Gators Dance and Swim to Start the Season at Time Trials

Having fueled their bodies with some delicious carbs the evening before at the annual MVP pasta dinner, our Gators were ready to post some great swims at time trials on Saturday morning.  Gator nation awoke early on this warm and humid morning and headed to the park for music, amazing dance moves, laughs, high-fives, Gator café treats, and to show off their excellent form in four strokes and the Individual Medley in front of a crowd of proud and loud cheering family members and friends. 

Time trials feels like a dress rehearsal for the A and B meet performances that are only days away.  It’s an internal opportunity for the many volunteers to get back in action as MVP announcers, timers, judges, referees, starters, marshals, table workers, and many other roles.  For Gator swimmers, time trials is their first chance of the season to record swim times and get a feel for where they stand in the MVP swim ladder (and possible A meet invitations).  And for coaches, this first swim event of the season provides the invaluable opportunity of helping swimmers improve their techniques and skills.

A sea of Gators young and old(er) took part in time trials and, for 3 ½ hours, treated us to some great swims and races.  There were a whopping 484 splashes on Saturday! (for anyone new to this, that means that 484 individual Gator swims were counted, with many Gators swimming multiple races)  Head coach Paul Makin, Assistant Coach Laurel Greszler, and new Supplemental Practice coach Tim Boyd were on deck actively encouraging, instructing, and congratulating all the hard-working Gator swimmers that participated on Saturday.   

Coach Tim helping the Gators swim their best

Coach Paul is all ears when Gators have questions

I caught up with Team Reps Jamey Piland and Rose Pascarell and they were thrilled with the first meet under their leadership.  “First meet went great, largely as a result of all the new and experienced volunteers who stepped up and worked from start to finish.  Plus we have a great vantage point -- we get to see close ups of Gator swimmers doing their best and high fiving each other all the way back to the team area.  And by the way, Lauren Cardillo and Laurel Greszler's excellent dance moves made the break between heats all the more interesting.”

Cassidy Bayer is always entertaining - in and out of the pool!

And with that, on to the results:

Age group freestyle winners were Samuel Bruce, Helen Milito, Alexander North, Cassidy Crowther, Donovan Kovalsky, Katya Zaitsev, Clark Bayer, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Cole Miller, and Cassidy Bayer.

Age group backstroke winners were Ty Mills, Helen Milito, Tyler Swartz, Cassidy Crowther, James Piland, Elizabeth Moorman, Clark Bayer, Emily Makin, Cole Miller, and Cassidy Bayer.

Age group breaststroke winners were Anthony Sarro, Helen Milito, Alexander North, Abigail Litonjua, James Piland, Lily Palmerino,  Charlie Ruppe, Emily Makin, Brian McNamara, and Taylor Makin.

Finally, age group butterfly winners were Liam Fore, Natalie Crowther, Matthew Makin, Ginny Grubbs, James Piland, Lily Palmerino, Andrew Baker, Emily Makin, Cole Miller, and Sheridan Phalen.

Elaina Phalen and Parker Fulghum congratulating each other for a great swim!

And Parents are always showing their Gators the love!

And let’s hear it for all the awesome time drops for our younger swimmers from last year.  Here a list of swimmers that dropped 8 more seconds from their 2016 season times in various strokes: Cooper Swartz, Henry O’Shea, Ian Hixson, Helen Milito, Hayden Ward, Caroline Watters, Sofia Bryant, Colin Baxter, Charlie Bruce, Abigail Litonjua, Samantha Cowen, Madeline Cullo, Saira Nagda, Abby Tynan, William Milito, Caroline Miller, Emma Bruhl, Kahil Mulla, and John French.  Great effort Gators!

The first B meet is on Tuesday at Waynewood (rescheduled from Monday due to the weather).  The first A meet is on Saturday against the Dunn Loring dolphins at Mount Vernon Park.