Storm Damage at the All-Star Relays

The worst part about the rain delay is
that the after-party had to be shortened...
but still fun, of course.
Mmmm. District Taco.

If you've read this blog for any length of time, then you'll know that the series of relay meets (Divisional Relay Carnival and All-Star Relays) are highly valued. I'm pretty sure that sentiment is shared by many of the swimmers, parents, and coaches, too. There is just something special about four swimmers working together as a team in a high level challenge against many others from around the NVSL. The mutual support and encouragement, as well as the team competitiveness, are palpable.

It's not an overstatement to say this is my favorite meet of the year.... normally. But I am human. And circumstances can change things. There was a 2-hour rain delay. That did put a little damper on things. I was wet, and not in that fun "getting splashed by the 15-18 Boys while timing" kind of wet. And I was muddy. With all the foot traffic, some big mud puddles developed around the viewing areas... so, maybe, just maybe, this particular iteration of the All-Star relays wasn't my favorite meet this year. But its still up there near the top, muddy shoes and all.  

The storm did more than just make things muddy and wet.  There were also internet problems. Adding to the negative karma from the rain delay was the temporary outage sustained by the livestream team at SwimNinja. A large segment of the events after the restart were not captured on the livestream, so quite a few grandparents, friends, and parents who couldn't make it to the Lincolnia pool weren't able to watch the live feed on SwimNinja for over half of the meet because of technical/operational issues. Bummer. 

Goggles? Check. Fingers? Check. 

On a side note, I find it awkward that I feel so entitled to the SwimNinja livestream even though it is a completely free service and I have contributed nothing to its success or operation. I suppose that is just the state of things in today's connected world that we come to expect things probably a bit too much. We do need to appreciate the awesomeness of the the live video feed for swim events like this, as it is a wondrous technical marvel. I catch myself feeling upset that even though we are getting something for nothing, it still is disappointing when it is taken away. But things do happen. I understand it intellectually. But I still get a little emotionally disturbed. Thank goodness for the lessons I've learned through my years of watching Seinfeld... I can use my little mantra to get my emotions back in check, "SERENITY NOW."  

On another side note... my house lost power during the storm, and then when it came back up, the internet was still gone! Ugh. As the blogger, it is a pretty catastrophic blow to lose the internet. I enjoy the blogging... but not enough to try to do it on my phone. I'm definitely a full size keyboard kind of blogger. So, the no power/no internet thing put some delays in the blog schedule, which never makes me happy. So that's why you are probably reading this on Saturday instead of Thursday. "SERENITY NOW!" 

Anyway, I wouldn't say the cards weren't necessarily stacked against us on Wednesday, but once the "game" began, it sure seemed like someone was dealing from the bottom of the deck: thunder, lightning, rain, mud, darkness... But we're Gators and we'll overcome. And overcome all the troubles is precisely what our swimmers did. 

That's a record-breaking transition right there. 

In fact, when the team was in the pool, this year's All-Star Relay meet was pretty glorious and started out with a bang for the Gators. In event #2, the boys mixed-age relay team (Alexander North, Sam Bruce, Donovan Kovalsky, and Clark Bayer) broke their own MVP record and placed 4th in the race, finishing with a blistering time of 1:52.98. Hot start? Check. 

Then, following that lead, the rest of the teams rattled off a nice string of races, which included seven top-10 finishes, and five top-6s:  

Girls 8u Medley, 6th place: Elizabeth Kellogg, Hayden Ward, Natalie Crowther, & Margaret Driscoll

Boys 11-12 Medley, 5th place: George Schulte, Alexander North, Matthew Makin, & Gavin Fore

Boys 13-14 Medley 4th. Joe Humphreys, Jack Klopson, James Piland, and Donovan Kovalsky

Girls 15-18 Medley, 15th: Emily Makin, Taylor Makin, Gabby Greszler, and Sheridan Phalen

Boys 11-12 Free, 4th: Matthew Makin, Gavin Fore, Jack Alzona, and Alexander North

Girls 8u Free, 9th: Margaret Driscoll, Kate Barber, Andrea Morales, and Natalie Crowther

Boys 13-14 Free, 8th: James Piland, Jack Klopson, Jack Dupuis, and Donovan Kovalsky

Boys 15-18 Free, 15th: Cole Miller, Andrew Baker, John French, and Clark Bayer

That's pretty good suit coordination there...

Girls 15-18 Free, DQ: What? Yeah, you read that right- DQ. Apparently our final heat qualifying, record-holding team of super swimmers got DQ'ed. Admittedly, it happens to everyone, but I'm going to chalk this one up to another casualty of the storm. The fact is that by the time the Girls 15-18 Free event (the last one of the day) rolled around after the storm delay, it was basically total darkness at the pool. There were lights around the pool, but I was there on deck watching and couldn't tell who the swimmers were at that point because of the darkness. But, even through that darkness, one of the officials found enough wrong to DQ our girls for an inappropriate take-off? Really? I'm not normally one to question the officials (I don't want any fines coming down NFL-style from the management...)  but this one does seem a little fishy. I mean Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Emily Makin, Gabby Greszler, and Sheridan Phalen are pretty accomplished. They are stalwart performers on their HS swims teams, NCAP, and for the Gators. But somehow they DQ'ed in this one? Things happen, of course, but it seems a little fishy to me. (Don't get me wrong... not questioning the official, don't want any fines... but... fishy. Very fishy.)

IDK who that guy in the back is, but A+ on the photobomb.

Anyway, in summary, the lightning and thunder brought about a delay to the meet and the rain brought some mud to the fields. A four-hour meet turned into six. Darkness became an issue, but eventually, we were able to finish all the events. And the Gators did great. How great, well, if you take all those race results and add up the points, the Gators finished in 8th place overall. EIGHTH! That's a pretty big deal. It ties for the highest position we've ever finished at All-Star Relays. (Note: we also finished eighth in 2013, but we sent 12 teams that year. This year's accomplishment was done with only 10 teams, meaning each team had to earn more points with relatively higher finishes per team.)  

And for just a little comparative analysis, and to toot our horn a little, if you will: 

• The Gators finished ahead of two D1 teams. 
• And the Gators finished ahead of every D2 team, except one. 

And how about the other local teams in the Fort Hunt area? Little Hunting Park came away with 68 points (which is a pretty impressive result from D11), Hollin Meadows finished with 20 points, Mansion House had 14, and Waynewood 12. The three remaining local pools didn't have any teams in the event this year... just showing how hard it is and what an honor just to make it!

And totaling up those scores in the "Tiger Woods versus the Field" category, you'll note that's 114 points for the Field (all the rest of Fort Hunt combined), and 230 for the Gators. That's full-on double up territory this year. Bragging rights sustained. Check.

The full results are here. And the pictures are here.

Great swimming. Go Gator All-Star Relays! 

Fly pics. Best pics.