JO's DAY 4

The Final Act of the Meet

 Some of the Mako faces

5:45 and here we go for day 4 and the last swims of the meet.  As I walked to the pool this morning it felt a little colder than when I left a few hours before.  Could that  be a sign of some sorts.

We started the first session with a very good warm up withe the 13-14 year olds with Coach Peter in one pool and the 11-12 year olds in another pool with myself.  The session started with the 400 free relay and we had 5 entered.  The men and woman had an A relay each and the 13-14 year old men also had a B relay entered.  All 20 swimmers swam some strong 100's as we got ready for the individual events.  All 5 relays posted best times.

We would start with the back stroke the older kids doing the 200 and the younger ones the 100.  We had 3 swims with Jackson posting a best time, and Julia dropping over 5 seconds.

Next up was the 100 free were we had 7 swimmers entered, posting 5 best swims (Maggie, Lauren,, Gabby, Marcelo, and Elena Summers with a Sectional cut).  The other 2 swimmers posted their entry times.  The younger swimmers got to do the 50 today and we had 7 best times ( Kent, Alex, Anthony, Peter,Emily, Allison, Jessica) out of 11 swims.  The other 4 swims were very near their best posted times.

Next to the blocks were our fliers, Marcelo in the 200 fly posting a best time.  We had six 11-12 year olds swimming the 100 fly with Anthony, Ellie M. Peter, Alexa  all swimming best times.

Our last swimmer of the evening was our Iron Lady Gabby who set a team record on Thursday in the mile would now take a shot at the 1000 free. She would end up swimming a best time by over 4 seconds to finish off the session for our older swimmers.  

We had a little time to catch our breath before the 10 and unders would arrive for the next session.  The 10 and unders had a great warm up and appeared ready to swim fast, we would soon see.  the session started off with 2 relays and each of them posted a best time. 

The individual events started with the 100 back and we had 8 entries.  Posting best times  were Justin,  Matthew,Natalie F., Siodoni, Ava, Kevin.

Next in the pool would the 50 free style swimmers of which we would have 6 splashes.  We would post 3 best times and 3 of the same times in this event.

The next event up was the 100 fly where we would swim 2 best times with Michael, and Justin.  Claire K. had a great 50 and would finish just a little off of her best time.

The last event of the session was the boys 500 free where Kevin would have a great swim dropping 17 seconds and winning his heat by half a pool.  A very good way to finish off the session.

I had a couple hours to hang out at the pool before the last session of the meet would begin, a little time to walk around upstairs and visit with the parents, but I couldn't find any Oh well.  So I went back down to the pool.

SUNDAY FINAL SWIMMERS

Justin Singletary swimming a best time in the 100 back

Elena Summers in the 100 free with about the same time as her best from the morning.

Marcelo Coray swimming a best time in the 100 free.

Alexa Cuomo swimming a best time in the 50 free.

Peter Makin swimming a best time in the 50 free, and Anthony Grimm coming close to his best time posted from the morning.

Allison Hickey and Emily Drakopoulos swimming a little off of their best times posted in the morning.

Alexa Cuomo had one more fly event setting a new record in the 100 fly that she had set in the morning.

Our last swim of the meet was Anthony Grimm in the 100 fly.  He swam a very gusty race but just ran out of gas on the last 30 yards. 

SOME FINAL THOUGHTS

I want to first thank all the parents for getting your children back and forth to the pool over the weekend for their events  and I am sure your swimmers are thankful even if they don't express it. o he

If any of you swimmers see this take some time to thank your parents.  Thank you also to any of our parents who helped on the deck this weekend in order for it to run as smooth as it did.

Next I want to thank all of our relay swimmers who made that extra effort to come out and swim.  All of our relays did a fantastic job at the meet.

All of the swimmers put forth a great effort in the pool over the long weekend, and we had no drama other than Alexa talking my ear off on Saturday night.  What she does not realize is that followed an afternoon of Kevin in the 10 and under session.  All joking aside I am so proud of ALL of you and the effort not only in the pool but also  your attitudes after swims, on the pool deck and in the team area.  It was great working with all of you this season, and you have preformed at a high level

Great Job by all   THE END

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JO's. Day 3

Some of our Mako swimmers from the 10 and under session on day number 3

The third day of the meet started off a lot better with our 11 and overs able to spread out and get a much better warm up before the start of the meet.

This mornings session would begin with the 200 free relays for our 11-12 and 13-14 year old. Makos had an A and a B relay for both men and women in each age group.  With a great effort by all relay members, all 8 relays posted best times with many great individual splits, and at least one cut made for the showcase classic in Tampa by Gabby.  Our first individual swim to get us started would be the 200 fly with Alexa who posted a best time dropping over 14 seconds.

The next group up were our 200 IM(13-14) and 100 IM (11-12). In all we had 13 splashes for this event and posted 10 best times, 1 the same and 2 almost the same, and these two were Maggie and Elena who were 2 of our 3 High School freshman still eligible to swim in this meet.  The only reason I mention it is that they are just off a 3 week championship season and events that they have been swimming over and over again are very hard to drop much more although not impossible. Best times posted were Kyle, Ian, Andrew Hale, Fletcher, Jessica, Allison Hickey, Emily,Richard, Alex Aung, Anthony, and Peter Makin.

The next group of swimmers to take to the pool were our frogs or maybe better know as those swimmers with a good breast stroke. The 13 -14 had the 200 and the 100 would be on the menu for our 11-12 year old.  In all we had 10 swims in this event posting 6 beat times, and 3 times that were just about the same.  The reason I bring up swims that are with in .6 of their best times is that in most cases these swimmers had big time drops a couple of weeks ago just to get into this meet and so I view these as times that are pretty good also.

It was now onto the backstroke were once again the 13-14 year olds would tackle the longer (100) distance and the younger ones would be the sprinters (50).  We had 16 swimmers entered in the event and posted 12 best times, (Audrey, Katie, Julia, Ian, Ellie., Emily, Peter, Alexa, Kent, Richard, Alex, and Anthony), 1 time about the same, and 1 purple heart.  This was because instead of counting strokes and touching with the hand Katie K. decided it would be better to swim through wall, leave no doubt and touch with her head  It reminded me of Gus Frerotte the Redskin quarterback who head butted the wall after scoring a touchdown and had to leave the game.  After complaining of dizziness we pulled Katie from the relay and got dad on deck to take her and check it out.  After a quick visit to the hospital Katie checked out OK, but for Katie what does that mean?, leaves me to wonder.

The free  style events were the last individual events of the session and we had 10 swimmers enter, with the older swimmers doing the 50 and the younger ones swimming the 200.  In all we had 8 best times in this event and of course there was Gabby trying to get a jump and getting DQ for a false start. I want to believe she was just anxious for her 500 which was up next and were she would post a best time along with Marcelo who was getting closer to breaking that 5:00:00 mark.

To finish off the session we had 6  400 medley relays  and after a good effort in the pool after a long morning the boys 11-12 and 13-14 would be the only 2 posting best times, and then again several changes were made because of situations that arose during the meet.

With out any rest time the 10 and unders session started (they were arriving as the 500 was concluding), and we had to find that new energy level very quickly. After a good warm up we would start the session with our lone 100 Im swimmer Matthew who started us off with a great swim dropping over 3 seconds.  It was now time for the 100 breast stroke swimmers to head to the blocks,  In all we had 5 swimmers who all dropped over 3 seconds in the events (Natalie, Ava, Michael, Matthew, and Nicholas Thliveris who came back from Jordan to swim in the meet with us).

Next up were our group of back strokers and we had 9 swimmers in the 50 back stroke.  Posting best times were Justin S., Kevin, Katherine H., Sidoni, and Allyson L., who dropped over 4 seconds.  We also had 2 swimmers posting times that were pretty much equal to their entry times.  Unfortunately we had 2 Dqs, a missed wall and a weird false start that was called, two thinfs  already addressed with the swimmers.

The last event was the 200 free were we posted 2 best times( Justin and Kevin) out of 3 swims.

After a quick warm up from Coach Stephanie it was time for our relays to head over to the blocks.  We had both an A and B relay for boys and girls and all four relays posted best times.  It was now time to get ready for finals.

SATURDAY FINAL SWIMMERS

Alexa Coumo 200 fly dropping another 4 seconds, and when Coach Peter asked her why the second split was slow her response with a little smile was "You guys told me to go easy on the second 50 and save a little" and all Peter could come back with was I didn' mean that slow.  She would also swim the 50 back later in the evening coming close to her new record set in the morning.

Anthony Grimm swam the 100 IM in the same best time that he posted in the morning and would later swim the 50 back posting a new best time.

Peter Makin swam a best time in th e 100 IM and also had a best time in the 50 back after a great start.

Maggie-Deppe-Walker made the 200 breast and with the other swimmers cheering for her (she was right next to us in lane 1) she had that final push left  in the 75 to finish with a best time dropping over3 seconds.

Justin Singletary made finals for his first time in the 50 back, posting his same best time from the morning.

Marcelo Coray would end the evening swimming the 500 free and posting a best time breaking that 5 minute mark and coming in at 4:58:38

A nice finish to a long to a long day.  It was now time to get some rest, and re-charge for that last day of swims.

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JO's DAY 2

 

DAY 2 AND SOME OF OUR FINALISTS

 

Peter you ok there man Peter? Alexa checking the inside of her eyelids.  And Anthony always ready for the camera.

 

 

 

 

 We arrived at the pool for a 7 am warm up, and although the coaches knew the warm up conditions would not be the greatest you all handled it with a positive attitude.   The coaches did bring it to the attention of both the officials and the meet manager.  They will be a little better Saturday but still not the greatest.

After we worked our way through the warm up period the meet started with the relays.  We had 8 relays entered in this portion of the meet, and the result was 6 best times, 1 having the same and 1 a little off.  Several of the swimmers would post best times for their splits.

Now it was time to get into the individual  events for the session and this morning Justin Brady would set the pace with a best time in the 200 back.  Next up were our 100 breast stroke swimmers and we would post 3 best times out of 3 swims.  Peter Jones, Fletcher and Kyle all had great swims.   Not to be out done our 50 breast strokes had 5 best times out of 7 swims.   Richard,Elias, Richard,Allison, and Sophia all had great swims.

We had 3 swimmers entered in the 200 free with Lauren Young and Marcelo swimming best times.

We had 7 swimmers entered in the 100 free resulting in best times by Alex Aung, Peter Makin, Alexa Cuomo, Emily D., and Faith.  Our other 2 swimmers Allison H., and Kent C. Had about the same

times.

It was now time for our fliers to take their stab in the pool. With  15 swimmers in the stroke (7 in the 100 and 8 in the 50 ) the group posted  8 best times and 5 that we're pretty close to their entry time and one that resulted in a swim off for Emily D. Best times were posted by Richard ,Kent , Anthony, Peter, Helen, Mary Beth Meyers , P.J.

The session would end with a couple of our I'm swimmers Fletcher in the 400 and Jessica in the 200 and although they would come up a little short the had a great effort.

After a little break it was time for the 10 and unders to begin their assault on the pool.  Needless to

say that as Coach Peter was going to go get some rest Coach heather and I would have to go and search of a new type of energy so we could keep up with them.  One thing for sure as this session started  was warm ups were a piece of cake. Eat your hearts out 11 and overs.  

This session started with the 50 breast stroke and we had 7 best times out of 7 swims. All of the following posted best times Natalie, Samantha, Ava, Nicholas, Graham, Matthew, and Michael.

The next swimmers to hit the pool were our 100 free (Allyson, Ava, Katherine, Kevin, Justin, and Sidoni ) posting 5 best times and 1 the same times.  The joys of being a 10 and under.

The 50 fly was the next event that needed to be tackled, as it was by Alyson, Luke, Michael all  posting best times.  

We again ended the session with 2 IM swims  and coming up a little short on one of them , but with

Kevin ending the session dropping 5 seconds.

It was now time to take a break and give our officials a much deserved break before heading back to finals.   We would have 7 swimmers returning to the pool in the evening for 9 swims.   Swimming the 100 breast Kyle dropped another 2 seconds and Maggie dropped 2 seconds off of her morning swim.  Next up was Anthony in the 50 breast posting another best time.   Marcelo was next up for his 200 free and what a swim he would have coming off his last  turn and posting another best time.

It was now Alexa turn and I don't know how she did it but she ended up swimming the same time from the morning which was her best time.  Peter was next up in the free and even with a bad start he would battle back for a great swim.  

Peter, Anthony, and Alexia all would now have a very short rest and than in the pool they would go for the 50 fly.  Alexia was first with a gallant effort posting a best time and just getting out touched for first.   Anthony also swam a great race posting a new best time from the morning session.

The last swim of the evening saw Fletcher swimming the 400 IM and after a very gutsy swim he ended up with a best time

It was now time to leave the pool, get some much needed rest so that we could come up with another strong effort on Saturday.  GREAT JOB BY ALL OF YOU.  GET SOME REST.  THE COACHES.

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JO'S DAY 1

THURSDAY. MARCH 13. DAY NUMBER 1 We have now started this meet, but before that I would like to remind you that our championship season started last weekend with Junior/Senior champs at George Mason. We had three swimmers from our group swim in that meet ( Jamie Q, Gillian G., and Jet). Jet and Gillian would start our final push of this short course season posting personal best times in all of their swims. Way to start us off


.Now we move to the University of Md. for the next stage. The night started out with Kyle C swimming the 1000 free and posting his best time dropping 16 seconds. Now as Heather and I rushed to the other pool it was Gabby's turn to take the pool for her 1650 free. Other than her pit stops on the walls (but that's  a story for another day) she had a great swim dropping over 25 seconds from her
previous time. Nice way to start us off you all. Now it's off to bet with visions of great swims dancing in my head. Here we go!!!

WAITING FOR THE REST OF YOU!   HURRY!

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JUNIOR OLYMPICS IS HERE

INFORMATION FOR MEET:

RELAY SWIMMERS:  If you are swimming only relays for the sessions you should plan on arriving about 75 minutes before the event starts.  The time line for the meet is on the Potomac valley web site.  For relays that are at the start of each session you should plan to be there for the normal warm up period.

CAPS:  The only caps to be used are the JO caps given out.  Everyone should have 2 of these.

CLOTHING:  PLEASE ONLY WEAR MAKO TEAM CLOTHING (LOOK LIKE A TEAM, LOOK LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING, SWIM FAST)

11 AND OVER SESSIONS:  We will be using 2 pools so that means 2 meets.  Know what pool you are swimming in and pay attention, it is not the coaches job to get you to the blocks.  You all are the more experience swimmers and you should know what you are doing.  Finals will bring back the top 16 at night.

10 and unders:  We will only be swimming in one pool.  Finals will bring back the top 8 at night.

"DARE TO SWIM GREAT"  This weekend started way back on September 9 with our first day of practice.  All the drills to improve technique, all the turns done during the repeats, all the teat sets, all the early Saturday morning practices, the holiday training session, and yes all the sacrifices made by You, your parents and countless others have brought us to this Great Weekend where we will see a lot of fast amazing swimming.

When approaching a meet like this a lot of swimmers fail to plan. They may look at it like I want a best time or I want win the heat or event, which is great but most of the time they fall short because they don't  "PLAN TO WIN THE COMPETITION".  They leave winning to chance!  To win a heat, an event or to go a best time YOU need to win the competition first.  This process starts the morning you get up with a good and proper breakfast.  Start on an empty stomach will only set you up for failure! Arrive at the pool on time and go through your warm-up with a purpose. (know what you need to do for your warm up and warm downs and at what time you should be doing them).  Prepare mentally to swim fast.  (keep distractions at a distance, get rid of the excess baggage that weighs you down).  Keep the body warm during the meet and keep FUELING AND HYDRATING  during the meet.   Don't worry about the things you can"t control such crowded warm ups, water temperature, lane lines, blocks, or OTHER SWIMMERS.  You can't do anything about this so let's stay away from the drama that unfolds, STICK TO YOUR PLAN!

I had a swimmer ask me the other day "How do I swim the 100 fly?  In reality after talking to her I think I got her to realize that she knew how to swim it, and the only thing holding her back was her FEAR of dying at the end.  "Fear is what stops you....Courage is what keeps you going."  It's not who you are that is holding you back, it's who you think your not.    DARE TO SWIM GREAT!!!

Don't make your races bigger than they are, and know in your heart that you are in the best shape that you could be in both  physically and mentally with all the work that you have put in this year.  You  are ready to SWIM FAST and when those last few strokes and kicks hurt into the finish I'll be there with you and WE will finish.  

SWIM FAST..........HAVE FUN....... AND THE SUN WILL RISE AGAIN!

DARE TO SWIM GREAT