So Good, We Wrote About It Twice

At the Fort Hunt Sportsman Relay carnival Wednesday night held at Riverside Gardens, MVP's own special pod of Alligator mississippiensis again showed that they're the fastest species in the local swampland.

Gator teams won six of the thirteen races against those from 11-rival local pools, at the annual Fort Hunt Sportsmen's fun meet.  The carnival traditionally features unorthodox team combinations including disparate mixed age, and mixed gender medleys -- think giant Gators swimming with virtual hatch-lings! And ends with a what just happened there? coaches' race.

Even a carnival can be intense ...

Those first place winners were:
200 mixed age girls -- Juliette Fore, Katya Zaitsev, Sheridan Phalen, and Elaina Phalen (one of several sibling relay partners).

100 8/under free girls -- Elizabeth Whitson, Hudson Ward, Miriam Keller, and Nora Hixon.
100 b/g 9-10/11-12 backstroke --
Mikayla Gordon, Lucas Garvey, Charles Bradburn, and Paige Humphreys.
100 b/g 9-10/11-12 free -- Delaney Adrian, Michael Ienzi, TJ Heck, and Olivia Heck.
250 g/g mixed free cresendo -- James Piland, Olivia Blondin, Cole Miller, and Parker Fulgum.

Gator coaches -- Cassidy Bayer, Kevin Adams-Mardi, Emma Jones, and Tristan Colaizzi -- were first in their heat too, though one of the opponents raced a team of apparently 8U aged "coaches!" 

One goggle in and one out, Gator Matthew Saltus really knows how to breathe!

Taking second in the six-team heats were:
100 8/under free boys -- William Milito, Jude Klopson, Sean Kovalski, and Jack Alzona.
100 8/under free boys -- Natalie Ruppe, Joseph Humphreys, Grace McGee, and Charlie Ruppe.
100 b/g 9-10/11-12 fly -- Gabby Culo, Jack Klopson, Annie Terwilliger, and Andrei Zaitsev.

Grabbing third were:
200 Mixed Age Boys -- Will Friedman, Jack Dupuis, Matthew Saltus, and Noah Hannam.
100 Boys/Girls 6/under 13/over Free -- Ella Prible, Evan Prible, Olivia Johansson, and Ian Neal.

The Gator who roared ...or yawned.

Scoring an A Meet -- A Quick Tutorial

For those new to NVSL A Meet swimming, the scoring at an A meet is relatively simple.  Each event is worth nine points -- five for first, three for second, and one for third.  Each individual stroke totals 90 points -- so all freestyle events add up to 90 points total.  That means there are 360 points in the individual events (that is 90 points times the four events -- free, back, breaststroke, and fly).

There are twelve relays.  The winning team scores five points per relay, while the loser of the relay scores 0.  A sweep of the relays -- I've never seen it happen -- would be a 60-0 win.  A split (such as on Saturday) means each team wins six relays, so the relay scores were tied at 30 to 30.

Thus, there are 420 points generally scored in a swim meet.  Week one's Gator A meet only had 419 points, because four swimmers DQ'd in the same event, leaving only a first place and a second place finisher.  There was no third place finisher.

So that means 211 points are needed to win the meet.  There can be 210-210 ties.  It happens, although there have not been any in the 102 NVSL A meets so far this season.

To get to 211, every point counts -- which is why cheering on a Gator swimmer locked in a close battle for third place is more important than cheering for an MVPer who is cruising to an easy win.  A 6-3 victory adds up quicker than a 5-4 win.

(Editor's Note: Thanks, Blogger Obvious!)

And, that also means that if the other team cruises to an easy win in an event, taking second and third place to limit the damage to 4-5 is very important.  A sweep, which doesn't happen often in A meets, is special because of the 9-0 boost it provides the team.

Photo Link for Ft. Hunt Sportsmen's Relays

David Anderson's great photos are linked here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/113910463653638795868/FortHuntSportsmanRelays2015?feat=directlink

If your kid swam in the meet, there's a good chance there's a photo or two.

Gator Relays Relay, Relay Good at Ft Hunt Sportsmen's Relays

Gator relays earned six first place finishes, three second place finishes, and two third places at the annual Ft. Hunt Sportsmen's Relays.

The 8 & under girls 100 free relay at FHSR had reason

to smile before and after their race!

First Place Gator Teams

• 200 meter Mixed Age Girls team of Juliette Fore, Katya Zaitsev, Sheridan Phalen, and Elaina Phalen.
• 100 meter 8 & under Girls freestyle team of Elizabeth Whitson, Hudson Ward, Miriam Keller, and Nora Hixson
• 100 meter 9-10/11-12 boys/girls backstroke team of Mikayla Gordon, Lucas Garvey, Charles Bradburn, and Paige Humphreys.
• 100 meter 9-10/11-12 boys/girls freestyle team of Delaney Adrian, Michael Ienzi, TJ Heck, and Olivia Heck
• 250 meter boy/girl mixed age free crescendo team of James Piland, Olivia Blondin, Cole Miller, and Parker Fulghum.
• Coaches relay team of Cassidy Bayer, Kevin Adams-Mardi, Emma ones, and Tristan Colaizzi.

It's not perfect start form, but FHSR

is always a fun early season event.

Second Place Gator Teams

• 100 meter 8 & under boys freestyle relay team of William Milto, Jude Klopson, Sean Kovalsky, and Jack Alzona.
• 100 meter 9-10/11-12 boys/girls breaststroke team of Natalie Ruppe, Joseph Humphreys, Grace McGee, and Charlie Ruppe.
• 100 meter 9-10/11-12 boys/girls butterfly team of Gabby Cullo, Jack Klopson, Annie Terwilliger, and Andrei Zaitsev

Big Gators (Olivia Johansson) and Little (Ella Prible)

get to swim together at FHSR

Congratulations to all Gator swimmers who participated.  It was a very impressive performance!

Coach Emily rockin' the bold hat fashion statement.

Whatever was holding the coaches' attention was

not very interesting to Team Rep Tonda.

Swimmers of the Week -- Kevin Adams Mardi & Sheridan Phalen

There were a lot of Gators to choose from in naming this week's Swimmers of the Week.  I actually flip-flopped several times before make a final decision on Kevin Adams-Mardi and Sheridan Phalen.

Kevin earned the honors by taking two key first place finishes in the 15-18 boys freestyle and breaststroke, both times holding off two Fairfax swimmers to get the 5-4 event wins.

Kevin cruises home to the victory!

His wins provided good drama. 

Sheridan also won both of her events, but the clincher for her earning the honors was the closeness of her freestyle win.  Sheridan beat her Frog opponent by 0.27 to nab the five points.  Her butterfly win was more of a victory lap, as she won the race by more than 4.5 seconds.

Oh Danny girl, first place, first place is calling.

(Sheridan "Danny" Phalen gets back to her Irish roots!)

SOTWs are chosen solely at the discretion of the editor.  Bribes are welcome.  They will be opened, drunk, but still have no impact on those decisions, so save your money.  No swimmer/relay/age group can win it twice in the same season.

One Team Record Set On Cold Day In. . .Mount Vernon Park

Cassidy Bayer shaved 0.03 seconds off her 15-18 girls 50 meter Gator team butterfly record on Saturday, slicing it from 28.46 set two weeks ago at Time Trials to 28.43 in Saturday rain and cold.

On Cassidy's way to another team record.

Cassidy is gunning for the NVSL fly record, which is a stunning 27.30 and set by Janet Hu in 2014.  Janet recently won the 100 back NCAA women's championship.  Cassidy is at the bottom of her age group and has three and a half seasons to break that incredible record.

Fast Gator Swims in the Hollin Hills Heat

by Special Correspondent David Ruppe

Deep in the Hills of Hollin last Monday, Gators and Bluefish met once again to chase each other quickly back and forth across a shaded blue cement pond.

And there were many exciting Gator swims -- 10-year old William Mochel's 1st place heat win stood out, as did Joe Humphrey's and James Piland's mad IM dashes. In the intense 11-12 boys 50 Free, Gators Andrei Zaitsev, Parker Blondin, and TJ Heck finished 1,2,3 and within a second of each other.

The swim of the night for this reporter, though, had to be by 10-year old Isabella Van Damme, who lost her goggles early in her 100 IM race but refused to give ground (water, rather) and posted a strong 2nd place finish.

Significant time drops were witnessed for:
Free
Jude Klopson, Jackson Foerster, Shaan Nagda, Nora Hixon, Lauren Angle, Madeline Culo, Keelin O'Connell, William Mochel, Dylan Moore, Isabella Van Damme, Delaney Adrian, Zoe North, Saira Nagda, Olivia Blondin, Anne Grace Dickerson, and Emily Atkinson.

Back
Shaan Nagda, Cassidy Crowther, Jill Humphreys, Samantha Cowen, Lauren Angle, Grace Foutch, Donovan Kovalsky, Abby Tynan, little Cameron Morey, and Liam Orr.

Breast
Gavin Fore, Joe Humphreys, Lily Palmerino, Andrew Baker, and MacKenzie Dickerson.
Fly
Parker Blondin!

The biggest Gator time drop of the night in a non-IM event was registered for Shaan Nagda (7) -- 7.62 in the 25 free! He also posted a large time drop in the 25 back and his sister Saira (10) did in the 50 free.

For the older swimmers, where cutting time can be more challenging, Andrew Baker chopped 2.89 seconds off his 50 breast time in his race to victory.

The heat winners - well, all the winners were heat winners despite the setting sun -- still, the race winners were:

Freestyle
George Schulte, William Milito, Jude Klopson, Cassidy Crowther, James Piland, William Mochel, Isabella Van Damme, Delaney Adrian, Saira Nagda, Andrei Zeitsev, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Paige Humphreys, Cole Miller, Zoe Greszler, Parker Fulghum, and Maura Finn.

Back

Mathew Makin, Alexander North, Jack Alzona, William Milito, Ginny Grubbs, Samantha Cowen, Joseph Humphreys, Lucas Garvey, Zoe North, Andrew Baker, Emily Makin, Paige Humphreys, Cole Miller, Taylor Makin, and Torie Bolger.

Breast
Tyler Swartz, Donovan Kovalsky, Lily Palmerino, Lillian Babin, Andrew Baker, Will Friedman, Emily Makin, Abigail Dittman, Ellie Cullo, Brian McNamara, Zoe Greszler, and Jayne Orleans.

Fly
Matthew Makin, James Piland, Parker Blondin, Abigail Dittman, Emma Jones, and Liam Orr.

IM James Piland, Joseph Humphreys, Parker Blondin, Emily Makin, Abigail Dittman, Brian McNamara, Taylor Makin, and Parker Fulghum!

(Any typos in the names, or mistakes in the captions are solely the fault of this reporter.  Nonetheless, just email the them to the blog editor! -- glen@pos.org and he will fix my mistakes.)

Dunn Loring Photos Are Up!

The link is below and embedded here, but there are also some in the articles below.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMhwjep_wide5sVTaosDdTAt1-6PNpbS0UIMypSQAoDFwn5D5nH20SKfIWLhSwOdQ?key=WXJoM05IcGx6T0FBb0RxOUtJNXBsXy1xWG11cGJ3

Waynewood Meet Photos Are Up!

Our crack photographer sent the link to me Friday, and I was remiss in posting the link because of graduation events.  Here it is -- enjoy:

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipMUrr0Dr9vG9GJ5YBPVlb6ZRAhPsN852P2mNndV-vRgG3hwH81nJKsmkVCmm1duXw?key=QmNEa19MSFJWNGtHLUVyem9IWEtELWZMWC04SkVn

Gators Chow Down On Tuna-Safe Dolphin

The MVP Gators opened the 2015 A Meet schedule with a 232-187 win over the Dunn Loring Dolphins.  MVP never trailed in the meet, which was close after backstroke, but the Gators steadily pulled away in breaststroke, fly, and the relays.

Gators warming up, psyching up.

The Gators were off to a strong start, leading 22-5 after the first three events, and 49-41 after freestyle.  The Dolphins fought back by doing well in back, winning the stroke by five points and cutting the MVP lead to 91-88.  However, the Gators opened it up to a 23 point lead by winning breaststroke 55-35.  The fly races went back and forth, but the Gators won it 46-44 to have a commanding 192-167 lead going into the relays.

Her hat's got more teeth than she does!

Winning eight of the twelve relays was impressive, and added twenty points to the final margin of victory.

The coaches are getting the swimmers psyched up.

Well, Torie is.  Tristan, Kevin, and Cameron

look either bemused or confused.

The Gators had four sweeps, while the Dolphins could not get any.  The boys started out freestyle on fire, as both the 8 & under boys and the 9-10 boys swept.  The 8 & under boys who went 1-2-3 were Tyler Swartz, Matthew Makin, and George Schulte.  Not to be outdone, the 9-10 boys with the brooms were Joseph Humphreys, Donovan Kovalsky, and Jack Klopson.

Not every Dolphin has his day.

The 8 & under boys had another sweep in breaststroke, led by Matthew Makin, and followed by Alexander North and Gavin Fore.  The 11-12 girls got into the sweep business in the fly, when Emily Makin, Gabrielle Greszler, and Olivia Blondin finished first, second, and third respectively.

It's the first week of the season.  Not all the coaches

are pointing in the same direction yet.

The girls race of the week was swum by Gabrielle Greszler, who beat her Dunn Loring opponent by just 0.11 seconds in the 11-12 free.  None of the first place Gator boys won over a second place Dolphin by 0.50 seconds or less, so there was no boys race of the week.

Every single Gator pictured here scored a point, thanks

to back-to-back boys freestyle sweeps!

There were three Gator double winners: Tyler Swartz (free and fly), Kevin Adams-Mardi (free and breaststroke), and Cassidy Bayer (breaststroke and fly).

The great Al Hirt showed to play the National Anthem!  

(Well, Kurt sounded like him!)

Individual event winners were Joseph Humphreys (free), Gabrielle Greszler (free), Sheridan Phalen (free), George Schulte (back), Michael Ienzi (back), Andrei Zaitsev (back), Matthew Makin (breaststroke), Jack Klopson (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (breaststroke), Taylor Makin (breaststroke), Donovan Kovalsky (fly), and Emily Makin (fly).  The Gators won only 18 out of the 40 individual races.  In fact, the Gator girls only won six of the 20 even-numbered races -- which means the depth of the team is what resulted in the victory.

With Jill Humphreys as his canvas, photographer

David Anderson does his best impression of

a French impressionist.

Second place points were earned by Matthew Makin (free), Donovan Kovalsky (free), Andrew Baker (free and fly), Nick Dupuis (free and breaststroke), Jill Humphreys (free), Collin Sundsted (back), Gus Leyden (back), Nora Hixson (back), Lily Palmerino (back), Abby Dittman (back), Lily Penn (back and breaststroke), Parker Fulghum (back), Alexander North (breaststroke), Jack Dupuis (breaststroke), TJ Heck (breaststroke), Samantha Cowen (breaststroke), Isabella Van Damme (breaststroke and fly), Cole Miller (fly), Cameron Morey (fly), Gabrielle Greszler (fly), and Sheridan Phalen (fly).  Thus, 25 Gator second place finishes outweighed the 22 Dolphin wins.

Sheridan starts towards a win.  That

makes her our Phalen leader.

Key third place points were earned by George Schulte (free), Jack Klopson (free), Andrei Zaitsev (free), Cole Miller (free), Samantha Cowen (free), Lily Palmerino (free), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (free and breaststroke), Emma Jones (free), Parker Fulghum (free), Jack Alzona (back), Joseph Ienzi (back), Ginny Grubbs (back), Elizabeth Moorman (back), Juliette Fore (back), Anna Fracasso (back and fly), Gavin Fore (breaststroke and fly), Brian McNamara (breaststroke), Miriam Keller (breaststroke), Jill Humphreys (fly), Colin Baxter (fly), Parker Blondin (fly), Collin Sundsted (fly), Olivia Blondin (fly), and Emma Jones (fly).  The 27-13 win in third place points also helped the win.

Hixson's the One!

The Fairfax Frogs come to MVP on Saturday, June 27th.  Fairfax is 0-1, having lost a close meet to Little Rocky Run by a 216-204 score.  Should be a very competitive meet.

While his name is French (literally), and it looks like

he's surrendering, John is actually swimming backstroke.

(The Dolphin in the lane next to him

doesn't realize the race has started!)

So, how did Cassidy get injured.  Well, they were doing

the bump before backstroke, and. . .oh well, there's

always 2020 in Tokyo!

Of course, Gator observers have never figured out

where Cassidy gets her free-spiritedness from.

A Little Gator gets a hug from an aspiring Little Gator.

Unless your name is Cassidy, it's going to be

awfully difficult to get your name up there!

Gator alum return to cheer the team on to victory!

Cameron takes shaking hands very seriously!

AFrac and the Gators flew Saturday.

More great Gator photos on the link on the post a couple above this one!

Another One Bites the Dust. 15-18 Boys Set A New Gator Record

Back in 1994, four Gators set a new team record of 2:01.30 in the 15-18 boys 200 medley relay.  That 21 year old record finally fell Saturday as Gus Leyden, Kevin Adams-Mardi, Cameron Morey, and Tristan Colaizzi beat by 0.29 seconds.

The new mark of 2:00.01 breaks the old record set by Lance Wormell, William Gass, Kirk Myers, and John Dressendorfer.  The new record holders look to go under 2:00 flat in the next meet.

While every Gator girls relay records have been set this century, the boys have been a little slower at erasing the past marks.  However, they are inexorably taking the old school records down.  Nine of the 13 boys relay records have been set this century, with all of those coming in 2009 or later.

Congratulations boys!

Gus Leyden gets the record setting swim started.

Kevin Adams-Mardi glides through breaststroke.

Cameron Morey makes it a tight race.

Somewhere in that water, Tristan Colaizzi is
bearing down on a team relay record from 1991

Swimmers of the Week -- 8 & Under Boys, 11-12 Girls Relay

Well, while I usually like to pick at least one individual swimmer for Swimmer of the Week, we'll be going with Swimmers of the Week this time -- the 8 & Under Boys and the 11-12 Girls Relay.

The 8 & Under Boys beat their Dunn Loring counterparts 35-6 in their four events and the relay.  They started the meet by sweeping the first event (25 free), and the Gators never relinquished the lead those boys gave the team.  In fact, the only time the meet got close was after backstroke, when the Gator lead had shrunk to 91-88.  So, the 8 & Under boys breaststrokers went out and swept the Dolphins to preserve the lead and break the meet open.

Matt Makin helps get the Gator season going.

Boys who scored points in the meet in the 8 & under category were Tyler Swartz (first place free; first place fly), Matthew Makin (second place, free; first place breaststroke), George Schulte (third place free; first place back), Jack Alzona (third place back), Alexander North (second place breaststroke), and Gavin Fore (third place breaststroke; third place fly).   Makin, Swartx, Schulte, and Jackson Foerster easily won the relay.

An 8 & under Gator backstroker puts up points.  (Parents:
Buy the Name Caps, and my caption writing is easier!)

The 11-12 girls won Swimmers of the Week by virtue of a 0.02 win in the medley relay race.  The team of Abby Dittman, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Emily Makin, and Gabrielle Greszler came through to earn the five points in a very exciting race that went to the watches.

Abby starts on back for the 11-12 girls relay.

Juliana is catching up.

Congratulations to the Swimmers of the Week!

Emily flys



Gabrielle and the Dolphin are neck and neck!


It doesn't get any closer than this.  Well, it can get
0.01 or 0.00 closer, but you get the idea!

Time Trial Photos -- Batch 1

The hordes of Gators begin descending

A Little Corner of Heaven

Practicing Goggle Adjustment is a crucial part of warm-ups.
The coaches really stress this, and it pays huge dividends.

Less experienced swimmers often need help with their Goggle
Adjustment from an official.  That help is frowned upon by the
Union of Referees, Starters, and S&T Officials, but we won't
report Tom.  This time.

This is the obligatory photo of cute Little Gators.

In honor of Dusty Rhodes (died June 11, 2015), a couple of
Gator boys practice his signature "bionic elbow" move.

There is no way the Phalens were failin' to fix the broken lane line.

Surf's up for Ginny Grubbs!

As Johnny Cash would say, he's going to Jackson.
Jackson Foerster that is.

How do I know this is Nora Hixson?  Because her parents made
my life easier (and their's!) by buying a name swim cap.

How do I know who this is?  I don't!  Swimmers with name
caps get their picture in the blog more often than those
who don't have name caps!  Order yours today!

These great photos -- and more -- can be ordered from David Anderson in their original resolution.  Prints are available on paper, metal, or lucite in a variety of shapes and sizes.  Contact Dave at danderson703@gmail.com for more info.  

I will be putting up more photos tomorrow.  They can all be viewed (sans captions, of course) at this embedded link.

Gator Swimmers Post Fast Swims at Time Trials

Gator swimmers got ready for the season with some great swims on Saturday at Time Trials.

While Time Trials are an internal meet, long-time team followers are certain that IF there was another team, and IF the meet were scored, MVP would have won.  Of course, neither of those things happened, but that's not important right now.

There were 130 legal free swims, 95 legal backstroke swims, 62 legal breaststroke swims, and 53 legal butterfly swims.

Age group freestyle winners were Matthew Makin, Jill Humphreys, James Piland, Isabella Van Damme, Andrew Baker, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Nick Dupuis, Sheridan Phalen, Tristan Colaizzi, and Cassidy Bayer.

Age group backstroke winners were Matthew Makin, Cassidy Crowther, Joseph Humphreys, Lily Palmerino, Andrei Zaitsev, Abigail Dittman, Collin Sundsted, Emma Jones, Cameron Morey, and Parker Fulghum.

Age group breaststroke winners were Matthew Makin, Samantha Cowen, James Piland, Isabella Van Damme, Parker Blondin, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Sean Jansen, Lily Penn, Cameron Morey, and Cassidy Bayer.

And, finally, age group butterfly winners were Tyler Swartz, Jill Humphreys, James Piland, Lily Palmerino, Andrew Baker, Olivia Blondin, Cole Miller, Sheridan Phalen, Cameron Morey, and Cassidy Bayer.

Cassidy Bayer Breaks Three Records in Three Time Trial Swims

Gator fans were stunned yesterday by Cassidy Bayer.  Not that she broke the girls 15-18 freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly records her first time eligible to set them.  That was expected.  After all, her team records as a 13-14 year old were all faster than the now broken 15-18 year old records.

(Cassidy's records for 11-12 freestyle and butterfly are faster than the 15-18 records she broke yesterday!  Apparently she was a real slacker as a 9-10 year old!)

No, Gator fans weren't stunned by those records.  They were stunned that she didn't break the backstroke team record -- at least until it was pointed out to them that since she didn't swim backstroke, it was technically impossible for her to break the record.  As the logic of that point dawned on them, they became less stunned.

Cassidy started rewriting the team record books in freestyle, swimming a 26.99, to smash Christine Rholl's 28.11 record set at All-Stars in 2010.

The backstroke record set by Sara Bertram in 2014 remains safe at least one more week.

In breaststroke, Cassidy's 35.27 lowered Ryann Doyle's 2003 mark of 38.25 by a stunning 2.98 seconds.  It's also the fastest breaststroke swim ever swum by a Gator girl.

In the last race of Time Trials, Cassidy went a 28.46 in butterfly, knocking Sara Bertram's 2013 record of 29.47 out of the books.

Cassidy now has 18 of the possible 24 individual girls records.  She has four years to break two more. Only four records (three breaststroke and one Individual Medley) can not have Cassidy's name on them.

In near-record news, James Piland is only 0.06 seconds off of the 9-10 boys butterfly record from 1974!  Let's hope James breaks it!

Street & Smith's Season Preview: Gators Poised To Win Some Meets

In the 1970s, my brothers and I would eagerly await for Street & Smith's annual baseball edition to be published so we could read about the upcoming season.  In their team-by-team write-ups every team had hope for the upcoming season -- either they had a young pitcher who might surprise, or a grizzled old slugger sure to bounce back from the prior down year.  In springtime, every MLB team had a shot at the playoffs.

Although this isn't a shiny new magazine (Editor's note: If you are young and unsure what exactly a "magazine" was, it was a bound small book that came out periodically -- weekly, monthly, or annually, depending.  It was printed on paper -- google "paper" if you don't recognize the term -- and often had glossy photos.  They are sort of like that catalogs that are the only things that come in snail mail.  Besides home delivery, you could buy magazines at something called a "newsstand."  A "newsstand" was. . .well, enough of this journey into ancient times -- I have to get up, walk over to my TV, and turn the dial to one of the other three channels that I have!) this is the unofficial Street & Smith's 2015 Gator season preview.

(Legal disclaimer written by a non-lawyer: this blog is in NO WAY related to Street & Smith's.  Our writer is either paying homage to his long ago childhood, or is nuts.  Or both.)

MVP is in Division 3 for the third straight season, and the fourth season out of the last five.  The NVSL uses a sorting hat* to rank teams into 17 divisions of six teams each.  The teams in Division 1 are the strongest, while the teams in Division 17 are the weakest.  (Admit it, it would be cooler if the NVSL used Roman numerals for division numbers, like the NFL does for Super Bowl.  We'd be in Division III instead of boring ol' "3".)

Adding to my Geezerhood, for perspective, when our oldest daughter started swimming in Gator A meets in 2000 (magazines still existed back then!), MVP was in Division 13.  That means over the last 15 years, the Gators have not only jumped over approximately 50 teams, but that under the leadership of Coach Paul "the hokiest Hokie" Makin the team has been pretty consistent the last five years (one year in that stretch the Gators went 4-1 in Division 4).

Despite the gutless headline ("poised to win some meets" -- bold prediction that one is!), it's impossible to know before the season how things will play out.  That's why they swim the meets!


This year, the Gators are once again in with Little Rocky Run and Vienna Woods from Division 3 last year.  Those three returnees are joined by last year's sixth place finisher in Division 2, Fairfax Station, as well as the two teams who tied for the Division 4 title, Fairfax and Dunn Loring.

The Gators begin the A Meet season on Saturday, June 20th by hosting the Dunn Loring Dolphins.  The Dolphins went 4-1 in Division 4 and have been a team that the Gators have battled in some great meets over the years.

Week 2 (or Week II as I would prefer), the Fairfax Frogs come to MVP for the second of three home A meets on the season.  The Frogs tied Dunn Loring last season with a 4-1 record to co-win Division 4.  The Gators have a long history of swimming against Fairfax as well.

In Week III, the Gators caravan to a team that I don't ever remember swimming against in the past 15 years -- the Fairfax Station Flyers.  The Flyers (great name for a swim team, terrible name for a hockey team!) finished 0-5 in Division II last season, so they've been moved down in an attempt to rebound.

The road trip continues in Week IV, as the Gators head out nearly to West Virginia (okay, it's Clifton, which only seems closer to West Virginia than to NOVA when you drive it) to swim against Little Rocky Run.  Like MVP, the Stingrays finished 3-2 in division III last season.  MVP won last season's clash by a tight score of 215-205.  The win came courtesy of that usually successful strategy of scoring more points than the other team.  LRR is a beautiful pool, full of fond All-Star Relay memories for grizzled Gator fans.

The Gators return home for Senior Day in the final A Meet of the season to take on Vienna Woods.  The Woods are another team we've had some epic clashes with over the last few years.  Last season, MVP fell to them in a 190-230 loss. The loss was the direct result of not scoring as many points as the other team (now that I've let you know the secret to winning/losing meets, you are officially a swim team insider.  Lucky you.).  Like MVP and LRR, VW finished 3-2 last season.

The big Divisional Meets will find Gators at Dunn Loring for the Relay Carnival on July 8th, and Divisionals will be at Vienna Woods on the 25th of July.  The All-Star Relay Carnival will be at Hung Valley on July 15th.  Individual All-Stars will be at Little Rocky Run to cap off the season on August 1st.

The unofficial Street & Smith's projection for the Gator A Meet season?  Lots of fast swims, some great meets, and a lot of fun for the kids.  If, even after all these years, you think I'm going to make a specific won-loss prediction, you have no idea just how cautious and gutless I am.

(*No actual sorting hat was used in the placement of teams.  I think.)