Upon finishing warmups the kids took care of any last minute items and the meet began pretty much on time. The meet was swam on two 8 lane courses. The 10 and under and the 11 and 12 year old girls along with the 13-14 boys swam on the course named as the locker room course. The 10 and under boys, the 11-12 year old boys and the 13-14 year old girls swam in the bay side course.
Sadie Buckley was the first Mako to swim and after figuring out we were not going to mess with the stroke count jumped in and finished pretty much on her JO time with a great turn. Next up was Emily Radcliffe who had two really good walls and finished right around her best time.
Over in the other course Adrian Coray threw down his best 200 backstroke of the season finally figuring out a better way to split the race even though it meant he was going to hurt a little bit, but by his facial expressions it may have hurt more than a little.
We had a lot of our 13-14 year olds swimming the 200 backstroke and first up was Nicole Campbell who had the best walls I have ever seen in her races. She would drop over 3 seconds as did
Mackenzie Craig who also finished 2nd in her heat. Jackie Dobrydney was the next girl up finishing
2nd in her heat and dropping over 2 seconds. Sophia Cloutier was up next and not only did she win
her heat but she also dropped over 3 seconds. Catherine Lim wanted to be aggressive with her first 50 of the 200 which she accomplished with some really nice strong walls and would finishe on her time. Katherine Helms swam a strong 200 backstroke dropping about 1 second with some fantastic walls.
On the other course we can’t forget about our 13-14 boys swimming the 200 backstroke. First up was Matthew Bowman who after being asked “ what can you do to shorten this race”?, had the perfect answer, long streamlines off my turns. He proceeded to have 7 of the best turns and walls I have seen from him, something he has really worked at. Matthew would better his best time by over 6 seconds. Ethan Birkholz turn at this event was next and after swimming and splitting a great race
would end up with his best time of the season
The breaststroke swimmers were the next group of swimmers to try their luck in the two courses.
Now you have to remember that the 13-14 year olds were doing 50’s which is not a normal event for them and they were seeded with their best 100 time. This was more of a fun sprint event for them and not a lot of strategy. However this was a chance for them to work on some pullouts. Matthew B. Would place 2nd in his heat. Chaz Stevens posted his best time of the season and Blake Madsen had his same time but would end up being seeded 1st in tonight’s finals. Our 13-14 girls with Sophie Scadron, Ava Craig, Jaime Ellenberger, Kendall Vess, and Emerson Wilson all turning in some excellent swims in the event. Jamie would end up placing 2nd in her heat, while Kendall placed 3rd.
Next up on both courses were the true sprinters of the sport, yes that would be the 50 freestylers.
Sometimes it may not look pretty but all they really care about is getting their hand to the wall first.
On the bay side the score board was down for a while so a lot of the times would be off my watch. The 11-12 boys Chaz, Blake, Ben and Adrian had some great sprints with some best times, or right at
their best times. The big stand out in this group was Adrian who would break a 25 with a 24.93.
Next up on the bay course were our 13-14 girls and first up was Kitty who heard a little birdie earlier whisper I think a 25 is possible and man did she come close with her best time of the season 26.07. Skylar Small showed up today ready to race with the big girls posting her best time of the season along with Kathleen Altenburg, Mackenzie Craig, Emerson Wilson, Catherine McClure, Sophie Scadron, and Sophia Cloutier. Riley Miller and Jackie Dobrydney also posted their fastest times of the season in the event. Equaling some of their best times of the season were Katherine Helms, Brady Dasher, Ethan Birkholz, Matthew Bowman, Nicole Campbell, Jaime Craig andAva Craig.
On the other course Sara Small would win her heat while breaking 30 with a 29.2 Not to be out done Claire Dobrydney would also when her heat with her best time of the season.
It was now time for some fun with the 200 medley relays. The 13-14 boys relays with Decker swimming the anchor shaved 6 seconds off their entry time. The 13-14 girls B relay posted the same time
Coming back tonight to swim at finals are Sadie Buckley 50 back, Blake Madsen 50 breast and 50 free, Chaz Stevens 50 breast Katherine Helms 200 back and 50 free, Kendall Vess 50 breast, Jackie Dobrydney 50 free, and Adrian Coray 50 free.
Also swimming finals tonight are our 10 and under,11-12 year old boys and our 13-14 year old girls 200 medley relays.
A good first day of the meet. Keep that energy level high.
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