A Hard Day's Work in Smallville - "A" Meet vs Hunter Mill

Avengers, who? This is the team we want on our side.

This week's Gator theme for the "A" Meet was Superheroes. For the meet, we travelled out to Hunter Mill in the western part of the county on territory that used to be lots of farm land... not anymore really, but the old barn and silo still stand as the club house and storage areas for the Hunter Mill Swim Club. The old barn and silo certainly add a unique character to the swim club, making it a little more interesting than the average clubhouse in the NVSL. Why do I mention the theme and the old farm together here? Well, the combination made me think of Superman and some of the things we may take for granted that helped shape his character.

When Superman landed on Earth as a baby, he landed on farmland in Kansas. The Kents were a hard-working farming couple who had no children of their own, so having the "superbaby" fall into their lives was literally a gift from the heavens. A big part of Superbaby/boy/man's life was shaped by that life on the farm. His adoptive father instilled a strong work ethic in him: get up early, do your chores, meet all your obligations, help where needed, be kind, repeat. Would Superman be any different if he hadn't landed with the Kents? If that rocket crashed in Beverly Hills, would Clark Kardashian have been the same hero that we all know and love? Probably not. An overly-entitled superhero just would't have the same selfless commitment. That country upbringing is a pretty strong foundation of success. I recall one of my old football coaches who had voiced an opinion that he would generally prefer a "country boy" to a "city slicker" when it came to getting players for his teams. The good work ethic was part and parcel to the life of those "country boys." He wasn't denouncing the "city slickers" en masse, but rather just saying that the odds of getting a kid who was going to work hard in sports (and life) was high with the country kids (I'm a city boy myself, so I definitely don't think that the characterization was meant to be exclusive). The bottom line was that they understood the value of work, and he felt that would translate well to the sports field.

Wonder-ful. 

I see a lot of similarities in that farm-raised work ethic to that of our dedicated swimmers in Gator nation. They are tired, busy, and often over-committed, but continue down the path of doing the things that need to be done, putting in work... many waking up at 3:30am daily and hitting the pool all year long. The resulting habits have broad impact as they learn that hard work pays off: in school, activities, as well as sports... they find success.

That hard work paid off on the farm this week as the Gators swam to a dominating win over the Sharks. Seven out of 10 age groups won their match-ups and the Gators won three out of four strokes, and tied the fourth. In the relays, the Gator teams were able to win eight out of 12, sealing the most substantial victory of the season for the team.

The Gators were able to earn "clean sweeps" on six races: two by the 8 & under girls (Free and Breast), one by the 15-19 Girls (Free), and THREE by the 13-14 Boys (Free, Breast, and Fly).

8U Girls Free: Kate Barber 1st, Margaret Driscoll 2nd, Andrea Morales 3rd
8U Girls Breast: Natalie Crowther, Hayden Ward, Evelyn Milito
15-18 Girls Free: Sheridan Phalen, Gabby Greszler, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo
13-14 Boys Free: Donovan Kovalsky, James Piland, Jack Dupuis
13-14 Boys Breast: Jack Klopson, Jack Dupuis, Dylan Moore

13-14 Boys Fly: James Piland, Jack Klopson, Joe Humphreys

Our heroes. Powerful.

If it isn't clear, those 13-14 Boys turned it up a notch this week. First, they had a great Relay Carnival performance (read about that here) and then this meet... three clean sweeps is amazing. In the other race, they still won 1st and 2nd to take eight points in that race, too. And they won the relay. In "A" meet math, that adds up to 40 out of 41 points... that's unprecedented in my time with the team. We've had a couple 37's and 38's, and even one 39... but this is the first 40. That's 1st and 2nd in everything, plus 3rd in three out of the four races. That's the result of putting in work. Needless to say, these guys earned the Age Group of the Week trophy (again) as they continue their strong season. Congrats to the 13-14 Boys!

Super Princesses. 

In other notable results, the 8 & under Girls also won every race. In addition to the two sweeps mentioned above, Margaret Driscoll earned the blue ribbon in Back and Nat Crowther took the Fly. And their relay team of Margaret, Andrea, Kate, and Natalie completed their stellar day with a win in that race.

This week's Race of the Week was an amazing one to watch. All six boys in the 15-18 Boys Freestyle race finished within 1.7 seconds of each other, first to last. That's what I call a tight grouping. On top of that, the top three finishers all touched the wall within 0.17 seconds of each other! Can you say photo finish? As I stood there on the deck watching the swimmers come in towards the wall it was amazing to see six boys all in a near dead heat approaching simultaneously. Ultimately, the race was won by Cole Miller in 26.27 as he came on strong from Lane 2 to defeat Hunter Mill's top swimmer in a minor upset. I think the Superhero theme must have helped in that final finish.

A well-deserved moment of relaxation after the ROTW.

Delayed gratification is a learned behavior. It is clear that lots of these superheroes on the MVP team have learned to work hard, and now we are all seeing the results. When it was all said and done, the Gators found themselves on top of this one with a final score of 248-172.

Pretty sure it would be criminal to not include a photo
with this much cuteness.

With this week's win, our team record moves to 2-2. That's a two-week winning streak, with one more "A" meet to go. The standings have tightened up in the past few weeks, and while the championship is all but locked up by Donaldson Run, the other places are still in play. Our opponent next week is High Point Pool at home, and we'll be battling with a lot on the line. Twice this season the Hippos have had meets decided in the final races of the day... and this week may be another as we match up very evenly. A Gator victory would have us finish at 3-2 and in 2nd place in the division. Be sure to come out to the Swamp on Saturday and root the Gators on in what is sure to be very close and exciting final meet of the season.

Go Gators!

Hey there Fly photo... I see you.