As I was thinking about the team's place in the Division 3 standings following this week's A Meet with Donaldson Run, it reminded me of a web comic that I enjoy. It's called "The Oatmeal." Fair warning... it is not a comic that is for the faint of heart. It would definitely have a strong PG-13 rating if it was a movie (and perhaps even a bit more than that?). It is just a comic, so there are no graphic images or anything like that, but the language and subject matter tends to occasionally go places that is not suitable for the kids.
That said, he has drawn a whole series of comics on the concept of "Minor Differences" in which he outlines a number of small occurrences in life which are fundamentally different when just "Minor Differences" are imposed. There's quite a few of them, and it's pretty funny how a small change can really have a big impact on things. For example:
Ok, so that one is really tame... but trust me many of the other ones do lose the G rating. Check them out if you are interested, but be forewarned about the language and subject matter before deciding to click through. The Oatmeal Minor Differences.
The defending D3 sportsmanship champs: The MVP Gators.
So, how does this all relate to MVP's season? Well, we lost the A Meet on Saturday to Donaldson Run. And we lost last week to Crosspointe. After two weeks our team record is 0-2. Yikes. Are we on our way to a winless season? Is Division 4 or 5 in our future next summer? Maybe. But probably not. In fact, I still stand by my earlier prediction that we're most likely still going to end up 3-2. Really? After starting 0-2??? Yup. I think so.
And here is where the Minor Differences thing comes in... there's a lot of different sequential ways to finish 3-2: win some, lose some, etc. The two extreme ways are starting 3-0 and finishing with two losses, or starting 0-2 and finishing with three wins.
So, which one sounds better? If you start out 3-0, everyone is so high on the string of wins that losing the last two feels like we microwaved the butter just a little too long. It's just a Minor Difference, but it really does have a much better feel at the end of the season if we start out 0-2 and then run the table for the last three meets, right? And that's what we are poised to do right now! (Maybe... of course we still need to win those next three... but we have a very good possibility to do just that.)
Is anyone else reminded of a flamingo sitting on the back of
a Gator in the Everglades?
Part of the reason the strong finish is seems more positive is what is known as the recency effect, which is a phenomenon in which people tend to remember more recent events better. Seems straightforward, right? But, there is another interesting psychological study that shows people's satisfaction is actually influenced more by the way things finish. Take a long vacation? The last few days will be the determinant of how much you enjoy it. Eat a great meal? The dessert will likely be the defining characteristic when you try to decide if you loved it or not. Attend a boring baseball game? You won't remember it that way if there is a 9th inning comeback. Start the season 0-2, but finish it 3-0? You're going to remember that 3-2 season positively.
So, why do I think we're going to win the next few? Because I think we met up against the two top teams in the first two weeks. We still have our work cut out for us, but this week was a better performance by the Gators individually and as a team. Yes, we lost, but we really almost pulled out the win, had it not been for four races that DR was able to steal enough points from us to take the victory.
Won the dance-off last week... won the National Anthem this week.
We may be 0-2, but we're killing it in the fine arts category.
This meet started off a little slow for the Gators as we got swept in the first event and ended Freestyle down 39-51. We basically split Backstroke with the Thunderbolts 44-46, and found ourselves down 14 points after two events. But some great Breaststroke swims found the Gators cutting into the lead by taking that stroke segment 50-40 and trailing only by 4 heading into Fly. The drama was getting high!
But then, DR brought the Thunder in Fly, taking 52 of the 90 points to open their lead to 18 heading into relays. The Gators were still alive, but would need to win 8 of 12 relays to pull out the victory. Donaldson Run held on to their lead and ended up taking seven relays en route to their 224-196 victory.
A victory of 10 seconds begins with the first leg...
That said, we really had a great performance this week by the 15-18 Girls. They really outperformed their seed times and put up quite a few personal bests en route to winning 36 out of 41 points this week. That's right... they only surrendered 5 points to DR in total. Clearly our eldest Gators have been awoken from their winter slumber and are back in the hunt. A few key races were Emily Makin cutting 0.3 seconds to leapfrog her challenger and win the Back, Olivia Heck dropping nearly a second to move up into 2nd place in the Breast, and Gabby Greszler cutting a quarter second to slip into 2nd place in Fly. All-in-all, they won every race this week including the only clean sweep, with Sheridan Phalen, Gabby Greszler, and Juliana Skopp-Cardillo taking all the points in Freestyle. Sheridan won the Free and Fly, while Emily was the victor in Back and Breast. The team of Olivia Blondin, Emily Makin, Sheridan Phalen, and Gabby Greszler brought home a 10 second victory in the Medley Relay. That solid group performance earns them the Age Group of the Week honors.
Dis one gonna be fast...
In the Race of the Week category, we had a couple great ones with lots of drama, so I'm not going to narrow this down to just one. First up, we had two races decided by just a few hundredths of a second... that's close in case your are wondering (and good reason to NOT cut your fingernails on meet days). Interestingly, both were in the Breaststroke. In the 13-14 Boys race, Donovan Kovalsky edged Jack Klopson by 0.05 seconds as the two Gators both posted personal best times and finished 1-2 in that event. And in the 15-18 Boys race, Charlie Ruppe continued his undefeated season by cutting nearly half a second off his best time to beat his opponent by the narrowest margin possible: 0.01 seconds. See if you can start and stop a watch faster than either of those victory margins... I bet you can't. We had a third great race that warrants mention here in the 11-12 Boys Backstroke. In a blistering fast race, Alex North cut his best time by 0.9 seconds to edge out his opponent, who had been seeded more than a half second ahead of him.
"And how about Fletch? He's actually 6'5", with the afro 6'9"..."
And how about the record roundup? I'm pretty sure it doesn't count as an official meet if we don't utter these words: Donovan Kovalsky set a new record. This time, he lowered his own Freestyle record from last week by about 0.4 seconds... the new mark for the Boys 13-14 Free is now 26.03 seconds.
So, the stage is set: an 0-2 start. Next week we travel to battle The Woods of Vienna in an effort to begin the climactic 3-0 finish...it's gonna be fun to watch us try.
The complete results from the meet, as always, are available on the Gator website.
All the pictures from this (and every) meet are also available there.
There are races. And then there are RACES. If you've been a consumer of this Gator Blog for the past few years, then you may know that I like DRAMA in my swim races. I love to see a come from behind victory in a relay, especially at divisional or all-stars...remember this little bit of dramatic magic last year... Donovan Kovalsky's amazing anchor leg in the 11-12 Medley Relay at the Divisional Relay Carnival. You can't watch this thing enough:
I am also thrilled by the "outside smoke" of a lower seeded swimmer in lane 1 or 6 pulling out a victory. Or similarly, I am amazed by a swimmer from an early heat at All-Stars going so fast that no one in the final heat can top it and she wins the whole enchilada! (For those who don't read the blog all the way through until All-Stars, Sheridan Phalen did that last season... bam! All-Star Champion.)
What's the point of this introduction you may be asking? Well, as someone who thrives on the drama, I was decidedly disappointed by this week's Gator Swimmers of the Week. Their races really turned out downright boring to be honest with you.
Let's be honest, even Sam looks a little bored here, too.
Take, for example, Sam Bruce. In the 9-10 Freestyle, he won by 3 full seconds. And then he topped that, and made the result even less dramatic in the Backstroke... which he won by 6 seconds! How did his 9-10 Medley Relay team do? Oh, they just won by 15 seconds. Okay, I'm sure he didn't have a cakewalk in the Mixed Age Relay, did he? They won by 8 seconds. In case you are slow on the math... let me help. That's four races and four wins for young Sam... winning by a combined total of 32 seconds. Boring.
And don't even get me started on Natalie Crowther with her 10 second victory in the 8 and under Breaststroke or her 11 second victory in the Fly. Really? That's a 25m Fly meter Fly we're talking about... and she won by 11! Her Medley Relay team? Oh, they also happened to win their race by 11 seconds. It should be noted that 8 & unders don't participate in the mixed age relays, so she couldn't add any further to her total victory margin. So, even without a fourth event, she ALSO had a total combined margin of victory of 32 seconds! Yawn.
Come on you two... I need drama! Maybe we should make these two swim up in a higher age group next week? Hmmmm.
Okay, okay... in all seriousness, what a great couple of performances in the pool by Sam and Natalie. They each ended up undefeated on the day and were our top point earners, and accordingly named as Gator Swimmers of the Week.
Congrats you two and keep up the good work!
Bonus: Getting the Swimmer of the Week IN the Butterfly
Picture of the Week. #Winning
I love the Princess Bride. Technically, I think everyone loves the Princess Bride. It is one of the best movies of all time. A classic tale of comedy, romance, action, adventure... and such great characters like Inigo Montoya, Wesley/Dread Pirate Roberts, Fezzik (Andre the Giant!), Miracle Max... How can you go wrong with that combination? It is truly one of Rob Reiner's finest creations. If you've seen it, I'm sure you agree with me that it is a modern classic. If you haven't seen it... what are you waiting for? It's 30 years old now. A must watch (97% on Rotten Tomatoes!). There are so many great classic lines... Inigo's hallmark is hard for anyone to ever forget, "Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die." Or Wesley's consistent refrain to Buttercup, "As you wish..." But Vizzini's simple, consistent exclamation sticks in the mind, both because of the quickness with which it rolls off the tongue and also because of his consistent overconfidence in his intelligence and understanding of the situation... "Inconceivable!"
If you had asked me Friday or Saturday if the team would be losing the A meet in Week 1, I would have certainly given Vizzini's succinct response, "Inconceivable!"
What if I told you that we had SEVEN swimmers post the best time for their strokes in all of Division 3 and FOUR relay teams post the top times, yet we still lost? Inconceivable!
But true: Lincoln Jetton put up the fastest 8u Breaststroke in the Division. Alex North posted the fastest 11-12 Free and Mathew Makin had the fastest 11-12 Breast. Donovan Kovalsky is the current D3 13-14 Freestyle leader, and Jack Klopson owns the top spot for the 13-14 Breast. Natalie Crowther and Sheridan Phalen both "flew" to the fastest times in the 8u and 15-18 Fly, respectively. And the Boys 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, AND Mixed Age relays are all leading the D3 pack at this early point of the season.
Slicing through the water like a hot knife through butter.
What if you knew that we had THREE clean sweeps on the day, yet we still lost? Inconceivable!
But true: 8U Girls Free, 8u Girls Back, and 9-10 Boys Fly were all clean sweeps!
Or if I told you that we had THREE age groups win every single race that they entered, yet we still lost? Inconceivable!
But true: A member of the MVP 8u Girls, 9-10 Boys, and 11-12 Boys won every race in every stroke, including the relays!
I keep using that word... perhaps it does not mean what I think it means.
So, what happened?
Well, a number of things happened, to be honest:
(1) Quite a few of those great swimmers on the other team lit it up with exceptional swims, posting personal bests and leapfrogging our top seed.
(2) It was the first week of the season, so lots of swimmer's seed times of record may or may not have been very accurate (from both teams), which may have created some over-confidence.
(3) We had an unusually high number of DQ's (disqualifications), even by some of our most accomplished swimmers, in some key races.
(4) We had a few swims on our side that were off normal pace.
But, really this is normal in summer swim. So, while I joke about it being, "Inconceivable," of course it could have gone either way. If a few of those things I listed had not gone the way they did, we just as easily could have left as the victors. If you recall my post from last week... I said we could finish the season either 5-0 or 0-5 based on how all of the swimmers do on any given Saturday. Our division has six teams that are all evenly matched. Even in a meet where we may be heavily favored, the margins are generally so slim (fractions of seconds) that a few kids going a bit faster, and a few others going a bit slower, coupled with a few DQs and the entire narrative can be flipped very easily.
The camera button was pushed while he was still on deck...
Donovan is so fast he outraces shutter speed.
Just like the Princess Bride, or any good story, there has to be some hardship and peril before we can all live happily ever after. But rest assured, there was a lot of happily ever after in this meet, too, as I pointed out above. And I haven't even gotten to the records yet! Time to whip out that magic marker for the MVP record board, because we set two new ones. Congrats to Donovan Kovalsky whose Freestyle time of 26.42 was the fastest in MVP history for the 13-14 Boys, sneaking under Clark Bayer's previous mark of 26.47 from 2017. (Donovan... setting records... hmmmm, why does that seem familiar to me? Oh yeah, go reread just about every blog entry from 2018.) Also, congrats to the 15-18 Boys Medley Relay team of John French, T.J. Heck, Cole Miller and Clark Bayer who finished the race in a speedy 1:58.59 to best the previous mark set back in 2016 by 0.25 seconds.
And if you have been following along, you may have noticed that the 8 & under Girls were responsible for not one, but TWO clean sweeps in the Free and Back. Great work to Margaret Driscoll, Kate Barber, and Evelyn Milito for going 1-2-3 in the Free, and Elizabeth Kellogg, Kate, and Margaret for taking all the points in Back. And I also mentioned that they won every race. In addition to Margaret and Elizabeth's wins, Natalie Crowther brought home the blue ribbons in both Breast and Fly to round out the individual sweeps, while Kate, Margaret, Evelyn, and Natalie teamed up to win the Medley Relay. Great swimming, girls!
Look at that focus and technique.
So, in summary, the 8 & under Girls won every race, had the most clean sweeps, AND brought home the most points of any MVP age group this week (34 out of a possible 45!). Do I have to tell you who wins the coveted honor of "Age Group of the Week" for Week 1? Just in case you're not good at hints... it was the 8 & under Girls.
What about that other clean sweep? Well, the 9-10 Boys Fly trio of Liam Fore, Anthony Sarro, and Evan Pribble teamed up to take all the points in that event.
I also mentioned that the 9-10 Boys and 11-12 Boys won all their races. Send out an internet version of the Triple Gator Grunt to Sam Bruce for winning Free and Back, Anthony Sarro for winning Breast, and Liam Fore for taking first in the Fly for 9-10's. Sam, Anthony, Liam and Evan teamed up for the Medley Relay win. And in the 11-12 group, Alex North won the Free, George Schulte won the Back, while Mathew Makin brought home the victories in Breast and Fly. This winning Medley was staffed by George, Alex, Matthew, and Gavin Fore. Way to dominate, boys.
Bringing home the victory in 50% of our double ROTW.
And how about the Race of the Week? Generally, we like to identify a big drop in time to produce a stunning upset victory or something like that. We didn't really have any stunning upset victories, but we did have a couple of Gators really, "Announce their presence with authority." (That is a Nuke Laloosh line from Bull Durham. Can you really mix Bull Durham and Princess Bride in the same blog? Apparently so.) How did they announce their presence with authority? Well, both John French and Charlie Ruppe moved up from their very successful previous season in the 13-14 year old group and are now swimming with the men in the 15-18 year old group. How did they respond to the pressure? They both dropped the hammers, made big cuts to their time trial times, and won their first events (Back and Breast) in the older group. They laugh at pressure. (They also laugh when watching the Princess Bride, but really everyone does.)
So, all-in-all, it was a pretty good meet for the Gators.
If the dance-off was scored, we totally would have won.
As an interesting end-of-blog analysis tidbit, it should be noted that there were interesting swim results from all over Division 3 this week. As I mentioned in one of last week's entries, the teams come into the season "seeded," which doesn't mean a lot for results necessarily because as I also mentioned, the teams are all pretty darn even. But it is something to analyze. Using those seedings, the 1, 2, and 3 seeds all lost. Which means the 4, 5, and 6 seeds all won. What does that mean? Who knows. It could mean one or more of the lower seeds are stronger than expected. It could also mean that other top seeds had DQ's, missing swimmers, or other problems that flipped meets. Why do I mention this? Because it means that every place in the division is still up for grabs. Losing the first meet doesn't mean no trophy any more than winning the first meet would mean no demotion. There is lots of swimming left to go. And I look forward to watching it all (and blogging about it after.).
Disclaimer: When I do these blogs, I tend to focus on some specific events or groups who perform in some remarkable fashion. That doesn't mean to exclude those swimmers who worked hard and did a great job. Every swimmer is important and every swimmer counts. To see all of the results from every swimmer this week, click here.
To see all the pictures from the meet this, and every week, click here.
There was a funny Christmas special TV show a few years back called "Prep and Landing." The general idea was that there is a huge team of elves that deploys all around the world to help Santa perform his job well. They forward-deployed to each house to get everything in order so that Santa could quickly land at each location, do his duty, and then quickly move on. I liked how it showed that for Santa, as in most areas of our lives, there is lots of work and preparation necessary to make an event go off seemingly "with a hitch." Swim team is no different! The kids and coaches have been practicing since Memorial Day (and many all winter long), doing all that behind the scenes work that makes their swims turn out so great. The many volunteers for the team have been doing TONS of work getting the team together and preparing for the meets.
Parents need to prepare, too! Maybe you're new to the swim team or just new to A meets. Or maybe you were new last year, but felt you were missing out sometimes. You may be wondering what you can do to prepare so that you can be in the loop, participate in the team activities, and enjoy watching our team of 60 swimmers compete on Saturday mornings. Well, you're in luck, this blog is going to tell you exactly that!
First, being prepared means several things:
Wear Green this week. As much of it as possible (unless you are an official, then wear the required White and Blue...). Our spirit day theme is Green. It's not just for the kids, its for the parents, too! The greener we can make it, the better.
Print out the heat sheet emailed out by the team reps and keep track of the events (and the unofficial results). It's like keeping score at a baseball game. The heat sheet also lets you learn the order of events (if you don't know them), which helps so that you don't miss your own kid's swim. It happens. Printing a Heat Sheet also allows you to follow along and learn who the swimmers are in other age groups. We have a big neighborhood and a big pool population, so not everyone knows everyone. But if you're going to be at the A meets, try to learn who the other Gators are, what strokes they compete in, and cheer them on. Team spirit is a huge part of the summer swim team.
Bling your car. Get some soap or window markers and show your Gator swimmer pride for the drive to the pool.
If you have the time, join the caravan. It's fun team bonding in the parking lot before we all shove off.
Those steps should get you ready. Next, what to watch for at the meet so that you are "in the loop":
(1) I said it above, I'll say it again. Watch your own kid. These meets can move quickly. It's easier to miss a swim that you might think. (Guilty.)
(2) Be alert for some possible record-breaking races. Many folks will recall that last season was a full out assault on the Gator team record books, with 13 records being broken on 26 different occasions. While we don't expect that level of heat this year, we're sure to see a few. Early on, there is one record in the "highly likely to be broken" category: the 13-14 Boys Freestyle. Last year's record breaker extraordinaire, and former holder of the 11-12 NVSL Freestyle record, Donovan Kovalsky, has a pretty high chance of breaking that one this year. His NVSL record setting time last year was 26.20 seconds... which is faster that the current Gator record for 13-14 year olds which is 26.47s (set by our own Clark Bayer in 2017). But, last year's time doesn't count for the older age group, he's got to do it when he's 13 or 14 to make it official. So, if he at least equals his own best mark from last year, he'll take over the new team record this year. You never know if or when it will actually happen, but I'd keep your eyes on that race, just in case. There are also other records that may be in jeopardy, both in individual and relay events. I won't go over those prematurely, but keep your eyes peeled. I'm sure we'll be covering a few more in the weeks to come.
(3) Be on the lookout for some clean sweeps. When one team places 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in a race they hoard all the points (9-0) and accordingly, we call it a clean sweep. The team loves to give an extra cheer when it happens. So, keep on the look out, as a couple of Gator sweeps are possible with some fast swims... especially in Freestyle and Breaststroke.
(4) Join in the excitement of the tight races. The dramatic finishes of many of the close races are exhilarating to watch. We expect to see lots of close finishes, especially in Backstroke. As an insider tip, be sure to put some extra focus on the 15-18 Girls Fly race... the seed times between the six ladies from both teams are so close together, we very easily could end up with a 6-way tie... and I honestly have no idea how you would score that one. The ensuing chaos at the scorer's table would be interesting.
Lastly, once the meet is over, please join the team at the post-meet lunch (details in the team rep email). Again, this a big part of the team spirit and camaraderie for the swimmers. And the more green we can pack into the restaurant, the better.
It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day for a swim meet. Hopefully these tips will help you enjoy it all that much more. Go Gators!
In case you haven't noticed, the Mount Vernon Gator Swim Team has become the Division 3 stalwarts over the past decade. Divisional seeding in the NVSL is a promotion/relegation system similar to soccer leagues around most of the world. Win a lot of meets, and your team normally moves up (promotes). Lose too many, and you''ll bump down a division or two (relegate). The general rule of thumb tends to be that 5 wins bumps you up two divisions, while 4 wins bumps you up one. Zero wins will drop you two and 1 win will drop you down one. The rules aren't hard and fast as the divisional seeding committee takes many other factors into consideration. In fact, our division this year has a 4-1 team from last season and a 1-4 team that both remained in the division- neither getting moved up or down (more on that later).
Anyway, back to the Gators. Those Division 3 stalwarts, as I said. This season, we have once again been placed in Division 3 following our 3-2 record in the division last year. There's a couple consistent patterns emerging here: (1) being in D3, and (2) finishing 3-2. This makes our third year in a row and seventh out of the last nine that we've competed in Division 3. The other two "non-Div3" years in this span were a stint in Division 4 back in 2012 and a brief testing of the waters in Division 2 back in 2016. That's pretty consistent performance at a very high level of swimming for the team. And as I alluded to, we've finished with a team record of 3-2 in 4 out of the past 5 years in Div 3. In fact, we've only finished with less than 3 wins twice in the last decade: in 2011, which was our first foray into D3 (we lacked a little confidence the first time up here) and in 2016 when we tested out lofty heights of D2.
The 2018 season found us to be the only team returning to Division 3 after the 2017 campaign, with three of the teams moving up and the other two moving down. So, every opponent we faced in 2018 was somewhat of a "fresh face." This year, it is just about as polar opposite from that as we can get (I'm not exactly sure what the polar opposite of "fresh face" is.... but it probably isn't great, so I'll leave it unsaid). There are four teams returning from last year's Division 3 to battle it out again: MVP, High Point Pool, Hunter Mill, and Donaldson Run. We lost the opening meet last year to High Point Pool in what turned out to be our largest margin of defeat for the season (185-235). We were victorious in two extremely close meets against Hunter Mill (218-202) and Donaldson Run (215-205). Rounding out the division this year, we will be joined by two teams promoting up from Division 4: Crosspointe (who finished at 5-0 last year) and Vienna Woods (4-1).
"A" Meet Scoring Review: I referenced the scores of last year's meets above. It probably wouldn't hurt to give a quick refresher (or introduction) to A Meet scoring. The general idea is that six swimmers (3 per team) are entered in each race for the individual events (Free, Back, Breast, and Butterfly), and the top-3 earn points: 5 for first, 3 for second, and 1 for third. Relays are a little different. Each team puts four swimmers into the relays for some winner-take-all races: 5 points to the victors, and none for the other team. All in all, there are 420 points available in each meet (360 for individual races and 60 for relays). Some simple math tells us that a minimum of 210.5 points are needed for a team victory. Anytime you see both teams scoring over 200, you know that it is very close and the final couple of relays are the deciding races.
So, what do we expect this year? Lots of close matchups with both teams scoring over 200 points... anybody can win any of these things. If all that history and consistency I mentioned above is any indication, we'll probably end up 3-2 and back in D3 next year.... but we just as likely could be 5-0 (or 0-5). These six teams are really that well matched up and the results of each meet will be determined by who brings it most often on "any given Saturday morning" over the next 5 weeks. Be prepared for dramatic finishes coming down to the wire all summer long.
Team-by-Team Outlook and Schedule
June 22nd vs Crosspoint Cruisers (Away)
It's been a while since we've matched up against the Cruisers. In fact the only time in recent history was that ill-fated 2011 season when MVP first swam in D3. The Cruisers (and everyone else) beat us that season by a pretty wide margin. But that was when it all started to change for both teams as MVP went down to D4 in 2012, went undefeated, and hasn't been back below D3 since. The Cruisers meanwhile have been experiencing some slightly leaner years and been in D4 and D5 during that time. They finished undefeated last year in D4 and now make their first appearance back in D3 since 2012. And going against the Cruisers... I think all the Gators families with classic cars should saddle up for the caravan and intimidate them with our cruising skills. You know who you are. I call Shotgun!
June 29th vs Donaldson Run Thunderbolts (Home)
Our first home meet of the season is against our most familiar (at least recently) opponent in the Donaldson Run Thunderbolts. We've been in the same division as the Thunderbolts six times out of the last nine years... it feels like we see these guys as often as we see Waynewood and RSG... okay, maybe not quite that much, but it has been a lot! The Thunderbolts finished 1-4 in D3 last season, which would often result in a relegation to D4... but they are a strong team, and all of their meets were close, so the seeding committee kept them up (and rightly so). Last year, we successfully won two of the last three relays for the victory, narrowly avoiding a tie. And while they are coming to the Swamp this year, we will still be making the annual trek to their "stadium seating" venue for Divisional Relays in July.
July 6th vs Vienna Woods (Away)
Then comes the perilous "July 4th weekend meet" when teams live or die based on vacation plans (swim team tip: make your plans for August!). The team that brings the most A team swimmers tends to win. We'll be traveling out to the "Woods" for this one, hopefully with a full squad. I'm pretty sure "the Woods" got their team name from the famous swimmer Natalie Wood, so I like our chances.... insert dad joke groan here. Google it if you don't get it. Anywho... VW finished second in D4 last year with a 4-1 record with their only loss coming to Crossepointe. The last time we tangled with the Woods was in 2014 & 2015 when we split with them winning once each in those years.
July 13th vs Hunter Mill Sharks (Away)
On the road again... as we head out to Hunter Mill and the infamous "cold pool, " or at least that was the story back in 2016. This will be our 3rd year out of the last 4 going head-to-head with the Sharks. I always thought Sharks liked the water warm... but, who knows. Head games.
July 20th vs High Point Pool Hippos (Home)
This is going to be the big challenge (on paper). The NVSL intentionally schedules they two teams they think will be at the top for the final week of the season. (Yes, they think it'll be one of us two... but there are lots of things that can happen along the way, and those seeding predictions aren't necessarily highly regarded by the Vegas odds makers.) The Hippos dealt us our largest defeat last year. I actually fully anticipated them to move up to D2 based on their performance. They literally only missed out on going undefeated and winning the division by an amazing streak of eight straight relay wins that Hunt Valley was able to pull off in their dual meet last summer. (You can read about the dramatic matchup that decided D3 last year here.) But, the seeding committee put them in D3 again, which gives us a chance to avenge last year's defeat. I was a little surprised that they are coming to the Swamp again... normally we alternate locations with teams when we meet them in back-to-back years. Maybe the NVSL is giving us an advantage? A little home-cooking could play into our hand and hopefully push us over the top in what is sure to be a critical matchup. Admittedly, the Hippos were an unfamiliar team last year, and I took them a little lightly in the pre-season blog. But we Gators learn from our mistakes. This year, we'll be ready.
That's the A Meet outline. The full schedule of events for all the various meets is on the Gator website. Be sure to check the website and the blog often for all that good information you need to have a great season in the Swamp.
Splash! Splash! Splash! With the familiar sound of the referee's whistle and the starter's horn the 2019 Summer Swim Season has begun! Welcome back Gators. I love the smell of chlorine in the morning. I hope everyone is as excited as I am to be back for another amazing summer of swimming and camaraderie. This is sure to be a fun one.
As I said in the title, Time Trials are in the books. Time Trials an interesting time in the swim season. Time trials isn't the most exciting meet for most of us, because its mostly just a scrimmage to establish a new season's baseline of times. However, I like what the results show us about our swimmers. There was a line in the movie Avatar that I liked and applies here... the Navi people from the movie had a saying, "I see you." The context of the line was key. It is not a literal statement, but rather a deeper insight into the character, heart, and values of the person. Seeing their spirit. If we look at the results of time trials critically, we can see some deeper things about our swimmers. We can see who put in the winter work and is ready to rise this summer.
Breathe it in. Summer swim is upon us.
Take for example those Gators who decided to emulate Mark Spitz by simply winning everything and posted the top times in every event they entered on Saturday. In case you have forgotten over the winter, the Gators are a pretty strong swim team with speed and depth all around, so topping this group in every stroke is no small feat... yet a number of Gators pulled it off. Lincoln Jetton topped them all for the 8 & under boys, shaving 2.96 seconds off his Free, 7.76 off his Back, 5.25 off his Breast, and 2.14 off his Fly. Nice. Somebody has been putting in the yardage work this winter. I see you, Lincoln. Also standing up in the 8 & unders was young Jackson Saloom who finished closely behind Lincoln in every event with similar cuts. I see you, too, Jackson.
Natalie Crowther pulled off a similar feat over in the 8 and under Girls group, winning each event with impressive time cuts... and cutting 8.56 seconds off her IM (as an 8 year old!). I see you, Natalie.
In the 9-10 Girls group, Helen Milito was the age-group sweeper, topping them all and cutting 12.8 seconds combined off of her strokes. I see you, Helen.
For the 9-10 Boys, Sam Bruce displayed the results of some off-season sweat, too. He didn't finish at the top of Breaststroke, which was won by Anthony Sarro (I told you the Gators were strong and deep...), but he did top the other three strokes and IM. Sam's performance in the Free and Fly would be All-Star worthy already based on last year's cuts, even at this early point of the season (with many weeks to improve further!). I see you, Sam.
What a great start to the season!
In the 11-12 Boys group, a two-headed monster emerged as Alex North and Matthew Makin finished 1st and 2nd in each event with Alex winning two events and Matthew taking three. Similar to Sam in the 9-10 boys, most of the times from Alex and Matthew were already at All-Star levels. These boys have been putting in work. I see you, Alex and Matthew.
Lastly, 13 year old Lily Palmerino swept each event for the 13-14 girls cutting about 5.5 seconds off her combined times in the five events. I see you, Lily.
Lots of great swims demonstrating lots of hard work in the off season. Love to see it. These are just a small sample of the great times being posted by our Gator swimmers on Saturday, there were many other terrific swims at all ages. I'm really looking forward to this season in the NVSL. With results like these, I really like our chances. Check back to the blog tomorrow to read an overview of what our season is going to look like in Division 3 this year.
To see the complete results from Saturday, you can click here.
To see all the great photos from Dave Anderson, click here.
In case you forgot, Butterfly pictures make the best swim pictures.
