coming into the wall breathed right before touching and thus threw off the timing. This isn't that uncommon, as the kids at this age don't practice their relay starts often, and they almost never practice with the people in their actual relay (as they don't swim out of the same facilities). Bear did manage to swim a 28.41 split...so even with a legal start he would have been under 29...also with a cold start he's probably right around 29 flat.
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Old 03-24-2014, 12:03 PM   #395
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
Northern Division Meet - Day 1


Brett

400 IM – 5:20.19 – I wasn't present for Brett's race, as I was downtown for Bear's, so all I can do is evaluate the numbers, but they are interesting. To begin, Brett's best 100 Fly is a 1:22.18, but in this race he opened with a 100 Fly time of 1:19.79...so obviously his fly is getting stonger as he's dropped 2.5 seconds in about a month. His 1:18.58 back was his personal best as recently as September for that stroke. He was able to fight out a 1:23 breast and he closed with a 1:11 free...He dropped 8.5 seconds for a personal best time of 5:12.60

Last edited by Breeze : 03-24-2014 at 12:04 PM.
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Old 03-24-2014, 12:28 PM   #396
Breeze
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ESSZ Age Group Championships- DAY 3 RESULTS

Bear

500 Free – 5:45.69 - In this one, Bear's goal was to go sub 5:40...I was told by his coach to try and keep him swiming under 1:09s, which meant 34.5 second 50s. Unfortunately, there were 4 kids from his team in the same heat, including the coaches son, meaning I was stuck trying to determine splits in my head. I knew Bear was swimming in the 34s, problem was trying to calculate the sub seconds with only about 12 before I had to signal him. I ended up being off a bit, and probably should have pushed him more, but he still managed to drop 6.28 seconds and a time of 5:39.41


Bailey

100 Fly – 1:08.43 - Bailey's first action of the meet was Saturday morning. In fact, she was the first heat of the first event. She got a good start and built to an improvement of .86 seconds and a time of 1:07.57. By the time the meet rolled around Bailey was seeded 76 out of 76...as it turns out she won her heat going away. Then I watched as only 1 person from the next heat beat her time, followed by several more in the next couple heats who failed to meet or beat Bailey's effort. After all was said and done, her improvement allowed her to climb all the way to 57th place.
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Old 03-25-2014, 10:46 AM   #397
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL
Northern Division Meet - Day 2


Brett - Prelims

Again, I was not there for the Prelims, so I can only provide the basics based on times

200 IM – 2:36.04 – Brett's improved fly lead to a personal best time of 2:33.50, and a spot in the B finals.

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – Swam an almost identical time to his personal best, off by just .11 seconds 2:42.56, in A final

200 Back – 2:35.40 – again time was almost identical to seed...2:35.55, in B final

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FINALS

Did get to see the finals...and I also learned that Brett wasn't terribly focused during this day, as Bailey provided us with pictures some of the other girls texted her of Brett with strange hair styles, which were created by the girls at the meet. He was apparently their play-thing for the down time, and I'm sure he loved every second of it...and I can't say as I blame him, but it doesn't really lead to best performances.

200 IM – 2:33.50 – In the final, the fatigue from the day made the fly a bit tougher for him as he added almost a full second from the morning swim on the split, and fell way behind the remainder of the pool...The back leg was also slightly slower, but in the breast Brett felt he was close enough to catch the swimmer in the lane next to him, so he pushed hard and swam that split exactly 1 second faster and he had reeled in the swimmer he was shooting for...then in the Free he raced that kid for the 50, dropped 2.5 seconds in that leg, beat the kid next to him, plus the swimmer on the outer lane on the opposite end of the pool to the wall. He posted a personal best time of 2:31.32...and finished 18th overall.

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – Breast was good, but slower at a 2:43.35...still needs to get better pullouts...

200 Back – 2:35.40 – Picked up the effort in the back a bit, still deliberate with the arms, but the kick was more sound and he posted a personal best time of 2:33.40

Last edited by Breeze : 03-25-2014 at 10:47 AM.
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Old 03-26-2014, 02:48 AM   #398
Izulde
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Quote:
Originally Posted by Breeze View Post
Northern Division Meet - Day 2


Brett - Prelims

Again, I was not there for the Prelims, so I can only provide the basics based on times

200 IM – 2:36.04 – Brett's improved fly lead to a personal best time of 2:33.50, and a spot in the B finals.

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – Swam an almost identical time to his personal best, off by just .11 seconds 2:42.56, in A final

200 Back – 2:35.40 – again time was almost identical to seed...2:35.55, in B final

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

FINALS

Did get to see the finals...and I also learned that Brett wasn't terribly focused during this day, as Bailey provided us with pictures some of the other girls texted her of Brett with strange hair styles, which were created by the girls at the meet. He was apparently their play-thing for the down time, and I'm sure he loved every second of it...and I can't say as I blame him, but it doesn't really lead to best performances.

200 IM – 2:33.50 – In the final, the fatigue from the day made the fly a bit tougher for him as he added almost a full second from the morning swim on the split, and fell way behind the remainder of the pool...The back leg was also slightly slower, but in the breast Brett felt he was close enough to catch the swimmer in the lane next to him, so he pushed hard and swam that split exactly 1 second faster and he had reeled in the swimmer he was shooting for...then in the Free he raced that kid for the 50, dropped 2.5 seconds in that leg, beat the kid next to him, plus the swimmer on the outer lane on the opposite end of the pool to the wall. He posted a personal best time of 2:31.32...and finished 18th overall.

200 Breast – 2:42.45 – Breast was good, but slower at a 2:43.35...still needs to get better pullouts...

200 Back – 2:35.40 – Picked up the effort in the back a bit, still deliberate with the arms, but the kick was more sound and he posted a personal best time of 2:33.40



Sorry. I just had to.
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Old 03-26-2014, 09:28 AM   #399
Breeze
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Originally Posted by Izulde View Post


Sorry. I just had to.

Nah...that's great...and Brett would make the same arguement if I mentioned to him that he should have been more focused on swimming...He argues with everything right now anyway...

Last edited by Breeze : 03-26-2014 at 09:29 AM.
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Old 03-26-2014, 12:45 PM   #400
Breeze
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Join Date: Oct 2002
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ESSZ Age Group Championships- DAY 4 RESULTS

Bailey

200 Fly – 2:32.07 – Bailey raced this one, in a very similar method to how she raced it at state. She went out conservatively, and built from there, but this time the opening conservative split for the 100 was 1.3 seconds faster than a month ago. She also managed to swim the back half only fractionally slower than the state meet and she posted a personal best time of 2:30.64


100 Back – 1:08.69 – Bailey got a good start here, but she never seemed to get the race going. I'm not sure if she was nervous because she didn't have this cut coming in, or if she just didn't have it this day...but she added just over a full second 1:09.73


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Bear

200 Fly – 2:34.44 – Bear forgot to take his inhaler before this race, and while I don't know that he actually needed it, I do think it bothered him, as he breathed much more than he normally does in this race. Bear really trys to limit his breathing normally, and because he didn't it cost him in this race...though not significantly...he only added almost a second, indicating to me that he's still in good shape in the fly and will be dropping time moving forward (assuming he doesn't lose the rhythem of the stroke again)...2:35.14



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Last edited by Breeze : 03-26-2014 at 12:46 PM.
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