Swim Like A Champion (a real life journal) - Page 9

Breeze · 03-26-2014, 12:01 PM

Northern Division Meet - Day 3

Brett - Prelims

Again, I wasn't there for the prelims of the 100 Breast, and the 200 Fly so comments are second hand from my wife and based on time.

100 Breast - 1:17.71 - Brett really wanted to get an improvement here, especially after he failed to improve in the 200...and he did. He finished with a time of 1:16.93, and qualified for finals

200 Fly - NT - My wife said this wasn't pretty. Brett breathed way to often, but he finished without being DQed, meaning he'll get the IronMan award from the team at the banquet. His time was a 3:04:09

1650 Free - 20:48.55 - Brett really wanted to improve here. He was hoping to go under 12 minutes. He started out fine, but then allowed a swimmer to his outside shoulder to impact his pacing. The swimmer outside of him started fast, and when Brett fell in at his shoulder he stayed there, even though the kid pacing him quickly fell from spits of 1:11 to splits of 1:16. Once Brett broke free, he swam strong 100 splits in the 1:13 range...He was very consistent with his swim, especially in the back half turning laps in the 1:13 mid ranges over and over. Finished with an improvement of 36 seconds...20.11.76

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Brett - Finals

100 Breast - 1:16.93 - The 200 Fly and 1650 really took their toll on Brett. He was a walking zombie by the time we got to finals. He added a bunch of time finishing with a 1:20.29

100 Fly - 3:04.09 - Brett really didn't want to swim this one...but he did. And while he was still exhausted and he breathed every stroke, he also managed to drop time. 3:01.54...which tells me he can go much faster in this one if he applys himself. I figure a 2:50 is within reach...

thealmighty · 03-26-2014, 11:32 PM

At what point will the kids begin to specialize in one or two strokes, or are they all just that good at all four? At the high school I teach and coach at, hardly any of the swimmers, even freshman at 14 years old, swim all strokes in meets (I coached swimming for two years, but not because I knew how. Just was no one else to do it at the time).

Breeze · 03-27-2014, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thealmighty

At what point will the kids begin to specialize in one or two strokes, or are they all just that good at all four? At the high school I teach and coach at, hardly any of the swimmers, even freshman at 14 years old, swim all strokes in meets (I coached swimming for two years, but not because I knew how. Just was no one else to do it at the time).

For the most part the Gold team doesn't want kids to declare themselves as a swimmer for just a specific stroke. There are few reasons for this...first, they feel that it limits what kids can accomplish. Second, if a kid only swims a specific stroke then they have very few events at year round meets to compete in. Finally, and most importantly, with many of these kids still growing into and sometimes completely through high school, their best strokes often change (as we've seen on a small scale with my kids - Bailey losing her Breaststroke and Bear losing but then regaining his fly), plus an injury for a specialized swimmer can pretty much end their ability to compete. This happens most frequently with Breaststrokers that end up having knee problems.

Now, one important thing to note is the difference from year-round verses high school swimming. Year round meets are multiple days, lasting 8 to 12 hours total, thus allowing kids to swim numerous events a day. Whereas high school is pretty much competed on one evening or Saturday morning. Because the high school meets are much shorter, the coaches will put the swimmers only in the events they do the best in. In fact, I'm not sure with high school meets if there is a limit to the number of events kids can swim (I'm assuming there is), thus the year rounders will be specialists in high school.

In fact, next year will be interesting for us as Brett will start high school, and I'd suspect he'll want to swim on the high school team...where initially he may only compete as a breaststroker, until he gets to be bigger and older, then they will probably give him additional events to swim at that point.

Does this answer your question?

Breeze · 03-27-2014, 09:35 AM

Short Course Season - Recap

So the short course season is now over...and it was a better one for us that I had anticipated it would be. I really felt the twins would get a few state cuts, but that would be the extent of what they would be able to accomplish. As it turns out, they got a bunch of state cuts, and even managed to get a few sectional cut times (which I figured we had no shot at). This sets them up to have a very strong short course season next year...

Brett's dedication to swimming, which started in the Summer, has also paid off, as his times and strokes have improved significantly. In fact, he has passed the personal bests of quite a few teammates that were well ahead of him coming into the season. He was very disappointed that he didn't get any state cuts in short course, but he has positioned himself to challenge for the breast cuts at least in long course.

In case you were curious...here is the amount of improvement from 12/13 to 13/14, by stroke for each kid (displayed in seconds) :

Code:


Brett

  50 Fr		  2.55
 100 Fr		  7.13
 200 Fr		 16.36
 500 Fr		 57.70
1000 Fr		117.55

100 Bk		 10.30
200 Bk		 22.73

100 Br		  8.13
200 Br		 16.55

100 Fl		  7.06

200 IM		 20.88

*Note: 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1650 Not listed because they weren't 
swum in 12/13 season

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Bailey

  50 Fr		  -.07
 100 Fr		   .95
 200 Fr		  5.70
 500 Fr		 34.96

 50 Bk		  1.72
100 Bk		  7.76

 50 Br		  -.80
100 Br		  2.49

 50 Fl		  2.72
100 Fl		  7.59

100 IM		  5.64
200 IM		 17.49

*Note: 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1000 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Back 
Not listed because they weren't swum in 12/13 season

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Bear


  50 Fr		  2.35
 100 Fr		  6.88
 200 Fr		 18.21
 500 Fr		 56.97

 50 Bk		  1.09
100 Bk		  5.90

 50 Br		  4.74
100 Br		  8.56

 50 Fl		  4.53
100 Fl		 14.88

100 IM		  1.64
200 IM		 13.73

*Note: 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1000 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Back 
Not listed because they weren't swum in 12/13 season

thealmighty · 03-28-2014, 11:49 PM

That answers my question very well, thanks.

Breeze · 04-09-2014, 09:08 AM

Gold Team Update

I have some terrible news to report from yesterday. Coach Neil, the head coach for our pool has been suspended by USA Swimming, pending an investigation. Here is the email Chattahoochee Gold sent out…

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Keeping You Safe: A Message from Chattahoochee Gold

The coaching staff of Chattahoochee Gold would like to update its members, customers, and community on its coaching staff and safety policies. We value the trust you have placed in us and hope the following information is helpful to you. Should you have any additional questions, please contact us at the contact information listed below.

1. There has been a change in the Gold coaching staff.
Effective April 8, 2014, Coach Neil Savage is suspended while USA Swimming investigates a personal matter that came to light in the last few days. At this time he is not permitted on deck or at functions. Coach Andy (this is my kids current coach) will assume Neil's practices in the interim. It's important to understand that this process is out of the hands of Chattahoochee Gold and it will take some time to come to resolution.

2. Are there allegations of wrongdoing against Chattahoochee Gold?
No. there is no evidence that the suspended employee’s alleged conduct involved current club members or their families. The allegations against him do not involve any current swimmers, parents, or coaches of Chattahoochee Gold. The team in no way condones the alleged activities. No other coach has been subject to allegations of wrongdoing.

3. What is Chattahoochee Gold doing to keep its members safe?
Chattahoochee Gold goes above and beyond the State’s minimum requirements to provide you the safest and most enjoyable experience possible. Employees of Gold must first undergo two backgroundchecks (one by USA Swimming, and one by a private contractor employed by the team). Coaches must complete and bi-annually update their USA Swimming Athlete Protection Certification, and the team has its own extensive guidelines about coach-swimmer interaction. Chattahoochee Gold strictly observes the guidelines established by USA Swimming in regards to personal coach-swimmer interaction.

4. Is Chattahoochee Gold limiting any of its services?
No. The team continues to offer the same award-winning services and professionalism that it has proudly offered for more than two decades. All other members of the team's coaching staff remain with the team and are more committed than ever to meeting the highest standards of excellence. We look forward to providing your family a great experience this summer.

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After reading the release above, you are probably thinking, like I was…oh my God, what did he do? This release makes is sound like he might be a pedophile or rapist. Unfortunately, it is poorly written, and in my mind not well thought out. I know the company has lawyers advising them of actions that need to be taken in order to avoid potential law suits and increased insurance rates, but this could have been crafted better.

So here is the situation…

Several years ago, when Neil graduated from college he immediately started working for Chattahoochee Gold. This was a big deal to him as he was one of the first 6 members of the team 22 years ago. Being young and stupid, he allowed himself to break a USA Swimming rule and he dated a graduating senior on the team. This wasn’t a hidden relationship or a coerced one. The girl’s parents were aware of it, and they approved.

This probably leads you to ask the same question I asked…”Why did this come up now if it happened several years ago, and the girl and her parents aren’t upset by the relationship in any way?”

Well, from what I understand is a girl’s mother from one of the other pools found out and decided to call USA Swimming directly and report it. Then they called the owner of Chattahoochee Gold and reported to him what they had done, assuring him this wasn’t a vindictive or spiteful action in any way…Which of course in my mind is exactly what this is. If it wasn’t spiteful, then why not work through channels, why go directly to the governing body first (and not even the Georgia Chapter, but the national one).

I’m not sure exactly what is behind this, and maybe it is just a self-righteous parent voicing their concerns, but I find the timing odd. Given that Neil just had a relay team break a national record, had the high point female at Age Group State, who qualified for Jr. Nationals, and had several other event winners and state records set. Not sure if the girl and her parents were upset because the girls from the same age group at the Cumming pool are improving dramatically and leaving them behind, or if another Coach was feeling threatened by the success Neil is having.I’m not normally a conspiracy guy, but this stinks…

The investigation is ongoing…Neil has admitted to the relationship, as has the girl and her parents have admitted knowledge of the two dating. This is clearly against the rules of the organization, as it is basically a potential sexual harassment problem, and combined with all the coaches (any sport) that have gotten in trouble for improper behavior with athletes and this is going to be taken very seriously. Hopefully, the fact the relationship was consentual, it's age (several years old at this point), and the fact there have been no new similar incidents will be strongly considered.

All the kids on the team are upset…Mine included, especially Brett (who has swum more for Neil in practice). They are all talking about writing letters to USA Swimming in support of their coach. Obviously, this illustrates how much the kids respect and want to do well for Neil and the performance of the team at State clearly shows how good a job he does of getting his kids to perform. In fact, Bailey and I just attended the Georgia Swimming All-Star banquet for the 2012-2013 season (I’ll do a small write up on that soon), and the coach of the year was announced. After seeing who won, and what they accomplished during the season, I was convinced, if Gold even had just a solid showing at Long Course State this year, that Neil was the front runner for Coach of the year for 2013-2014. This is a shame for the team, for Neil, and on a personal level for my kids, as they were looking forward to swimming for Neil in the future.

In fact, I have to admit, I’m concerned with how this will impact Brett moving forward. He will potentially be moving up to the point where he’ll be expected to make 2 or 3 morning (read 5:30) practices a week. With Neil, I was confident he would get up to go…with a new coach, I’m not so sure.

I hope this is resolved quickly…and USA Swimming gives him a slap on the wrist and he can return to the team quickly. However, Gold has to make contingency plans, and they are currently looking for a coach to replace Neil in case this drags on.

It is hard to come by information, as team officials are not supposed to talk about it, and Neil isn’t allowed to have contact with any of the swimmers on the team, but I’ll keep you updated as information leaks.

Breeze · 04-14-2014, 10:30 AM

Gold Team Update

So the US Swimming investigation into Coach Neil is continuing but he sent the following letter to all the team parents...

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Dear Chattahoochee Gold parents,

I write you today not as a coach or a representative of Chattahoochee Gold, but as someone you or your child cares about, and, perhaps, as a friend.

The last 36 hours have been trying for me. They’ve been emotional and challenging and my heart has mourned. I have greatly appreciated the outpouring of concern and supportive texts and calls that I’ve received; it’s nice to know how supportive a network I have in times of crisis. But, to be honest, I don’t deserve it.

I’ve always tried to hold my swimmers—your children—to the highest standards. My goal was to develop great swimmers who also had the skills to survive and thrive in the real world: attention to detail, work ethic, and knowing the difference between right and wrong… because that’s the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately, I did no uphold those values within my own personal life, and, in making that mistake, have caused a calamity within Chattahoochee Gold and your own family’s lives.

My error in judgment occurred several years ago, and came during a rough patch in my life. I began a relationship with a swimmer who was a Senior in High School. No defense of my actions would be tenable, but the offense wasn’t planned or fiendishly nefarious. However, it was certainly inappropriate and not permissible by USA Swimming guidelines. My personal shame and embarrassment about the issue weighs heavy in my heart, and the guilt has corroded me. But the shame, embarrassment and guilt pale in comparison to the distress I’ve caused for Chattahoochee Gold and the Cumming Site.

I’m not sure how USA Swimming will rule on the matter, but I will accept their punishment. Any vitriol or hate you have regarding the situation should not be aimed at them, at Chattahoochee Gold, or Pat Murphy; it should be aimed at myself. However, I do ask that if you had some modicum of love and respect for me, you will encourage your athletes to uphold the spirit of the program I was striving to create, but unable to live up to personally. Our staff, our families and our swimmers are stronger than this; they can move forward without me, but only if we have the support of the parents.

You have my humblest, most sincere regrets,

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The outcome of the investigation will be irrelevant, as Coach Neil has resigned from the team, in order to allow Chattahoochee Gold to move on and locate another coach. In addition, he has decided to give up coaching and will pursue other opportunities...

Breeze · 04-15-2014, 08:59 AM

Gold Team Update

I really hate reporting this stuff...but I guess at this point I need to...

The swim community is a pretty small one, and unfortunately Neil's letter was leaked to coaches at the 2 mega-clubs in Atlanta, and they have decided to stir the pot. They released his letter to an International Swim website and called up local TV news crews to report on the issue, and it was a lead story last night. Of course the local media butchered the report because they did no research on the situation, and they interviewed people for reactions that had little to no knowledge of the situation.

I'm sickened by this...this is exactly the type of thing that caused me to get out of the media years ago.

Basically this comes down to a 23 year old coach dating an 18 year old swimmer in a consensual relationship, that the parents were aware of, and it occurred approximately 5 years ago. I understand that the coach/swimmer relationship is wrong, and I don't condone it, but does it really merit this much attention? Neil has admitted to the mistake, and agreed to take whatever punishment is handed down by USA swimming, so why is it being treated as if it is pedophilia or rape? As far as I'm concerned this is a non-story until the ruling from USA Swimming is released, at which point it probably would be a blirb detailing the problem and punishment.

I’ll admit though, that maybe I'm prejudice on the matter…and it is distorting my perspective

Breeze · 04-28-2014, 10:10 AM

Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - @ Cumming Aquatic Center – 5/2 – 5/4

The beginning of the Long Course Season starts this weekend, and Georgia swimming recently released new time standards to qualify for the State Meet. Basically, the changes involve dropping times in most of the freestyles and IMs, but slowing down the times in the remaining strokes. This is probably a direct result of the small number of swimmers that actually qualified for State at the Short Course Meeting following the tougher standards put in place last year.

Note: All seed times for this meet, appears to be actual year old Long Course times…so I’d expect a significant improvement.
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Brett

200 IM – 3:15.14 – With Brett’s improved fly and strength, I’d suspect this will improve significantly, should be sub 3 minutes.

800 Free – 11:20.00 – This time was created by the coach to get Brett into a heat with swimmers of similar quality.

100 Free – 1:18.20 – a sub 1:15 would be a good swim for Brett. I believe he could go 1:13, but I’m not sure he’s back in peak form yet.

100 Back – 1:37.93 – Brett’s backstroke improved significantly during the short course season, I could see a 12 second drop here.

200 Breast – 3:14.57 – This is the interesting one for Brett…with the new times for state qualification, Brett’s short course personal best actually translates as a qualifying time in Long Course. He’ll need to swim a 3:05.09 to qualify. I really hope he can get his cut in this meet so he’ll be in and not worry about it moving forward.
400 Free – 5:55.32 – Here is another area where Brett has improved significantly. Brett is much better at pushing himself in longer swims, a 30+ second improvement here really wouldn’t be a shock.

200 Free – 2:51.73 – This one will be interesting to watch. Brett still isn’t terrible good at sprinting frees, and this one is a long sprint, but his ability to push on longer swims will undoubted lead to improvement, just not sure how much.

100 Breast – 1:33.55 – Like the 200 the times for state qualification have been loosened. Brett’s converted time from short course is 3 seconds off of the cut time, but Brett is typically better in long course because he’s better in the middle of the pool than he is off walls. He needs a 1:25.89 to get the cut.

200 Back – 3:22.57 – like the 100 Back, I expect a big improvement here…might break 3 minutes.

400 IM – 6:10.00 – Coach entered time. Brett could beat it, especially if his fly holds up and he breaths less often (which he’s been working on in practice).

Note: At Bear’s birthday over the weekend, we played a bunch of football and ultimate Frisbee…which unfortunately has left Brett with some very sore muscles. Hopefully, it clears up early this week, so he can get good practices in and be prepared for the meet.

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Bear

200 IM – 3:16.95 – I don’t expect him to get sub 3, but a 3:03 or 3:05 sounds about right.

800 Free – 12:01.17 – I am fairly certain, Bear’s 1000 Free swim at SC State was more than enough for Bear to qualify for State in this event. But the improvement in time in this one will be significant. He may improve by 1.5 minutes…
200 Free – 2:46.97 – Bear’s short course time converts to a 2:31.52, the cut time is 2:31.39…

100 Back – 1:36.73 – Should see significant improvement, but will still be 5+ seconds off the cut

100 Fly – 1:45.45 – Bear’s conversion from short course is good enough for a cut, so if he can swim a 1:22.49 he’ll get it…

400 Free – 5:45.17 – converted time is well under the state cut requirements, but Bear’s 500 at SC State probably earned him this cut anyway…

100 Free – 1:18.65 – This is one area I’d love to see Bear improve on significantly…he’s currently the ninth seeded 11/12 year old Gold Freestyler. I’m not sure if any are aging up yet, as I haven’t done that much research into it, but I’d really like to see Bear on a relay. He’ll need to improve on his sprints to get there though.

200 Fly – NT – Bear is one of only 4 doing this…with his buddies Riley and Tommy also racing. Bear won’t be able to keep up with those 2, but he should do well if his form holds after the rest and restart from SC to LC

200 Back – 3:14.17 – Should be much better, but not state cut better…

400 IM – 7:02.74 – could improve on this one by about 1 minute…already has cut from SC

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Bailey

200 IM – 3:09.45 – Bailey was hoping to get a cut in this, but that was before the time improvements, not sure she’ll be able to get it this season, and I’d be shocked if she got it this meet.

50 Free – 38.78 – The one area Bailey has struggled to improve…Free sprints. Hoping for a breakthrough on this one.

200 Free – 2:52.19 – This goes back to the Free sprint comment above. But her improved effort on longer swims will cause a decent time improvement, even if her sprint speed hasn’t improved much.

100 Back – 1:31.48 – with the short to long course conversion, Bailey is about 1 second off the new easier state cut.

200 Breast – NT – Bailey isn’t thrilled to be doing this one. Not sure what her form looks like anymore…but if it is similar to her form at SC State, she’ll do fine.

100 Fly – 1:26.02 – Already has the cut from short course…

100 Free – 1:16.14 – See 50 Free…

200 Fly – NT – Bailey is one of only 5 girls swimming this…already has the cut from SC

200 Back – 3:01.64 – converted time is about 3 seconds off the cut.

400 IM – 6:48.11 – Bailey is concerned about the 400 IM following the 200 Fly earlier in the day. She loves both events, but typically likes to do one or the other on any given day. She doesn’t like doing both because of how taxing the swims are. She’s already asked Coach to allow her to skip the 200 fly next time so she’ll be fresh in the 400 IM. I expect it won’t matter, as she’ll probably post a great time anyway, and she already has the cut.

Breeze · 05-08-2014, 11:20 AM

Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - RESULTS

Interestingly, found out during the meet that 2 of the Gold facilities have already started some long course work. Our pool has too many different facilities using it at the same time to do the long course conversion during the school year. We have to wait until school is out when we the practice times can be scattered throughout the day. This put us at a bit of a disadvantage as our kids (not just mine personally, but the Cumming facility swimmers), were not as prepared for the meet as they might have been. Especially, when you combine the first time in the long course pool with the fact the team is only just now starting to pick up the pace in practice, up until now they’ve been focused on drills and form. Hopefully, this means there will be some big improvements along the way.

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Brett

200 IM – 3:15.14 – Didn’t quite get sub 3…but came close 3:01.33…

800 Free – 11:20.00 – Brett swam this one with older kids, his friend, and Bear. He got behind early and really posted a pretty poor time of 11:20.37…I wasn’t counting of Brett, as Bear requested I do his lane, and Brett didn’t care, so I didn’t get a real good look at Brett. However, from what I could see it looked to me like there may have been a bit of give up in him on this one. He seemed to try and watch Bear, but was unable to keep up…so he decided he’d mail it in rather than try hard a fail. In his defense, he never did come back with an excuse.

100 Free – 1:18.20 – a ridiculously bad dive, very little effort and a poor time 1:17.93. He should have been much better than this…

100 Back – 1:37.93 – This was a better swim 1:27.60…

200 Breast – 3:14.57 – This was a disappointing swim for Brett as well. He dropped time, but it wasn’t anywhere near where we hoped he would be…3:11.23. This means he still has a long way to go in order to get his cut. I don’t know if this lack of production in breast is related to his recent growth causing some in efficiencies in his stroke, or if he’s just not in peak shape yet, but it looks like he’ll have a long climb to get the cut that I thought coming in he would reach pretty easily.

400 Free – 5:55.32 – Much better swim here…Brett managed to drop almost 28 seconds. 5:28.07…of course this begs the question…how do you not really drop time in a 100 free or an 800 free but you drop a bunch in a 400 free

200 Free – 2:51.73 – Before day 2, I told Brett that I didn’t care about his times, but that I’d like to see him increase his effort in his races. This was never more evident than this one. Brett opened the 200 free with a 1:15.93…almost 2 seconds under his 100 Free time from the day before. When it was all said and done he dropped 14 seconds 2:37.73

100 Breast – 1:33.55 – Interestingly Brett’s time drop in the 100 Breast was almost identical to his time drop in the 200 Breast. He finished with a 1:30.31. It’s a nice improvement, but he’s got a significant drop still needed here to get his cut as well…

200 Back – 3:22.57 – another good improvement, but just over 3 minutes. 3:02.76

400 IM – 6:10.00 – The fly leg of this event was much better than it has been. Still slow, but much better. This was also a very exciting race, as Brett opened the fly 100 in last place, but he was still within striking distance of several of the swimmers, as only the top 2 in the heat had truly separated from the pack. In back, Brett held his own, actually closing on a couple of guys, but losing a little ground to the 15 year old, from the Senior team in the lane next to him. However, when breast started, Brett felt he could catch the 15 year old (plus the other 5 swimmers between him and that swimmer…but his focus was on the 15 year old). By the end of the first 50, he had caught him, by the back 50 he had opened up a several body length lead. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold him off in free, losing by half a body length. But it was good and inspired swim that I was extremely proud of. His time 6:11.31

Breeze · 05-08-2014, 11:47 AM

Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - RESULTS

Bear

200 IM – 3:16.95 – I was wrong…he got sub 3…2:59.36.

800 Free – 12:01.17 – Bear blistered this swim. His buddy Tommy was next to him and he wanted to try and catch him, which really pushed him. 10:42.77, an improvement of 78+ seconds

200 Free – 2:46.97 – Bear, blistered this swim as well…opening with a 1:14.57…and finishing with a 2:29.73 and a state cut.

100 Back – 1:36.73 – Bear opened strong here, but he really slowed down in the last 20 meters or so. Not sure why. Time improvement was good, but I think he can go a decent bit faster. 1:25.57

100 Fly – 1:45.45 – Bear swam well here…not great, but strong with good form. Needs to race this more, but he’s in striking distance of a cut with a time of 1:25.91

400 Free – 5:45.17 – State cut for 12 year olds was easily reached with Bears time of 5:13.66. He opened a little conservatively, as is his M.O., so he might have a couple more seconds he can drop.

100 Free – 1:18.65 – Really good improvement here, finished with a 1:11.43, but probably isn’t going to be good enough for a relay.

200 Fly – NT – Only 3 ended up swimming this..Bear and his 2 buddies. Bear stayed close enough to be respectable and finished with a 3:08.69…we below the cut time of 3:19.

200 Back – 3:14.17 – Bear swam a 3:00.14, but it didn’t count as he was DQed. This one was irritating. The head official at this meet basically announced the day of the first session that they were going to crack down on the rule not allowing swimmers to finish fully submerged. So when Bear did his throw back for the finish he was tagged as being underwater. He’s in good company as over half of the pool in the top heat of the girls 18Us were DQed including 2 state champions. It isn’t a big deal, because it wasn’t a cut time anyway…but it was just unnecessary.

400 IM – 7:02.74 – Didn’t improve 1 minute as I predicted only 56.39 seconds. State cut time of 6:06.35…and very impressive. He had a nice showdown with the new swimmer Nikalas that he was friends with from Summer league.

Breeze · 05-08-2014, 12:41 PM

Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - RESULTS

Bailey

200 IM – 3:09.45 – Good swim, dropping in 17+ seconds. 2:52.11.

50 Free – 38.78 – A big improvement in time down to a 33.40, but I was hoping for a bit better showing. There are still inefficiencies in her freestyle stroke.

200 Free – 2:52.19 – Another 17+ second improvement to 2:34.79

100 Back – 1:31.48 – Bailey swam a great race and came up just short of a state cut, posting a time of 1:19.95…the cut is 1:19.89…

200 Breast – NT – Bailey has a good, not great swim here. Finishing in 3:39.79…still needs to improve in breast for this stroke and for IMs moving forward, but it is much much better than it used to be…

100 Fly – 1:26.02 – I was blown away by this swim. Bailey finished second (the girl that beat her won the 100 fly at state) in the 11/12 age group, having just aged up to 12, and she finished in a time of 1:17.02. This time was faster than Brett swam his 100 Free (before Brett beat that time in the 200 Free the next day…)

100 Free – 1:16.14 – 1:13.16 is good, but still something isn’t translating...

200 Fly – NT – Again finished second (same girl from the 100 fly beat her)…posted a 2:53.83…only about 2 seconds off the cut for 13 year old girls…which is her new goal in this event.

200 Back – 3:01.64 – another close call on the cut…2:52.62, needs to drop about .4 of a second to get it.

400 IM – 6:48.11 – Another second place finish (same girl finished first)…and Bailey dropped a bunch of time. I was an interesting race, as Bailey was second after fly, lost a little ground on back, but was able to hold off a very good breaststroker and then beat her in the free as well. Final time was 6:04.83

Breeze · 05-14-2014, 08:32 AM

General Update

Well, the potentially promising long course season for Brett has most likely ended. Coming into the this long course season, the times for state cuts in Breast had been dropped by several seconds, to the point that Brett's personal bests in short course when converted to long course times are under the cut requirement.

Unfortunately, we spent last night at Children's health care having Brett's knee evaluated, and the initial diagnosis is a facture on the growth plate of the tibia. We are in the process of setting up a appointment with a specialist and he's not to swim again until that appointment occurs. In addition, the typical healing time for something like this is 4 to 6 weeks, and if he's out of the water that long, his entire Summer season will be lost, as even if he can get into a race before state, he'll be so out of shape, he'll never swim the required times.

Disappointing, but he's taking it well right now...we'll see how he feels in several weeks.

Breeze · 05-15-2014, 09:29 AM

Summer League - CRC Time Trials

The Summer League starts tomorrow with the CRC Time Trials. Last year we skipped this event, but this time around we are going to swim, because Bailey was sort of edged out of some relays because she missed the opportunity to show she was faster than a couple of girls who got the nod over her during the season. I'm not going to go into much detail here, but figured I'd outline some information that may prove interesting during the season...

In this meet, the kids each swim a 50 in all 4 strokes, thus providing the coaches a baseline in order to determine who competes in what event.

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

Brett

Obviously with his fracture he won't be competing, but if he did, he'd win all 4 events as the rest of his age group is extremely weak.

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

Bear

50 Free - Bear will probably finish 3rd. He has a shot to beat Seth (Gold Swimmer, who joined the team this season), but probably won't. Riley will win this one, as Riley is a top swimmer for the age group in the state.

50 Back - should be 2nd, behind Riley again.

50 Breast - probably 3rd, behind Riley and Alex (Gold Swimmer and Breaststroker)

50 Fly - 2nd behind Riley.

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

Bailey

50 Free - My guess is 4th...could get 3rd, but also could get 5th...this one will be tight.

50 Back - Probably 2nd...could be as low as 4th though...

50 Breast - 4th

50 Fly - Should be 1st with a good swim.

Breeze · 05-19-2014, 09:37 AM

Summer League - CRC Time Trials

So here are the results from Friday...

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

Bear

In the boys 11/12 year old age group, 3 of the year round swimmers didn't compete at time trials, so Bear really had almost no competition. Also, it was very cold for a swim on Friday night (in the low 50s), so the team decided not to have warm ups. Combine that with the fact that Bear has been dealing with a sore shoulder and we told him just to take it easy. He won the Free, Back, and Fly by a lot. He got outtouched in the Breast, but wasn't really pushing it anyway...

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

Bailey

50 Free - 5th - this was disappointing because she's currently outside of the A relay, and with Summer League she may not get another chance to drop time in that event.

50 Back - 2nd - a good swim, as she was well ahead of third place.

50 Breast - 5th - this was disappointing only in the fact she was beaten by an 11 year old from a later heat. She didn't have her best swim here.

50 Fly - 2nd - she was disappointed she didn't win this one, but she was close enough to winning that she should be the Flyer on the A relay (as the girl that beat her also beat her in Back and should swim that stroke on the relay).

Note: Bailey's results were very interesting. She was disappointed in her Freestyle and Fly as she was hoping to do better in both...but that isn't what was interesting. What was interesting was the girls that beat Bailey in the Free and the one in the Fly all had their time Swim Atlanta trials on Saturday...and they all swam 100 Meter events in all 4 strokes. Every single one of there times were slower than Bailey's time trial times from a couple weeks ago. In fact, they were several seconds slower. Obviously, those girls must be doing much more sprint practicing if they are beating Bailey in a 50 Yard race, but would lose by several seconds in a 100 Meter race of the same stroke.

Breeze · 05-22-2014, 09:02 AM

Chattahoochee Gold Swim Banquet

The team swim banquet was held last night. Unfortunately, I can give much information as I didn't attend. Brett got home late afternoon from his 8th grade field trip to Savannah, right as the wife and twins were leaving for the banquet. He was exhausted from the trip and didn't want to go, so I stayed home with him.

As you may remember from last year, Bailey won the Gold Award for the 9/10 girls, and she presented the team trophy to this years winner and received her personal trophy to keep.

Surprisingly, Bear won the Gold Award this year for the 11/12 boys. This was suprising, not from the standpoint of he didn't deserve it, but more from the standpoint of typical team politics. I felt given that Bailey won last year, there was almost no way Bear would win this year. Moreover, half of the 10 winners came from the Cumming pool, so I figured there would be pressure to select a swimmer from one of the other 3 locations.

Regardless, I am very sorry I missed the presentation. The coach was extremely complementary of Bear's effort. In summarizing his presentation, the coach noted that at the beginning of the season Bailey was doing extremely well and was moved up to Sectional Advanced, but Bear wasn't ready for that move. However, Bear continued to work extremely hard, doing exactly what he was asked, they way he was asked and he was able to not only get to Secontional Advanced before the end of the season, he was swimming so well he earned 4 state medals. The coach went on to say that this is exactly the type of kid you want on your team, and that he really loved coaching Bear (at which point he genuinely got choaked up).

Bear was embarassed to get up on stage and when he got the trophy at the edge of the stairs to the stage, he immediately started to retreat to his seat, but the coach stopped him, ran across the stage and gave him a big hug. I'm extremely happy for Bear...

Unfortunately, when the wife and kids got home, Brett was very excited to talk about his trip to his mom, but when he saw Bear's trophy he was once again slapped in the face with the realilzation that the twins continue to get recognized for their efforts and successes while he continues to struggle. Couple that with the fact, Bailey was irrationally upset with him for a different issue and he basically clammed up and went to bed. I keep hoping all Brett's hardwork will start paying off soon.

Breeze · 05-27-2014, 10:30 AM

General Update

So the CRC Stingrays have updated the team website, including pictures, and Bailey is now in a couple of them. If you are interested here is the link...

Summer League Team Site

Bailey is the one swimming fly...she is also in the picture of a group of girls wearing the black team t-shirts, she's the second from the right...

Breeze · 05-28-2014, 07:56 AM

CRC Summer League - vs Creekstone

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

Brett goes to the Dr. today (Wednesday 5/28), to determine the health of his knee. We are hopeful he'll be cleared to starts swimming again. If he is cleared he is scheduled to swim the following on Thursday night...

15-18 Medley Relay - Freestyle Leg (this could easily change to Breast at the meet)
13-14 - 100 Free
13-14 - 100 IM
13-14 - 50 Breast
15-18 - Free Relay (third leg)

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

Bailey

A Medley Relay - Fly Leg
50 Back
100 IM
B Free Relay - Anchor

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

Bear

A Medley Relay - Back Leg
50 Back
100 IM
A Free Relay - Second Leg

Breeze · 05-30-2014, 07:51 AM

CRC Summer League - vs Creekstone - RESULTS

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

Brett was cleared to start swimming on Wednesday, and actually, he was healing so well he's been completely cleared for all activity with one caveat - if it hurts stop.

15-18 Medley Relay - Brett swam the Freestyle leg, and it was unfortunate. The first three legs were very tight. When the freestyle leg started Brett and the opponent hit the water about the same time. The only problem was the 18 year old swimming for the opponent has a National Cut in the 50 free (read that as he qualifies for the National Championship and Olympic Trials in that event). It would not have mattered who swam for our team, we weren't going to keep up. But Brett feels he let the relay guys down, and he was embarrassed.
13-14 - 100 Free - won the event and swam a 1:05
13-14 - 100 IM - finished 2nd swam a 1:15
13-14 - 50 Breast - finished 2nd (same kid that beat him in the 100 IM beat him here), swam a 38
15-18 - Free Relay (third leg) - RAINED OUT

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

Bailey

A Medley Relay - Fly Leg - Bailey's team not only won this event, they lapped every other team in the pool. Only about 3 seconds off of the county record with several weeks and a faster pool for the meet. There is a shot...
50 Back - Bailey won on the start with a great stream line. Swam a 32
100 IM - finished second, lost by less than a second to teammate Emilie. 1:10
B Free Relay - Anchor - RAINED OUT

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

Bear

A Medley Relay - Back Leg - Bear's team also lapped the other teams
50 Back - Won with the start - swam in 35 seconds even though he got into the ropes again.
100 IM - Won it going away 1:14
A Free Relay - Second Leg - RAINED OUT

The team won by 200 points....

Breeze · 06-04-2014, 12:53 PM

CRC Summer League - vs Longlake

I don't have a final breakdown of the meet tomorrow, but here is what is currently in place...

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

13/14 Medley Relay - Breast leg (and they will get killed)
100 Free
100 IM
50 Breast
13/14 Free Relay - lead off leg (and they will get killed)

---------------------------------------------------
Bailey

11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg
100 IM - racing Emilie
50 Fly - racing Caroline
11/12 B Free Relay - anchor leg

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

11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg
50 Back
100 Free - moved to clear up the mess in the 100 IM
(100 IM - currently set to race Seth and Riley in this event - the 3 best boys on the team all in the same event...I've told the coach she needs to adjust this)
11/12 A Free Relay - 3rd Leg

Breeze · 06-06-2014, 07:55 AM

CRC Summer League - vs Longlake - RESULTS

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

13/14 Medley Relay - Actually, this was much closer than it should have been. Brett was about 15 yards behind in his leg and he handed the flyer about a 5 yard lead, which was lost at the first turn. Brett's team ended up losing by about 5 yards.
100 Free - Got a big lead early and Cruised to a win...
100 IM - RAINED OUT
50 Breast - RAINED OUT
13/14 Free Relay - lead off leg (and they will get killed) - RAINED OUT

---------------------------------------------------
Bailey

11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg - Won going away...slightly slower than last week.
100 IM - racing Emilie - RAINED OUT
50 Fly - racing Caroline - RAINED OUT
11/12 B Free Relay - anchor leg - RAINED OUT

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

11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg - Won going away...Bear still got in the ropes again...outdoor backstroke is so much harder...
50 Back - RAINED OUT
100 Free - moved to clear up the mess in the 100 IM - Won by about 10 yards.
(100 IM - currently set to race Seth and Riley in this event - the 3 best boys on the team all in the same event...I've told the coach she needs to adjust this)
11/12 A Free Relay - 3rd Leg - RAINED OUT

FINAL SCORE:
Due to the rain, I didn't get the final score, but we were leading by 120 points and we weren't even half way through the meet.

Breeze · 06-11-2014, 11:20 AM

CRC Summer League - vs Aberdean

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

#10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:40.45 1/3
#32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:05.02 1/3
#44 Boys 13-14 50 Back NT 1/3
#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/3
#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 33.00 1/3
#74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly NT 1/3
#84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (1) NT

---------------------------------------------------
Bailey

#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:08.23 1/3
#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.70 1/3
#71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 31.56 1/3
#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:52.72 1/3

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

#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:11.69 1/3
#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 35.28 1/3
#52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.73 1/3
#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:57.01 1/3

And in case you are wondering...yes it is supposed to rain again on Thursday night...

Breeze · 06-11-2014, 11:24 AM

CRC Summer League - vs Aberdean - RESULTS

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

#10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:40.45 1/3 - So this was hilarious...Brett was doing the fly in the relay because he's the only one that could do it legally...as I watched him on the blocks waiting for the breaststroker to get to the wall, I realized he hadn't put his goggles over his eyes. They were on top of his head, and sure enough, my "briliant" kid dove in without having his goggles ready. Didn't matter...they had already been lapped by the time Brett hit the water.
#32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:05.02 1/3 - Improved to a 1:04.xx and beat another year rounder who was a year older and several inches taller...
#44 Boys 13-14 50 Back NT 1/3 - Ok swim, not a ton of effort but did well enough.
#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/3 - Similar to back...did ok
#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 33.00 1/3- the closest finish I've ever dealt with. Brett raced 2 other boys to the wall and in fact, (I serve at the place judge representative on our team), my order of finish, the other teams order of finish, and the starter's order of finish all were different. The stop watch times, which as I've discussed previously are terrible inaccurate had the two boys from the other team in a dead heat 36.96, and Brett at a 37.02, but Brett was actually given the win...(watches are not the measure in most Summer League meets)
#74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly NT 1/3 - Did ok in the first 25, then breathed every stroke coming home and finished 3rd
#84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (1) NT - Brett led off, and stayed close to the B team for the opponent...then it was downhill from there...

---------------------------------------------------
Bailey

#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:08.23 1/3 - Bailey opened a big lead in the back, and they ended up lapping 4 of the 5 lanes with only the B relay staying within 20 seconds.
#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.70 1/3 - Great race between Bailey and Emilie...neck and neck the entire way. Bailey lost by about a finger's length
#71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 31.56 1/3 - Won going away.
#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:52.72 1/3 - Won going away. Again lapped 4 of 5 lanes.

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

#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:11.69 1/3 - Read Bailey's medley relay...as this was almost a carbon copy
#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 35.28 1/3 - pulled away here, just like the opening backstroke leg in the medley relay
#52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.73 1/3 - blew away the field
#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:57.01 1/3 - Won going away...lapped all but 2 lanes.

FINAL SCORE:
CRC - 408
Aberdean - 388

Breeze · 06-11-2014, 11:41 AM

Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – 6/14 - 6/15

The meet this weekend has a pretty screwed up approach, and I'm not really pleased about it. Each race will be mixed gender and no age group delineation, just separated by seed times. While this may make the event go slightly quicker...it clearly sets up a situation where the boys (especially Brett) may walk away embarassed.

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

Brett

100 Brst - 1:30.31
200 Back - 3:02.76
50 Free - 36.54
100 BFly - 1:53.08
200 Brst - 3:11.23
100 Free - 1:17.93 (really a 1:15.xx from the opening of the 200 free at time trials)
50 Brst - 43:49
800 Free - 11:20.37 (won't get in due to limited number of swimmers allowed in this event)

---------------------------------------------------------
Bailey

100 Brst - 1:50.29
200 Back - 2:52.62
100 Bfly - 1:17.02
400 IM - 6:04.83
200 Bfly - 2:53.83
100 Back - 1:19.95
800 Free - NT (won't get in due to limited number of swimmers allowed in this event)

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

100 Brst - 1:52.82
200 Back - 3:14.17
50 Free - 35.66
400 IM - 6:06.35
100 Free - 1:11.43
100 Back - 1:25.57
50 Bfly - 42.69
800 Free - 10:42.77 (Bear might make it in, depending on who doesn't positive enter)...

Breeze · 06-16-2014, 11:04 AM

Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – RESULTS
------------------------------------------------------------

Brett

100 Brst - 1:30.31 – Brett raced right next to one of the girls (14) from the group that hangs out all the time. They were neck and neck the entire way, and Brett managed to just out touch her at the wall winning by .03 seconds 1:30.09. While this is an improvement, it is becoming obvious Brett’s breaststroke is flat-lining. We haven’t seen any major improvements this season. It may be related to his growth (several inches in a couple of months), but if he’s going to improve it may require a little extra and personal attention (read: private lessons). We’ll see if he is interested in that…currently my feeling is he’s afraid his friends will find out and make fun of him…but who knows.

200 Back - 3:02.76 – Not a great race here. His backstroke had been improving but he added a second and ended with 3:03.80.

50 Free - 36.54 – Terrible dive…too deep – but still improved by 1.38 seconds. Could have cut another second plus with a better dive…35.16

100 BFly - 1:53.08 – Dropped almost 10 seconds here. Of course he had it to lose. 1:43.19. Numerous parents commented on how good the form was…so there is progress. If he’ll not breath every stroke he could drop another 10 in a heartbeat.

200 Brst - 3:11.23 – flat-lined…almost exactly the same time 3:11.32

100 Free - 1:17.93 (really a 1:15.xx from the opening of the 200 free at time trials) – 1:14.79…so an improvement even over is 1:15.xx time. Unfortunately, he lost to a 12 year old girl in the lane next to him, and that girl swims on the Summer league team. We’ll see if there is any teasing that comes from this.

50 Brst - 43:49 – dropped just over a second 42.38. Still pretty pedestrian improvement.

800 Free - 11:20.37 – He actually did get in…and he managed to drop 14.77 seconds. Could have done better as he had a lot left when he got out. Just can’t get him to buy in and really push in the distance frees. 11:05.60

Breeze · 06-16-2014, 11:07 AM

Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – RESULTS
------------------------------------------------------------

Bailey

100 Brst - 1:50.29 – her breast is starting to get much better. She swam a 1:37.77. This will pay huge dividends down the road, especially in the IMs if she can keep up this improved form.

200 Back - 2:52.62 – Dropped a couple seconds 2:50.06 – wasn’t terribly pleased with it. She was hoping for better. She earned a state cut anyway...

100 Bfly - 1:17.02 – 1:15.89 – a nice drop from just about a month ago. Still breathed too much, and she knows it too.

400 IM - 6:04.83 – over 10 second drop…5:54.60…unfortunately, her touch on the breast to free turn didn’t register, so I don’t have that split

200 Bfly - 2:53.83 – In this race Bailey was next to an 18 year old boy. She had two 16 year old boys and three 16 year old girls, and several 15 year olds in her heat. She definitely tired as she had a couple of long deliberate strokes in order to rest…but she still managed to drop 3.6 seconds. She finished with a 2:50.15…and in case you were wondering. She beat the 18 year old…(in fact, she finished third in the heat). This swim was good enough for the 13 year old cut...

100 Back - 1:19.95 – Added time here 1:20.60…I think this is from fatigue.

50 Bfly – 37.37 – Dropped 3 seconds…34.31…said she had more time to drop. Needs to clean up a couple of things. Has begged coach to put her in it at the next meet. Only .02 from the cut...

800 Free – Did Not Get In

Breeze · 06-16-2014, 11:09 AM

Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – RESULTS
------------------------------------------------------------

Bear

100 Brst - 1:52.82 – Also a big drop for Bear here…1:42.02…

200 Back - 3:14.17 – 17 second drop…2:56.85 - Dive was way too deep. Could get another second of 2 with a better angle on the start

50 Free - 35.66 – Pretty good improvement here…but his dive was too deep again. If his underwater work wasn’t so strong it would kill his time. 33.32.

400 IM - 6:06.35 – 5:51.08…was racing MK…they were neck and neck the entire way…and all the kids were cheering them on, as they had bets on who would win. Bear had a slight lead in fly, opened it some in back (which was surprising given MK’s back)…he lost the lead by about half a body in breast, but in the free, his ability at distance swimming and stamina took over and he beat her by about a second. Brett bet against Bear and lost…in case you were wondering.

100 Free - 1:11.43 – only a slight drop 1:11.09

100 Back - 1:25.57 – again a slight drop 1:24.79

50 Bfly - 42.69 – Dropped 4 seconds here. Still breathing too much (or at least lifting his head to high through the stroke)…I think there are a couple more seconds once he gets the stroke ironed out a bit more. 38.65

800 Free - 10:42.77 – Right before Bear’s swim, Riley (one of the gang) was playing around and he hit Bear right on the nose with a water bottle. It is bruised pretty bad…and Bear was hurting a bit. However, he went into this wanting to swim splits under 1:20…Because the race had 2 people in a lane in order to finish quicker…I don’t have his splits, but I can tell you from doing my math, that he was only above the 1:20 range on the second split. Then he really picked it up, and he churned out a race with a final time of 10:22.19. This is a AAA time, and qualifies him for the All-Star banquet (whenever it will be held again)…

Breeze · 06-18-2014, 07:52 AM

CRC Summer League at Polo Fields

Breeze, Brett - Male - Age: 13 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 4 / 2
#12 Boys 15-18 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.32 1/5
#32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:04.81 1/5
#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/5
#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 33.00 1/5
#74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly 38.65 1/5
#86 Boys 15-18 200 Free Relay (2) NT 1/5

10 Breeze, Bear - Male - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2
#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71 1/5
#30 Boys 11-12 100 Free 1:03.00 1/5
#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63 1/5 - Bear will be racing Seth here, and that will give me a good idea for the Medley Relay
#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:55.18 1/5

Breeze, Bailey - Female - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2
#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (3) 2:05.44 1/5
#19 Girls 11-12 50 Free 28.47 1/5 - This is Bailey's shot to get into the A free relay at county
#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65 1/3
#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08 1/3

Breeze · 06-20-2014, 06:28 AM

CRC Summer League at Polo Fields - RESULTS

The kids had an extremely hard practice with Gold Thursday morning, and it really showed up during the races...

Breeze, Brett - Male - Age: 13 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 4 / 2
#12 Boys 15-18 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.32 1/5 - I had the team move Brett into the 15-18 relay, because even with Brett in the 13/14 relay they were not going to win, and the other boy that was scheduled swim up, would have killed the 15/18 teams chances. As it turns out, Brett had a lead heading into the Free Leg (they older boys told him that was their best configuration), but his dive was a bit too deep, and he was passed at the wall and out touched by about a hands length. He felt, bad, but at least he gave them a chance. An easier practice, or a more shallow dive and he wins that one.
#32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:04.81 1/5 - working on some stuff with his free kick right now, and it appears to be working. Had a nice swim, but Polo has 3 of the best 13/14 year olds in the county...
#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/5 - Fly looks much better, and new free kick was better too...
#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 36.80 1/5 - Did ok here...
#74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly 38.65 1/5 - First 25 of the fly was very good for Brett...back half fatigue set in a bit and he faided, but form is much better.
#86 Boys 15-18 200 Free Relay (2) NT 1/5 - The older boys let Brett lead off and then they tried to swim down the other team. They nearly did, losing by less than a body length...

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

10 Breeze, Bear - Male - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2
#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71 1/5 - Bear and Seth switched places, and they dropped almost 2 seconds as a relay. Part of that might be contributed to the fact Polo's back and breast leg swimmers (the first two in the relay) are very good (both Gold kids), and we were actualy trialing heading into the fly...
#30 Boys 11-12 100 Free 1:03.00 1/5 - Got a big lead early and cruised...
#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63 1/5 - Seth beat bear, and so did their backstroker (who is one of the best 11/12s in county. He won the year round backstroke for 11 year olds at short course state.
#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:55.18 1/5 - Seth lost the opening 50 to the same kid that swam back. Bear closed some on the kid that swam Breast in the relay, but they were still swimming. The 3rd swimmer closed the gap and actually had a very slight lead heading into the anchor. Then Riley blew the field. Winning by 15 yards...

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

Breeze, Bailey - Female - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2
#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (3) 2:05.44 1/5 - With Bailey in fly and Caroline and back they were over a full second faster...
#19 Girls 11-12 50 Free 28.47 1/5 - - Fatigue from practice killed her chances...she swam a 29 low, and she needed to swim a 28 low...
#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65 1/3 - swam around a 1:11...looked good but tired.
#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08 1/3 - Nearly swam down the Polo Fields A relay from the Anchor spot of the CRC B Relay...

Breeze · 06-24-2014, 08:05 AM

Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic 6/27 – 6/29

This is our busy weekend, where we will swim a year round meet on Friday and Sunday and the Summer League County Championship on Saturday. The information below is for the year round meet…I’ll create a separate thread for the county championship.

This is a prelim/final meet...and the twins look like they will be making finals in several events. Brett may make finals in the breaststrokes...

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

# 2 Male 13-14 200 Free 2:37.73L - I found an article that went into the science of the flutter kick, which seemed to resonate with Brett. He has been working pretty hard to correct some fundamental mistakes, so I'm very interested to see how he does in his freestyle events.
# 10 Male 13-14 100 Breast 1:30.09L - He made a change this week to his breast, he's really staying a lot lower in the water. He thinks he is much faster, and the coach seems to like it.
# 28 Male 13-14 400 Medley 6:11.31L - With improved fly and free, he could drop a bunch of time, especially, if he will limit breathing during the fly.
# 78 Male 13-14 200 Medley 3:01.33L - See 400 IM above
# 96 Male 13-14 200 Back 3:02.76L - I expect similar results here...no real changes in the back.
# 108 Male 13-14 800 Free 11:05.60L - see 200 Free

Brett’s best change to get a state cut is in the 200 Breast, which is being offered on Saturday. Unfortunately, the year round meet and the county championship are at the same time, so Brett won’t be able to do both. He has elected to swim the year round meet, (which is the right decision) so we will be deck entering him and having to divide the family to get to both place. Not sure who’s going were right now…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bailey

# 7 Woman 11-12 200 Medley 2:52.11L
# 23 Woman 11-12 50 Back 40.67L
# 83 Woman 11-12 50 Fly 34.31L
# 111 Woman 11-12 400 Free 5:50.33L - This is the one event that she really needs to improve. Got to get that Free more effective...she sounds like she's ready to work a bit harder on these mid distance swims now...

Ok, you are probably wondering why Bailey only has 4 events…well, the coach messed up and entered Bailey in both the 50 and 200 backs and flys…which isn’t allowed, it is an either/or situation. So we’ll have to scratch 2 events. Because Bailey has her cuts in both the 200s and she doesn’t have her cuts in the 50s it is a pretty easy choice. We’ll deck enter her in some other events…probably a breast and maybe the 800 Free…

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

# 8 Male 11-12 200 Medley 2:59.36L - Needs to keep head down on fly legs...if he does he'll drop time
# 16 Male 11-12 100 Free 1:11.09L - Feels he can go under 1:10
# 26 Male 11-12 200 Back 2:56.85L - Needs to shallow out start and turns a bit. He's strong underwater, but he's too deep and he loses momentum
# 82 Male 11-12 200 Fly 3:08.69L - See the 200 IM
# 102 Male 11-12 200 Breast 3:59.95L
# 112 Male 11-12 400 Free 5:13.66L - I don't think he's done this in a while, and his most recent drop in the 800 tells me he should be able to drop a good bit of time here...

Breeze · 06-25-2014, 09:40 AM

Summer League - Forsyth County Championships @ Ga Tech - 6/28

The goal here is to get into the top 3, as that earns a medal and a spot on the County Team for the GRPA State Meet, and to get into the top 12 of the Free Style as that earns a spot on the Free Relays. If you finish outside of the magic numbers, you have to wait and see if everyone in front of you is actually going to participate at GRPA State...

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Brett Breeze - Male - Age: 13 - Comp#: 1492 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2

As mentioned previously, Brett probably won't be swimming this meet, as he'll be at the year round meeting going for his state cut...however, if somehow we get done early and make it over the Tech in time, this is what is on his plate...

#10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.63 - Will finish last with or without Brett
#22 Boys 13-14 50 Free X32.09 - I believe Brett would actually swim close to 30.5 in this one...not good enought to make a relay though.
#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 - seeded 8th out of 17...probably would finish 8th as well...
#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 36.60 - coming in seeded 6th...could finish as high as 3rd, and depending on who elects not to go to GRPA state, he might make the County Team...
#84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (4) 2:13.00 - Will finish last with our without Brett

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Bailey Breeze - Female - Age: 12 - Comp#: 1493 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2

#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:05.83 - At the beginning of the season, I thought this team might have a chance to break the county record of 2:01.44, but the best they have managed so far this season is a 2:04 low (the 2:05 seed time is the third fastest of the season). They may improve a bit due to some tapering being done by Bailey and Emilie for the Stu Hixon meet, but 3 full seconds is a lot to ask...
#19 Girls 11-12 50 Free X28.47 - Bailey is the 5th seed on the team in free (though I think she is actually the 3rd fastest), and she's seeded 7th in the county. She'll make a relay unless she has a terrible swim...might even slip into the top 4...
#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65 - Bailey is seeded 3rd...half a second behind Emilie (which is what we see each Thursday) and 1 second behind first. She's a good 5 seconds ahead of 4th...so should get to swim this at GRPA State.
#71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 30.87 - Comes in with the top seed...but it will be close with the top 5 all within a second...need a good dive!!!
#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08 - Because Bailey is the 5th seed, she's on the B relay...but they are seeded 4th in the county. 4 good swims and they might actually medal. They aren't that far behind the seed time for third.

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Bear Breeze - Male - Age: 12 - Comp#: 1532 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2

#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71 - Bear should swim the Free on this relay not back, as they swim 2:07s with that configuration. Have a shot to win this event.
#20 Boys 11-12 50 Free X29.44 - Bear is actually a bit faster than this I think, probably closer to a 28.5. But it may not matter as he's seeded 8th and 7th is a 28.5...
#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63 - Bear is seeded 4th, but he's gotten into the ropes each week, and he does a much better job of not doing that when he's inside. If he can stay out of the ropes and not go too deep on the dive, he might get as high as second.
#52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.12 - Also seeded 4th...but one in front of his has a bad time, and one behind him has an old time. He'll have a battle to get into the top three so he can swim it a GRPA state regardless.
#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:55.30 - Another relay where they could possibly win the county championship.

Breeze · 06-26-2014, 10:51 AM

Just for Fun

If you are reading along, and have never been to a Summer Swim Meet, I thought I'd give you a bit of a peek inside. I can vouche for a lot of the information below, as I see it all the time, and lived it when my kids were younger..

This is from an article on Huffington Post...
-------------------------------------------------

I have three kids, and they all swim on a swim team every summer. I decided to capture my experience at a morning swim meet, for those of you not in the water cult.

6:00 a.m.: Wake up, drink coffee. Wake up grouchy children.

6:45 a.m.: Arrive at pool. Parking lot is already full. Let the kids out and park far away. Carry/drag chairs, bags and a cooler as if I were large pack animal. It occurs to me suddenly that as mother of three there is no denying that I am a large pack animal.

6:58 a.m.: Small miracle occurs. I find a great place to set up chairs, etc. Next to friends. With a good view of the pool. In full shade. Wish I'd brought a sweatshirt actually, it's kind of chilly.

7:00 a.m.: Kids jump into the freezing cold pool for warm-ups and exchange looks with each other like -- WHY DO WE DO THIS AGAIN?

7:30 a.m.: Children begin harassing me for money for the snack bar. I try to hand them something healthy from the cooler. Suddenly every other kid at the swim meet is eating large, chocolate-frosted doughnuts.

8:00 a.m.: A 10th grader is now singing the national anthem. She is really good. Why do I get slightly (and embarrassingly) choked up by this, yet again? And why is it a surprise every time it happens? I am dumb.

8:05 a.m.: Child number one swims and makes it across the pool without a near-fatal drowning accident occurring. Success!

8:25 a.m.: Children two and three have raced, and I screamed my head off to KICK! KICK! KICK! even though I know perfectly well that they can't hear me underwater and so it's pointless. I don't want to yell KICK! KICK! KICK! But it just comes out.

8:30 a.m.: Give in and take kids to the snack bar for doughnuts (as I am out of coffee anyway).

8:55 a.m.: Child number two runs over to me, dripping wet and beaming. "Did you see that, Mommy?! Did you see that?!" I blink twice and answer: "Yes! That was awesome! Here, have a dollar! Go get another doughnut!" The moms sitting next to me giggle.

9:00 a.m.: Still cursing myself for participating in a sport where if you get distracted for literally 30 seconds you miss the whole thing.

9:20 a.m.: Child number three swims her best time ever and is so happy she can't stand it. It might be the best feeling in the world.

9:40 a.m.: Feel momentary surge of guilt for not volunteering today. Then remember that husband is traveling and I'm on my own with the kiddos. And also how I stayed until 10:30 p.m. to move chairs around on the pool deck and take out trash at the night meet last week.

10:05 a.m.: At some point, the kids drag the cooler of healthy snacks over to the picnic area. I go to retrieve it and observe that all of the food in it appears to have been consumed by wolves.

10:15 a.m.: Get to see lots of familiar faces and families from last year, which is great. Why do all these kids keep growing so much? Dear GOD -- that one has a mustache. Last year he was playing with Pokemon.

10:20 a.m.: Child number two has apparently forgotten how to do the backstroke and gets disqualified. He is devastated for five minutes and then says: "I'm hungry! Can I have a doughnut?"

10:30 a.m.: A kid is swimming breaststroke for the first time. He is tiny and can barely make it across the pool. All the other swimmers in the race have finished and are hanging onto the wall, watching him. He looks around and sees he's dead last. He starts to sag in the water. Parents who don't even know the kid begin to cheer their hearts out. KICK! KICK! KICK! Teenage coaches from the other team start clapping for him and running up and down the side of the pool. He touches the wall and the whole place goes nuts for him. The swimmers in the lanes on either side of him shake his hand and pat him on the back.

10:40 a.m.: Still thinking about how happy I am to be participating in a sport where a kid who comes in last still walks away feeling awesome.

10:45 a.m.: My chair is now in full sun and it's hot as balls.

10:49 a.m.: The timers are switching to the other side of the pool and "Gangnam Style" starts to play over the speakers. A horde of small children start to boogie down. Some of them know all the moves and it quickly becomes a dance battle for the ages.

10:55 a.m.: Child number three swims her hardest and gets crushed by the kids who train all winter. She's still smiling because she beat her best time.

10:59 a.m.: Child number two wanders over and says: "I'M HUNGRY."

11:05 a.m.: Misplace my youngest child, age 5. Find her sitting with John Ross, a 15-year-old boy she adores, who is very patiently discussing Spiderman with her. I ask her to come back to our chairs. She glares at me and says: "WE ARE TALKING. ABOUT SPIDERMAN."

11:30 a.m.: The crowd has thinned and the meet is winding down. Watching the teenagers swim butterfly now. It's kind of beautiful. I make a comment about this to my kids, in the hopes that they'll watch and really observe how it's done when it's done well. The big kids glance at the race for two-fifths of a second, then go back to playing Uno in a towel fort with their friends. The little one is asleep in a lounge chair with a ring pop dangling off one finger.

Noon: Arrive home. Face sunburned to a bright red. Want to collapse into the dark, air conditioned living room and not move ever again.

12:05 p.m.: Child number three wanders into the living room and says: "I'm bored. Can we go to the pool?"

thealmighty · 06-26-2014, 10:46 PM

Since it's been 3 months since someone other than you has made a post in this thread, here is one.

And, btw, this is my favorite dynasty thread, so don't close it until the twins go to college (or they all quit swimming).

Breeze · 06-27-2014, 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thealmighty

Since it's been 3 months since someone other than you has made a post in this thread, here is one.

And, btw, this is my favorite dynasty thread, so don't close it until the twins go to college (or they all quit swimming).

I'm glad you are enjoying it, and thanks for checking in.

Breeze · 06-27-2014, 11:52 AM

Quick Update

Brett complained last night of not feeling well. This morning at 5 when I woke him up, he didn't say anything, but based on his results (I'm not at the meet, had to go to work, so I'm following along with the post race results only), he must still be feeling poorly. He added a good bit of time in all his races. His last chance for a state cut this season appears to be slipping away...

Breeze · 07-01-2014, 09:39 AM

Quick Update

So we took Brett to the doctor, and it turns out he has a virus. A significant enough virus that it actually has a name (though I don't remember it). Apparently, it lasts about a week, so we are looking at several more days of him being less than 100%...

The wife has also apparently developed the same virus...and her comment to me about it..."I don't know how Brett managed to swim feeling like this..."

Breeze · 07-01-2014, 10:24 AM

Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic – DAY 1 PRELIM RESULTS

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Brett

# 2 Male 13-14 200 Free 2:37.73L – Added 2.49 seconds to his personal best…
# 10 Male 13-14 100 Breast 1:30.09L – Added 2.59 seconds to his personal best
# 28 Male 13-14 400 Medley 6:11.31L – Added almost 10 seconds…
Brett’s illness really took a toll…as he was sluggish and stiff in these races. Coach even commented that he didn’t look right…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bailey

# 7 Woman 11-12 200 Medley 2:52.11L – Bailey improved to a 2:47.73 in prelims and finished 10, thus qualifying for finals later that evening…this brought Bailey to almost exactly a second off a State Cut…
# 23 Woman 11-12 50 Back 40.67L – In the back Bailey dropped 3.65 seconds to a 37.02 and finished 6th, qualifying for the finals, and getting a state cut…
#33 Woman 11-12 800 Free NT – We did get Bailey entered in the 800 Free and she swam an impressive 10:46.84, which was good enough for 12 overall and a state cut…
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Bear

# 8 Male 11-12 200 Medley 2:59.36L - dropped time to 2:54.40…but finished 14 and didn’t make finals.
# 16 Male 11-12 100 Free 1:11.09L – Did go a 1:10.52…but was disappointed. Also finished 11, so no finals appearance.
# 26 Male 11-12 200 Back 2:56.85L - Better start, dropped 1.24 seconds and finished in 2:55.61…finished 8 and qualified for finals. Needed to drop another 1.5 seconds to get a state cut.

Breeze · 07-01-2014, 10:31 AM

Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic – DAY 1 FINALS RESULTS

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bailey

# 7 Woman 11-12 200 Medley 2:47.73 – Bailey dropped another 2.06 seconds to finish with a 2:45.66, end up ninth, and earn her third state cut of the day…
# 23 Woman 11-12 50 Back 37.02 – another drop improved Bailey’s finish to fifth and her personal best to 36.77
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Bear
# 26 Male 11-12 200 Back 2:55.61 - Bear also managed to get a drop in his last event. He dropped .7 seconds down to 2:54.92…he finished eighth, but didn’t earn his cut…

Breeze · 07-01-2014, 10:44 AM

Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic – Day 2 PRELIMS

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Brett

Even though Brett was feeling terrible…he wanted his shot to get the 200 Breast cut, so I ran him over to the Stu Hixon Meet that morning, while the wife took the twins to Tech for the County Championships…

Male 13-14 50 Free 35.16 - Went ahead and put Brett in this one, so he could get a race in before the 200, rather than sitting around getting cold…he managed to drop about .4 of a second to 34.75.

Male 13-14 200 Breast 3:11.23 – Brett, looked better than he has in quite a while with his Breast…he did drop time down to 3:09.71, a nice improvement, but he didn’t get his cut…
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At this point, we raced down to Tech in hopes of getting there in time for Brett to swim his events in the county championship…

Breeze · 07-01-2014, 12:34 PM

Summer League - Forsyth County Championships @ Ga Tech - RESULTS

The goal here is to get into the top 3, as that earns a medal and a spot on the County Team for the GRPA State Meet, and to get into the top 12 of the Free Style as that earns a spot on the Free Relays. If you finish outside of the magic numbers, you have to wait and see if everyone in front of you is actually going to participate at GRPA State...

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Bailey Breeze - Female - Age: 12 - Comp#: 1493 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2

#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:05.83 - – So the girls A medley relay, as expected won the county championship…and they won by over 7 seconds…As for the county record. The backstroker has been working recently on the extended underwater start…which is what ultimately, she’ll need to know, unfortunately, right now it is probably costing her some time…and her leg in the relay was 31.7…way off the county record pace. The breaststroker made up a bunch of time, Bailey was almost identical to the Flyer from the 2011 team that set the record. The freestyler blistered her leg, but they came up less than 1 second short. From my view, the biggest problem was slow/poor exchanges between the swimmers. That easily cost the team a full second…

#19 Girls 11-12 50 Free X28.47 – At the turn this race was extremely tight…Bailey was basically battling for fifth…however, she completely screwed up the turn, going way to deep (which is unusual as she is typically very strong in the turns), and she came out of that in tenth. She managed to finish ninth, but that puts her in line to be on the C Free relay…a huge blow, and she was extremely disappointed…29.21.

#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65 – the girl that won this got out to an early lead, and then Bailey and Emilie looked like every Thursday, with the two going head to head and finishing within a half second of each other…1:10.75 – finishing third…but will be the second representative at State because the winner will not participate in the state meet.

#71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 30.87 – Bailey had a very good swim finishing in 30.24…unfortunately another girl who was exhibitioning swam a 29.54. Bailey get’s credit for winning the event, but because she was beaten by the exhibitioner, she will be stuck on the B Medley Relay at State.

#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08 –Bailey’s free relay, got the 4 good swims they needed. In fact, they not only finished third, they did it by .5 seconds. Unfortunately, the third swimmer was DQed for leaving early…so they end up with nothing…

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Bear Breeze - Male - Age: 12 - Comp#: 1532 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2

#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71 – Not only did they win the event…they broke the county record…with a 2:05.48…

#20 Boys 11-12 50 Free X29.44 - Bear had a good swim, I think he can go a bit faster, but it really didn’t matter, as he had not shot to get into the top 4 (so A relay) and finishing seventh guaranteed he’d be in the B Relay…final time was 28.70.

#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63 – Bad finish…his count into the wall was messed up due to the long course/short course switch. Finished a distant third with a 34.58…but earns a bronze medal and spot on the state team.

#52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.12 – Swam basically the same as a Thursday meet 1:14.25…but never really challenged for a top 3 spot and ended up sixth. He was very disappointed in this one.

#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:55.30 – This was exciting as CRC had an early lead, but the second swimmer lost that lead, plus a good bit. Bear raced back and the final swimmer for both teams went off at exactly the same time. Surprisingly, Riley was out touched by less than half a second. The CRC Relay was so fast it broke the county record…but because they were second obviously it doesn’t matter. Also, sadly, the boy the swam second posted a 33.16 in the 50 free…and Alex another CRC Swimmer that was relegated to the B Free, swam a 31.29. Had CRC gotten the right kids in the relay, CRC would have won, and killed the county record…

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Brett Breeze - Male - Age: 13 - Comp#: 1492 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2

#10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.63 – Didn’t make if for the relay…and they did finish last…

#22 Boys 13-14 50 Free X32.09 – Did make it for this race and he posted a 29.53…

#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 – In this one, he coasted to eighth, a couple seconds behind seventh and a couple seconds ahead of ninth.

#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 36.60 – Brett had a good swim in what was a tight race…(at least for third through seventh. He ended up fifth at the wall, but one of the kids that beat him was exhibitioning, and one that beat him was DQed for a 1 hand touch at the turn. Thus, Brett ends up third, gets a bronze medal and will swim for the county team at State…This was huge for him, and given his health at the time, I’m extremely proud of his effort…36.60

#84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (4) 2:13.00 – Didn’t make if for the relay, and did finish last.
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CRC Team received 2 big trophies at the meet. The first for going undefeated, the second for finishing 3rd in county. For the first time, CRC finished in the top 3...after 3 or 4 years of coming in forth.

Breeze · 07-02-2014, 10:16 AM

Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic - RESULTS DAY 3 PRELIMS

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Brett

Brett was scheduled to swim the 400 IM, 200 Back, and 800 Free, but he wasn’t up to it. After waking him up early, he tried to get going, but finally admitted that he didn’t feel well, and didn’t think he could do it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bailey

# 83 Woman 11-12 50 Fly 34.31L – Bailey entered this one hoping to get a AAA time…which would require a swim of 32.79. She was also looking to finish in the top three, which would be no easy task with the two best 11-12 butterflyers in the state swimming against her. In the prelims, she went 33.32 and was seeded fourth going into the finals…and earning her a state cut .

#99 Woman 11-12 50 Breast 50.16L – This event was added…the seed time is a bit misleading, as it had been a year since she swam it…but I was real interested here, because her Breast has been improving significantly this season…and she didn’t disappoint…despite the fact she was in a slow heat (so no one to race), she managed to go 44.15 and finish tenth, qualifying for finals…

# 111 Woman 11-12 400 Free 5:50.33L – After her strong 800 earlier in the meet, she was much more prepared and confident about this swim. She went out much harder and posted a very good 5:13.89…which is a state cut…

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Bear

# 82 Male 11-12 200 Fly 3:08.69L - Fly was much better for this race and he improved significantly posting a 2:54.40 in prelims. He was seeded third with two other swimmers right on his heals headed into the finals.

# 102 Male 11-12 200 Breast 3:59.95L – A good improvement, but a sluggish swim. He posted a personal best 3:37.24 and was seeded 11…

# 112 Male 11-12 400 Free 5:13.66L - Was automatically swum at finals due to only 10 kids swimming the event…

Breeze · 07-02-2014, 10:32 AM

Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic - RESULTS DAY 3 FINALS
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Bailey

# 83 Woman 11-12 50 Fly 33.32 – In the finals, Bailey zipped down the pool, trying her best to stay with the top two swimmers, and limit her breathing to every fourth stroke. It paid off, as she was able to drop more time, finishing at 32.65…earning a bronze medal by finishing third, and getting her AAA time. This swim is probably also good enough to get her on at least the B medley relay for Gold at State.

#99 Woman 11-12 50 Breast 44.15 – Bailey was shocked to learn she earned a spot in finals in the Breast. She improved her time again swimming it in 43.31 and placing ninth overall…

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Bear

# 82 Male 11-12 200 Fly 2:54.40 - In all my years of going to the kids meets, this was one of the most exciting swims I’ve had the pleasure to watch. The race started out and Bear was probably sixth or so at the first turn. Coming back to finish the first 100, Bear was a distant fourth. However, after the midway turn, it became pretty obvious Bear was starting to close on the third place swimmer. He had clearly set his sights on that kid and was reeling him in. He caught him at the turn for the 150, and started back down the pool for the finish. However, after the turn, he started pushing in order to catch the kid in second. By about mid pool, the announcer noticed and even commented that Bear was making a move, and that he might have enough pool left to get himself into second place. Slowly he closed the gap, and with about 5 meters to go, he passed and ended up taking second by about half a body length. That night the coach texted us…to say how impressed he was with Bear’s 200 fly. He even commented that we named him correctly, because Bear is an animal…final time 2:46.48

# 102 Male 11-12 200 Breast 3:37.24 – Bear got into this final, but he was exhausted and he still had the 500 Free coming up, so he scratched…at my suggestion.

# 112 Male 11-12 400 Free 5:13.66L - Fatigue was still an issue here, as he really struggled trying to keep up with the field. He did amazingly manage to swim a personal best…just barely…posting a 5:13.61…but given his 800 Free time is a 10:22…we know he can go faster when he isn’t exhausted.

Breeze · 07-02-2014, 12:55 PM

Long Course Season Update

The long course season, and thus the year round season, is coming to a close…so I thought I’d take a second and update you where things stand.

Brett will be swimming in the last chance meet this weekend, he’ll be competing in 100 Breast, 200 Free, 100 Back, 200 Back, and 400 Free. The only potential shot he has at a cut is the 100 Breast, and he’ll need to drop a significant amount of time to reach the 1:25.89 cut, which isn’t likely, especially given he’s felt so poorly he hasn’t practiced in the last few days. Our only real hope is the time off is creating a taper effect that will give him extra energy when he races. I’ll do my typical write up on this soon.

The Long Course State Championship will start on Wednesday, July 16. Bailey and Bear both will have pretty full schedules. Like with Brett above, I’ll do my typical write up ahead of time…but here are what they are set to compete in…

Bailey

800 Free
50 Fly
50 Back
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Back
400 Free
200 Fly
100 Back
200 IM

Bear

1500 Free
200 Free
400 IM
100 Fly
200 Back
400 Free
200 Fly

Breeze · 07-02-2014, 01:21 PM

Long Course Season Update

I have one more interesting tidbit of information to pass along. If you've been reading for a while, you know that short course state is followed by short course sectionals. Long course, doesn't work that way. Instead of sectionals, the long course season has a meet called Zones. In this meet, each area in the Zone is represented by an All-Star team of swimmers. Our Zone consists of Georgia, Florida Gold Coast, Florida, North Texas, South Texas, Mississippi, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Texas, West Virginia, and Louisianna (there are additional teams, but they are general in description and I don't know the areas they come from).

Zone teams are comprised of only 8 swimmers/sex/age group, and each swimmer must apply for consideration. The swimmers are determined in this way...

1. The results from the State Meet are re-ordered so that kids that didn't apply for the Zone team are removed, leaving just the kids eligiable to compete.
2. Any swimmer that wins one of the 100 Meter stroke events automatically qualifies. (Now if the winner isn't going to Zones, that spot is left open and the coaches have an option on how they want to fill that spot. Typically, it would be given to the highest place finisher that is going, but that isn't guaranteed).
3. Each swimmers point totals from their 6 best events are added, and the top 4 not automatically on the team from #2, are added.

Now, at this point you are probably wondering why I'm bringing this up? We have been told by 3 different parents of elite swimmers (ones that have been on the Zone team in the past), that we should sign Bailey up for the team. They feel she has a very strong chance of making it.

This really caught my wife and me by surprise. Bailey just turned 12, making her very young for the age group. We knew about Zones, but felt that making it was a long way off, so we never even considered applying. In fact, we actually scheduled our family vacation for the week of the meet. I'm not sure what we are going to do...given that the grandparents and family from Florida are part of the vacation, we may wait until she is 14 to apply. However, it was very flattering and eye-opening to hear from families of elite swimmers that we should be thinking about things like this...

Breeze · 07-03-2014, 08:12 AM

Tara Classic – Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center – 7/5

Brett

This is the last chance meet, and Brett will be the only one competing. He’s been battling a virus, so I don’t expect much, but it would good if he could end his long course season on a positive note.

#2 (d1/s1): B Open 100 Breast - 1:30.09L – This is Brett’s only reasonable chance at a cut, and even here he’d need to drop 5 seconds, which is highly unlikely. Maybe in a 200, but this meet dropped the 200 Breast from the events list. I do think he can drop time, maybe up to 2 seconds, which would be excellent, but anything over 2 seconds would be surprising.

#6 (d1/s1): B Open 200 Free - 2:37.73L – I believe Brett can drop time here…I’m just now sure how motivated he’ll be if/when he realizes he didn’t get his cut.

#8 (d1/s1): B Open 100 Back - 1:27.60L – I expect more of the same in the back…as he going about as fast as he will until he fixes his kick and starts increasing his arm rotation

#20 (d1/s2): B Open 200 Back - 3:02.76L – see the 100 Back.

#24 (d1/s2): B Open 400 Free - 5:28.07L – I know he can drop time in this event, however, given his illness this week and the fact this will be his fifth event of the day, I expect he will be worn out before the race and he’ll fail to drop time. I hope I’m wrong…

Breeze · 07-07-2014, 09:40 AM

Tara Classic – Steve Lundquist Aquatic Center – RESULTS

Brett

For the most part Brett swam poorly. I’d love to provide the excuse that it was due to his sickness earlier in the week, and while I’m sure that didn’t help, it also wasn’t the only problem…

#2 (d1/s1): B Open 100 Breast - 1:30.09L – Brett actually added .3 seconds to his time here. His coach mentioned that Brett’s ankles aren’t as pronated as much as they used to be, which is impacting his speed. He thinks this change is related to the “knee” injury from earlier in the season. The coach even admitted that he was disappointed in himself for not having noticed it earlier (Brett’s typical coach, and the one I talked to, hasn’t really been coaching the Sectional Advanced swimmers much recently, due to the absence of the head coach. His time has been spent mostly focused on the Senior swimmers, so his missing this change in Brett’s stroke is completely understandable). The lack of this cut, really impacted Brett, and my feeling is that his heart wasn’t in the rest of his swims…

#6 (d1/s1): B Open 200 Free - 2:37.73L – Added 2 seconds…

#8 (d1/s1): B Open 100 Back - 1:27.60L – Added 3.5 seconds…

This was the end of the first session, and Brett told me he was going to ask the coach if he could scratch the last two swims and go home. I wasn’t pleased, as my personality says to use this as an opportunity to build for next season, but I told him that it was up to his coach. His coach told him, no – he wasn’t allowed to scratch…

#20 (d1/s2): B Open 200 Back - 3:02.76L – He dropped a half second here…

#24 (d1/s2): B Open 400 Free - 5:28.07L – Added 7 seconds in this one…

Celebrating on 7/5 with some swim families, I learned some stuff about Brett from the coach. I’ll pass it along as part of the end of season write up.

Breeze · 07-08-2014, 01:37 PM

General Update

Just some news to pass along...

Bailey got hit in the cheekbone with a paddle board paddle...so she has a little shiner right now. She has a boyfriend (such that it is), Seth. They rarely even talk or text but they are apparently an item. (and in case you are wondering, it is the same Seth that is friends with the boys...in fact, Seth asked Bear if it was ok to ask Bailey out before he did...)

Bear has complained recently of his knee hurting. This is an extremely bad time, as he has missed a few long sets due to pain, and it may result in a bad taper heading into State. We are giving him Advil before practice and bed, plus he is icing it a couple times a day. Hopefully, this will end up being nothing and cause no impact on his swims...

Breeze · 07-11-2014, 07:46 AM

Long Course State Meet Update

Gold held their Long Course State Meet dinner last night. Most of the dinner is a pep talk for the qualifiers, congratlating them on the hard work and motivating/urging them to swim well at the meet. The other main focus of the dinner is the announcement of the relays. Using the usaswimming site, I had pretty much already determined what the relays would look like, but last night was the official announcement (with the caveat that a swimmer can be replaced if the team determines someone is swimming better on that day).

As I expected Bailey will swim the fly for the B Team in both the 200 and 400 Medley Relay. I was hopeful her 32 second fly in the 50 at Stu Hixon might have been close enough to the top flyer's time (Anna), that she would move to a different stroke, but unfortunately no. Still having just turned 12, it is a nice accomplishment for her to make the relay at all in long course.

Gold fields 2 relay teams for each event at State, which, obviously means 8 total swimmers. Bear was 9th in both Free Relays. Not surprising given that Bear's strength's are more endurance related events, but sad for him as he loves swimming the relays.

The surprise of the night however, was learning that Brett will swim Breast for the B Team in both the 200 and 400 Medley. We were completely blown away by this...obviously with him not having a state cut time, we didn't expect that there would be any way he would qualify for a relay. However, 3 kids from Gold that had faster times than he did aged up over the Summer and are now 15, and of the other 2 in front of him, 1 will swim Breast on the A relay, and the other get's the A Fly stroke, leaving Brett as the next choice. I guess he could get bumped if someone else is swimming well during the meet. I haven't had a chance to talk with him about this revelation as he spent the night with Seth. I'm sure he's pretty pumped up right now though.

I will fill in details for the State Meet soon...

Breeze · 07-14-2014, 10:19 AM

Georgia 14U Long Course Championships - @GaTech – 7/16 – 7/19

Bailey

800 Free : 10.46.84 – Seeded 17/31 – Day 1 - Given that Bailey has rarely done this event…in fact, the seed time is the only time she’s even done the 800 Free…so she could drop a decent amount of time, depending on how determined she is do better. She was clearly motivated to get her cut, but it is possible she decides to conserve her energy for Thursday, rather than go hard in this one.

50 Fly : 32.65 – Seeded 7/30 – Day 2 - Bailey really wants to do well here, but the names in front of her are all the giants in the state, and the top 5 seed times are all over 1.5 seconds faster. The sixth seed is her old friend Maddie (The Beast) from back in her SwimAtlanta days. Maddie is only .2 faster coming in, but my guess is she’ll swim a sub 31 in the state meet. A good goal here, would be to make the top 10 and a swim in the finals Thursday Evening.
(Note: In an interesting quirk, Maddie is swimming in this state meet as a 12 year old. What is interesting is that she swam last year’s state meet as a 12 year old as well. Her birthday falls on 7/17, which last year was before the start of the meet – thus she was 12 when the meet started, this year she doesn’t age up until the second day of the meet, so she is still 12, and gets to swim as such).

50 Back : 36.77 – Seeded 24/37 – Day 2 - I expect Bailey should do better here than her seed time. How much better I don’t know, but even 1 second could move her up into the top 15.

400 IM : 5:54.60 - Seeded 17/26 – Day 2 – Bailey hasn’t done this one in over a month…I expect she’ll improve, as long as her improved breaststroke continues. She’s got several other Gold swimmers seeded around her, including her friend Ainsely, so I’m sure she’ll want to beat them, that should provide some good motivation.

100 Fly : 1:15.89 – Seeded 13/29 – Day 3 – The goal here for Bailey should be pretty simple…get in the top 10 so she can swim at the event finals Friday evening. I think she can do it…

200 Back : 2:50.06 – Seeded 29/42 – Day 3 – Don’t know what to expect here. Bailey has a tendency to cruise in this event…if she races hard, she could drop 3+ seconds.

Gold B Team 200 Medley Relay – Seeded 8/14 - Day 3 – Bailey has the Fly leg – Could get sixth with 4 good swims.

400 Free : 5:13.89 – Seeded 21/39 – Day 3 – Another event, that Bailey just recently started putting effort into. I think she’ll end up, pretty much where she is seeded, but she should drop some time due to the tapering.

200 Fly : 2:50.15 – Seeded 8/30 – Day 4 – Bailey will swim this event in the evening. This event isn’t swum as a prelim/final, rather the top 10 swimmers swim in the evening as if they were the finals. Bailey is motivated for this one…partially because it is one she is good at, and partially because Bear has a faster seed time then her in this one. She wants to beat Bear and she’s setting her sights on a 2:40.

100 Back : 1:09.22Y – Seeded 38/40 – Day 4 – This is a bit misleading. Bailey qualified for this event in short course so her time is entered as such, and she gets seeded in the bottom of the event. She hasn’t swum this event well all Long Course Season, and honestly, I don’t expect much in this one either…

200 IM : 2:45.66 – Seeded 20/25 – Day 4 – Bailey’s improved breast should help here. Ainsley will be racing Bailey in this one too, so she could be motivated to drop a good bit of time.

Gold B Team 400 Medley Relay – Seeded 7/15 – Day 4 - Bailey has the fly leg…Could get fifth with 4 good swims…

Breeze · 07-14-2014, 10:50 AM

Georgia 14U Long Course Championships - @GaTech – 7/16 – 7/19

Bear

1500 Free : 19.26.00 – Seeded 3/14 – Day 1 – This will only be the second time Bear has ever swum this event. The first time was in the Long Course State Championships last year. His seed time is a calculated one based on his “churn rate” in the 800. Bear wants to win a medal in this meet, and this is his best shot. It won’t be easy though (not that a 1500 is ever easy…)

200 Free : 2:29.73 – Seeded 26/30 – Day 2 – Bear hasn’t done this one since the very beginning of long course…I expect he’ll drop a bunch of time.

400 IM : 5:51.08 - Seeded 10/22 – Day 2 – Bear just missed getting in the fast heat (yes he’s seeded 10, but there is an 11 year old ahead of him, so that pushes Bear down to the second fastest heat). Given that Bear seems to be at his best when he has someone to chase, this will probably impact his final result. There are also some very good swimmers entered with short course times, that could ultimately beat him in the final results.

100 Fly : 1:11.71Y – Seeded 33/33 – Day 3 – Entered with a short course time, because Bear hasn’t done this event since the beginning of the season either. I expect a nice improvement over his real long course time of 1:25.91…

200 Back : 2:31.95Y – Seeded 29/30 – Day 3 – Again a short course seed time…Real time is a 2:54.92…but he swam this race at Stu Hixon, so I don’t expect much of an improvement here.

400 Free : 5:13.61 – Seeded 15/26 – Day 3 – Bear has been stuck on this time for quite a while. He should drop based on his times in the 800…in fact he should be closer to a 5:00…but we’ll see…

200 Fly : 2:46.48 – Seeded 5/17 – Day 4 – Like Bailey, Bear will swim this event in the evening. As high as Bear is seeded, he realistically doesn’t have a shot at a medal here. While he’s great at pushing himself and chasing down swimmers, he’d have to drop another 10 seconds or so to be in range for a medal, and I don’t think he has that in him right now.

03-26-2014, 11:32 PM	#402
thealmighty Pro Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: heaven	At what point will the kids begin to specialize in one or two strokes, or are they all just that good at all four? At the high school I teach and coach at, hardly any of the swimmers, even freshman at 14 years old, swim all strokes in meets (I coached swimming for two years, but not because I knew how. Just was no one else to do it at the time). __________________ Check out The Unofficial FOFC Movie Guide Here

03-27-2014, 09:35 AM	#404
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Short Course Season - Recap So the short course season is now over...and it was a better one for us that I had anticipated it would be. I really felt the twins would get a few state cuts, but that would be the extent of what they would be able to accomplish. As it turns out, they got a bunch of state cuts, and even managed to get a few sectional cut times (which I figured we had no shot at). This sets them up to have a very strong short course season next year... Brett's dedication to swimming, which started in the Summer, has also paid off, as his times and strokes have improved significantly. In fact, he has passed the personal bests of quite a few teammates that were well ahead of him coming into the season. He was very disappointed that he didn't get any state cuts in short course, but he has positioned himself to challenge for the breast cuts at least in long course. In case you were curious...here is the amount of improvement from 12/13 to 13/14, by stroke for each kid (displayed in seconds) : Code: Brett 50 Fr 2.55 100 Fr 7.13 200 Fr 16.36 500 Fr 57.70 1000 Fr 117.55 100 Bk 10.30 200 Bk 22.73 100 Br 8.13 200 Br 16.55 100 Fl 7.06 200 IM 20.88 Note: 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1650 Not listed because they weren't swum in 12/13 season ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey* 50 Fr -.07 100 Fr .95 200 Fr 5.70 500 Fr 34.96 50 Bk 1.72 100 Bk 7.76 50 Br -.80 100 Br 2.49 50 Fl 2.72 100 Fl 7.59 100 IM 5.64 200 IM 17.49 Note: 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1000 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Back Not listed because they weren't swum in 12/13 season -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bear* 50 Fr 2.35 100 Fr 6.88 200 Fr 18.21 500 Fr 56.97 50 Bk 1.09 100 Bk 5.90 50 Br 4.74 100 Br 8.56 50 Fl 4.53 100 Fl 14.88 100 IM 1.64 200 IM 13.73 *Note: 200 Fly, 400 IM, 1000 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Back Not listed because they weren't swum in 12/13 season

03-28-2014, 11:49 PM	#405
thealmighty Pro Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: heaven	That answers my question very well, thanks. __________________ Check out The Unofficial FOFC Movie Guide Here

04-14-2014, 10:30 AM	#407
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Gold Team Update So the US Swimming investigation into Coach Neil is continuing but he sent the following letter to all the team parents... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear Chattahoochee Gold parents, I write you today not as a coach or a representative of Chattahoochee Gold, but as someone you or your child cares about, and, perhaps, as a friend. The last 36 hours have been trying for me. They’ve been emotional and challenging and my heart has mourned. I have greatly appreciated the outpouring of concern and supportive texts and calls that I’ve received; it’s nice to know how supportive a network I have in times of crisis. But, to be honest, I don’t deserve it. I’ve always tried to hold my swimmers—your children—to the highest standards. My goal was to develop great swimmers who also had the skills to survive and thrive in the real world: attention to detail, work ethic, and knowing the difference between right and wrong… because that’s the difference between success and failure. Unfortunately, I did no uphold those values within my own personal life, and, in making that mistake, have caused a calamity within Chattahoochee Gold and your own family’s lives. My error in judgment occurred several years ago, and came during a rough patch in my life. I began a relationship with a swimmer who was a Senior in High School. No defense of my actions would be tenable, but the offense wasn’t planned or fiendishly nefarious. However, it was certainly inappropriate and not permissible by USA Swimming guidelines. My personal shame and embarrassment about the issue weighs heavy in my heart, and the guilt has corroded me. But the shame, embarrassment and guilt pale in comparison to the distress I’ve caused for Chattahoochee Gold and the Cumming Site. I’m not sure how USA Swimming will rule on the matter, but I will accept their punishment. Any vitriol or hate you have regarding the situation should not be aimed at them, at Chattahoochee Gold, or Pat Murphy; it should be aimed at myself. However, I do ask that if you had some modicum of love and respect for me, you will encourage your athletes to uphold the spirit of the program I was striving to create, but unable to live up to personally. Our staff, our families and our swimmers are stronger than this; they can move forward without me, but only if we have the support of the parents. You have my humblest, most sincere regrets, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The outcome of the investigation will be irrelevant, as Coach Neil has resigned from the team, in order to allow Chattahoochee Gold to move on and locate another coach. In addition, he has decided to give up coaching and will pursue other opportunities... Last edited by Breeze : 04-14-2014 at 10:31 AM.

04-15-2014, 08:59 AM	#408
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Gold Team Update I really hate reporting this stuff...but I guess at this point I need to... The swim community is a pretty small one, and unfortunately Neil's letter was leaked to coaches at the 2 mega-clubs in Atlanta, and they have decided to stir the pot. They released his letter to an International Swim website and called up local TV news crews to report on the issue, and it was a lead story last night. Of course the local media butchered the report because they did no research on the situation, and they interviewed people for reactions that had little to no knowledge of the situation. I'm sickened by this...this is exactly the type of thing that caused me to get out of the media years ago. Basically this comes down to a 23 year old coach dating an 18 year old swimmer in a consensual relationship, that the parents were aware of, and it occurred approximately 5 years ago. I understand that the coach/swimmer relationship is wrong, and I don't condone it, but does it really merit this much attention? Neil has admitted to the mistake, and agreed to take whatever punishment is handed down by USA swimming, so why is it being treated as if it is pedophilia or rape? As far as I'm concerned this is a non-story until the ruling from USA Swimming is released, at which point it probably would be a blirb detailing the problem and punishment. I’ll admit though, that maybe I'm prejudice on the matter…and it is distorting my perspective Last edited by Breeze : 04-15-2014 at 09:00 AM.

03-26-2014, 12:01 PM	#401
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Northern Division Meet - Day 3 Brett - Prelims Again, I wasn't there for the prelims of the 100 Breast, and the 200 Fly so comments are second hand from my wife and based on time. 100 Breast - 1:17.71 - Brett really wanted to get an improvement here, especially after he failed to improve in the 200...and he did. He finished with a time of 1:16.93, and qualified for finals 200 Fly - NT - My wife said this wasn't pretty. Brett breathed way to often, but he finished without being DQed, meaning he'll get the IronMan award from the team at the banquet. His time was a 3:04:09 1650 Free - 20:48.55 - Brett really wanted to improve here. He was hoping to go under 12 minutes. He started out fine, but then allowed a swimmer to his outside shoulder to impact his pacing. The swimmer outside of him started fast, and when Brett fell in at his shoulder he stayed there, even though the kid pacing him quickly fell from spits of 1:11 to splits of 1:16. Once Brett broke free, he swam strong 100 splits in the 1:13 range...He was very consistent with his swim, especially in the back half turning laps in the 1:13 mid ranges over and over. Finished with an improvement of 36 seconds...20.11.76 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brett - Finals 100 Breast - 1:16.93 - The 200 Fly and 1650 really took their toll on Brett. He was a walking zombie by the time we got to finals. He added a bunch of time finishing with a 1:20.29 100 Fly - 3:04.09 - Brett really didn't want to swim this one...but he did. And while he was still exhausted and he breathed every stroke, he also managed to drop time. 3:01.54...which tells me he can go much faster in this one if he applys himself. I figure a 2:50 is within reach...

04-09-2014, 09:08 AM	#406
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Gold Team Update I have some terrible news to report from yesterday. Coach Neil, the head coach for our pool has been suspended by USA Swimming, pending an investigation. Here is the email Chattahoochee Gold sent out… -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Keeping You Safe: A Message from Chattahoochee Gold The coaching staff of Chattahoochee Gold would like to update its members, customers, and community on its coaching staff and safety policies. We value the trust you have placed in us and hope the following information is helpful to you. Should you have any additional questions, please contact us at the contact information listed below. 1. There has been a change in the Gold coaching staff. Effective April 8, 2014, Coach Neil Savage is suspended while USA Swimming investigates a personal matter that came to light in the last few days. At this time he is not permitted on deck or at functions. Coach Andy (this is my kids current coach) will assume Neil's practices in the interim. It's important to understand that this process is out of the hands of Chattahoochee Gold and it will take some time to come to resolution. 2. Are there allegations of wrongdoing against Chattahoochee Gold? No. there is no evidence that the suspended employee’s alleged conduct involved current club members or their families. The allegations against him do not involve any current swimmers, parents, or coaches of Chattahoochee Gold. The team in no way condones the alleged activities. No other coach has been subject to allegations of wrongdoing. 3. What is Chattahoochee Gold doing to keep its members safe? Chattahoochee Gold goes above and beyond the State’s minimum requirements to provide you the safest and most enjoyable experience possible. Employees of Gold must first undergo two backgroundchecks (one by USA Swimming, and one by a private contractor employed by the team). Coaches must complete and bi-annually update their USA Swimming Athlete Protection Certification, and the team has its own extensive guidelines about coach-swimmer interaction. Chattahoochee Gold strictly observes the guidelines established by USA Swimming in regards to personal coach-swimmer interaction. 4. Is Chattahoochee Gold limiting any of its services? No. The team continues to offer the same award-winning services and professionalism that it has proudly offered for more than two decades. All other members of the team's coaching staff remain with the team and are more committed than ever to meeting the highest standards of excellence. We look forward to providing your family a great experience this summer. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After reading the release above, you are probably thinking, like I was…oh my God, what did he do? This release makes is sound like he might be a pedophile or rapist. Unfortunately, it is poorly written, and in my mind not well thought out. I know the company has lawyers advising them of actions that need to be taken in order to avoid potential law suits and increased insurance rates, but this could have been crafted better. So here is the situation… Several years ago, when Neil graduated from college he immediately started working for Chattahoochee Gold. This was a big deal to him as he was one of the first 6 members of the team 22 years ago. Being young and stupid, he allowed himself to break a USA Swimming rule and he dated a graduating senior on the team. This wasn’t a hidden relationship or a coerced one. The girl’s parents were aware of it, and they approved. This probably leads you to ask the same question I asked…”Why did this come up now if it happened several years ago, and the girl and her parents aren’t upset by the relationship in any way?” Well, from what I understand is a girl’s mother from one of the other pools found out and decided to call USA Swimming directly and report it. Then they called the owner of Chattahoochee Gold and reported to him what they had done, assuring him this wasn’t a vindictive or spiteful action in any way…Which of course in my mind is exactly what this is. If it wasn’t spiteful, then why not work through channels, why go directly to the governing body first (and not even the Georgia Chapter, but the national one). I’m not sure exactly what is behind this, and maybe it is just a self-righteous parent voicing their concerns, but I find the timing odd. Given that Neil just had a relay team break a national record, had the high point female at Age Group State, who qualified for Jr. Nationals, and had several other event winners and state records set. Not sure if the girl and her parents were upset because the girls from the same age group at the Cumming pool are improving dramatically and leaving them behind, or if another Coach was feeling threatened by the success Neil is having.I’m not normally a conspiracy guy, but this stinks… The investigation is ongoing…Neil has admitted to the relationship, as has the girl and her parents have admitted knowledge of the two dating. This is clearly against the rules of the organization, as it is basically a potential sexual harassment problem, and combined with all the coaches (any sport) that have gotten in trouble for improper behavior with athletes and this is going to be taken very seriously. Hopefully, the fact the relationship was consentual, it's age (several years old at this point), and the fact there have been no new similar incidents will be strongly considered. All the kids on the team are upset…Mine included, especially Brett (who has swum more for Neil in practice). They are all talking about writing letters to USA Swimming in support of their coach. Obviously, this illustrates how much the kids respect and want to do well for Neil and the performance of the team at State clearly shows how good a job he does of getting his kids to perform. In fact, Bailey and I just attended the Georgia Swimming All-Star banquet for the 2012-2013 season (I’ll do a small write up on that soon), and the coach of the year was announced. After seeing who won, and what they accomplished during the season, I was convinced, if Gold even had just a solid showing at Long Course State this year, that Neil was the front runner for Coach of the year for 2013-2014. This is a shame for the team, for Neil, and on a personal level for my kids, as they were looking forward to swimming for Neil in the future. In fact, I have to admit, I’m concerned with how this will impact Brett moving forward. He will potentially be moving up to the point where he’ll be expected to make 2 or 3 morning (read 5:30) practices a week. With Neil, I was confident he would get up to go…with a new coach, I’m not so sure. I hope this is resolved quickly…and USA Swimming gives him a slap on the wrist and he can return to the team quickly. However, Gold has to make contingency plans, and they are currently looking for a coach to replace Neil in case this drags on. It is hard to come by information, as team officials are not supposed to talk about it, and Neil isn’t allowed to have contact with any of the swimmers on the team, but I’ll keep you updated as information leaks.

04-28-2014, 10:10 AM	#409
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - @ Cumming Aquatic Center – 5/2 – 5/4 The beginning of the Long Course Season starts this weekend, and Georgia swimming recently released new time standards to qualify for the State Meet. Basically, the changes involve dropping times in most of the freestyles and IMs, but slowing down the times in the remaining strokes. This is probably a direct result of the small number of swimmers that actually qualified for State at the Short Course Meeting following the tougher standards put in place last year. Note: All seed times for this meet, appears to be actual year old Long Course times…so I’d expect a significant improvement. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brett 200 IM – 3:15.14 – With Brett’s improved fly and strength, I’d suspect this will improve significantly, should be sub 3 minutes. 800 Free – 11:20.00 – This time was created by the coach to get Brett into a heat with swimmers of similar quality. 100 Free – 1:18.20 – a sub 1:15 would be a good swim for Brett. I believe he could go 1:13, but I’m not sure he’s back in peak form yet. 100 Back – 1:37.93 – Brett’s backstroke improved significantly during the short course season, I could see a 12 second drop here. 200 Breast – 3:14.57 – This is the interesting one for Brett…with the new times for state qualification, Brett’s short course personal best actually translates as a qualifying time in Long Course. He’ll need to swim a 3:05.09 to qualify. I really hope he can get his cut in this meet so he’ll be in and not worry about it moving forward. 400 Free – 5:55.32 – Here is another area where Brett has improved significantly. Brett is much better at pushing himself in longer swims, a 30+ second improvement here really wouldn’t be a shock. 200 Free – 2:51.73 – This one will be interesting to watch. Brett still isn’t terrible good at sprinting frees, and this one is a long sprint, but his ability to push on longer swims will undoubted lead to improvement, just not sure how much. 100 Breast – 1:33.55 – Like the 200 the times for state qualification have been loosened. Brett’s converted time from short course is 3 seconds off of the cut time, but Brett is typically better in long course because he’s better in the middle of the pool than he is off walls. He needs a 1:25.89 to get the cut. 200 Back – 3:22.57 – like the 100 Back, I expect a big improvement here…might break 3 minutes. 400 IM – 6:10.00 – Coach entered time. Brett could beat it, especially if his fly holds up and he breaths less often (which he’s been working on in practice). Note: At Bear’s birthday over the weekend, we played a bunch of football and ultimate Frisbee…which unfortunately has left Brett with some very sore muscles. Hopefully, it clears up early this week, so he can get good practices in and be prepared for the meet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bear 200 IM – 3:16.95 – I don’t expect him to get sub 3, but a 3:03 or 3:05 sounds about right. 800 Free – 12:01.17 – I am fairly certain, Bear’s 1000 Free swim at SC State was more than enough for Bear to qualify for State in this event. But the improvement in time in this one will be significant. He may improve by 1.5 minutes… 200 Free – 2:46.97 – Bear’s short course time converts to a 2:31.52, the cut time is 2:31.39… 100 Back – 1:36.73 – Should see significant improvement, but will still be 5+ seconds off the cut 100 Fly – 1:45.45 – Bear’s conversion from short course is good enough for a cut, so if he can swim a 1:22.49 he’ll get it… 400 Free – 5:45.17 – converted time is well under the state cut requirements, but Bear’s 500 at SC State probably earned him this cut anyway… 100 Free – 1:18.65 – This is one area I’d love to see Bear improve on significantly…he’s currently the ninth seeded 11/12 year old Gold Freestyler. I’m not sure if any are aging up yet, as I haven’t done that much research into it, but I’d really like to see Bear on a relay. He’ll need to improve on his sprints to get there though. 200 Fly – NT – Bear is one of only 4 doing this…with his buddies Riley and Tommy also racing. Bear won’t be able to keep up with those 2, but he should do well if his form holds after the rest and restart from SC to LC 200 Back – 3:14.17 – Should be much better, but not state cut better… 400 IM – 7:02.74 – could improve on this one by about 1 minute…already has cut from SC -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey 200 IM – 3:09.45 – Bailey was hoping to get a cut in this, but that was before the time improvements, not sure she’ll be able to get it this season, and I’d be shocked if she got it this meet. 50 Free – 38.78 – The one area Bailey has struggled to improve…Free sprints. Hoping for a breakthrough on this one. 200 Free – 2:52.19 – This goes back to the Free sprint comment above. But her improved effort on longer swims will cause a decent time improvement, even if her sprint speed hasn’t improved much. 100 Back – 1:31.48 – with the short to long course conversion, Bailey is about 1 second off the new easier state cut. 200 Breast – NT – Bailey isn’t thrilled to be doing this one. Not sure what her form looks like anymore…but if it is similar to her form at SC State, she’ll do fine. 100 Fly – 1:26.02 – Already has the cut from short course… 100 Free – 1:16.14 – See 50 Free… 200 Fly – NT – Bailey is one of only 5 girls swimming this…already has the cut from SC 200 Back – 3:01.64 – converted time is about 3 seconds off the cut. 400 IM – 6:48.11 – Bailey is concerned about the 400 IM following the 200 Fly earlier in the day. She loves both events, but typically likes to do one or the other on any given day. She doesn’t like doing both because of how taxing the swims are. She’s already asked Coach to allow her to skip the 200 fly next time so she’ll be fresh in the 400 IM. I expect it won’t matter, as she’ll probably post a great time anyway, and she already has the cut.

05-08-2014, 11:20 AM	#410
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - RESULTS Interestingly, found out during the meet that 2 of the Gold facilities have already started some long course work. Our pool has too many different facilities using it at the same time to do the long course conversion during the school year. We have to wait until school is out when we the practice times can be scattered throughout the day. This put us at a bit of a disadvantage as our kids (not just mine personally, but the Cumming facility swimmers), were not as prepared for the meet as they might have been. Especially, when you combine the first time in the long course pool with the fact the team is only just now starting to pick up the pace in practice, up until now they’ve been focused on drills and form. Hopefully, this means there will be some big improvements along the way. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brett 200 IM – 3:15.14 – Didn’t quite get sub 3…but came close 3:01.33… 800 Free – 11:20.00 – Brett swam this one with older kids, his friend, and Bear. He got behind early and really posted a pretty poor time of 11:20.37…I wasn’t counting of Brett, as Bear requested I do his lane, and Brett didn’t care, so I didn’t get a real good look at Brett. However, from what I could see it looked to me like there may have been a bit of give up in him on this one. He seemed to try and watch Bear, but was unable to keep up…so he decided he’d mail it in rather than try hard a fail. In his defense, he never did come back with an excuse. 100 Free – 1:18.20 – a ridiculously bad dive, very little effort and a poor time 1:17.93. He should have been much better than this… 100 Back – 1:37.93 – This was a better swim 1:27.60… 200 Breast – 3:14.57 – This was a disappointing swim for Brett as well. He dropped time, but it wasn’t anywhere near where we hoped he would be…3:11.23. This means he still has a long way to go in order to get his cut. I don’t know if this lack of production in breast is related to his recent growth causing some in efficiencies in his stroke, or if he’s just not in peak shape yet, but it looks like he’ll have a long climb to get the cut that I thought coming in he would reach pretty easily. 400 Free – 5:55.32 – Much better swim here…Brett managed to drop almost 28 seconds. 5:28.07…of course this begs the question…how do you not really drop time in a 100 free or an 800 free but you drop a bunch in a 400 free 200 Free – 2:51.73 – Before day 2, I told Brett that I didn’t care about his times, but that I’d like to see him increase his effort in his races. This was never more evident than this one. Brett opened the 200 free with a 1:15.93…almost 2 seconds under his 100 Free time from the day before. When it was all said and done he dropped 14 seconds 2:37.73 100 Breast – 1:33.55 – Interestingly Brett’s time drop in the 100 Breast was almost identical to his time drop in the 200 Breast. He finished with a 1:30.31. It’s a nice improvement, but he’s got a significant drop still needed here to get his cut as well… 200 Back – 3:22.57 – another good improvement, but just over 3 minutes. 3:02.76 400 IM – 6:10.00 – The fly leg of this event was much better than it has been. Still slow, but much better. This was also a very exciting race, as Brett opened the fly 100 in last place, but he was still within striking distance of several of the swimmers, as only the top 2 in the heat had truly separated from the pack. In back, Brett held his own, actually closing on a couple of guys, but losing a little ground to the 15 year old, from the Senior team in the lane next to him. However, when breast started, Brett felt he could catch the 15 year old (plus the other 5 swimmers between him and that swimmer…but his focus was on the 15 year old). By the end of the first 50, he had caught him, by the back 50 he had opened up a several body length lead. Unfortunately, he couldn’t hold him off in free, losing by half a body length. But it was good and inspired swim that I was extremely proud of. His time 6:11.31

05-08-2014, 11:47 AM	#411
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - RESULTS Bear 200 IM – 3:16.95 – I was wrong…he got sub 3…2:59.36. 800 Free – 12:01.17 – Bear blistered this swim. His buddy Tommy was next to him and he wanted to try and catch him, which really pushed him. 10:42.77, an improvement of 78+ seconds 200 Free – 2:46.97 – Bear, blistered this swim as well…opening with a 1:14.57…and finishing with a 2:29.73 and a state cut. 100 Back – 1:36.73 – Bear opened strong here, but he really slowed down in the last 20 meters or so. Not sure why. Time improvement was good, but I think he can go a decent bit faster. 1:25.57 100 Fly – 1:45.45 – Bear swam well here…not great, but strong with good form. Needs to race this more, but he’s in striking distance of a cut with a time of 1:25.91 400 Free – 5:45.17 – State cut for 12 year olds was easily reached with Bears time of 5:13.66. He opened a little conservatively, as is his M.O., so he might have a couple more seconds he can drop. 100 Free – 1:18.65 – Really good improvement here, finished with a 1:11.43, but probably isn’t going to be good enough for a relay. 200 Fly – NT – Only 3 ended up swimming this..Bear and his 2 buddies. Bear stayed close enough to be respectable and finished with a 3:08.69…we below the cut time of 3:19. 200 Back – 3:14.17 – Bear swam a 3:00.14, but it didn’t count as he was DQed. This one was irritating. The head official at this meet basically announced the day of the first session that they were going to crack down on the rule not allowing swimmers to finish fully submerged. So when Bear did his throw back for the finish he was tagged as being underwater. He’s in good company as over half of the pool in the top heat of the girls 18Us were DQed including 2 state champions. It isn’t a big deal, because it wasn’t a cut time anyway…but it was just unnecessary. 400 IM – 7:02.74 – Didn’t improve 1 minute as I predicted only 56.39 seconds. State cut time of 6:06.35…and very impressive. He had a nice showdown with the new swimmer Nikalas that he was friends with from Summer league.

05-08-2014, 12:41 PM	#412
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Chattahoochee Long Course Time Trials - RESULTS Bailey 200 IM – 3:09.45 – Good swim, dropping in 17+ seconds. 2:52.11. 50 Free – 38.78 – A big improvement in time down to a 33.40, but I was hoping for a bit better showing. There are still inefficiencies in her freestyle stroke. 200 Free – 2:52.19 – Another 17+ second improvement to 2:34.79 100 Back – 1:31.48 – Bailey swam a great race and came up just short of a state cut, posting a time of 1:19.95…the cut is 1:19.89… 200 Breast – NT – Bailey has a good, not great swim here. Finishing in 3:39.79…still needs to improve in breast for this stroke and for IMs moving forward, but it is much much better than it used to be… 100 Fly – 1:26.02 – I was blown away by this swim. Bailey finished second (the girl that beat her won the 100 fly at state) in the 11/12 age group, having just aged up to 12, and she finished in a time of 1:17.02. This time was faster than Brett swam his 100 Free (before Brett beat that time in the 200 Free the next day…) 100 Free – 1:16.14 – 1:13.16 is good, but still something isn’t translating... 200 Fly – NT – Again finished second (same girl from the 100 fly beat her)…posted a 2:53.83…only about 2 seconds off the cut for 13 year old girls…which is her new goal in this event. 200 Back – 3:01.64 – another close call on the cut…2:52.62, needs to drop about .4 of a second to get it. 400 IM – 6:48.11 – Another second place finish (same girl finished first)…and Bailey dropped a bunch of time. I was an interesting race, as Bailey was second after fly, lost a little ground on back, but was able to hold off a very good breaststroker and then beat her in the free as well. Final time was 6:04.83

05-14-2014, 08:32 AM	#413
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	General Update Well, the potentially promising long course season for Brett has most likely ended. Coming into the this long course season, the times for state cuts in Breast had been dropped by several seconds, to the point that Brett's personal bests in short course when converted to long course times are under the cut requirement. Unfortunately, we spent last night at Children's health care having Brett's knee evaluated, and the initial diagnosis is a facture on the growth plate of the tibia. We are in the process of setting up a appointment with a specialist and he's not to swim again until that appointment occurs. In addition, the typical healing time for something like this is 4 to 6 weeks, and if he's out of the water that long, his entire Summer season will be lost, as even if he can get into a race before state, he'll be so out of shape, he'll never swim the required times. Disappointing, but he's taking it well right now...we'll see how he feels in several weeks.

05-15-2014, 09:29 AM	#414
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Summer League - CRC Time Trials The Summer League starts tomorrow with the CRC Time Trials. Last year we skipped this event, but this time around we are going to swim, because Bailey was sort of edged out of some relays because she missed the opportunity to show she was faster than a couple of girls who got the nod over her during the season. I'm not going to go into much detail here, but figured I'd outline some information that may prove interesting during the season... In this meet, the kids each swim a 50 in all 4 strokes, thus providing the coaches a baseline in order to determine who competes in what event. --------------------------------------------- Brett Obviously with his fracture he won't be competing, but if he did, he'd win all 4 events as the rest of his age group is extremely weak. --------------------------------------------- Bear 50 Free - Bear will probably finish 3rd. He has a shot to beat Seth (Gold Swimmer, who joined the team this season), but probably won't. Riley will win this one, as Riley is a top swimmer for the age group in the state. 50 Back - should be 2nd, behind Riley again. 50 Breast - probably 3rd, behind Riley and Alex (Gold Swimmer and Breaststroker) 50 Fly - 2nd behind Riley. --------------------------------------------- Bailey 50 Free - My guess is 4th...could get 3rd, but also could get 5th...this one will be tight. 50 Back - Probably 2nd...could be as low as 4th though... 50 Breast - 4th 50 Fly - Should be 1st with a good swim.

05-19-2014, 09:37 AM	#415
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Summer League - CRC Time Trials So here are the results from Friday... ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bear In the boys 11/12 year old age group, 3 of the year round swimmers didn't compete at time trials, so Bear really had almost no competition. Also, it was very cold for a swim on Friday night (in the low 50s), so the team decided not to have warm ups. Combine that with the fact that Bear has been dealing with a sore shoulder and we told him just to take it easy. He won the Free, Back, and Fly by a lot. He got outtouched in the Breast, but wasn't really pushing it anyway... ------------------------------------------------------------------ Bailey 50 Free - 5th - this was disappointing because she's currently outside of the A relay, and with Summer League she may not get another chance to drop time in that event. 50 Back - 2nd - a good swim, as she was well ahead of third place. 50 Breast - 5th - this was disappointing only in the fact she was beaten by an 11 year old from a later heat. She didn't have her best swim here. 50 Fly - 2nd - she was disappointed she didn't win this one, but she was close enough to winning that she should be the Flyer on the A relay (as the girl that beat her also beat her in Back and should swim that stroke on the relay). Note: Bailey's results were very interesting. She was disappointed in her Freestyle and Fly as she was hoping to do better in both...but that isn't what was interesting. What was interesting was the girls that beat Bailey in the Free and the one in the Fly all had their time Swim Atlanta trials on Saturday...and they all swam 100 Meter events in all 4 strokes. Every single one of there times were slower than Bailey's time trial times from a couple weeks ago. In fact, they were several seconds slower. Obviously, those girls must be doing much more sprint practicing if they are beating Bailey in a 50 Yard race, but would lose by several seconds in a 100 Meter race of the same stroke.

05-22-2014, 09:02 AM	#416
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Chattahoochee Gold Swim Banquet The team swim banquet was held last night. Unfortunately, I can give much information as I didn't attend. Brett got home late afternoon from his 8th grade field trip to Savannah, right as the wife and twins were leaving for the banquet. He was exhausted from the trip and didn't want to go, so I stayed home with him. As you may remember from last year, Bailey won the Gold Award for the 9/10 girls, and she presented the team trophy to this years winner and received her personal trophy to keep. Surprisingly, Bear won the Gold Award this year for the 11/12 boys. This was suprising, not from the standpoint of he didn't deserve it, but more from the standpoint of typical team politics. I felt given that Bailey won last year, there was almost no way Bear would win this year. Moreover, half of the 10 winners came from the Cumming pool, so I figured there would be pressure to select a swimmer from one of the other 3 locations. Regardless, I am very sorry I missed the presentation. The coach was extremely complementary of Bear's effort. In summarizing his presentation, the coach noted that at the beginning of the season Bailey was doing extremely well and was moved up to Sectional Advanced, but Bear wasn't ready for that move. However, Bear continued to work extremely hard, doing exactly what he was asked, they way he was asked and he was able to not only get to Secontional Advanced before the end of the season, he was swimming so well he earned 4 state medals. The coach went on to say that this is exactly the type of kid you want on your team, and that he really loved coaching Bear (at which point he genuinely got choaked up). Bear was embarassed to get up on stage and when he got the trophy at the edge of the stairs to the stage, he immediately started to retreat to his seat, but the coach stopped him, ran across the stage and gave him a big hug. I'm extremely happy for Bear... Unfortunately, when the wife and kids got home, Brett was very excited to talk about his trip to his mom, but when he saw Bear's trophy he was once again slapped in the face with the realilzation that the twins continue to get recognized for their efforts and successes while he continues to struggle. Couple that with the fact, Bailey was irrationally upset with him for a different issue and he basically clammed up and went to bed. I keep hoping all Brett's hardwork will start paying off soon.

05-27-2014, 10:30 AM	#417
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	General Update So the CRC Stingrays have updated the team website, including pictures, and Bailey is now in a couple of them. If you are interested here is the link... Summer League Team Site Bailey is the one swimming fly...she is also in the picture of a group of girls wearing the black team t-shirts, she's the second from the right...

05-28-2014, 07:56 AM	#418
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League - vs Creekstone ---------------------------------------------------- Brett Brett goes to the Dr. today (Wednesday 5/28), to determine the health of his knee. We are hopeful he'll be cleared to starts swimming again. If he is cleared he is scheduled to swim the following on Thursday night... 15-18 Medley Relay - Freestyle Leg (this could easily change to Breast at the meet) 13-14 - 100 Free 13-14 - 100 IM 13-14 - 50 Breast 15-18 - Free Relay (third leg) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey A Medley Relay - Fly Leg 50 Back 100 IM B Free Relay - Anchor ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bear A Medley Relay - Back Leg 50 Back 100 IM A Free Relay - Second Leg Last edited by Breeze : 05-30-2014 at 07:51 AM. Reason: formatting

05-30-2014, 07:51 AM	#419
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League - vs Creekstone - RESULTS ---------------------------------------------------- Brett Brett was cleared to start swimming on Wednesday, and actually, he was healing so well he's been completely cleared for all activity with one caveat - if it hurts stop. 15-18 Medley Relay - Brett swam the Freestyle leg, and it was unfortunate. The first three legs were very tight. When the freestyle leg started Brett and the opponent hit the water about the same time. The only problem was the 18 year old swimming for the opponent has a National Cut in the 50 free (read that as he qualifies for the National Championship and Olympic Trials in that event). It would not have mattered who swam for our team, we weren't going to keep up. But Brett feels he let the relay guys down, and he was embarrassed. 13-14 - 100 Free - won the event and swam a 1:05 13-14 - 100 IM - finished 2nd swam a 1:15 13-14 - 50 Breast - finished 2nd (same kid that beat him in the 100 IM beat him here), swam a 38 15-18 - Free Relay (third leg) - RAINED OUT --------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey A Medley Relay - Fly Leg - Bailey's team not only won this event, they lapped every other team in the pool. Only about 3 seconds off of the county record with several weeks and a faster pool for the meet. There is a shot... 50 Back - Bailey won on the start with a great stream line. Swam a 32 100 IM - finished second, lost by less than a second to teammate Emilie. 1:10 B Free Relay - Anchor - RAINED OUT ----------------------------------------------------------------- Bear A Medley Relay - Back Leg - Bear's team also lapped the other teams 50 Back - Won with the start - swam in 35 seconds even though he got into the ropes again. 100 IM - Won it going away 1:14 A Free Relay - Second Leg - RAINED OUT The team won by 200 points.... Last edited by Breeze : 05-30-2014 at 07:51 AM.

06-04-2014, 12:53 PM	#420
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League - vs Longlake I don't have a final breakdown of the meet tomorrow, but here is what is currently in place... --------------------------------------------------- Brett 13/14 Medley Relay - Breast leg (and they will get killed) 100 Free 100 IM 50 Breast 13/14 Free Relay - lead off leg (and they will get killed) --------------------------------------------------- Bailey 11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg 100 IM - racing Emilie 50 Fly - racing Caroline 11/12 B Free Relay - anchor leg --------------------------------------------------- Bear 11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg 50 Back 100 Free - moved to clear up the mess in the 100 IM (100 IM - currently set to race Seth and Riley in this event - the 3 best boys on the team all in the same event...I've told the coach she needs to adjust this) 11/12 A Free Relay - 3rd Leg Last edited by Breeze : 06-05-2014 at 06:50 AM. Reason: competition listed wrong

06-06-2014, 07:55 AM	#421
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League - vs Longlake - RESULTS --------------------------------------------------- Brett 13/14 Medley Relay - Actually, this was much closer than it should have been. Brett was about 15 yards behind in his leg and he handed the flyer about a 5 yard lead, which was lost at the first turn. Brett's team ended up losing by about 5 yards. 100 Free - Got a big lead early and Cruised to a win... 100 IM - RAINED OUT 50 Breast - RAINED OUT 13/14 Free Relay - lead off leg (and they will get killed) - RAINED OUT --------------------------------------------------- Bailey 11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg - Won going away...slightly slower than last week. 100 IM - racing Emilie - RAINED OUT 50 Fly - racing Caroline - RAINED OUT 11/12 B Free Relay - anchor leg - RAINED OUT --------------------------------------------------- Bear 11/12 A Medley Relay - Backstroke leg - Won going away...Bear still got in the ropes again...outdoor backstroke is so much harder... 50 Back - RAINED OUT 100 Free - moved to clear up the mess in the 100 IM - Won by about 10 yards. (100 IM - currently set to race Seth and Riley in this event - the 3 best boys on the team all in the same event...I've told the coach she needs to adjust this) 11/12 A Free Relay - 3rd Leg - RAINED OUT FINAL SCORE: Due to the rain, I didn't get the final score, but we were leading by 120 points and we weren't even half way through the meet. Last edited by Breeze : 06-18-2014 at 03:11 PM.

06-11-2014, 11:20 AM	#422
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League - vs Aberdean --------------------------------------------------- Brett #10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:40.45 1/3 #32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:05.02 1/3 #44 Boys 13-14 50 Back NT 1/3 #54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/3 #64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 33.00 1/3 #74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly NT 1/3 #84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (1) NT --------------------------------------------------- Bailey #7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:08.23 1/3 #51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.70 1/3 #71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 31.56 1/3 #81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:52.72 1/3 --------------------------------------------------- Bear #8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:11.69 1/3 #42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 35.28 1/3 #52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.73 1/3 #82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:57.01 1/3 And in case you are wondering...yes it is supposed to rain again on Thursday night... Last edited by Breeze : 06-13-2014 at 11:42 AM.

06-11-2014, 11:24 AM	#423
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League - vs Aberdean - RESULTS --------------------------------------------------- Brett #10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:40.45 1/3 - So this was hilarious...Brett was doing the fly in the relay because he's the only one that could do it legally...as I watched him on the blocks waiting for the breaststroker to get to the wall, I realized he hadn't put his goggles over his eyes. They were on top of his head, and sure enough, my "briliant" kid dove in without having his goggles ready. Didn't matter...they had already been lapped by the time Brett hit the water. #32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:05.02 1/3 - Improved to a 1:04.xx and beat another year rounder who was a year older and several inches taller... #44 Boys 13-14 50 Back NT 1/3 - Ok swim, not a ton of effort but did well enough. #54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/3 - Similar to back...did ok #64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 33.00 1/3- the closest finish I've ever dealt with. Brett raced 2 other boys to the wall and in fact, (I serve at the place judge representative on our team), my order of finish, the other teams order of finish, and the starter's order of finish all were different. The stop watch times, which as I've discussed previously are terrible inaccurate had the two boys from the other team in a dead heat 36.96, and Brett at a 37.02, but Brett was actually given the win...(watches are not the measure in most Summer League meets) #74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly NT 1/3 - Did ok in the first 25, then breathed every stroke coming home and finished 3rd #84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (1) NT - Brett led off, and stayed close to the B team for the opponent...then it was downhill from there... --------------------------------------------------- Bailey #7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:08.23 1/3 - Bailey opened a big lead in the back, and they ended up lapping 4 of the 5 lanes with only the B relay staying within 20 seconds. #51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.70 1/3 - Great race between Bailey and Emilie...neck and neck the entire way. Bailey lost by about a finger's length #71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 31.56 1/3 - Won going away. #81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:52.72 1/3 - Won going away. Again lapped 4 of 5 lanes. --------------------------------------------------- Bear #8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:11.69 1/3 - Read Bailey's medley relay...as this was almost a carbon copy #42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 35.28 1/3 - pulled away here, just like the opening backstroke leg in the medley relay #52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.73 1/3 - blew away the field #82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:57.01 1/3 - Won going away...lapped all but 2 lanes. FINAL SCORE: CRC - 408 Aberdean - 388 Last edited by Breeze : 06-18-2014 at 03:10 PM.

06-11-2014, 11:41 AM	#424
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – 6/14 - 6/15 The meet this weekend has a pretty screwed up approach, and I'm not really pleased about it. Each race will be mixed gender and no age group delineation, just separated by seed times. While this may make the event go slightly quicker...it clearly sets up a situation where the boys (especially Brett) may walk away embarassed. ------------------------------------------------------------ Brett 100 Brst - 1:30.31 200 Back - 3:02.76 50 Free - 36.54 100 BFly - 1:53.08 200 Brst - 3:11.23 100 Free - 1:17.93 (really a 1:15.xx from the opening of the 200 free at time trials) 50 Brst - 43:49 800 Free - 11:20.37 (won't get in due to limited number of swimmers allowed in this event) --------------------------------------------------------- Bailey 100 Brst - 1:50.29 200 Back - 2:52.62 100 Bfly - 1:17.02 400 IM - 6:04.83 200 Bfly - 2:53.83 100 Back - 1:19.95 800 Free - NT (won't get in due to limited number of swimmers allowed in this event) ------------------------------------------------------- Bear 100 Brst - 1:52.82 200 Back - 3:14.17 50 Free - 35.66 400 IM - 6:06.35 100 Free - 1:11.43 100 Back - 1:25.57 50 Bfly - 42.69 800 Free - 10:42.77 (Bear might make it in, depending on who doesn't positive enter)... Last edited by Breeze : 06-16-2014 at 10:01 AM.

06-16-2014, 11:04 AM	#425
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------ Brett 100 Brst - 1:30.31 – Brett raced right next to one of the girls (14) from the group that hangs out all the time. They were neck and neck the entire way, and Brett managed to just out touch her at the wall winning by .03 seconds 1:30.09. While this is an improvement, it is becoming obvious Brett’s breaststroke is flat-lining. We haven’t seen any major improvements this season. It may be related to his growth (several inches in a couple of months), but if he’s going to improve it may require a little extra and personal attention (read: private lessons). We’ll see if he is interested in that…currently my feeling is he’s afraid his friends will find out and make fun of him…but who knows. 200 Back - 3:02.76 – Not a great race here. His backstroke had been improving but he added a second and ended with 3:03.80. 50 Free - 36.54 – Terrible dive…too deep – but still improved by 1.38 seconds. Could have cut another second plus with a better dive…35.16 100 BFly - 1:53.08 – Dropped almost 10 seconds here. Of course he had it to lose. 1:43.19. Numerous parents commented on how good the form was…so there is progress. If he’ll not breath every stroke he could drop another 10 in a heartbeat. 200 Brst - 3:11.23 – flat-lined…almost exactly the same time 3:11.32 100 Free - 1:17.93 (really a 1:15.xx from the opening of the 200 free at time trials) – 1:14.79…so an improvement even over is 1:15.xx time. Unfortunately, he lost to a 12 year old girl in the lane next to him, and that girl swims on the Summer league team. We’ll see if there is any teasing that comes from this. 50 Brst - 43:49 – dropped just over a second 42.38. Still pretty pedestrian improvement. 800 Free - 11:20.37 – He actually did get in…and he managed to drop 14.77 seconds. Could have done better as he had a lot left when he got out. Just can’t get him to buy in and really push in the distance frees. 11:05.60

06-16-2014, 11:07 AM	#426
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------ Bailey 100 Brst - 1:50.29 – her breast is starting to get much better. She swam a 1:37.77. This will pay huge dividends down the road, especially in the IMs if she can keep up this improved form. 200 Back - 2:52.62 – Dropped a couple seconds 2:50.06 – wasn’t terribly pleased with it. She was hoping for better. She earned a state cut anyway... 100 Bfly - 1:17.02 – 1:15.89 – a nice drop from just about a month ago. Still breathed too much, and she knows it too. 400 IM - 6:04.83 – over 10 second drop…5:54.60…unfortunately, her touch on the breast to free turn didn’t register, so I don’t have that split 200 Bfly - 2:53.83 – In this race Bailey was next to an 18 year old boy. She had two 16 year old boys and three 16 year old girls, and several 15 year olds in her heat. She definitely tired as she had a couple of long deliberate strokes in order to rest…but she still managed to drop 3.6 seconds. She finished with a 2:50.15…and in case you were wondering. She beat the 18 year old…(in fact, she finished third in the heat). This swim was good enough for the 13 year old cut... 100 Back - 1:19.95 – Added time here 1:20.60…I think this is from fatigue. 50 Bfly – 37.37 – Dropped 3 seconds…34.31…said she had more time to drop. Needs to clean up a couple of things. Has begged coach to put her in it at the next meet. Only .02 from the cut... 800 Free – Did Not Get In

06-16-2014, 11:09 AM	#427
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Swim with Dad - @ GaTech – RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------ Bear 100 Brst - 1:52.82 – Also a big drop for Bear here…1:42.02… 200 Back - 3:14.17 – 17 second drop…2:56.85 - Dive was way too deep. Could get another second of 2 with a better angle on the start 50 Free - 35.66 – Pretty good improvement here…but his dive was too deep again. If his underwater work wasn’t so strong it would kill his time. 33.32. 400 IM - 6:06.35 – 5:51.08…was racing MK…they were neck and neck the entire way…and all the kids were cheering them on, as they had bets on who would win. Bear had a slight lead in fly, opened it some in back (which was surprising given MK’s back)…he lost the lead by about half a body in breast, but in the free, his ability at distance swimming and stamina took over and he beat her by about a second. Brett bet against Bear and lost…in case you were wondering. 100 Free - 1:11.43 – only a slight drop 1:11.09 100 Back - 1:25.57 – again a slight drop 1:24.79 50 Bfly - 42.69 – Dropped 4 seconds here. Still breathing too much (or at least lifting his head to high through the stroke)…I think there are a couple more seconds once he gets the stroke ironed out a bit more. 38.65 800 Free - 10:42.77 – Right before Bear’s swim, Riley (one of the gang) was playing around and he hit Bear right on the nose with a water bottle. It is bruised pretty bad…and Bear was hurting a bit. However, he went into this wanting to swim splits under 1:20…Because the race had 2 people in a lane in order to finish quicker…I don’t have his splits, but I can tell you from doing my math, that he was only above the 1:20 range on the second split. Then he really picked it up, and he churned out a race with a final time of 10:22.19. This is a AAA time, and qualifies him for the All-Star banquet (whenever it will be held again)…

06-18-2014, 07:52 AM	#428
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League at Polo Fields Breeze, Brett - Male - Age: 13 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 4 / 2 #12 Boys 15-18 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.32 1/5 #32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:04.81 1/5 #54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/5 #64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 33.00 1/5 #74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly 38.65 1/5 #86 Boys 15-18 200 Free Relay (2) NT 1/5 10 Breeze, Bear - Male - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2 #8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71 1/5 #30 Boys 11-12 100 Free 1:03.00 1/5 #42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63 1/5 - Bear will be racing Seth here, and that will give me a good idea for the Medley Relay #82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:55.18 1/5 Breeze, Bailey - Female - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2 #7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (3) 2:05.44 1/5 #19 Girls 11-12 50 Free 28.47 1/5 - This is Bailey's shot to get into the A free relay at county #51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65 1/3 #81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08 1/3 Last edited by Breeze : 06-18-2014 at 03:14 PM. Reason: Brett moved to 15-18 Relays...

06-20-2014, 06:28 AM	#429
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	CRC Summer League at Polo Fields - RESULTS The kids had an extremely hard practice with Gold Thursday morning, and it really showed up during the races... Breeze, Brett - Male - Age: 13 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 4 / 2 *#12 Boys 15-18 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.32 1/5* - I had the team move Brett into the 15-18 relay, because even with Brett in the 13/14 relay they were not going to win, and the other boy that was scheduled swim up, would have killed the 15/18 teams chances. As it turns out, Brett had a lead heading into the Free Leg (they older boys told him that was their best configuration), but his dive was a bit too deep, and he was passed at the wall and out touched by about a hands length. He felt, bad, but at least he gave them a chance. An easier practice, or a more shallow dive and he wins that one. *#32 Boys 13-14 100 Free 1:04.81 1/5* - working on some stuff with his free kick right now, and it appears to be working. Had a nice swim, but Polo has 3 of the best 13/14 year olds in the county... *#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91 1/5* - Fly looks much better, and new free kick was better too... *#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 36.80 1/5* - Did ok here... *#74 Boys 13-14 50 Fly 38.65 1/5* - First 25 of the fly was very good for Brett...back half fatigue set in a bit and he faided, but form is much better. *#86 Boys 15-18 200 Free Relay (2) NT 1/5* - The older boys let Brett lead off and then they tried to swim down the other team. They nearly did, losing by less than a body length... -------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Breeze, Bear - Male - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2 *#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71 1/5* - Bear and Seth switched places, and they dropped almost 2 seconds as a relay. Part of that might be contributed to the fact Polo's back and breast leg swimmers (the first two in the relay) are very good (both Gold kids), and we were actualy trialing heading into the fly... *#30 Boys 11-12 100 Free 1:03.00 1/5* - Got a big lead early and cruised... *#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63 1/5* - Seth beat bear, and so did their backstroker (who is one of the best 11/12s in county. He won the year round backstroke for 11 year olds at short course state. *#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (2) 1:55.18 1/5* - Seth lost the opening 50 to the same kid that swam back. Bear closed some on the kid that swam Breast in the relay, but they were still swimming. The 3rd swimmer closed the gap and actually had a very slight lead heading into the anchor. Then Riley blew the field. Winning by 15 yards... ---------------------------------------------------- Breeze, Bailey - Female - Age: 12 - CRCS-AS - Ind/Rel: 2 / 2 *#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (3) 2:05.44 1/5* - With Bailey in fly and Caroline and back they were over a full second faster... *#19 Girls 11-12 50 Free 28.47 1/5 -* - Fatigue from practice killed her chances...she swam a 29 low, and she needed to swim a 28 low... *#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65 1/3* - swam around a 1:11...looked good but tired. *#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08 1/3* - Nearly swam down the Polo Fields A relay from the Anchor spot of the CRC B Relay...

06-24-2014, 08:05 AM	#430
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic 6/27 – 6/29 This is our busy weekend, where we will swim a year round meet on Friday and Sunday and the Summer League County Championship on Saturday. The information below is for the year round meet…I’ll create a separate thread for the county championship. This is a prelim/final meet...and the twins look like they will be making finals in several events. Brett may make finals in the breaststrokes... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brett # 2 Male 13-14 200 Free 2:37.73L - I found an article that went into the science of the flutter kick, which seemed to resonate with Brett. He has been working pretty hard to correct some fundamental mistakes, so I'm very interested to see how he does in his freestyle events. # 10 Male 13-14 100 Breast 1:30.09L - He made a change this week to his breast, he's really staying a lot lower in the water. He thinks he is much faster, and the coach seems to like it. # 28 Male 13-14 400 Medley 6:11.31L - With improved fly and free, he could drop a bunch of time, especially, if he will limit breathing during the fly. # 78 Male 13-14 200 Medley 3:01.33L - See 400 IM above # 96 Male 13-14 200 Back 3:02.76L - I expect similar results here...no real changes in the back. # 108 Male 13-14 800 Free 11:05.60L - see 200 Free Brett’s best change to get a state cut is in the 200 Breast, which is being offered on Saturday. Unfortunately, the year round meet and the county championship are at the same time, so Brett won’t be able to do both. He has elected to swim the year round meet, (which is the right decision) so we will be deck entering him and having to divide the family to get to both place. Not sure who’s going were right now… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey # 7 Woman 11-12 200 Medley 2:52.11L # 23 Woman 11-12 50 Back 40.67L # 83 Woman 11-12 50 Fly 34.31L # 111 Woman 11-12 400 Free 5:50.33L - This is the one event that she really needs to improve. Got to get that Free more effective...she sounds like she's ready to work a bit harder on these mid distance swims now... Ok, you are probably wondering why Bailey only has 4 events…well, the coach messed up and entered Bailey in both the 50 and 200 backs and flys…which isn’t allowed, it is an either/or situation. So we’ll have to scratch 2 events. Because Bailey has her cuts in both the 200s and she doesn’t have her cuts in the 50s it is a pretty easy choice. We’ll deck enter her in some other events…probably a breast and maybe the 800 Free… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bear # 8 Male 11-12 200 Medley 2:59.36L - Needs to keep head down on fly legs...if he does he'll drop time # 16 Male 11-12 100 Free 1:11.09L - Feels he can go under 1:10 # 26 Male 11-12 200 Back 2:56.85L - Needs to shallow out start and turns a bit. He's strong underwater, but he's too deep and he loses momentum # 82 Male 11-12 200 Fly 3:08.69L - See the 200 IM # 102 Male 11-12 200 Breast 3:59.95L # 112 Male 11-12 400 Free 5:13.66L - I don't think he's done this in a while, and his most recent drop in the 800 tells me he should be able to drop a good bit of time here... Last edited by Breeze : 06-24-2014 at 08:17 AM.

06-25-2014, 09:40 AM	#431
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Summer League - Forsyth County Championships @ Ga Tech - 6/28 The goal here is to get into the top 3, as that earns a medal and a spot on the County Team for the GRPA State Meet, and to get into the top 12 of the Free Style as that earns a spot on the Free Relays. If you finish outside of the magic numbers, you have to wait and see if everyone in front of you is actually going to participate at GRPA State... -------------------------------------------------------------------- Brett Breeze - Male - Age: 13 - Comp#: 1492 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2 As mentioned previously, Brett probably won't be swimming this meet, as he'll be at the year round meeting going for his state cut...however, if somehow we get done early and make it over the Tech in time, this is what is on his plate... *#10 Boys 13-14 200 Medley Relay (2) 2:42.63* - Will finish last with or without Brett *#22 Boys 13-14 50 Free X32.09* - I believe Brett would actually swim close to 30.5 in this one...not good enought to make a relay though. *#54 Boys 13-14 100 IM 1:15.91* - seeded 8th out of 17...probably would finish 8th as well... *#64 Boys 13-14 50 Breast 36.60* - coming in seeded 6th...could finish as high as 3rd, and depending on who elects not to go to GRPA state, he might make the County Team... *#84 Boys 13-14 200 Free Relay (4) 2:13.00* - Will finish last with our without Brett -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey Breeze - Female - Age: 12 - Comp#: 1493 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2 *#7 Girls 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:05.83 -* At the beginning of the season, I thought this team might have a chance to break the county record of 2:01.44, but the best they have managed so far this season is a 2:04 low (the 2:05 seed time is the third fastest of the season). They may improve a bit due to some tapering being done by Bailey and Emilie for the Stu Hixon meet, but 3 full seconds is a lot to ask... *#19 Girls 11-12 50 Free X28.47* - Bailey is the 5th seed on the team in free (though I think she is actually the 3rd fastest), and she's seeded 7th in the county. She'll make a relay unless she has a terrible swim...might even slip into the top 4... *#51 Girls 11-12 100 IM 1:10.65* - Bailey is seeded 3rd...half a second behind Emilie (which is what we see each Thursday) and 1 second behind first. She's a good 5 seconds ahead of 4th...so should get to swim this at GRPA State. *#71 Girls 11-12 50 Fly 30.87* - Comes in with the top seed...but it will be close with the top 5 all within a second...need a good dive!!! *#81 Girls 11-12 200 Free Relay (4) 1:59.08* - Because Bailey is the 5th seed, she's on the B relay...but they are seeded 4th in the county. 4 good swims and they might actually medal. They aren't that far behind the seed time for third. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bear Breeze - Male - Age: 12 - Comp#: 1532 - Ind/Rel: 3 / 2 *#8 Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay (1) 2:09.71* - Bear should swim the Free on this relay not back, as they swim 2:07s with that configuration. Have a shot to win this event. *#20 Boys 11-12 50 Free X29.44* - Bear is actually a bit faster than this I think, probably closer to a 28.5. But it may not matter as he's seeded 8th and 7th is a 28.5... *#42 Boys 11-12 50 Back 34.63* - Bear is seeded 4th, but he's gotten into the ropes each week, and he does a much better job of not doing that when he's inside. If he can stay out of the ropes and not go too deep on the dive, he might get as high as second. *#52 Boys 11-12 100 IM 1:14.12* - Also seeded 4th...but one in front of his has a bad time, and one behind him has an old time. He'll have a battle to get into the top three so he can swim it a GRPA state regardless. *#82 Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay (3) 1:55.30* - Another relay where they could possibly win the county championship. Last edited by Breeze : 06-25-2014 at 12:49 PM.

06-26-2014, 10:51 AM	#432
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Just for Fun If you are reading along, and have never been to a Summer Swim Meet, I thought I'd give you a bit of a peek inside. I can vouche for a lot of the information below, as I see it all the time, and lived it when my kids were younger.. This is from an article on Huffington Post... ------------------------------------------------- I have three kids, and they all swim on a swim team every summer. I decided to capture my experience at a morning swim meet, for those of you not in the water cult. 6:00 a.m.: Wake up, drink coffee. Wake up grouchy children. 6:45 a.m.: Arrive at pool. Parking lot is already full. Let the kids out and park far away. Carry/drag chairs, bags and a cooler as if I were large pack animal. It occurs to me suddenly that as mother of three there is no denying that I am a large pack animal. 6:58 a.m.: Small miracle occurs. I find a great place to set up chairs, etc. Next to friends. With a good view of the pool. In full shade. Wish I'd brought a sweatshirt actually, it's kind of chilly. 7:00 a.m.: Kids jump into the freezing cold pool for warm-ups and exchange looks with each other like -- WHY DO WE DO THIS AGAIN? 7:30 a.m.: Children begin harassing me for money for the snack bar. I try to hand them something healthy from the cooler. Suddenly every other kid at the swim meet is eating large, chocolate-frosted doughnuts. 8:00 a.m.: A 10th grader is now singing the national anthem. She is really good. Why do I get slightly (and embarrassingly) choked up by this, yet again? And why is it a surprise every time it happens? I am dumb. 8:05 a.m.: Child number one swims and makes it across the pool without a near-fatal drowning accident occurring. Success! 8:25 a.m.: Children two and three have raced, and I screamed my head off to KICK! KICK! KICK! even though I know perfectly well that they can't hear me underwater and so it's pointless. I don't want to yell KICK! KICK! KICK! But it just comes out. 8:30 a.m.: Give in and take kids to the snack bar for doughnuts (as I am out of coffee anyway). 8:55 a.m.: Child number two runs over to me, dripping wet and beaming. "Did you see that, Mommy?! Did you see that?!" I blink twice and answer: "Yes! That was awesome! Here, have a dollar! Go get another doughnut!" The moms sitting next to me giggle. 9:00 a.m.: Still cursing myself for participating in a sport where if you get distracted for literally 30 seconds you miss the whole thing. 9:20 a.m.: Child number three swims her best time ever and is so happy she can't stand it. It might be the best feeling in the world. 9:40 a.m.: Feel momentary surge of guilt for not volunteering today. Then remember that husband is traveling and I'm on my own with the kiddos. And also how I stayed until 10:30 p.m. to move chairs around on the pool deck and take out trash at the night meet last week. 10:05 a.m.: At some point, the kids drag the cooler of healthy snacks over to the picnic area. I go to retrieve it and observe that all of the food in it appears to have been consumed by wolves. 10:15 a.m.: Get to see lots of familiar faces and families from last year, which is great. Why do all these kids keep growing so much? Dear GOD -- that one has a mustache. Last year he was playing with Pokemon. 10:20 a.m.: Child number two has apparently forgotten how to do the backstroke and gets disqualified. He is devastated for five minutes and then says: "I'm hungry! Can I have a doughnut?" 10:30 a.m.: A kid is swimming breaststroke for the first time. He is tiny and can barely make it across the pool. All the other swimmers in the race have finished and are hanging onto the wall, watching him. He looks around and sees he's dead last. He starts to sag in the water. Parents who don't even know the kid begin to cheer their hearts out. KICK! KICK! KICK! Teenage coaches from the other team start clapping for him and running up and down the side of the pool. He touches the wall and the whole place goes nuts for him. The swimmers in the lanes on either side of him shake his hand and pat him on the back. 10:40 a.m.: Still thinking about how happy I am to be participating in a sport where a kid who comes in last still walks away feeling awesome. 10:45 a.m.: My chair is now in full sun and it's hot as balls. 10:49 a.m.: The timers are switching to the other side of the pool and "Gangnam Style" starts to play over the speakers. A horde of small children start to boogie down. Some of them know all the moves and it quickly becomes a dance battle for the ages. 10:55 a.m.: Child number three swims her hardest and gets crushed by the kids who train all winter. She's still smiling because she beat her best time. 10:59 a.m.: Child number two wanders over and says: "I'M HUNGRY." 11:05 a.m.: Misplace my youngest child, age 5. Find her sitting with John Ross, a 15-year-old boy she adores, who is very patiently discussing Spiderman with her. I ask her to come back to our chairs. She glares at me and says: "WE ARE TALKING. ABOUT SPIDERMAN." 11:30 a.m.: The crowd has thinned and the meet is winding down. Watching the teenagers swim butterfly now. It's kind of beautiful. I make a comment about this to my kids, in the hopes that they'll watch and really observe how it's done when it's done well. The big kids glance at the race for two-fifths of a second, then go back to playing Uno in a towel fort with their friends. The little one is asleep in a lounge chair with a ring pop dangling off one finger. Noon: Arrive home. Face sunburned to a bright red. Want to collapse into the dark, air conditioned living room and not move ever again. 12:05 p.m.: Child number three wanders into the living room and says: "I'm bored. Can we go to the pool?"

06-26-2014, 10:46 PM	#433
thealmighty Pro Starter Join Date: May 2003 Location: heaven	Since it's been 3 months since someone other than you has made a post in this thread, here is one. And, btw, this is my favorite dynasty thread, so don't close it until the twins go to college (or they all quit swimming). __________________ Check out The Unofficial FOFC Movie Guide Here

06-27-2014, 11:52 AM	#435
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Quick Update Brett complained last night of not feeling well. This morning at 5 when I woke him up, he didn't say anything, but based on his results (I'm not at the meet, had to go to work, so I'm following along with the post race results only), he must still be feeling poorly. He added a good bit of time in all his races. His last chance for a state cut this season appears to be slipping away... Last edited by Breeze : 06-27-2014 at 02:20 PM.

07-01-2014, 09:39 AM	#436
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Quick Update So we took Brett to the doctor, and it turns out he has a virus. A significant enough virus that it actually has a name (though I don't remember it). Apparently, it lasts about a week, so we are looking at several more days of him being less than 100%... The wife has also apparently developed the same virus...and her comment to me about it..."I don't know how Brett managed to swim feeling like this..." Last edited by Breeze : 07-01-2014 at 09:57 AM.

07-01-2014, 10:24 AM	#437
Breeze Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern Suburbs of ATL	Stu Hixon Invite @ Mt View Aquatic – DAY 1 PRELIM RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brett # 2 Male 13-14 200 Free 2:37.73L – Added 2.49 seconds to his personal best… # 10 Male 13-14 100 Breast 1:30.09L – Added 2.59 seconds to his personal best # 28 Male 13-14 400 Medley 6:11.31L – Added almost 10 seconds… Brett’s illness really took a toll…as he was sluggish and stiff in these races. Coach even commented that he didn’t look right… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bailey # 7 Woman 11-12 200 Medley 2:52.11L – Bailey improved to a 2:47.73 in prelims and finished 10, thus qualifying for finals later that evening…this brought Bailey to almost exactly a second off a State Cut… # 23 Woman 11-12 50 Back 40.67L – In the back Bailey dropped 3.65 seconds to a 37.02 and finished 6th, qualifying for the finals, and getting a state cut… #33 Woman 11-12 800 Free NT – We did get Bailey entered in the 800 Free and she swam an impressive 10:46.84, which was good enough for 12 overall and a state cut… ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bear # 8 Male 11-12 200 Medley 2:59.36L - dropped time to 2:54.40…but finished 14 and didn’t make finals. # 16 Male 11-12 100 Free 1:11.09L – Did go a 1:10.52…but was disappointed. Also finished 11, so no finals appearance. # 26 Male 11-12 200 Back 2:56.85L - Better start, dropped 1.24 seconds and finished in 2:55.61…finished 8 and qualified for finals. Needed to drop another 1.5 seconds to get a state cut. Last edited by Breeze : 07-01-2014 at 10:24 AM.