Gator Nation

Gator Nation

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

All-Stars Update (7/29)

We have had a few more additions, so here they are, again, by event, including alternates:
  • Event 3, 9-10 boys 50 meter freestyle, James Piland
  • Even 5, 11-12 boys 50 free, Clark Bayer and Andrew Baker (alt)
  • Event 6, 11-12 girls 50 free, Gabrielle Greszler
  • Event 6, 11-12 girls 50 free, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (alt)
  • Event 8, 13-14 girls 50 free, Sheridan Phalen
  • Event 9, 15-18 boys 50 free, Kevin Adams-Mardi
  • Event 11, 8 & under 25 meter backstroke, Matthew Makin
  • Event 13, 9-10 boys back, Joseph Humphreys (alt)
  • Event 15, 11-12 boys back, Andrei Zaitsev (alt)
  • Event 16, 11-12 girls back, Emily Makin
  • Event 27, 13-14 boys 50 meter breaststroke, Sean Jansen
  • Event 28, 13-14 girls 50 breaststroke, Taylor Makin
  • Event 29, seed 9, 15-18 boys 50 breaststroke, Kevin Adams-Mardi
  • Event 31, 8 & under boys 25 meter butterfly, Tyler Swartz (alt)
  • Event 35, 11-12 50 meter fly, Andrew Baker
  • Event 36, 11-12 girls 50 fly, Gabrielle Greszler (alt)
  • Event 40 -- 15-18 girls butterfly, Jessie Bricker
  • Event 44, 11-12 girls 100 meter Individual Medley, Emily Makin
We're up to 19 All-Star swims, including seven alternates, and 15 Gators going to All-Stars.  Good luck to all of the All-Star Swimmers this Saturday!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Memories of a Gator: Torie Bolger

 Torie will be attending Elon University starting in late August.


Every summer for the past 13 years, I have looked forward to waking up early and going to Gator practice. To many of my friends this idea of getting up early in the summer and hopping into a cold pool was ridiculous, but to me Gator swim was so much more than that. It was seeing friends that you missed for the last 9 months, annoying Coach Paul into water polo, and coaching kids that you never thought would make such a huge impact on your life. 

I put off writing my memories of a Gator because that meant that this part of my life ending is real. The Gators aren’t just a team to me and Mount Vernon Park isn’t just a pool; they’re family and MVP is home; it always has been and always will be.




I have loved every second of being on this team. From the dreaded Waynewood B-meets, winning All Star Relays as an 8 and under, to going 4-1 in my final season. One of my favorite memories of the team was when I was a much younger Gator and all the teen coaches had this ghost story that they would tell. A couple of them would get us together and walk us around the pond telling the same story every year. Every year I would go and tell them that it was the dumbest story and no one believed them. One year, they decided to mix it up a bit, one of the coaches actually hid in the pond while the other signaled him to get rise up from the water and scare the daylights out of us. I remember the water moving and the noise coming from his mouth, I was so freaked out that I took off sprinting in the other direction back to my parents. When I looked back, they were rolling on the ground laughing. I went back to ask them why they did it and they looked back at me and said “because it’s fun.” Even though my heart leapt out of my chest that night, that campout remains one of my favorites.

I could go on and on about all the memories I have made from this team, but instead I want to take the time to thank everyone who has made my time on this team the best. To all my other Gator seniors, it’s been such a pleasure to swim with you all over the years. To the coaches, keep the spirit up and don’t let the dance parties on deck stop. To Coach Emily, you have really made this last season great between all your dance moves to your amazing coaching skills. To Coach Paul, these last 10 years have really been amazing. You have had such an impact in the way I look at swimming and leadership. You have taught me so much and I will always remember that. I will miss you all so much next summer! (Insert triple Gator grunt).

Remember, once a Gator, always a Gator.



Monday, July 27, 2015

Thanks Coaches -- Congratulations on a Great Season!

Living In Fast Forward: Four Days in the Life of a Gator Volunteer

I've always encouraged people to get involved with volunteering for the Gators.  Summer swim is the most volunteer intensive sport, and volunteering is very rewarding.  No one works harder than the team reps, but there are plenty of other jobs that need to be done.  As a long-time Gator volunteer who knew nothing about the sport, I've done many jobs since getting involved.  Here's a write-up on one person's four days as a Gator volunteer.  Not everyone has to be this committed, although I'm going to miss it.

Friday, July 17th
7:55 am: I drive the mile down the road to the Passacantandos so John and I (mostly John) can put his old Thule rack on our Explorer for the coaches retreat to Wintergreen.  Carol and I have enlisted the Phalens to join us wrangling the 13 high school coaches who are coming up with us for the weekend to the mountains after the A meet.

John and Lisa are our dearest friends from swim team.  It's a shame Mollie has gone 100% to crew and left swim, but she's so talented at crew.  John is former exec director of Greenpeace USA, I'm a Republican political consultant.  Lisa worked for the Clinton Administration (hopefully the only one!), while Carol advised the business community on Senate races.  And yet Gator swim (and, oh yeah, our kids) brought us as close together as any two couples can be.  We've gone hiking, kayaking, skiing together.  Shared many meals and bottles of wine together.

It's going to be nice having John (our former Gator A meet announcer for multiple years) on Saturday as the announcer for the senior day festivities.

10:02 am: I send the first of many swim-related emails for the day.  Monday is the IM Invitational -- 13 teams at MVP for a huge meet. I'm the meet manager, so there's a ton of details to follow up on.  I ask Karl Metter, a former Gator team rep, to chalk the lines for the team areas.  Even though Jessica graduated last season, Karl is such a great guy that I know I can impose on him for this favor -- plus he's working Stroke and Turn for the event, so he gets a free shirt out of the deal!  It helps he's a lacrosse coach -- part of that job is chalking straight lines!

10:46 am: Dave Ruppe sends me an email gently reminding me that he sent the B meet write-up from Monday night for the blog on Wednesday, and I totally spaced on it (which is ironic in its own way).  Yikes. . .gotta get that up right away.  Dave does a nice job with his blog posts, and this is the first time I've totally forgotten.  I'm going to miss doing the blog -- also did it for the West Potomac softball team, so my creative writing period will be coming to a halt soon.

12:23 pm: Emily Bayer, the Gator assistant Head Coach, emails me about changing the set-up for the A meet tomorrow because of the rain.  Since I'm ref for the meet, I get to weigh in on that.  I have a different suggestion, so we hop on the phone, she likes my suggestion enough to get it approved by our esteemed Team Reps, the MVP park manager (Editor's note: Did you just call Brendan the Mount Vernon Park park manager?  Writer: I suppose so.)  Not to pat myself on the back, but this way everyone's happy, or at least people aren't as unhappy! (Postscript: It ends up being changed again Saturday morning, so my seemingly brilliant plan was trumped by an even better one!)

2:00 pm: After leaving work early, I drive up to the Blondin's house as Dave and Parker are batting the volleyball around.  Dave is the Data Dude for the IM Invitational, and we've got to finalize the first draft of the meet sheet.  Last year, I rushed over to his house at 9:30 pm and we finished around midnight.  Today, after a year under his belt, Dave has it nailed.  None of the problems and uncertainties from last year crop up.  Between being Data manager for the IM Invitational, Chief of Officials for the Gators, and running Ft. Hunt volleyball, he's got a lot on his plate (besides that whole job thing, of course!).  It's great to have a patient person like him to work through this with.

The best part about the 2:00 pm means my evening is free to join former Gator team reps Karl and Claudia Metter at the pool for the Rocklands bbq truck for dinner with Carol!

2:50 pm: Tonda spots a problem with the blog, and I go into fix it.  Except I can't.  I divert Dave from his work, and he can't fix it.  Tonda goes into the HTML code -- problem solved.  Tonda's work is a pretty good argument for more women in high tech.

3:30 pm: Dave Blondin and I (mostly Dave) are still working on the meet sheet for Monday.  We will send these to the 13 team reps participating in the meet.  Love the IM Invitational because 420 kids get to swim, and we get to show off our beautiful Mount Vernon Park.  The process working with Dave is seamless compared to last year -- we both learned from experience!

4:05 pm: Leave the Blondin's house.  The work on this (at this point) is virtually done.  Just a couple more emails, and we're where we need to be on the IM Invitational.  I'm taking the rest of the day off -- I hope!

6:15 pm: Okay, this really isn't Gator volunteer related, but it would not have happened without being one!  We go over to MVP to meet the Metters (team reps from 2005-2007) and have Rocklands BBQ food truck fare.  And adult beverages.  Dave Blondin wanders by.  Then I run into the Phalens (the haggard look of Team Reps goes away by Labor Day), the Bayers, and the McNamaras.  It's a mellow evening that makes MVP the best place to hangout in NOVA.

Saturday, July 18th
6:00 am: Since I woke up at 5:30 before the alarm, I had time to read the comics and the sports.  I save the front page for later.  Now, it's time to pop up and get ready for both the A meet and the assistant coach retreat for the Gator high schoolers.  First I pack for the overnight trip down to Wintergreen, and then I ready myself to ref.

I've really enjoyed working the deck over the years.  For someone who knew nothing about swim when Julia became a Gator in 1999, I've gotten to be Marshal, then Relay Take-off Judge, Stroke & Turn judge, Starter, and Referee.  The people who work the deck are dedicated to doing the job right.  You have the best seat in the house, and you get to watch some great races.

So, I prep for working my final A meet by reviewing the helpful handouts prepared by the NVSL, the USA Swim rule book, and the NVSL handbook.  Nothing has changed since the first two home A meets of the season, but refresher study is always helpful.

7:00 am: I make sure Torie and Carol are awake and getting ready for their respective roles (swimming and timing).  Without a swimmer this whole swimming thing is largely a moot point!

7:15 am: Usually I walk the three quarters of a mile over to MVP for A meets to save on parking, but we'll be leaving from the Park for the coaches' retreat right after the meet.  First thing is to make sure the set-up is proceeding fine, and to help wherever needed.

It's very cool to participate in set-up.  The pool goes from its usual look to looking great for the swim meet.  Former team reps like the Haleys, the aforementioned Metters, and the Rholls did a lot to change the MVP set-up from a tired, dumpy place to a first-class operation that is the rival of any NVSL pool for a professional look and operation.

Part of the job of referee is to check for safety -- is everything set up properly?  Is there junk in the water?  Is the water level high enough?  Is the scupper in place?  Lane lines tight?  The set up crew is so good that most everything is hunky-dory.  If you've never done set upt, you should show up at 7am on a Saturday home meet to help set up (or a Monday home B meet around 4pm).  Like timing, set up or take down is a great way to stick your toe in the water of Gator volunteering.

8:05 am: Gator warm-ups begin as the visiting team arrives from Vienna Woods.  Because of the recent rains (take that California -- you may have no humidity, but we've got more water than you can dream of!), the usual team areas are off limits.  That has resulted in significant discussion about team area location, and swimmers exiting the pool area.  All of that is handled with minimal input from the referee, so that's great news.

Paul van Damme is announcing his first A meet, and he nails it from the start.  He's hitting all his marks.  Turns out he's not just smart, he's an actual rocket scientist, so he loves checklists.  Given how well he's doing, I love him like he loves checklists (or something).  The meetings with the Vienna Woods (VW) team reps and coaches go smoothly.

The rest of warm-ups go well.

8:55 am: Time for the meet to start, on time as MVP always strives hard to do (and always succeeds!  No pressure for 2016!).  Hannibal Smith was right.

9:00 am: The first race is in the water, and we are off and running swimming.  The meet goes smoothly, and there are only four DQs, three of which are in the same event.  Earlier this season, during one lengthy DQ delay, announcer Chris Fulghum played the Gap Band's biggest hit.  I noted to him that playing "You dropped a bomb on me" is a fairly ironic song for DQs.

The meet is see-sawing back and forth, but that's not the concern of the ref.  The job of the deck officials is to make sure the swimmers are swimming within the rules.  In addition, the ref should work to minimize or fix problems, ensure fair and equitable competition, watch and stop poor sportsmanship (not an issue today or this season at all!), and keep the meet moving along.

Cameron Morey won fly by 0.01 and I didn't even realize it was that close, because I had already turned my attention to the swimmers in other lanes.  After I looked at the results post meet, it was clear there were a lot of great races.

10:30 am: It's Gator Senior Day.  Years ago, I realized, listening to senior day talks about the graduating Gators (and visiting teams when on the road) that there are no dumb swimmers.  It takes an amazing amount of discipline, focus, and willingness to work hard to swim from age 5 or 6 until 18 (or even beyond).

Former Gator announcer John Passacantando came back to read the bios as the seniors and their parents marched through the arch of fins.  John's kids grew up with these swimmers on the team, so he knows most of them very well -- years of Primos after Relay Carnival, the Pazzs hosting the All-Star Relay breakfast, late nights of kids tearing through your house or simply hanging out -- John was perfect for the job as he ad-libbed some touching and memorable comments.

Carol started the arch of fins at West Potomac swim senior day, and carried it over to MVP for the last several years.  It's a lot more fun having the youngsters on deck and involved than off deck and hopefully paying attention.

Anyhow, the point of senior day is not just to celebrate the Gator careers of some great kids, but also so parents of younger kids see into their future.  I don't know if you will one, two, three (or more!) senior days, but relish them.

11:00 am: On Senior Day, the meet runs slower, so we are just getting to relays now.  Individual events are great, but the relays are the best.  The deck clears off a bit, and the races go well.  There are no early take-offs, and the Gators won the meet.  There was some slight post-meet controversy, but since the score was decisive in MVP's favor, it did not matter too much.

While waiting for the final results to print so I can check and sign them as the Meet Referee, I give Susan Neal, our chief table person, the usual hard time.  Susan doesn't ever fluster, so she just fires right back at me.  It's all in good fun.

People don't realize how important every role is at a swim meet.  The table is key to make sure the times are recorded right, the meet is properly scored, and the swimmers get their proper ribbons.  Nothing happens until Talley says "Timers, clear your watches."  The Marshals are in charge of safety and ensuring quiet for the start.  The Announcer informs the crowd what is going on, updates the score, and, most importantly, works conscientiously to pronounce even the most difficult names correctly.

12:00 noon:  After scarfing down a hamburger and more water, the four boys on the coaches retreat hop into my Explorer and we head for Wintergreen.  We've got the aforementioned Thule racks, two lasagnas, paper plates, and off we go.  Carol drives one car out 66 to 29, and the Phalens also take a carload -- 13 coaches in all.

Time for a quick vote in the car.  "We can listen to country, 80s pop, classic rock, or Sinatra," I note, throwing Frank in there as a slight joke, certain that four 15-18 year old boys do not even know who he is.  Well, Sinatra got the most votes, so Siriusly Sinatra it was -- well, at least for two hours.

I make the decision for my car that we'll take I-95 using the HOT lanes for free.  Bad decision.  The HOT lane was great -- but at mile 143 those lanes end and we went straight to traffic nightmare.  I got off at Aquia for Rte. 1, but after a couple of miles, that was a mistake.  It was grim.  Mercifully, the guys choose sleep over mutiny, but it was touch and go.

Speaking of touch and go, the entire weekend I wasn't sure the Explorer would make it.  The wrench icon came on in Fredericksburg, and then the check engine light while on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The car got us there and back, but is now in the shop for a new transmission (#bummer!).

2:00 pm: We finally break free in Fredricksburg of the traffic.  I wasted a good thirty minutes by trying to get to Wintergreen faster than Route 29.  In case you are wondering, we did end up taking 29 to 66 back -- and it was a breeze!

2:15 pm: Passing a farm, I shout to the half asleep car -- "Hey" quite loudly and point at hay.  They laughed.  Let me tell you this though -- it only works once -- after that teens become bitter and disillusioned at you (I have three children of my own, and since we often had guests with us at Wintergreen, my daughters have heard the joke far too often!).

4:00 pm: Well, we finally make it to Wintergreen -- which could have been a lot faster had I not gambled on I-95.  We unload, set up the condo, and await the others.  Carol, after a stop for food pick-up in Charlottesville, rolls up and the car is quickly unloaded.  The Phalens arrive a little later -- the gang's all here!

5:00 pm: Tonda and Carol have work to do, so Jim and I take the 13 coaches for two hikes.  They are both short drives away, and both are spectacular.  The Gator energy that had been drained by the meet and car  ride come roaring back.

On the hike to the Plunge, which is a rocky cliff top featuring a huge drop-off to certain death, I have to be the old guy and stop them from doing dangerous things.  Molly Cabral climbs a tree that has barely enough dirt for roots.  I call her down -- who knows what's to stop the tree from pitching over the cliff!  Cassidy Bayer goes far out on the sloping rock and stands on tiptoes.  Great, I think to myself: MVP's Olympic hopeful dies or is maimed on the coaches' retreat!  (See the related blog below for pictures of the retreat).

6:15 pm: After the waterfall hike and a stop at a scenic overlook, we head back.  With two across-the-hall condos, the coaches head over to the other and start playing games and hanging out.  The parents open adult beverages while Carol finishes cooking.

8:00 pm: After chowing down on lasagna, salad, and bread, and a quick Happy Birthday cake for Torie, they really get down to work on paper plate awards!  Meanwhile, the parents are out on the balcony, star gazing and relaxing.  The swim world, so crazed at this point in the season, can wait till tomorrow.

Sunday, July 19th 
7:00 am: Up at 6am, I handled IM Invitational emails from other team reps and watch the sun come up over the Rockfish Valley.  Spectacular (not the emails, the sunrise!).

Then I knock on all the doors at 7am.  I had promised them the most invigorating view hike of the weekend if they wanted to get up.  At first only Tres and Ian Neal get up.  Then Parker and Elaina are up.  Okay, it's just the six of us -- let's go.  Well, then Molly got up, and Cassidy.  Molly went in and made Ian Baker and Cameron get up.  Then Anna woke up to go,  So we were up to eleven, including nine coaches.  For a Sunday morning, that was impressive turnout.

7:25 am: Up the stairs to the parking lot, and off to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Twenty minutes later, we're not the first cars there, but it is not jam-packed either.  The hike is a steep 20-25 minute climb along the Appalachian Trail and a side trail.

The hike itself is kind of boring -- an uphill slog through the woods.  But the payoff is tremendous -- stunning views to the west, north, and east from giant rocks that make for great scrambling.  The kids are thrilled by it (and the cool breeze) and scramble all over.   It was hard to corral them all for a photo!

9:00 am: I call back to let Carol know we are on our way, so she can start Operation Pancake.  She cooked a great breakfast (yes, fresh fruit also!) for 18 people.

10:45 am: After everyone helped clean up, Jim and I took two cars down to the lake.  Carol and Tonda stayed behind to either clean, have some peace, or both.  With new kids in the car, I used the "Hay" joke again. They loved it.  No, really, they did.

The lake is a beautiful setting in the valley, with mountains all around, a giant water trampoline, a dock, and an iceberg to play.  The coaches all had a great time just swimming for fun, even when they would hit the pockets of freezing mountain water in the lake.

2 pm: After volleyball, lunch, and more swimming, it was time to hit the road.  There was a lot of sleep involved (not the drivers, of course), but the stop at Dairy Queen in Charlottesville woke everyone back up for a bit.  Home by 5:30.  I was going to take care of last minute IM Invitational details and do some A meet blogging Sunday night, but was too worn out to be effective.

(Team Rep note - Glen wasn't too worn out to send several emails on Sunday evening while Dave Blondin and Tonda were processing the final batch of IMI swimmer scratches/entries and printing cards. We quaked with each one, as we were just trying to get the cards done and were hoping that there were no changes each time we saw his email address pop into our inboxes.)

Monday, July 20th
3:15 am: So much for sleeping until my 4:30am alarm.  I woke up thinking of a million details regarding the IMI.  So, I start sending out emails.  I'm sure the 13 team reps wonder why they don't just receive one email with multiple details, but honestly, Team Reps are so worn out at this time of the season that they won't read the whole thing.

Plus the parking list needs to be put together.  And the blog articles from Saturday need to be written. The key part is, it all gets done before having to leave for my 9 am meeting.  The client who called for the meeting on Monday afternoon has a swimmer who is involved in the meet for another team.  When I point out that I can only do the morning, he shifts from 2pm to 9am.  That's a little lucky for me.

Noon: Time to leave the office, get home, and take care of some more details.  Carol, who will be serving as parking boss, helps me get everything organized to take over.  Then we go put up signs for parking at St. Luke's and at Hollin Hall, along with signs pointing the way to MVP.

1:45 pm: We hit the park and start putting up the signs for the team areas, and, with the help of several Gator volunteers, start putting out the trash and recycling containers.  Oh, it's hot.

Weather always plays such a large role in summer swim.  At the beginning of the season, it's often too cool to have in-pool practice.  Then, there is the rain/thunderstorm issues.  B meets get delayed. I always say if there is a drought, we just need to schedule a MVP-Mansion House B meet to bring rain and break the drought.  And, we've never had as much rain on Saturday mornings during A meets as we did this season.The other problem is unbearable heat.  We're not quite there today, but it's so humid it only takes a couple of steps to start sweating.  

2:30 pm: As the set-up continues, it's time for a quick drive home and a pointless shower and change of clothes.

3:00 pm: Back to the pool, this time with the ribbons and medals and trophies (oh my!).  Warm-ups start as teams are streaming in to fill up their team areas (which Karl Metter so kindly marked again).  The announcer is there, setting up with the help of Lauren Cardillo.  Susan Neal arrives to run the table.  The deck officials show up, as do the timers.  The warm-ups are done by age groups, so there is a constant turnover.

There are small problems to troubleshoot.  The parking, which has been problematic in the past, is running smoothly.  The neighbors don't show up to complain, and the griping about the hike to the pool from where they parked is minimal.  Phew -- parking for big meets at MVP is always the biggest challenge we face.  Given the set-up of the pool, MVP is a great place for a big meet.  Given the parking, that's problematic.

5:05 pm: Well, the meet start five minutes late, which is the first time that has happened in the three years in a row it's been held at MVP.  Once it gets going, however, nothing can stop it.  There are 10 events, with seven heats each.  That's seventy races.  There are six swimmers in nearly every heat.  Doing the math, that's 420 swimmers if every lane is filled.  We probably end up with 412 swimmers.  That's a lot of opportunity to swim in a big meet for a lot of kids.

I love the fact that smaller pools such as Lorton Station and Pinewood Lake are in the meet, even with larger pools like MVP and Mansion House.  With the 13 teams split into three divisions based on their NVSL seeding, every team has a chance to win their division.

The 8 & under fly events (boys and girls) starts slow, because there are a lot of DQs. Even the 9-10 IMs are a bit slow -- for the 9 year olds, this is their first time doing the 100 IM, so there is more DQs than at the older age levels.

6:30 pm:  It's time for the 10 minute break.  Just before the break, I pull out the coach of the year award (won by Hollin Hills' Seamus O'Connor).  I noticed the date is listed as July 20, 2014.  Yikes -- when we checked the proof, we made sure the title of the award is correct (the Charlie Chadbourn Coach of the Year Award) and the winner was spelled correctly.  We skipped over the date -- ugh.  Well, Seamus handles it well, and returns it to me at the end of the meet.  (Postscript: it was fixed and returned to him on Sunday the 26th).

8:30 pm: The meet ends with the coach IM.  While it's not scored, it does allow the kids to cheer like mad for their coaches, and it allows the table to get caught up with the results as I hover impatiently.  (They do a great job, and it is a lot of important work, but I still want it both immediately and error-free, which isn't exactly fair!)  One of the perks of being meet manager is that I get to announce the winners of the trophies.  It's fun as the kids come up with their coaches for the celebratory picture!

11:30 pm: The meet is over.  The takedown is over, and the post-clean-up adult beverages and snacks are done.  It's our last time at a meet on Monday nights at MVP.  We walk out, slightly nostalgic and slightly looking forward to the next chapter after Gator volunteering.  Of all of the things Carol and I have done as volunteers (softball coach, Girl Scout leader, swim official for high school, team rep for high school swim, soccer coach, line judge, umpire, softball team blogger, to name a few), nothing was as much fun, or involved as many friendships, as our various volunteer roles for Gator swim.

(If three retrospectives from one person on Gator parenthood/volunteering is a bit much, I apologize. I'm just trying to communicate to folks how much fun summer swim is.  I actually started writing this July 17th and only finished it on the 27th!  Sorry, my plan was to put this up last week, but never had the time.  Thanks for the platform all these years, and uh, have a good life!)
  

Gators Go For Individual Glory At Divisional Championship Meet

Before celebrating into the wee hours of the morning, Gator swimmers were hard at work at the Division 3 Individual Championships.  There were nine Gator winners, seven second places, and twelve third place finishes.

First place finishes were earned by:

  • Kevin Adams-Mardi (free and breaststroke)
  • Matthew Makin (back)
  • Emily Makin (back)
  • Taylor Makin (breaststroke)
  • Tyler Swartz (fly)
  • James Piland (fly)
  • Gabrielle Greszler (fly)
  • Sheridan Phalen (IM)

Second place finishes were nabbed by:

  • Tyler Swartz (free)
  • Sheridan Phalen (free)
  • Joseph Humphreys (back)
  • Sean Jansen (breaststroke)
  • Donovan Kovalsky (fly)
  • Andrew Baker (fly)
  • Taylor Makin (IM)

Third place finishes were earned by:

  • James Piland (free)
  • Clark Bayer (free)
  • Andrew Baker (free)
  • Gabrielle Greszler (free)
  • George Schulte (back)
  • Andrei Zaitsev (back)
  • Gus Leyden (back)
  • Alexander North (breaststroke)
  • Samantha Cowen (fly)
  • Olivia Blondin (fly)
  • Emily Makin (IM)
  • Cameron Morey (IM)
Great Gator showings.

Cassidy Breaks Regional Mark

MVP's own Cassidy Bayer impressively broke a 30 year old regional record on Thursday.  Read all about it here:

http://reachforthewall.com/2015/07/25/cassidy-bayer-flies-back-breast-and-free-under-30-year-old-mark/

Stat Boy's Notes

I received a request to post Stat Boy's notes on the Gator team blog.  Despite Stat Boy's reluctance to share his secret formulas, the power of a free press prevailed.  (Stat Boy can be a bit of a prima donna!)

Our 2015 MVP Gators!  They won the Individual Medley Invitational trophy for the sixth year in a row, tied for first place for the Divisional Relay Carnival and finished 4-1 in Division 3 for their third straight winning season in this the second season in a row.

MVP has been in the NVSL for 59 years.  The last time MVP had four or more victories in division 3 or higher was. . .never.  By the measurement of number of wins in top divisions, this is the best Gator team of all time.

For those of you newer to swim team than Carol and I, which is everyone but the Fracassos, when our oldest daughter started in 1999, we were in Division 12, so we’ve jumped over nearly 60 teams – and been in D-3 for four of the past five years.  Btw, there are 102 teams in the NVSL, and around 18,000 swimmers.  By some estimates, it is the largest sports league in the country.

We scored the most points against undefeated Little Rocky Run, four more points and we win the meet.  By the way, we were only 0.23 seconds away in one race from an undefeated season.  But, I did not figure out how close we were to a winless season, although it wasn’t nearly that close!

The point is NOT to say, darn, we should have been undefeated.  The goal is to show everyone how close and exciting these meets are.  We were 0.23 seconds away from being undefeated – shows you how close and exciting swim meets are.

We had 274 swimmers join the team – making us one of the largest teams in the NVSL.  We had 144 girls and 130 boys.  51 6 & U, 69 7-8 year olds, 53 9-10 year olds, 45 11-12 year olds, 27 13-14 year olds, and a record 29 15-18 year olds.

We had 221 swimmers swim in meets, including 100 who swam in A Meets.  Fully 65 kids scored points in A Meets, including 33 girls and 32 boys who scored individual points.  Last season there were more boys scoring points than girls for the first time ever.  Now, it’s a one person advantage for the girls!

For individual events, the boys scored 498 points, and the girls scored 445.5 points.  First time ever in the history of Stat Boy that the boys scored more points than the girls.

In the 13 meets tracked by Hy-Tek, we had 2,919 “splashes” and that’s 17,514 starts and stops by timers.

Andrew Baker was the Splash King with 41 swims in those meets, while Donovan Kovalsky was the Splash Prince title with 40.

On the girls side, Sheridan Phalen and Isabelle Van Damme were the Splash Queens with 44 swims in those meets, while Lily Palmerino and Juliana Skopp-Cardillo were the Splash Princess with 38.

We had 13 swimmers with perfect attendance at meets – Torie Bolger, Cassidy Crowther, Jackson Foerster, Ginny Grubbs TJ Heck, Jack Klopson, Donovan Kovalsky, Lily Palmerino, Sherican Phalen, Charlie Ruppe, George Schulte, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, and Isabella Van Damme.

We had eight swimmers score points in all ten of their individual A meet events.  Stand up – Cassidy Bayer, Kevin Adams-Mardi, Matthew Makin, Tyler Swartz, Sheridan Phalen, Gabrielle Greszler, George Schulte, and Andrew Baker.

Family scoring the most points – In fourth place, the Greszlers with 39, third place the Phalens with 44, in second place the Bayers with 55, and in first place – with 22 points more than last year – the Makins with 119! It’s nice that Coach Paul contributes to the team!

We sent ten relay teams to All-Stars, finishing 10th overall – out of 102 teams.  We scored more All-Star relay points than Waynewood, Mansion House, and Hollin Meadows combined.

Four team records set today and fifteen total for the season.  There were 10 individual team records and five relay records broken.  The oldest record broken was from 1972 – Matthew Makin today!

For the girls records – 1 from last century (8 & under 25 breaststroke from 1985), 6 from the last decade (the aughts), and 30 from this decade.

For the boys records – 11 from last century, two from the last decade, and 24 are from this decade!

Call up the team record setters – 13 boys and four girls: Cassidy Bayer, Jessie Bricker, Parker Fulghum, Elaina Phalen, Matthew Makin, Alexander North, Tyler Swartz, George Schulte, Andrei Zaitsev, TJ Heck, Andrew Baker, Clark Bayer, Sean Jansen, Kevin Adams-Mardi, Gus Leyden, Cameron Morey, and Tristan Colaizzi.


Divisional Championships were held today at Vienna Woods.  Stat Boy did some complicated math – Gators took a top three in 23 out of the 48 events.


Four Team Records Smacked Down On Saturday

It's only 13 miles from Mount Vernon Park to the Watergate Complex, and in the summer of 1972, history was made at both locations.  If you don't know what happened at the Watergate on June 17th, 1972, your lack of knowledge of American history is appalling (Google it!).

If you don't know what at MVP that summer, well, that's okay because it's pretty obscure!  But, an 8 & under Gator boy by the name of Brad Hucks (he would be around 50-51 years old today) swam the 25 meter backstroke in a team record time of 20.90.

That 43 year old record was edged out on Saturday by 8 & under Gator Matthew Makin, who swam a 20.83 to knock the oldest Gator team mark out of the record books.  Mr. Hucks, who I believe from Facebook is living in Port Charlotte, Florida, still holds the oldest MVP record, the 9-10 fly mark set in 1974.  Anytime Mr. Hucks had a great Gator year, Richard Nixon has a bad one, as 1974 is, of course, the year Nixon resigned.

Going back to 1972, not only was neither Matthew's dad or mom even born yet, but the year marked the debut of the first successful video game, called Pong, the start of ABBA, the first digital watch was sold (kids, a watch is a clock you wear on your wrist.  It doesn't do texting or play music.), the Godfather was released, as was "Watership Down."  The Cowboys won the Super Bowl (Tony Romo obviously was NOT their quarterback, and the greatest show ever on TV, MASH, debuted.

Besides Matthew Makin's tour de force, there were three other team records broken on Saturday, although none nearly as old as 43!

Kevin Adams-Mardi set two of them, as he lowered one of his own records and knocked out a seven year old mark.  Kevin now has four of the five individual boys 15-18 marks.  His 24.28 freestyle swim broke the 24.49 mark of Sean Bourne set back at Divisionals in 2008, and Kevin's 31.02 in the 50 meter breaststroke knocked more than half a second off his old mark of 31.60.

Sean Jansen took out a 12 year old record set in 2003 by Steven Berry.  Sean's 13-14 breaststroke swim in 35.43 was over 0.40 seconds better than Steven's 35.85 swim.

In all, 61 years worth of Gator boy records were broken on Saturday.  For the season, 15 total team records were set, including ten individual and five relay records.  Pretty amazing swimming!


Your 2015 Gator Individual All-Stars!

Here they are, by event:


  • Event 3, seed 10, 9-10 boys 50 meter freestyle, James Piland
  • Even 5, tied for second alternate, 11-12 boys 50 free, Clark Bayer and Andrew Baker
  • Event 6, seed 14, 11-12 girls 50 free, Gabrielle Greszler
  • Event 8, second alternate, 13-14 girls 50 free, Sheridan Phalen
  • Event 9, seed 5, 15-18 boys 50 free, Kevin Adams-Mardi
  • Event 11, seed 4, 8 & under 25 meter backstroke, Matthew Makin
  • Event 13, first alternate, 9-10 boys back, Joseph Humphreys
  • Event 15, second alternate, 11-12 boys back, Andrei Zaitsev
  • Event 16, seed 4, 11-12 girls back, Emily Makin
  • Event 27, seed 18, 13-14 boys 50 meter breaststroke, Sean Jansen
  • Event 28, seed 18, 13-14 girls 50 breaststroke, Taylor Makin
  • Event 29, seed 9, 15-18 boys 50 breaststroke, Kevin Adams-Mardi
  • Event 31, 2nd alternate, 8 & under boys 25 meter butterfly, Tyler Swartz
  • Event 35, seed 18, 11-12 50 meter fly, Andrew Baker
  • Event 36, first alternate, 11-12 girls 50 fly, Gabrielle Greszler
  • Event 44, seed 9, 11-12 girls 100 meter Individual Medley, Emily Makin
MVP had 17 All-Star swims so far, including seven alternates (there's a good chance they'll move up because of scratches).  Overall, 13 Gators are going to All-Stars.  Congratulations!!!

Update -- Monday 7/27, 10:50am
We've had scratches reported to Jim & Tonda, so I will continually add that info below as I receive it from the Secret Lair of Worldwide Gator HQ:

  • Event 8 -- Sheridan has moved up from second alternate and IS SWIMMING!
  • Event 40 -- Jessie Bricker is now first alternate for 15-18 girls butterfly!
  • Event 31 -- Tyler Swartz has moved up to 1st Alternate.
We're up to 18 All-Star swims, including seven alternates, and 14 Gators going to All-Stars.  More people need to go on vacation!

Swim Is A Movable Feast: Tonda's Photos from Divisionals and The Banquet

First they swam.

And then they celebrated!

(The first link is to photos from Divisionals.  The second link is to photos from the banquet.  The article title is a reference to my favorite Hemingway book.  It's always a good day when you can use a Hemingway reference in a blog post!)

Friday, July 24, 2015

Tonda Sez, "I Can Do GIFs Too You Know!" & More Captions

Romp in the Swamp GIFs:

And they are off!

Last one in is a rotten egg!  
(Is that still a thing? -- it was in the 1960s and '70s!)

Dance, Dance Revolution!
(Is that still a thing?  It was in the aughts!)

Wait -- why did I just
take a selfie of my toes?

Back off coaches!  You can
have him in five years!

If only I had a mouth full of water right now.
I bet I could spit it all into Jim's ear before 
he realizes what hits him.  Dang.  No water.


So, I finally get to push a button, and nothing blows up?


I'm the Michael Jordan of timers!


I have more hair than all of the male adult
volunteers who work A Meets. More hair
than them combined! Good thing I will never get old.


Okay, here's a quarter.  Now give me the magic beans.


Mom said, praying to Neptune can only help, so here goes!


Dash did something like this in the Incredibles!



Gators Romp In The Swamp

With appreciation to "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" by, of course, Dr. Seuss.


One Gator
Two Gator
Boy Gator
Girl Gator

Green Gator
Green & White Gator
11-12 Gator
6 & Under Gator

This Gator is a little star
This Gator parent goes to the bar
Say! What a lot
of Gators there are.

Yes.  Some are fast.  And some are not so fast.
Some are old.  And some are new.

Some are sad.
And some are glad
And some are very, very fast.

Why are they
fast and glad and sad?
I do not know, 
Go ask your dad.

Some are thin
Some sit on a lap
That one has
a Gator cap!

From the start to the pool end there,
Gator swimmers
Are everywhere!

Here are some
Who like to swim.
They swim for fun
In the hot, hot sun.

Oh me! Oh my!
Oh me! Oh my!
What a lot
of fast swimmers go by!

The top three 6 & under girls in freestyle were: Josie Cowen, Ella Kreinar, and Ella Prible (it's great to be young and an Ella!).  

So, hit Starbucks after the meet?
Uh, I'm so tired, caffeine sounds great!

The top three 6 & under boys in free were Sam Bruce, Thomas Foley, and Liam Fore.

Brace yourselves: We're in charge!

Other top girls freestylers by age group were Hudson Ward, Ginny Grubbs, and Monica Morales for 7-8 year olds, Caroline Miller, Elouise Normand, and Gabby Cullo for 9-10s, and Cecilia Morales, Abby Adams, and Mackenzie Dickerson for 11-12s.

Whoever has the clipboard is in charge.
So, that means I'm in charge!
First, take over the swim meet, then take over the world!

Other top boys freestylers by age group were William Milito, Jackson Foerster, and Sean Kovalsky for 7-8 year olds, Michael Ienzi, Dylan Moore, and William Mochel for 9-10s, and David McAdam and Colin Miller for 11-12 boys.
So, I'm trying to convince the 'rents to take us to St. Tropez
in August.  I hear Mick hangs out there.  But, we'll
probably go to Bethany Beach again, so that's cool.

Overall, 87 Gators swam freestyle at the Romp In the Swamp.

My favorite part of being a superhero is, after I save the world,
I throw off my cape and blend in with the little people.

The top three girls 6 & under backstrokers were Kiersten Gordon, Ella Kreinar, and Josie Cowen.  Kiersten's swim was especially impressive as she finished second as a six year old out of all the 8 & under backstrokers.  The top three boys in that age group were Sam Bruce, Thomas Foley, and and Anthony Sarro.  

No!  This is the only approved way to take a picture!

Other top girls backstrokers were Ginny Grubbs, Monica Morales, and Hudson Ward in the 7-8 year olds, and Addison Dickerson and Natalie Ruppe as 9-10s.

Finally, five minutes to relax!  No carpool to worry about,
don't have to wake the parents up, and no yoga class today.
And my boss at work?  Don't even get me started!

Other top boys backstrokers were Gavin Moore, Jackson Foester, and Jude Klopson for the 7-8 year olds, and William Mochel for the 9-10 boys.

Sigh.  It gets old having to do that thing where I make
my hair go sideways on request, but for you, sure!

We had 48 Gators swim the backstroke.

I wanna be a Gator coach so I can tell little kids what to do!
Yeah, me too!

In breaststroke, top finishers were Monica Morales (8 & under), Saira Nagda, Lillian Babin, and Natalie Ruppe (9-10s), and Cecilia Morales, Ellie Cullo, and Abby Adams for the 11-12s.  On the boys side, it was William Milito, Eddie Muir, and Charlie Bruce (8 & under), Sam Starr, Dylan Moore, and Michael Ienzi (9-10s) amd Charlie Ruppe and Colin Miller (11-12s).

So, a Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent
walk into a bar.  Bartender sez. . .oh, you've heard this one before?
So much for that joke.

Overall, 25 Gators swam breaststroke.

Wait, adults volunteer to work the table?  Really?

For fly, Ginny Grubbs and Caroline Myers led the 8 & under girls, while Caroline Miller, Gabby Cullo, and Lillian Babin were the top 9-10s.  Cecilia Morales and Mia Colaizzi took top honors for 11-12 fly.
How do I feel about this being the shortest meet
of the season?  Here, let me show you!

On the boys side, Jackson Foerster, Sean Kovalsky, and William Milito were the top 8 & unders, while Charlie Ruppe won the 11-12 boys fly.

I'm pretty sure the National Anthem does not
start with "Hey Jude, don't let me down."

There were 19 Gators who swam fly. 

And thus ends another season of Gator Peace,
Gator Love, and Gator Joy!

It was a great meet for the Gators.

Coach Paul's car -- the annual pranking is back!

Romp in the Swamp Pictures are up

https://goo.gl/photos/36mzDnxBabMyktVy9

Teens Spiff Up Nicely for Progressive Dinner





Twenty-six of the Mount Vernon area's finest teens swarmed the Neal's for appetizers, the Greszler's for dinner, and the Bolger's for dessert at the second annual Progressive Dinner to cap the 2015 Teen Night schedule.  A great time was had by all.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thoughts on the Tragedy

Seven years ago on July 27th, 2008, Mark Fracasso died in an accident. Mark was a Gator swimmer, a tennis player on the MVP team, a lifeguard, and a pool rat who spent many hours at the Park that is our second home in the summer.  His youngest sister, Anna, is a swimmer and assistant coach on the Gators, his mom, Michele, is our Chief Marshal (wearing the yellow vest), his dad is a former Park President, his brother a former Gator, and his sister was a Gator and then an assistant park manager for several years .  This is an article written on July 28, 2008 for the Gator website, with comments from other MVPers, about Mark, and has run each year since. We continue to hold the Fracasso family in our hearts and minds.


With Anna having one more year on the Gators, I hope that, in honor of Mark and his family, the next blogger up runs this in remembrance one more time.  I ask that the parents of younger kids who do not know the Fracassos read this as well -- it offers a good reminder on how precious life, and life events like MVP swim, are.


The link to the article is here:

David Anderson's IM Photos. . .

Are now up.  Click this link.

Meatloaf Underestimated Two Out Of Three

The Mount Vernon Park Gators won their second trophy of the year on Monday night, scoring their seventh IM Invitational victory in the last eight years, and their sixth in a row.

Celebrate good times, c'mon!  (Let's celebrate!)

Along with sharing the Division 3 Relay Carnival championship, this means MVP won two of the three trophies they competed for this season.  That's better than Meatloaf claims, when he sings "two out of three ain't bad."  Instead, two out of three is pretty darn good!

The come-from-behind victory was turned into a blowout in the last few events.  The Gators won with 123.5 points, with Mansion House (97), Hollin Meadows (92) and Riverside Gardens (77.5) rounding out the Colonial Division.  Highland Park won the Minuteman Division, while Little Hunting Park took the title in the Patriot Division.

MVP did not take over the lead until event 6, the girls 11-12 individual medley, when the team had eight of the top nine finishers.  The 15-18 girls had a similar dominance, taking four of the top five Colonial Division spots, opening the lead from 12.5 points to the final 26.5 point win.

As noted above, the 13 teams are divided into three divisions based on size.  Points are awarded to the top eight finishers per division -- 10 points for first, eight for second, six for third, and then a one point drop per place -- so eighth place scores one point.  Only three swimmers per team can score points (known as the "Waynewood rule" from back in the day when they dominated the IMI).

When the Waynewood rule comes into effect, it is an impressive sign of the depth of the affected team.

Just like last year, Emily Makin and Cassidy Bayer were overall event winners.

Other Gator notables:

  • 8 points were scored by: Matthew Makin, Samantha Cowen, James Piland, Sheridan Phalen, Kevin Adams-Mardi
  • 6 points were scored by: Isabelle Van Damme, Andrew Baker, Jessie Bricker
  • 5 points were scored by: TJ Heck, Gabrielle Greszler, Taylor Makin, Parker Fulghum
  • 4 points were scored by: Parker Blondin, Brian McNamara
  • 3 points were scored by: Cameron Morey
  • 2 points were scored by: George Schulte, Donovan Kovalsky, Lily Palmerino, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Zoe Greszler, Gus Leyden
  • 1 point was scored by: Cassidy Crowther (actually 1.5 points!), Jack Klopson
  • Finishing top eight, but not scoring because of the Waynewood Rule were: Andrei Zaitsev, Olivia Blondin, Emma Jones, and Torie Bolger. 
Congratulations to Coach Paul, Coach Emily, and the entire Gator team for winning this always exciting event!




Cassidy Completes the 15-18 Team Record Sweep

The first chance she could, 15 year old swimming sensation Cassidy Bayer took the last of the five individual Gator records for the 15-18 age group.

Photo
She's got 20/24 vision

On Monday, Cassidy lowered the team record for the 15-18 IM from 1:09.65 set by Christine Rholl in 2009 to an incredible 1:03.83.  Cassidy's mark also gives her the IM Invitational record as well, which was set by Waynewood's Emily Verdin in 2003 at 1:05.59.

Janet Hu holds the NVSL mark at 1:02.10, set in 2013.  Cassidy will not have a shot to break that record this year, as she is participating in a major meet on Saturday.

Cassidy holds 20 out of 24 possible individual records.  Holly Jansen holds three, and Erin Deal has one.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Gator Coaches Retreat Pics

Tonda and Jim, Carol and Glen took 14 of the 16 high school aged Gator coaches up to Wintergreen after Saturday's A Meet against Vienna Woods so they could work on the beloved paper plate awards, commune with nature, and hang out together.

The coaches were successful at all three.  They took three great hikes, went to Wintergreen Lake and played on the water toys, they ate great group meals together, and came up with great paper plate awards for Saturday's team banquet.

Here are some pictures from the retreat:




Jessie and Cassidy point in One Direction.

It's hard to recognize the coaches without
8 & unders jumping on their backs.

Gators moved too swiftly
to be photographed at 
Upper Shamokin Falls

The Lesser Talented Blogger
spotted in his natural habitat.

Gators 3600 feet above sea level.

Taking in the view.

If you don't immediately Snapchat,
 are you really having fun?
The hike was hard, but having Perrier
to drink made it a tad more luxurious.

On a clear day, you can see West Virginia.
No matter that it was hot and hazy in the 
Shenandoah Valley, it was a cool 72 up top.


Contemplating the vastness of the Gator domain.


The guys after conquering
Humpback Rocks

Cameron and Ian (Baker)

Anna's enjoying the view.  Cassidy is
looking for a pool to swim laps in.

Our fearless Gator leader contemplates
conquering new lands!


The intrepid 10 who got up at 7am
on Sunday morning for a great hike.

Parker's hangout spot.

My hair could be like Ian's if
I could grow it that long. 

Ian Neal contemplates
nature from a rock chair.

Elaina climbs the cliff.

The day turned tragic as
Jim snapped this picture just
as Parker lost her grip and
plunged down the cliff to her
death.  (Just kidding -- no
Gators were harmed in the 
making of this picture!
I bet Talley and Chris are
still laughing about this caption!)


Trampoline fun at the lake.
(Yes, Gators can swim well, but the
lifejackets are required for the trampoline
and for the iceberg)


It was king of the hill on the iceberg.


Someone was about to get tossed
into the water.

The volleyball game showed

why they are swimmers!

Ready to launch

Mid-air!

And in!

Post-launch, they were ready for lunch!

The coaches (and parents) were there for about 21 hours, and packed in tons of fun.    

There are no pictures of the paper plate award process, because course it is against regulations to depict the making of the paper plate awards, lest the little Gators learn the older Gators secrets.  Some day, hopefully the swimmers with little hands, little feet will be Gator coaches too!