Gator Takes Down NVSL Record at All-Stars, Plus Other Great MVP Performances

Seven MVP Gators participated last Saturday at NVSL All-Stars at Little Rocky Run, swimming ten individual events.  Of those events, Gators finished in first place in four of them, and one in third place.  And one of the 1st place finishes was a new NVSL record!

Emily Makin made history on Saturday in the girls 11-12 50m breaststroke.  She touched the wall at 34.84 to set a new NVSL record.  The previous record of 34.88 was jointly held, going all the way back to 1995, when Lindsey Ertter set that mark.  Ashley Danner tied the record in 2003.  Emily's race was truly epic, and reminded me of Katie Ledecky's Olympic gold medal win in Rio on Sunday night in the 400m free.  When Katie touched the wall there was no one else close to her.  She beat her closest opponent by almost 5 seconds (world record time of 3:56.46).  Emily had way less pool to use to set herself apart from her competition (only 50 meters), but still managed to beat her closest opponent to the wall by almost 3 seconds.  Congrats Emily on an amazing accomplishment!

Emily Makin was gold medal material from start to finish!

NVSL record holder!

And Emily wasn't done yet.  She also came in 1st place in the girls 11-12 100 IM, with a time of 1:09.14.

Cassidy Bayer had a first place kind of day, as well.  Cassidy posted a time of 27.38 in the girls 15-18 fly to take the top spot.  Cassidy also won the girls 15-18 100 IM, with a time of 1:02.70.  Besides finishing #1 at all-stars in this race, this was a meaningful race for Cassidy because her strongest competitor is also in Division 2 - Katie Mack swimming for Hamlet.  The week prior at Divisionals, Cassidy finished 2nd to Katie in the 100 IM.  At all-stars Cassidy was able to cut .32 seconds off her time to edge out Katie Mack at the wall.

Cassidy turned on the motors in 100IM and never looked back!

Donovan Kovalsky had an outstanding swim in boys 9-10 50m free.  Donovan came in 3rd place in all of the NVSL with a time of 31.85.  But more important than that, Donovan continued to show that records were meant to be broken, breaking his previous MVP record yet again with his new 31.85 time.

Donovan loves breaking his MVP record!

It was a wonderful end of the 2016 season for the Mount Vernon Park Gators and a big congratulations goes out to Gators Ginny Grubbs, Sheridan Phalen, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, and Brian McNamara for strong swims as all-stars also!

All-Stars Program happy ad

Bidding Farewell to the 2016 Season

One more meet for Gator all-stars and we can call the 2016 MVP swim season a wrap.  And I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels a little sad to say goodbye to the annual experience of the Mount Vernon Park swim team. 

The summer swim season is a non-stop, action-packed community experience like nothing else I encounter the rest of the year.  It has a clear start (time trials) and finish (all-stars), and a whole host of practices, meets, traditions, and spirit in between.  It's a ton of work and a total blast all at once.  Most of the year feels like a marathon to me, but the Gator season feels like a mad sprint.  And when we get to the finish line of early August and can take a few breaths and reflect, I always feel like something magical just ended. 

I head over to Mount Vernon Park a few times in August for a quick swim, a glass of wine by the pond, or to drop off/pick up the kids and it always seems a tad bit lonely to me.  As I approach the 25 meter pool I can picture the signs, tents, Gator swimmers running around, the smell of burgers, white shirts and blue shorts everywhere, and the buzz of the “table” on a meet day/night, but all is quiet now.  Many have gone on vacation, started other sports, or are off doing other summer things, and what we are left with are memories. Beautiful memories that only Gator families, past and present, will understand.

I’ll post one more blog this season, sharing results of all-stars, and then the blog will go silent until Gator nation reunites in 2017.  Thank you for reading the blog, encouraging me with your kind words, and being a part of all of our wonderful memories of the 2016 Gator season.

Peace.  Love.  Gators.

2016 NVSL Sportsmanship Award for Division 2 Goes to the Gators!

Gators know sportsmanship.  Congrats to Gator swimmers, coaches, parents, and fans for being dedicated to great sportsmanship throughout the 2016 season!