Past and Future Gator Lady Team Reps

 

Paula, Carol, Claudia, and the next victim, Tonda!

Vienna Woods Photos Are Up

The link to all 531 photos is here:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114682110635489328722/albums/5895344638391911537?gpinv=AMIXal8v2kkki2PTcB0lVsYHIMl3VZ6zwof2hplunvMX6CQRMR7Mfj9EGlGGBNkayynn5XUImiDTMk0F37cM20qwF7HBO6jwjlkZCKRT-39WcQRqPob1tX8&cfem=1&authkey=CN-1ruid6YDRUQ

Gators Clear Cut Vienna Woods (In An Environmentally-Responsible Way, Of Course)

The MVP Gators haven't smelled victory in Division 3 since 1979, when "Apocalypse Now" came out.  While it wasn't quite "Kramer vs. Kramer," the Gators defeated Vienna Woods 228-192 to earn the victory.  Success at this level has been "Alien" to MVP since 1979, although it's much easier to win when the team is "Being There."

(Editor's Note: Knock it off with the 1979 movie titles.  It's campier than "Moonraker" was.  Reporter's Response: Don't be "The Jerk.")

You say "Colby Webber!"

I say "Double Winner!"

Two seasons ago, when the Gators got moved to Division 3 after consecutive championship wins in D-6 and then D-5, the team finished 0-5, including a 233.5-168.5 defeat at the hands of D-3 Champion Vienna Woods.  Last year, the Gators went 4-1 in Division 4, while Vienna Woods suffered through a 0-5 season in the no fun league -- Division 1.

Neither Juliette nor Olivia were already

hurt when Coach Shanahan sent them

back in to the meet.

There were an astounding 53 best times posted by Gators at the meet, as swimmers consistently outperformed their seed times.  Gators who took more than one second off their previous bests included Jack Klopson to win the 8 & under back, Leah Myers in 8 & under back, Kenny Krogh in 9-10 back, Mac Brotherton to win 11-12 back, Katya Zeitsev in the 8 & under breaststroke, Parker Blondin to win 9-10 breaststroke, Olivia Blondin to win 9-10 breaststroke, Sean Jansen to win 11-12 breaststroke, Lily Penn in 11-12 breaststroke, Parker Blondin in 9-10 fly, Clark Bayer in 9-10 fly, Nick Dupuis to win 11-12 fly, Jack Brunton in 11-12 fly, and Ian Baker in 13-14 fly.

Little hands, little feet. . .

Our 8 & unders can't be beat!

(Plus they are soooo cute at that age.

Once they are teenagers, well, that's for

a different blog altogether.)

The Gators set four team records and tied a fifth (see related story), with Cassidy Bayer having set another NVSL record in the 13-14 fly.  Parker Blondin just missed the breaststroke record by 0.06, so hopefully that record will go down in the next meet or two.

The Emma Jones finish -- touch, look, first place!

The meet started much as projected, as the Gators won freestyle 51-39, including ripping off six straight wins to start the meet, and seven freestyle wins overall.  The teams were expected to be fairly evenly matched in the backstroke, but Gator swimmers won it by a 57-33 score, opening up a 36 points lead.  The Gators won eight out of ten backstroke events.

Cyrus and his VW opponent display some of

the good sportsmanship that marked the meet.

Now, it was on to breaststroke, where Vienna Woods was projected to crush the Gators.  And, VW did win those events handily, but not by as much as expected because Gators swam well enough to dent the VW strength.  Despite losing 29-61 in breaststroke, the Gators held a tenuous 137-133 lead, rather than being in a deficit.

Is Katie happy because we're winning? 

No, she's happy because Clerk of Course is

easier at an A Meet than a B Meet!

The Gators flew through butterfly.  Winning seven fly races out of ten, the Gators virtually clinched the meet with a 56-34 win to push the lead to 28 points -- 193-167.

Any Sophia brave enough to wear Spazz

on her cap deserves her picture in a blog

read by as many as a couple hundred people.

Needing just four relay wins to clinch the meet, MVP won three of the first four relays before running into trouble.  Finally, the girls 11-12 relay win was determined to be a legal swim, and victory was reached.  Three more relay wins pushed it to the final score, giving the Gators seven of the twelve relays.

Where there's a Will there's a. . .Friedman!

Gator sweeps came in three events.  The 9-10 girls backstrokers pulled all nine points as Emily Makin, Abigail Dittman, and Juliette Fore swept the event.  The 15-18 girls backstrokers did the same behind a one, two, three sweep by Maddy Bolger, Torie Bolger, and Sophia Passacantando.  The 13-14 boys swept the butterfly as Cameron Morey, Gus Leyden, and Ian Baker did the honors.

Coach Paul, collecting coin donations for

his haircut fund.  Please give.  Please!

The race of the week came early -- the second event.  Cage Theriot won the 8 & under free by just 0.03 over her Vienna Woods competitor -- swimming a time of 18.00 flat to earn the five points against the Woods swimmer's 18.03.

Sean looks stunned that he crushed his

personal best time by 1.61 seconds.

We are not stunned.

 

Gator heroes were 13 year olds Carl Questad and Ian Neal swimming in the 15-18 backstroke and 14 year old Carter Engvall swimming in the 15-18 breaststroke.

Thanks to Mrs. Team Rep, MVP now has the

best looking backstroke flags in the NVSL.

The Gators had seven double winners.  The double winners were Cage Theriot (free and back), Andrei Zaitsev (free and back), Nick Dupuis (free and fly), Emma Jones (free and fly), Cassidy Bayer (free and fly), Colby Webber (breaststroke and fly) and Olivia Blondin (breaststroke and fly).

25 meters later, Claudia's touch clinches the meet.

Excitement is intense!

Individual winners were James Piland (free), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (free), Jack Klopson (back), Emily Makin (back), Collin Sundsted (back), Mac Brotherton (back), Gus Leyden (back), Maddy Bolger (back), Colby Webber (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (breaststroke), Sean Jansen (breaststroke), Cameron Morey (fly), and Sara Bertram (fly).  Overall, the Gators won 27 out of 40 races.

Sara and Maddy know we've won, and

yet they are still intense.

 

Second place points were earned by Claudia Theriot (free and back), Cameron Morey (free), Sara Bertram (free), Abigail Dittman (back), Jessie Bricker (back and fly), Torie Bolger (back), James Piland (fly), Parker Blondin (fly), Emily Makin (fly), Cole Miller (fly), and Gus Leyden (fly).  MVP only took 13 out of 40 second places.

Save Mac!  There's a hand attacking her face!

Third place points were garnered by Joseph Humphreys (free and back), Andrew Baker (free and back), Abigail Dittman (free), Sean Jansen (free), Mollie Passacantando (free), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (free and breaststroke), Maddy Bolger (free), Juliette Fore (back), Kevin Adams-Mardi (back), Sophia Passacantando (back), Jack Klopson (breaststroke), Caroline Baker (breaststroke), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (breaststroke), Brian McNamara (breaststroke), Lily Penn (breaststroke), Ian Baker (breaststroke and fly), Kaila Stein (breaststroke), Torie Bolger (breaststroke), Clark Bayer (fly), and Jessica Metter (fly).

Cameron can't restrain his joy at winning

fly.  (Uh, Cameron, can you help us out

by showing a little more excitement!)

Next week, MVP travels to Lee-Graham.  The Dolphins are also 1-1, so this will be a battle in which the winner virtually assures themselves another season in Division 3 next year.   It was nice to be "Reunited" with victory in D-3, so hopefully the Gators will win again so we can all sing "YMCA."  If they don't, it's okay, it's not a "Tragedy," because "I Will Survive."  Even if we do come "Stumblin' In," it's fine because "We Are (Gator) Family."

We Are (Gator) Family!  I've got

all my swimmers and me!

(Editor's Note: Knock off the song titles from 1979 meme.  Reporter's Reply:  I can't help it, it's "My Life. . .do, do, doo-doo-do" so "Don't Bring Me Down."  Editor's Riposte: Well, given your singing, it's clear you are not one of the "Sultans of Swing.")

While it's not quite Game 7 of the Stanley Cup

(it's more important!), the two teams still

formed a post-meet handshake line. 

Present And Future American Fliers

Dana Vollmer, Olympic Gold Medalist, and Cassidy Bayer, 13-14 year old swimmer for the Mt. Vernon Park Gators, meet on deck at the USA Nationals.  Dana gave Cassidy the medal Vollmer won for the 100 fly at nationals on Wednesday.  Dana has four Olympic gold medals.

From Wikipedia:

Vollmer has won a total of thirty medals in major international competitions, including eighteen gold medals, eight silver, and four bronze, spanning the Olympics, the World Championships, the Pan American Games, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Goodwill Games.

Stratford B Meet Photos Link

Laura Kovalsky's Photos from Stratford are here:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114682110635489328722/albums/5894729851271400353?gpinv=AMIXal9uK2BvYN0KH7jEgYegpVqJNoqDCsUOGVQFvpG3A-l3J6bB1sXCNgMejrB7daihey9cMNSB_jIMsDVyEVl9zTpINQnBlPCa1H-ax7_TYAUtjDcgipY&cfem=1&authkey=CKneps6Qt6XUOQ

We now have a crack (cracked?) staff of three photographers, led by Dave Anderson.

Vienna Woods Haiku

Jimmy Carter.  Shah.
Pirates/Steelers.  Thatcher wins.
Last Team D-3 win

One NVSL and Four Team Records Fall, Another Record Tied

Gators kept breaking records on Saturday -- four fell, and another was tied.  The biggest record broken was that Cassidy Bayer set another NVSL mark in the first attempt she could. 

Kaila touches, and Mollie takes off.

 

Jessie dives in.  At the other end, it's a new

team record by 0.02 seconds.

The 9-10 boys smashed a not quite two year old relay record by 1.53 seconds, Cassidy lowered her own freestyle record, and the 13-14 girls relay just beat a less than year old record by 0.02 seconds.  Andrei Zaitsev swam the exact same backstroke time as he did a week earlier, so he tied his own week-old record.

Parker and Clarker celebrate.

 

Cassidy came back from USA Nationals, where she had a great meet, in order to swim for her hometown Gators.  Even after a grueling week of the nation's top swim meet, Cassidy had enough in her tank to knock off Janet Hu's 13-14 girls fly record of 28.70.  Cassidy swam a 28.34 in a team suit -- and, since this is her first meet as a 13-14 year old, she'll have plenty of chances to lower it in the next two seasons.

Cassidy sets another NVSL record.  Oh, and a Gator record.

The new records (research courtesy of Karen Stein)


Girls:
1.  13-14, Cassidy Bayer, 50M Free, 26.96, lowered her time trials (15 Jun) record time of 27.31.
2.  13-14, Cassidy Bayer, 50M Fly, 28.34.  Broke Sara Bertram's fly record from 7 Aug 10 of 30.19 and also broke the NVSL Record from 7/25/2009 held by Janet Hu with a time of 28.70. 

This is what an NVSL record looks like.

Oh, and it's also what most of David Orleans'

head looks like (no thinning there!).

3.  13-14, 100M Medley Relay, new time 1:03.03 Cassidy Bayer, Kaila Stein, Mollie Passacantando, Jessie Bricker.  Old record from 14 July 12 with time of 1:03.05 held by Torie Bogler, Sarah Jones, Anna Fracasso, Jessie Bricker.  Difference of .02.

Cassidy at the start of the relay record. 

(I know there are other pics of Cassidy, but

this is a really cool action photo of the start).

Boys:
1.  9-10, 100M Medley Relay, Andrei Zaitsev, Parker Blondin, Charlie Ruppe, Clark Bayer, time 1:13.71.  Old record  from 20 Jul 11, 1:15.24, held by Collin Sundsted, Sean Jansen, Cole Miller, Nicholas Dupuis.

Andrei has reason to yell -- he and Charlie,

along with Parker and Clark, broke a team record.

4. 9-10, Andrei Zaitsev, 50M Back, 38.90.  Tied his own record set last week, June 22.

Swimmers of the Week -- Nick Dupuis and Mac Brotherton

Nick Dupuis swam with a steely-eyed resolution that won the Gators two key races, and Micheala "Mac" Brotherton won the 11-12 girls backstroke by slicing more than one second off a seed time that projected her finishing fourth.

Nick's 11-12 boys freestyle swim set the tone for the day.  Coming in with a seed time just 0.14 seconds faster than his main rival from Vienna Woods, Nick broke 31 seconds for the first time.  His 30.90 swim beat his Vienna Woods opponent by 0.16 seconds.  Then, Nick added an impressive performance in the butterfly, taking first by nearly two seconds from lane five, despite being seeded with the third best time.  His time of 35.59 was 1.90 seconds better than his seed time of 37.49.

Nick motors home.

Mac's seed time had her fourth, and we were hoping she could slide in to capture a third place point.  Instead, she rocked the backstroke from lane five to win with a 1.33 second improvement off her best time, swimming a 38.21.

Why so serious, Mac?  First place is always

a reason to smile, especially from lane 5.

Congratulations to this week's Swimmers of the Week.  Winners are chosen solely at the discretion of the writer, and though there were many deserving of the honor this week, these two Gators really stood (or swam) out.  Winners can not repeat in the same season.

Washington Post Sports Section Pays More Attention to Cassidy Bayer, MVP, & Swim Than To the Redskins. . .For A Day

Okay, I'm too harsh on them.  Let's give credit where credit is due.  The Post sports section does a nice job covering Cassidy's strong swims at USA Nationals in Indianapolis:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/cassidy-bayer-holds-her-own-and-impresses-olympian-dana-vollmer-at-world-trials/2013/06/27/3e719c3e-de17-11e2-948c-d644453cf169_story.html

Gator Relay Train Rolls On At Ft. Hunt Sportsmen's Relays

In twelve races, MVP Gator relay teams brought home five first place medals, three second places, and one third place -- a total of nine top three finishes.

First place medals were earned by:

• The boys 8 & Under free team of Ethan Brunton, Donovan Kovalsky, Michael Ienzi, and Jack Klopson.
• The boys & girls 9-10/11-12 backstroke team of Paige Humphreys, TJ Heck, Natalie Terwilliger, and George Pacious.
• The boys & girls 9-10/11-12 fly team of Leigh Kovalsky, Andrew Baker, Tyler Dunn, and Olivia Johansson.
• The boys & girls 9-10 free team of Donovan Brotherton, Joseph Ienzi, Halle Reinholtz, and Cole Snodgrass.
• The boys & girls mixed age 250 Crescendo team of Andrei Zaitsev, Mac Brotherton, Sam McBroom, and Torie Bolger.

Second place medals were earned by:

• The boys mixed age 200 free team of Austin Neal, Connor Dunn, Ian Baker, and Jack Brunton.
• The girls 8 & under free team of Ceci Theriot, Katya Zaitsev, Ella Fischer, and Elizabeth Moorman.
• The boys and girls 8 & under modified medley team of Lucas Garvey, Caroline Baker, Isabella Van Damme, and Lily Palmerino.

The team bringing home the third place medal were the boys & girls 9-10/11-12 breaststrokers -- Ellie Cullo, Will Friedman, Ripley Vaughan, and Nick McBroom.

Congrats Gators!

Fast Storms, Fast Swims Mark Stratford Developmental Meet

By Lauren Cardillo

If there are thunderstorms rumbling in the skies-- it most be the annual Stratford Rec vs. MVP
B meet.  Postponed by nasty storms on Monday, the meet made some noise of its own Tuesday with
plenty of Gators posting personal bests on the hot and humid evening.

Swimmers dropping more than 5 seconds off their previous best times were:
Ethan Brunton, Max Ciovacco, Charlie Bruce, William Milito, George Schulte,
Madeline Cullo, Simone Burdick, Brandon Santangelo, Antoinio Marcucci, Jack Dupuis,
Morgan Swetz, Kathryn Coggeshall, Sean Jansen, Carl Questad, James Piland,
Tyler Dunn, Greta Hannam, Charlie Ruppe, Abby Dittman, Brian McNamara, Sheridan Phalen,
Olivia Johansson, Parker Fulghum, Elaina Phalen.and Alec Dillaplain who dropped
the most time of any swimmer -- 28.71 seconds in 25 free.
Heat winners Tuesday night included:  Antonio Marcucci, Max
Ciovacco, Gavin Fore, Lily Palmerino, Lily Fore, Sophia Huertas, Page Humphreys,
Leigh Kovalsky, Nick McBroom, Mac Brotherton, Lauren Pacious, Ian Baker,
 Abby Tynan, Juliette Fore, Grace McGee, Liam Orr, Carl Questad, Parker Fulghum,
Rose Doerner, Ellie Cullo, Brian McNamara, Olivia Johansson, Isabelle Thornburg, Charlie Ruppe,
 Connor Dunn, Annie Terwilliger, Tyler Dunn, Jessica Metter and Anna Fracasso.

And congrats to six and seven year olds Jack Ciovacco, Griffin Duffy, Jack Alzona, and Lauren Scott
for dipping their toes in the competitive pool for the first time!  More rookies hit the lanes
on Monday during our annual Green and White meet. And don't forget the pep rally after morning
practice.

Stratford Haiku

Meet postponed by storm
A Tuesday night pool party
Sharks & Gators all swim

Early Handicapping for Relay All-Stars

Relays only make All-Stars if they were one of the top 18 relays out of all of the 103 NVSL teams.  That's purely determined by how well they swim at Divisional Relays -- and those include BOTH a free relay and a medley relay.

Remember also that relay make-up can change based on performance.  So it is possible that the teams below will shift between now and Divisional Relays. 

That noted, it is never to early to start handicapping Gator chances.  After the first week of A meets, the Gator relays ranked 18th or better include (swimmers are listed alpha order, not stroke order):

6th Ranked -- 9-10 boys medley of Andrew Baker, Parker Blondin, TJ Heck, and Andrei Zaitsev.

7th Ranked -- 11-12 boys medley of Nick Dupuis, Sean Jansen, Cole Miller, and Collin Sundsted.

8th Ranked -- 9-10 girls medley of Olivia Blondin, Abigail Dittman, Emily Makin, and Juliana Skopp-Cardillo.

12th Ranked -- 15-18 girls medley of Sara Bertram, Maddy Bolger, Torie Bolger, and Sophia Passacantando.

14th Ranked -- Girls Mixed Age free relay of Claudia Theriot, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Jessie Bricker, and Sara Bertram (not alpha, but actual swim order).

15th Ranked -- 11-12 girls medley of Mac Brotherton, Emma Jones, Sheridan Phalen, and Claudia Theriot.

18th Ranked -- 13-14 girls medley of Jessie Bricker, Parker Fulghum, Mollie Passacantando, and Elaina Phalen (the four swam the medley in alphabetical order!)

Not far from the top 18:
23rd Ranked -- 8 & under boys free of Lucas Garvey, Joseph Humphreys, James Piland, and Colby Webber.

23rd Ranked -- 13-14 boys medley of Ian Baker, Dom Heratsch, Gus Leyden, and Cameron Morey.

That's pretty good -- six of our twelve relay swims from Saturday are top ranked top 18, with two more on the bubble.  (Shows how good Fairfax's relays were if they won seven of the twelve relays!).  This grizzled old NVSL watcher will continue to track this over the next couple of weeks as we move closer to Divisional Relays on July 10th at Wakefield Chapel, which is a fast pool.

Twelve Years Of Gator Male Team Reps

Left to right: Karl Metter, Glen Bolger, Lou Haley

and Ken Rholl at a recent Mt. Vernon event.

Our spouses were too busy mingling to get in

the picture.

John Theriot's Revenge

Fairfax Frogs Eat Up Fly, Defeat Gators

Sometimes an omen isn't all it seems.  Friday night before the Gators went to Fairfax pool to swim the Frogs, we spotted a huge frog in our backyard.  Our dog Luna spotted it too, grabbed it, and ran off with it.  We gave chase, but Luna was harder to catch than greased lightning.  The dog ate the frog.  We thought it was a good omen, but, as Freud might say, sometimes a dog eating a frog is just a dog eating a frog.

First ever gif on the Blog!  Great work by David Anderson.

The Gators had an eight point lead after the breaststroke events, but the Frogs, who eat flies, crushed it in butterfly, an opening up a 20 point lead and cruising home by winning seven of the twelve relays.  The final score was Fairfax 225, MVP 195.

Maddy churning through on freestyle

The Gators led 47-43 after freestyle, but the Frogs stormed back to win backstroke by eight points (41 MVP/49 Fairfax).  A healthy 51-39 Gator in breaststroke has MVP up 139-131 after the third event, but fly went to the Frogs by 28 points for a 170-190 deficit.  After a promising start by taking five of the first seven relays, the Gators fell back as the Frogs hopped off five straight relay victories.

A fabulous Baker boy -- great to have them back

at Mt. Vernon Park!  (Especially if they keep

scoring points!)

The Gators had four sweeps.  The 11-12 girls freestyle started it off with a Emma Jones, Claudia Theriot, and Sheridan Phalen first/second/third place respectively.  The 9-10 boys, keyed by Andrei Zaitsev's swim lowering his own team record, swept the backstroke, as Andrew Baker and Kenny Krogh joined Andrei in the sweep.  Then, three other 9-10 boys got into the act, sweeping breaststroke, as Parker Blondin, Will Friedman, and TJ Heck took first/second/third.  The 13-14 boys got the final sweep in breaststroke, as Ian Baker, Sam McBroom, and Carl Questad took the top three spots.

Liam motoring on the backstroke

The Gator Race of the Week was swum by Kevin Adams-Mardi in the 15-18 boys backstroke.  He won the race by 0.35 seconds over his Fairfax opponent.  (The Gator Race of the Week is based solely on a number -- whoever wins over their opponent by the narrowest margin).

When Colby wins by 3.65 seconds, no one

else is even in the picture!

Gator Heroes for the Week were 12 year old Jack Brunton (13-14 free and 15-18 fly), 13 year old Dom Heratsch (15-18 free), 13 year old Ian Neal (15-18 back), 13 year old Liam Orr (15-18 breaststroke), and 11 year old Brian McNamara (13-14 fly).  All of these guys swam up an age group, filling lanes for MVP and getting added A Meet experience.

Juliana grabs some air, and some points.

Double Gator winners were Cage Theriot (free and breaststroke), Andrei Zaitsev (free and back), and Emma Jones (free and fly).

See Kenny Go!

Individual Gator winners were James Piland (free), Julianna Skopp-Cardillo (free), Emily Makin (back), Gus Leyden (back), Kevin Adams-Mardi (back), Sara Bertram (back), Colby Webber (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (breaststroke), Ian Baker (breaststroke), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (breaststroke), and Cameron Morey (fly).

Emily!

Second place points were earned by Claudia Theriot (free and back), Gus Leyden (free), Mollie Passacantando (free), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (free), Maddy Bolger (free), Andrew Baker (back), Jessie Bricker (back and fly), Caroline Baker (breaststroke), Will Friedman (breaststroke), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (breaststroke), Sean Jansen (breaststroke), Lily Penn (breaststroke), Sam McBroom (breaststroke), James Piland (fly), Emily Makin (fly), Mac Brotherton (fly), Ian Baker (fly), and Sara Bertram (fly).

Double winners like Emma can make faces if they want!

Third place points were garnered by Colby Webber (free), Andrew Baker (free), Abigail Dittman (free and back), Nick Dupuis (free), Sheridan Phalen (free and breaststroke), Cameron Morey (free), Elaina Phalen (free), Joseph Humphreys (back), Lily Palmerino (back), Kenny Krogh (back), Taylor Makin (back), Kaila Stein (back and breaststroke), Torie Bolger (back and breaststroke), Jack Klopson (breaststroke), TJ Heck (breaststroke), Olivia Blondin (breaststroke and fly), Carl Questad (breaststroke), Austin Neal (breaststroke), Katya Zaitsev (fly), and Parker Blondin (fly).

"I love the smell of relays in the morning.  It

smells like victory!" James and Lucas celebrate.

On Saturday, the Gators will host Vienna Woods, who won Division 3 two years ago.  The Woods lost in week one, so one of these two teams will come out with a win (unless the score ends up 210-210!).

A new team record earns a photo!

(from left to right): Collin, Cole, Sean, and Nick

Fairfax Meet Haiku

Division Three Opens
Great effort, but a small defeat
Summer has returned!

Swimmers of the Week: Andrei Zaitsev & Cage Theriot

A record setting performance and double wins by Andrei Zaitsev, and two wins by Cage Theriot, including a stroke that’s not her strongest,  earned these younger Gators the opening Swimmer Of The Week awards for this season.

Not only did Andrei smash his own backstroke record (see related article), but he also won the 9-10 boys freestyle race and helped his relay team to the win.  Those performances earned him the Boy Swimmer of the Week award.

Andrei showing his winning form, and his good sportsmanship.

 

Cage Theriot, the Girl Swimmer of the Week, swept free and breaststroke.  Cage isn’t typically a breaststroker, but it’s a hard swim first week for 8 & unders, and Coach Paul Makin put her in there knowing he could count on her.

How do you get to be Swimmer of the Week? 

Swim Fast.  Practice, and Strong Starts!  Cage knows!

 



Congrats to both swimmers for their excellent performances.

The choices of Swimmers of the Week are purely up to the editor.  Swimmers can only win it once in a season.  If you have advice or a bone to pick, please send it to Idontwanttohearit@gmail.com .

Photos From Fairfax A Meet

All 432 of Dave Anderson's pics are here:

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114682110635489328722/albums/5892365266167972001?gpinv=AMIXal86cJnlwtTWaARxl-arOeLP2R0Xpy1doPZe5hL3K5ISHfuZEZAsp6ix0E0qcZITmncnCgHCfLGLo0DKrksKM2IDxO_hy0OF0Ijmtp0tMSPi8VLrprU&cfem=1&authkey=CLyWgr_F7sCmTg

Two Team Records Smacked On Saturday

Two team records fell on Saturday, as Andrei Zaitsev and the 11-12 Boys Medley Relay  both smashed recent marks. 

Andrei lowered his own week-old 9-10 boys backstroke record by 0.65 sec by cruising home with a 38.90.  He’s lowered it twice this season, from the 1985 mark of 40.17.

Andrei strikes a pose.  It says, "I'm a

Gator team record-holder!"

A record set last year on June 30^th lasted less than a year, as the boys 100 medley mark was lowered by a huge 1.58 drop to 1:06.46.  Collin Sundsted (back), Sean Jansen (breaststroke), Cole Miller (fly), and Nick Dupuis (free) knocked Cameron Morey, Sean, Cole, and Sam McBroom out the Gator history books.

The New Relay Record-Holders -- Collin, Cole, Sean, and Nick

 

Gators Impress At Waynewood; Meet Ends Before Dawn

Have about four free hours? You could fly from the DC area to Salt Lake City, or, attend the
annual Waynewood/MVP developmental swim meet.

Held this past Monday night at Waynewood the contest featured approximately 200 swimmers from both teams and freestyle heats alone that lasted more than 80 minutes in duration.

Heat winners for MVP included: Lucas Garvey, Michael Ienzi, Donovan Kobalsky, Matthew Foley, Cage, Claudia and Cecily Theriot, Eloise Normand, Ella  Fischer, Anika Degen, Sofia-Maria Khalil, Andrew Baker, TJ Heck, George Pacious, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Annie Terwilliger, Juliette Fore, Jack Brunton,  Emma Jones, Mac Brotherton, Tierney Offringa, Cameron Morey, Sara Bertram, Audrey Dittman, Katya Zeitsev, Emily Atkinson, Jessie Bricket, Kevin and  Cyrus Adams-Mardi, Torie Bolger, Colby Webber, Caroline Baker, Parker Blondin, Andre Zeitsev, Ethan Tynan, Olivia Blondin, Brian McNamara, Lauren Pacious, Parker  Fulghum, Kenneth Krogh, Emily Makin, Nick Dupuis, Mollie Passacantando, and Emily Walzl.

Congrats also to group of swimmers who cut off a significant amount of time from their previous race results. They are: Gavin Fore, Madeline Cullo, Kahil Mulla, Dylan Morgan, Olivia Heck, Alice Ackerson, Tierney Offringa, George Schulte, Matthew Makin, Ethan Brunton, Leah Myers, Abby Tynan, Lily Fore, Mikayla Gordon, Kathryn Coggeshall, Will Friedman, Ethan Tynan, and Nicole Booth.

The next B meet is Monday, 6/24 with Stratford Rec visiting MVP. The inaugural B meet pep rally features fun on the Gator walk and Gator tattoos. See you there!

Waynewood B Meet Photos

Chief Photographer Dave Anderson went easy this time -- "just" 188 photos from Waynewood.  Any of your Gator here?

https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114682110635489328722/albums/5890616884385572049?gpinv=AMIXal-Z9HiY8jtyzPXfzkeKd69Bh5POZeJKmUOQNn_130ZyaStsCd0VScYLcJPK0yZdjpqyiGW4zo4AA-ePbBwnf7LYlBHi9lMA2kkrE6_NBS957wuj6x0&cfem=1&authkey=CN-v2YPQotClmQ

(Boy, now that I've raised that issue, I sure hope so!)

Thanks Dave -- great stuff as always.

Updated Swim Team Manual

Whoops -- back in May I posted a link to the old swim team manual.  Please note the VERY important change that was made in July 2011 regarding Divisionals.  It's also known as the "Gov School rule."  As soon as I have a link to the updated manual, I will include it here.

But, so that you have easy access to the 2011 rule (the only change), here it is:

"Swimmers are NOT be eligible to swim in Divisional Championships unless they have swum in at least half of the A Meets for which they are eligible, OR if there is no one else in that age group eligible to swim.  “Eligible” means either by age or ability.  For example, a swimmer who was not fast enough to swim the first three A Meets, but makes the last two, must swim one of those two to be eligible for Divisional Championships.  This does not apply to Divisional Relays."

The rest of the manual is at the link below.  Once the Park website is updated, this will take you to the right link:

http://www.mtvpa.com/downloads/forms/17420115127Mount_Vernon_Park_Swim_Team_Manual_2011_a.pdf


 

David Anderson's Picasa is Su Casa

David Anderson has posted over 600 (!!!!) photos from today's Time Trials that he and Rita Bertram took.  The link is here:

https://plus.google.com/photos/114682110635489328722/albums/5889796149700511905?banner=pwa&authkey=CJ2cp5qq6YCtzgE

Enjoy!

Five Team Records Fall At Time Trials

Cassidy Bayer continued her relentless assault on the MVP record books, knocking off four records, and Andrei Zaitsev added his name to the record rolls by breaking a record dating from 1996.

Andrei swam a 39.55, taking Nick Magallanes's mark of 40.17 down by 0.62 seconds.  Of the 24 individual boys records, 10 of them have been set this Century.

Cassidy hit her grand slam in fine fashion, starting by knocking off a 37 year old record from the Bicentennial Year of 1976, when Kim Nedbal swam a 28.80 in the 13-14 girls 50 free.  Cassidy beat it by 1.49 seconds with a 27.31.  Only one girls record remains from last Century -- Erin Deal's 8 & under 25 meter breaststroke mark from 1985 -- but that's so last Millenium!

Cassidy then beat three records set this Century by current Gators -- knocking 2.05 seconds off Sara Bertram's backstroke mark from 2010.  Cassidy swam a 30.94.  She set her first team breaststroke record ever, swimming a 37.16 mark to beat Jayne Orleans' nearly two year old record by 0.82 seconds.  Cassidy finished her rampage through the 13-14 girls team marks by lowering Sara Bertrams 2010 Individual Medley record of 1:10.29 by an amazing 3.24 seconds with a time of 1:07.05.

Cassidy now holds 14 Gator team individual records, with more to come.  All four marks are faster than the current Gator girls 15-18 records.  By the way, Cassidy's 13-14 backstroke and IM records are faster than the 13-14 Gator boys record holders.

Congratulations to both Andrei and Cassidy!

Street & Smith's 2013 Gator Season Preview

After a strong 4-1 season in 2012 in Division 4 that was highlighted by winning the IM Individual Championship for the fourth time in five seasons, the Gators moved back up to Division 3, where MVP went 0-5 in 2011.

For background purposes, there are 102 teams in 17 divisions in the NVSL.  It claims to be the largest sports league in the country.  Teams are seeded by expected strength, so that mean the Gators are considered to be one of the top 18 teams in the league. 

This article will first the A Meet schedule, then cover the B Meet schedule.

 

Our A meet schedule kicks off June 22^nd near George Mason University, as the Gators take on the Fairfax Frogs.  Since MVP last swam Fairfax back in 2008, the Frogs have a new pool.  They went 0-5 in Division 2 last year, and scored 180 points at All-Star Relays (MVP tallied 234). 

On June 29^th, the Gators play host to Vienna Woods.  The Woods (that’s also their nickname) went 0-5 in the friendly confines of Division 1 last year.  The Woods whipped up on the Gators two years ago to go undefeated in Division 3.  They scored 62 points at All-Star Relays, but are picked by many observers to finish first in the division.

The final away A meet is July 6^th at Lee-Graham.  The Dolphins are a team this grizzled vet of Gator swim doesn’t remember facing off against in the prior 13 seasons, so while this may or may not be a first time, it’s certainly been a long time.  They finished 1-4 in Division 2 last season, and scored 160 All-Star Relay points.  The cleverly named team is located on Lee Highway at the corner of Graham. 

After that, it’s all home cooking on Saturdays (well, home concessions, which is like home cooking, except more profitable for the swim team).  On July 13^th, the Gators host the alluringly alliterative Wakefield Chapel Wahoos. 

The Wahoos are the stable ones in the NVSL relationship, as 2013 is their fifth straight season in Division 3, where they have gone 3-2, 3-2. 3-1-1, and 2-3 backward through 2009.  And yes, the Wahoos won in the Gator match-up two years ago.  Last season they scored 224 All-Star Relay points.  July 13^th is also Picture Day at MVP for Gator Nation.  Mark your calendars.

The final A meet is July 20^th against. . .boom, boom, boom DR – yes, Donaldson Run and their actually pretty cool drums.  The Thunderbolts went 1-3-1 in Division 3 last season, scoring 228 All-Star Relay points.  Like two other teams we swim this season, the T’bolts beat the Gators two years ago. This should be a good battle to end the regular season.

The mid-week fun kicks off with Divisional Relays at Wakefield Chapel on July 10^th, with All-Star Relays to follow on the 17^th at Lincolnia Park (not to be confused with “Linkin Park” or “Linked In”).  Divisionals is at Donaldson Run on the 27^th – it’s up the GW Parkway off Spout Run.

As always, the B Meet schedule kicks off with Waynewood.  This season, we travel to the rough and tumble neighborhood of the Dolphins this Monday the 17^th.  Besides that, we are home for all of the rest of the B meets, as we host Stratford on June 24th, Mansion House on July 8th, and Riverside Gardens on the 15^th of July.  The other home B meet is the intrasquad Green and White meet (the early Vegas line favors White, but heavy betting on Green is starting to swing the line) on July 1^st.  That meet is also famous for the free pizza for all team members who swim.
The 4^th Annual Gator Romp in the Swamp championship is July 24th.