Gators Have Some Great Swims At Divisional Relays. Stat Boy Introduces Pig to Lipstick.

Despite finishing last in the Division 3 Relay Carnival last night, there were a number of great, and very good, swims by Gator relay teams.

Cassidy tells her teammates to stand back -- she's

got this.  Meanwhile, Sara, Claudia and Torie

are too busy adjusting their goggles to notice.

Stat Boy notes that of the 17 divisions in the NVSL, only one other last place team outscored the Gators (by two points) -- the Division 10 Rolling Forest team.  Stat Boy also notes that Rolling Forest and MVP both were  just 42 points behind the winner -- making those two divisions the most balanced relay carnival.  Ergo, MVP is the best of the worst this season, a rallying cry if I've ever heard one.

Claudia's cruising.

(As an aside, Stat Boy also points out that "Rolling Forest" would be a great name for a swim team from Northern California, but the MVP blog Director of Standards and Practice is likely to edit this paragraph out.)

Cyrus working hard.

MVP relays won two of the 22 events -- the girls 11-12 100 meter medley relay team of Cassidy Bayer (back), Holly Jansen (breaststroke), Jessie Bricker (fly), and Elaina Phalen (free) won by 0.11 seconds with a time that is nearly four seconds faster than the All-Star cut. 

Gabby practices breath control

as Juliana checks her shades goggles.

The other winning relay was the 9-10 boys team record-setting effort of 1:06.56 (see related story), the foursome of Sean Jansen, Cole Miller, Tyler Dunn, and Nick Dupuis cruised to a 0.78 winning margin.

Up close with Andrei

(Overall, three team records were broke last night -- see related story for details).

Lily looking sublime in the late afternoon light

The 9-10 boys pulled down a second place finish  in the medley relay -- Collin Sundsted (back), Sean (breaststroke), Cole (fly) and Nick (free) lowered their own team record.  The 11-12 girls free relay also finished a close second place (by 0.19 seconds) -- Holly Jansen, Jessie Bricker, Elaina Phalen, and Cassidy Bayer.

Holly's heading to the wall.  And All-Stars.

Third place finishers were plentiful -- the Mixed Age 200 Freestyle Relay of Cassidy Bayer, Claudia Theriot, Torie Bolger, and Sara Bertram started off the meet with a strong start for the Gators.  The 8 & under grils 100 meter modified medley team of Emily Makin (back), Gabrielle Greszler (breaststroke), Olivia Blondin (free), and Julianna Skopp-Cardillo (free) kept it going with a third place.

Tom takes off on fly.

Also finishing third were the 13-14 girls 200 meter medley relay team of Torie Bolger (back), Jayne Orleans (breaststroke), Mollie Passacantando (fly), and Emily Walzl (free), the 15-18 girls medley team of Julia Bolger (back), Sophia Passacantando (breaststroke), Sara Bertram (fly), and Maddy Bolger (free), and the 13-14 girls 200 freestyle relay team of Emily Walzl, Molly Cabral, Mollie Passacantando, and Torie Bolger.

Tristan moving through the water.