We Love Drama! "A" Meet at Donaldson Run

Dude... we totally have a Darth Vader
statue to highlight our Star Wars theme.
Gators are AWESOME. 

Drama is good. Drama creates tension. Drama adds pressure. Drama creates excitement. Drama exists in many walks of life, but it is most welcome in the sporting world. Sure, there is something interesting about crazy blow-out wins, such as the NFC versus AFC Super Bowls in the 80's and early 90's. They were all NFC blow-outs. Huge wins. They were remarkable in that they were so dominating, but they really weren't that fun to watch in the moment. Even when my team was in it, I tuned out by halftime and just had fun at the Super Bowl party, but didn't really enjoy the lack of drama in the game. Drama comes when the contests are close and each participant must perform at a high level to tip the game to victory. One of the reasons Tom Brady gets a lot of positive press as a Quarterback is that so many of his wins were dramatic- tight victories held or stolen from arguably better teams at times. Dramatic wins are memorable.

This week we had a pretty dramatic meet at Donaldson Run. In fact, it was the closest score of any meet in all of Division 3 this year. Not to spoil the buildup, but it literally came down to the final relays before it was over. We knew both teams were pretty even and we've always had close meets against the Thunderbolts in the past. The drama was heightened by the fact that we came in with a record of 2-2, and a win put us over .500, while a loss put us below. Even a tie was in play up until the end, and it nearly turned out that way.

Dress like a Wookie, get your picture in
the Blog. Its a rule. 

The meet started off running in our favor, with the Gators taking the advantage in the Freestyle 50-40, and then adding to that lead with a 51-39 score in the Backstroke. After two events, the drama didn't look like it was going to materialize in this meet, until the Thunderbolts charged back in the Breaststroke... winning 54-36 to cut the Gator lead down to just 4!  That happened to be the most lopsided point difference for the Gators in Breast all season. Of all the times... why now?! Drama. The Gators were able to stop the slide and edge them in the Fly 48-42. So MVP headed into the relays with a 10 point lead (185-175) and needed to win five out of the 12 relays to secure a tie or take six for the win.

The odds seemed reasonable, but the Thunderbolts were not going to go down quietly. (Pun intended.) The teams split the first few relays, and then Donaldson Run came on strong with three straight to close the gap heading into 15-18 Girls Medley. At that point the score was MVP 205-DR 200. If DR won the final three, they would pull off the come-from-behind upset victory. The drama stage was set...

Yeah, we have both sides of the Force. Take that.

The 15-18 Girls Medley was a terrific race to watch. Donaldson Run's team was motivated and everyone knew the status... the meet was on the line. In fact, through the first three legs, the adrenaline and drumbeats from the crowd helped push the Thunderbolt girls to nearly a body length lead on the Gators! These were some of MVP's best swimmers, but somehow, in the drama packed moment, DR was holding them off and looking to steal a victory! But then, the anchor leg came through and turned this one into the MVP Race of the Week. With 50 meters to go to reel her in, Sheridan Phalen did just that... turning in a spectacular performance in the Freestyle leg to overtake the Thunderbolt swimmer and pull out the victory by nearly a second! Score MVP 210-DR 200.


With two races to go, DR could still force a tie by winning the remaining relays, but the Boys Mixed Age Free Relay (Donovan Kovalsky, Sean Kovalsky, James Piland, and Clark Bayer) finished things off in the next event to give the Gators the meet victory, 215-205.

Drama! It was exciting to see the Gators build the lead, and then to nervously watch as the Thunderbolts rallied to make that final run at the end. We've really had a great season of closely matched meets, and this one ended up being the closest of them all. 

Umm.... I'm just gonna leave this here. 

The Gators pulled out three Clean Sweeps this week in the 9-10 Boys Free (Sean Kovalsky, Joe Mills, and Sam Bruce), the 9-10 Boys Fly (Sam Bruce, Gavin Moore, and Sean Kovalsky), and the 11-12 Girls Breast (Elizabeth Moorman, Caroline Baker, and Cassidy Crowther). The 9-10 Boys earned the honor of Age Group of the Week. The won every race they were in on this day, shutting out the Thunderbolt boys- in addition to the two cleans sweeps, Gavin Moore won the Back, and Shaan Nagda won the Breast, and Gavin, Shaan, Sam, and Sean teamed up in the Relay to round out the ownership of every victory on the day.

Look at that lead just from the start! 

Choosing the Swimmer of the Week was a challenge, as always. Two of the 13-14 Boys had terrific meets (as usual) with Charlie Ruppe (Breast, Fly) and John French (Free, Back) both winning each of their events on the day against strong competition while swimming probable All-Star worthy times. It was a close vote, but John ends up winning the Swimmer of the Week title this week, with an upset victory in the Freestyle and a new MVP record time in the Backstroke (cutting his own mark to 31.47) tipping the scales in his favor.

This was our final dual meet of the season and our third victory. The Gators finished at 3-2, solidly in 3rd place and with a near guarantee to return to Division 3 next year. After the IM Invitational (Mon) and the Romp in the Swamp (Wed), the Divisional Championships will be held next Saturday. Okay, admittedly, I'm starting to feel a bit depressed that the season is ending. It's all gone so fast! I need to remind myself (and you) of what I tell my kids sometimes when they are upset about endings, "Don't be sad that its over, smile because it happened." And this is an easy one to smile about.

Go Gators.

Butterfly pictures make the best swim pictures.