Oh My! Gators Outstanding In Ousting Oakton Otters

In a meet rife with alliterative opportunities, the Gators won their second straight A meet of the season by obfuscating the Oakton Otters at the oasis that is the Mount Vernon Park oblong pool by a 227-193 score. The score does not qualify as an obliteration, but is a more comfortable win than last week's victory.  The win was not quite an objet trouve, but was also not a sure thing.

Early morning in Gator Nation

To this long-time observer of Gator swim, MVP did not need any special obeah to win the meet.  They were obedient to Coach Paul's wishes to meet the team's objective.  "I am not Oberon!  I am coach of the Gators," Coach Paul said objectively.  He was worried the team was oblivious to his obtuse comments, but the swimmers obliged because they were obligated to swim fast.  No obstacle was too much.

I can't blame Paul for walking away.  His Twistin' skills are pretty rusty.
Emily, on the other hand, is bringing that dance back all on her own.

The Gators were particularly obdurate in the backstroke and butterfly.  MVP won freestyle 46-44 and lost breaststroke 40-50, but rang up impressive 53-37 and 58-32 wins in backstroke and butterfly respectively. The Gators and Otters split the relays six each.  (This preoccupation with the letter "o" means this whole blog post needs an obelus in the ancient manuscript meaning.)

Gator coaches show the proper method for cheering.

First, lean back, and then shout as loud as possible.

The only Gator hero of the week (swimming above your age group) was Cassidy Bayer, who swam two races as a 15-18, despite being just 14. She seemed to handle the pressure of swimming up in an NVSL A Meet fairly well, as she won both races.

This dance is all the rage in Hawaii.

The closest races of the week were won by Elaina Phalen and Gus Leyden.  Elaina won the 13-14 free race over her Oakton opponent by 0.05 seconds, which was the exact margin of victory for Gus in his 15-18 backstroke victory over an Otter.  

Not only was Kurt amazing for the National Anthem,

I will bet he was wearing shoes for safety.

The obbligato performance of the week (I will wait patiently while you look up the meaning of "obbligato". . .yes I spelled it right!  Okay, now I will continue) came from Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, who came from behind to pass her freestyle opponent in the 11-12 girls 100 meter medley relay to secure the meet for the Gators.

Caroline helped the 8 & under girls with

their best showing of the season so far.

There were three Gator sweeps.  The first was earned by the 9-10 boys backstrokers of Kenny Krogh, Joseph Humphreys, and Will Friedman.  The 9-10 boys butterfliers of Charlie Ruppe, Kenny Krogh, and James Piland went 1-2-3.  The final sweep came in the final individual event -- 15-18 girls butterfly where Cassidy Bayer led her teammates Sara Bertram and Jessica Metter to all nine points.

In five years, will that be a Mai Tai?

Double Gator winners were Elaina Phalen (free and fly), Cassidy Bayer (free and fly), Juliette Fore (free and breaststroke), and Emily Makin (back and fly).

Lily thanks her dad for his advice during her backstroke win:

"Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick, Kick, etc."

Single Gator winners were Katya Zaitsev (free), Lily Palmerino (back), Kenny Krogh (back), Taylor Makin (back), Parker Fulghum (back), Gus Leyden (back), Jack Dupuis (breaststroke), Brian McNamara (breaststroke), Charlie Ruppe (fly), and Sheridan Phalen (fly).  The Gators won just 18 out of 40 individual events, which means they've won two meets in a row on second/third places.  It's a hard way to make an easy living.

Isabella with an enthusiastic start.

Key second place points came from Donovan Kovalsky (free and fly), Caroline Baker (free and breaststroke), Colby Webber (free and breaststroke), Andrew Baker (free), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (free), Kevin Adams-Mardi (free and breaststroke), Sara Bertram (free and fly), Matthew Makin (back), Katya Zaitsev (back), Joseph Humphreys (back), Andrei Zaitsev (back), Olivia Blondin (back and fly), Cameron Morey (back and fly), Torie Bolger (back and breaststroke),  Lily Penn (breaststroke), Sean Jansen (breaststroke), Lily Palmerino (fly), Kenny Krogh (fly), Grace McGee (fly), Brian McNamara (fly), and Emma Jones (fly).  Gators took second place in 29 out of 40 individual events, netting a margin of +54 points by doing that.

Emily needs to show some intensity

during these meets. She's far too laid back.

Third place points were garnered by Jack Dupuis (free), James Piland (free), Clark Bayer (free), Sheridan Phalen (free), Sean Jansen (free), Will Friedman (back and breaststroke), Joseph Ienzi (back), Tyler Swartz (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (breaststroke and fly), Taylor Makin (breaststroke), Carl Questad (breaststroke), Parker Fulghum (breaststroke), Jessie Bricker (breaststroke), Matthew Makin (fly), Caroline Miller (fly), James Piland (fly), Liam Orr (fly), and Jessica Metter (fly).

Lily on the move.

I don't believe in obscurantism, so I have to point this out: just like last week, the Gators took 20 of the 40 third place points, meaning that the 1st and 3rd place distribution was the exact same last week as this week. The difference?  More second place finishes.  Somewhere Stat Boy's head is exploding at these somewhat oblique occurences.  I would think the odds would be octillion to one.

Cameron causes a disturbance in the Force.

Next week, the Gators host Lee-Graham in a battle for second, third, fourth, or fifth place (seriously -- the like a pasta bowl at Olive Garden, the permutations are endless.)  It's also senior day, so come celebrate the lives of our seniors. (Editor: That's kind of morbid).  It's also senior day, so all senior citizens get in free!  (Editor: Sigh.  Try again!)  It's also senior day, so come celebrate with our Gator graduates! (Editor: Much better!).

I can't believe Marty billed Kenny for this work.

So, you were wondering about those permutations.  (Editor:  No, actually we weren't.)  Vienna Woods is 3-1 and swims at 4-0 Donaldson Run.  Little Rocky Run is 2-2 and swims at Oakton.  If the Gators, VW and LRR all win, the three teams finish tied for second with 3-2 records.  If the Gators lose to 1-3 Lee-Graham, we finish 2-3 with LG, and possibly LRR (if they lose), which, means  we only finish ahead of Oakton. There are two more meets at which we can score points -- All-Star Relays and the Saturday A meet.  The possibilities mean we are perched on the edge of Occam's razor as we head into the odyssey of the final weeks of Gator swim for 2014.

The most important of relay warm-ups.

(Tacked on at the end for no good reason:)

So, would you call my overuse of "o" words obloquy or obnoxious?  Or just obsessive?

Katya diving in.

(Editor's Note: Make it stop!  Reporter: Sorry I'm so obstinate and obstreperous.  Editor: Now you are just being an obtruder.  Your oeuvre is odious!)

Juliana pulls ahead to clinch the meet.

Swimmers of the Week: Elaina Phalen and Gus Leyden

Elaina Phalen and Gus Leyden won this week's Gator Swimmers of the Week (GSOTW) for the performances against Oakton on Saturday.

For the first time ever, Elaina won two first places -- taking the 13-14 50 meter freestyle and the 13-14 meter butterfly for the team.  She won the freestyle by nearly the narrowest of margins -- swimming a 32.19 to defeat the 32.24 time turned in by the Oakton swimmer.

It was a double blue ribbon day for Elaina.

(Now I'm hungry for a Double Double, but

alas the nearest In-N-Out Burger is in Dallas!)

In swimming, there is a phrase called "outside smoke" which means a swimmer from lane 1 or lane 6 unexpectedly wins the race.  Gus wasn't quite outside smoke, but he won a key backstroke event from lane five, beating his 15-18 year old Oakton opponent by a mere 0.05 seconds.

Gus wins -- by 0.05!

Nearly Outside Smoke!

So, in this case, we'll call Gus's win "nearly outside smoke."  Or, "as close as you can get to being outside smoke without actually being outside smoke."  I must say that "one lane away from being outside smoke" is a tad clunky, and since that's the third option I came up with, it's time to quit.

It's a happy coincidence that both GSOTWs won close races by 0.05 seconds, bringing a nice numerology to this week's GSOTWs.  Congrats to both!

Kevin Adams-Mardi Breaks Record Held by Kevin Adams-Mardi

Kevin Adams-Mardi was inconsolable when Kevin Adams-Mardi broke his month-old record in the 15-18 boys 50 meter breaststroke.  Meanwhile, Kevin Adams-Mardi exulted in breaking the record.

The old Kevin Adams-Mardi record was set June 14th with a time of 32.77.  That broke the team record from 1989, set by Adrian Keller, of 33.85.  This time, Kevin lowered the Adams-Mardi mark to 32.35.

Two team records were set in this race -- one by Kevin

 Adams-Mardi, and one by the Oakton Otter swimmer.

"I'm so upset that my record was broken," Kevin said.  "I only had it for one month.  I don't even like the guy who broke my record."

"I'm very proud of setting this record, " Kevin said.  "I've been trying to break it all season, and I don't even like the guy who set the record in June!"

Editor's Note: You DO realize that there is only one Gator named Kevin Adams-Mardi?  Or are you just making up quotes to make the article controversial?  Reporter: (Extended silence).  Editor: I should fire you. Reporter: But then you would have to do all the work, and you are allergic to that.  Editor: (Extended silence).

I'm Pretty Certain I Don't Understand The Technical Aspects of Swim Practice. . .

And this GIF proves it. . .



Somebody went head over heels for the Pancake Breakfast. . .


It's either a scene from "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" or from
a Gator pep rally. . .


Check out the rest of Tonda's great photos here on the photos
page of the team website.  All the meets are there too.

Hey Now -- You're An All-Star! Eleven Gator Relays Qualify for All-Stars; 26 Gators Swimming

The MVP Gators are sending eleven relay teams featuring 26 different swimmers to All-Stars Wednesday night at Hunt Valley.  That just misses tying last year's Gator record of twelve teams and 27 swimmers, and matches 2012's eleven relays.  The next best after that is nine, both in 2011 and 2009.

For your musical interlude re All-Stars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_jWHffIx5E

First, The Background  
There are 102 teams in the 17 divisions in the NVSL.  The First Division has the fastest and best teams that actually even recruit, and Division 17 has the smallest and, um, not so best teams.  Teams move up and down divisions based on some complex formula divined with frogs, magic hats, and secret sauce at a place in Scotland called "Hogwarts."

Every year, on the Wednesday after the third A meet, there is a meet consisting of all six teams in the division swimming 22 different relays mixed age, medley, and freestyle across the different age groups and genders (don't worry, things haven t changed since you were younger, there are still only two genders). Results from across the 17 divisions are compared, and the top 18 teams in each age/gender group make it the following Wednesday to a huge meet called All-Star Relays, along with one alternate team.

All-Stars is like Woodstock for swimming -- the best from the biggest summer swim league in the country -- a total of 396 relays swim, which results in approximately 1,700-1,800 swimmers.

In 2006, the Gators sent seven relay teams to All-Stars. In 2007, the number dropped to three (although they put on a show). In 2008, the number bounced back up to seven. Then, in 2009, the Gators hit a new high of nine relay teams going to All-Stars.  That "dropped" to eight in 2010, although there were some powerhouse relays, before bouncing back to nine in 2011.  Since then, it's been double digits of 11, 12, and now 11 again.  The Gators have averaged sending 10.75 relay teams in the past four seasons.  That 0.75 relay is strange to watch!

Now, the Details
The All-Star teams are seeded, from one to 18, and swim in three heats, with the slowest heat going first, and the fast six teams in the final heat. Teams can move up -- we've had Gator teams in the slow heat finish in the top six overall. (Of course, they can also go the other way).

Seven girls teams and four boys teams qualified for All-Stars.  Of statistical interest is that of the 11 teams, only seven were under last year's All-Star cuts, which means that the four relays that were not under the cut had swum these same events and times last year, they would not have made it.  That's a surprisingly huge variation in time.l

And so, without further ado, here are your 2013 Gator All-Star relays:

• Event 1 -- Girls mixed age relay -- seed 3: Sheridan Phalen, Emily Makin, Cassidy Bayer, and Sara Bertram
• Event 2 -- Boys mixed age relay -- seed 17: Nick Dupuis, James Piland, Cameron Morey, and Kevin Adams-Mardi
• Event 6 -- Boys 9-10 medley -- seed 14: Kenny Krogh, Colby Webber, Charlie Ruppe, and James Piland
• Event 7 -- Girls 11-12 medley -- seed 14: Taylor Makin, Lily Penn, Sheridan Phalen, and Juliana Skopp-Cardillo
• Event 8 -- Boys 11-12 medley -- seed 16: Andrei Zaitsev, Brian McNamara, Parker Blondin, and Nick Dupuis
• Event 9 -- Girls 13-14 medley -- seed 14: Parker Fulghum, Elaina Phalen, Cassidy Bayer, and Emma Jones.
• Event 11 -- Girls 15-18 medley -- seed 13: Anna Fracasso, Torie Bolger, Sara Bertram, and Jessie Bricker
• Event 17 -- Girls 11-12 free -- seed 9: Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Taylor Makin, Lily Penn, and Sheridan Phalen
• Event 18 -- Boys 11-12 free -- seed 9: Clark Bayer, Brian McNamara, Andrei Zaitsev, and Nick Dupuis
• Event 19 -- Girls 13-14 free -- seed 4: Cassidy Bayer, Elaina Phalen, Parker Fulghum, and Emma Jones
• Event 21 -- Girls 15-18 free -- seed 11: Sara Bertram, Jessie Bricker, Anna Fracasso, and Jessica Metter

Congratulations to our All-Stars!

(Okay, so I've recycled the headline too many times to count now, as well as large chunks of this article, but Gators are green, recycling is green, and Bolger is an Irish name, so go with the green theme!)

Gator Relays Wake Up the Echoes, Post Strong Showing At Division Relay Carnival

The great Gator relay machine, which had been sluggish all season to date, woke up and roared with a vengence at Divisional Relay Carnival.  The team finished in third place, scoring 156 points in the 22 event meet featuring both medley and freestyle relays of all six Division 3 teams.

The Gators had some great swims.

The meet ended with MVP winning four firsts, three seconds, and one third.  The Mixed Age Boys relay set a new team record, breaking a record set last year (see related article).

The 13-14 girls get ready with their patented

"Relay Train Warm-up."  Choo-Choo! 

Here the boys add "holding their noses"

to the Relay Train Warm-up routine. 

The meet started with a series of bangs.  First it was delayed by thunder and lightning, and then the Mixed Age Girls Gator team won the first event with a time of 2:00.03, well under last year’s All-Star cut.  Other Gator teams under the All-Star cut were the 9-10 boys medley relay (they finished fourth, but were well under last year’s cut – involved four fast teams!), the 13-14 girls medley relay, the 11-12 girls freestyle relay, the 11-12 boys freestyle relay, the 13-14 girls freestyle relay, and the 15-18 girls freestyle relay.  There are a couple Gator relays on the All-Star bubble.  Nothing is guaranteed until the seeding meeting is finished tonight, at which time actual times can be released.

Dryland warm-ups consist of a rousing game of "Duck, Duck, Goose."

Followed by the "Back Stretch Cheer!"

Noteworthy signs of Gator team spirit is that Ellie Cullo came in from camp three hours away, and Jessie Bricker came back from a swim meet at West Point earlier in the day to swim for the Gators in the Relay Carnival.

When your name is on the cap, and your mom took

the pictures, it's easy to make sure to include you!

Gator first place finishes were turned in by:
∙ Girls 200 meter mixed age freestyle relay team of Sheridan Phalen, Emily Makin, Cassidy Bayer, and Sara Bertram.
∙ Girls 11-12 100 meter freestyle relay team of Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Taylor Main, Lily Penn, and Sheridan Phalen.
∙ Girls 13-14 200 meter freestyle relay team of Cassidy Bayer, Elaina Phalen, Parker Fulghum, and Emma Jones.
∙ Girls 15-18 200 meter freestyle relay team of Sara Bertram, Anna Fracasso, Jessica Metter, and Jessie Bricker.

Second place ribbons were earned by:
∙ Girls 11-12 100 meter medley relay team of Taylor Makin, Lily Penn, Sheridan Phalen, and Juliana Skopp-Cardillo.
∙ Girls 13-14 200 meter medley relay team of Parker Fulghum, Elaina Phalen, Cassidy Bayer, and Emma Jones.
∙ Boys 11-12 100 meter freestyle relay team of Clark Bayer, Brian McNamara, Andrei Zaitsev, and Nick Dupuis.

A third place finished was garnered by:
∙ Girls 15-18 200 meter medley relay team of Anna Fracasso, Torie Bolger, Sara Bertram, and Jessie Bricker.

∙

Colby on the go.

∙

Mixed Age Boys Smash Gator Team Record

The Mixed Age Boys relay of Nick Dupuis, James Piland, Cameron Morey, and Kevin Adams-Mardi broke a 51 week old team record at the Divisional Relay Carnival.

Nick starts a really good relay record swim

The foursome swam it 1.31 seconds faster than the quartet of Nick Dupuis, Andrei Zaitsev, Cameron Morey, and Cyrus Adams-Mardi did on July 10, 2013.

Kevin dives in as Cameron finishes the third leg.

What’s wild is that the 2013 swim broke a year old record that included Cameron, Nick, Kevin, and Cyrus. So, of the four new record holders, three of them held it two years ago, and two of them held it last year. The first set of record breakers broke a record set back in 1967.  So a record that lasted 45 years – since LBJ was President – has since been broken not once, not twice, but three times – which is one more time than the Miami Heat have won title since LBJ (LeBron James) joined the team.

The fourth member of the record setting team gets

ready to hit the pool for James' 9-10 relay team.

Rain Fails To Dampen Meet at Mansion House

By A.A. Milne
B Meet Correspondent

Oh the rain, rain, rain came down, down, down in rushing raging riv'lets.  However, Piglet was still able to swim in his events instead of having to bail from atop his chair.  But, not until the butterfly events, so the Monday night meet against Mansion House was able to be completed, minus, of course, the Individual Medley events.

A Gaggle of Gators?  Nope.  A pod.

1. From the Google machine: A group of adult alligators is called a congregation. If they're hatchlings or juveniles, then the group is called a pod.

Like Eeyore, the regular reporter for this blog had predicted rain Monday night, and like wise old Owl, he was not wrong. Although predicting rain for a Mansion House meet  is as risky as predicting rancor between Republicans and Democrats.  Or predicting that the Redskins will overpay for some free agent who stops trying.  Or predicting that someone in the Middle East will be insulted by the actions of someone else in the Middle East. Not exactly earth-shattering predictions.

When you grow up on the mean streets of the Alexandria

section of Fairfax County, aka Mount Vernon, aka

Ft. Hunt, you get tats at a young age. 

No, the surprise is that the meet was not delayed by a thunderstorm or deluge or rain.  Sort of like Bryce Harper showing maturity in his comments to the press, Winnie the Pooh passing up honey, or dogs and cats getting along -- it can happen, but it's very unlikely.

Natalie thinks through her race strategy.  Gator parents

should realize that name swim caps increase the odds

of your swimmer's pic being on the blog because

clever captions are hard to write without knowing

who the swimmer is.  Brevity is the soul of wit.

A Mansion House Monday night meet without thunder and lightning is a wonderful thing, like a Tigger, and about as rare.  The folks running the meet hopped to it like Kanga and Roo, and they were faster -- and less cranky -- then Rabbit.

No wonder they look confused.  They can't figure out why a 

conference named "The Big Ten" now has 14 teams in it.

Although no Gators appeared in the Winnie the Pooh classics, they swam in the meet as fast as if they were being chased by Heffalumps and Woozles.

Amelia looks so cute, we can understand why parents

have children even though they grow up to be teenagers.

Big time time drops in freestyle were registered by Gavin Moore, Jack Garuccio, William Milito, Hunter Edwards, Jack Alzona, Noah Webber, Luke Adrian, Caroline Baker, Jill Humphreys, Cassidy Crowther, Addison Dickerson, Natalie Santangelo, Gabby Cullo, Ginny Grubbs, Madeline Cullo, Monica Morales, Simone Burdick, Amelia Adams, Catherine Delaune, Heidi Schulte, Colin Miller, Zoe North, Saira Nagda, Lily Penn, Olivia Blondin, Bea Heratsch, Charlotte Krell, Cole Snodgrass, Olivia Johansson, and Nick Ducceschi.

The Little Gators are off to a great start.

Significant backstroke time cuts were logged by Matt Makin, Tyler Swartz, William Milito, Gavin Moore, Lily Palmerino, Elizabeth Whitson, Caroline Myers, Liliana Fore, Simone Burdick, Madeline Cullo, Josie Cowen, Lucy Waid, Fiona French, Brian McNamara, Joseph Ienzi, Juliana Skipp-Cardillo, and Charlotte Krell.

The dad is explaining that math is hard for Big Ten schools,

so it is easier to keep the original name.  The daughter

vogues for the camera.

Breaststroke time cuts of unusually good size were swum by: Tyler Swartz, Elizabeth Moorman, Grace McGee, Cecilia Morales, Olivia Heck, Rose Doerner, Noah Hannam, and Nick Ducceschi.

Gator talent scouts are not just thinking about

next year, but seven years down the line.

Looks like a backstroke dryland workout.

In the fly, big time cuts were earned by Lily Palmerino, Isabella Van Damme, Parker Blondin, Olivia Blondin (might they be related?), and Ian Baker.

Andrei's tinted goggles are illegal in cars.

Heat winners were:

Freestyle
Donovan Kovalsky, Noah Webber, Caroline Baker, Caorline Miller, Jill Humphreys, Addison Dickerson, Natalie Santangelo, Nora Hixson, Helen Milito, James Piland, Kenny Krogh, Colby Webber, Aidan Fischer, Keano Swalm, Emily Makin, Isabella Van Damme, Saira Nagda, Nick Dupuis, Brian McNamara, Parker Blondin, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Lily Penn, Paige Humphreys, Parker Fulghum, Cole Snodgrass, Olivia Johansson, Jessica Metter, and Anna Fracasso.

Backstroke
Matthew Makin, Tyler Swartz, Lily Palmerino, Elizabeth Whitson, Simone Burdick, Ginny Grubbs, Juliette Fore, Brian McNamara, TJ Heck, Juliana Skopp-Cardillo, Charlotte Krell, and Molly Cabral.

Breaststroke
Donovan Kovalsky, Tyler Swartz, Will Friedman, Juliette Fore, Nick Dupuis, TJ Heck, Lily Penn, Nicole Booth, Carl Questad, Elaina Phalen, and Sarah Jones.

Butterfly
Donovan Kovalsky, Lily Palmerino, Charlie Ruppe, Joseph Humphreys, Isabella Van Damme, Parker Blondin, Olivia Blondin, Ian Baker, Jessica Metter, and Anna Fracasso.

(Any typos in the names, or mistakes in the captions, just email the blog editor -- glen@pos.org and he will fix my mistakes.)

Gator Comeback For The Ages Shocks Stingrays 215-205

Military history has the Allied comeback versus the Axis in World War 2 (trying to be helpful here: the US was on the Allied side, for those who did not pay attention in school).  Political history has Harry S. Truman's comeback to defeat Thomas Dewey in the 1948 Presidential election (no, I'm not old enough to be have been Dewey's pollster, for goodness sake!).  Boxing history has Rocky Balboa's comeback against Ivan Drago.  (Somebody is telling me that's just a movie and didn't actually happen, but they are just trying to mess with my memories of the 1980s!).

This scene is more reminiscent of Rocky III -- 

with its classic theme song: "Eye of the Gator!" 

Now, The Northern Virginia Swimming League Has The Greatest Comeback Of All A Swim Meets When Mount Vernon Park Beat Little Rocky Run, (or TNVSLHTGCOAASMWMVPBLRR for short).  Yes, to win 215-205 in TNVSLHTGCOAASMWMVPBLRR is impressive enough, but the way the Gators did it was nothing short of improbable.

Here, Torie and Anna honor "Hands

Across America" from 1986.

(Editor's note: Actually, it was short of improbable, because it actually happened.  Reporter: This whole semantics game you play where words are supposed to be properly used gets annoying at times!)

One half of the quartet, probably 

hitting three quarter notes.

(Editor's note: Also, we have no idea whether this was the great comeback win in NVSL history -- given the thousands of A meets over the 59 years of the league, it is likely that there has been a greater comeback. Reporter: It's called "writing for effect!"  Drama, baby, drama!)

Close Race!

Next week, next year, five years from now, but probably not 20 years from now, Gator parents will see the team down early, and say to each other -- Parent One: "Hey, if any team can do it, the MVP Gators can come back and win this meet.  Remember TNVSLHTGCOAASMWMVPBLRR?"  Parent Two: "How could I forget TNVSLHTGCOAASMWMVPBLRR?  It was like when USA hockey beat the Soviets in 1980, except without the Cold War background, the sold-out arena, or the international TV viewing audience.  Yup, that TNVSLHTGCOAASMWMVPBLRR was the day!"

Charlie meditates upon his swim.

The win propels the Gators to a 1-2 record, tied for a distant second place with Little Rocky Run and Lee-Graham.  Only Donaldson Run or Vienna Woods, the teams that beat the Gators in weeks one and two, can win the division.

This Gator is showing Grace under pressure.

But enough of that.  Back to TNVSLHTGCOAASMWMVPBLRR!  The Gators were losing 41-67 after just twelve events, and the morning looked bleak despite being possibly the most amazing weather ever for a Saturday in July in the DMV.  Stat Boy had prescored the meet, and it looked like the Gators would win freestyle easily, but then lose everything else.  Stat Boy miscalculated as badly as Hitler when he attacked the Soviet Union while Britain was unconquered.

Andrew takes the Nestea Plunge

(Editor: Wait.  You are actually going there?  You are comparing Stat Boy to Hitler now?  Reporter: Eh, I never liked either of them.)

Here's a name from the past!  But how does

a guy with the last name Passacantando

struggle so much when pronouncing it!

Then, the Gators started their comeback.  Slowly, valiantly.  While they still lost backstroke 42-48, the deficit was cut in events 13 through 20 by ten points.  Breaststroke started grimly, as the team slipped back to a 26 point deficit.  So, after 24 events (46% of the meet), the team trailed by 26 points.  However, MVP fought back like Rocky (except in the first movie and last movie. . .spoiler alert: he lost!) to win breaststroke 53-37 -- meaning they tied the meet from a 26 point deficit in just six events.

Caroline nailed her breaststroke.

The Gators then put it into overdrive, winning butterfly 55-35 for a 190-170 lead going into relays.  MVP had to win five relays to win the meet.  When they lost three of the first four, things got a little dicey, but order was restored when the girls won their last four relays to hold off the marauding Stingrays.  The girls mixed age relay lined up with just a five point lead, but their comfortable 6.10 second win clinched the victory.

Makin waves (yeah, like that's an original caption!)

The meet started with a stunningly good rendition of the National Anthem by the Gator String Quartet of Parker Fulghum, Elaina Phalen, Sheridan Phalen, and Carl Questad.  Since they all swam well, Coach Paul Makin plans to require all Gator swimmers to take up stringed instruments this week.  (Note to parents: It's a joke -- you do not have to now purchase string instruments tomorrow and schedule private lessons.  If you don't like the joke, it was gifted to me by John Passacantando, so blame him.  If you like it, well, I wrote it better than he told it, so thank me!)

Carl's on a quest.

The Gators had three sweeps -- all from the 15-18 girls (see related article).  First, Anna Fracasso, Torie Bolger, and Molly Cabral went 1-2-3 in the 50 backstroke.  Ten events later, Cassidy Bayer (swimming up), Sarah Jones, and Torie Bolger went 1-2-3 in the 50 breaststroke.  Finally, they capped the final event of the meet with a 1-2-3 finish in the 50 fly by Jessie Bricker, Jessica Metter, and Emily Walzl.  Both Molly "Molly Cabs" Cabral and Emily Walzl were great pinch-hitting Gators.  They both filled in admirably for Sara Bertram, who was felled Saturday by an injury and had to be scratched.  When the substitution swimmers are getting points, that's a good sign of depth for the team.

First place looks like Parker.  Twice.

Gator heroes were Monica Morales, who made her first A meet as a six year old, Clark Bayer, who swam 13-14 backstroke as an 11 year old, Noah Hannam, who swam 15-18 back as a 14 year old, and Cassidy Bayer who won 15-18 breaststroke as a 14 year old.

Uncle Sam has nothing on Uncle Austin.

The Races of the Week: Lily Penn won the girls 11-12 50 breaststroke by 0.14 seconds over her Stingray opponent.  For the boys, Kenny Krogh had the closest margin of victory beating his LRR opponent in the 9-10 boys backstroke by 0.29 seconds.

Abby shifts in overdrive.

There were four Gator double winners -- Parker Fulghum (back and breaststroke), Cassidy Bayer (breaststroke and fly), Emily Makin (free and fly), and Jessie Bricker (free and fly).

Cyrus flying home.

Single Gator winners were Elaina Phalen (free), Kenny Krogh (back), Olivia Blondin (back), Anna Fracasso (back), Brian McNamara (breaststroke), Lily Penn (breaststroke), Kevin Adams-Mardi (breaststroke), Matthew Makin (butterfly), Caroline Miller (butterfly), and Cameron Morey (butterfly).

Lily and Katya are locked in on their relay.  Gator focus!

Last week, Gators won 23 individual events and lost the meet.  This week, they only won 18 individual events and won the meet.  This type of statistical abnormality is why I stopped betting on NVSL meets five years ago.  Somewhere in Little Rocky Run, a blogger is writing about winning 22 events and seven relays and yet still losing the meet.  (Bet they aren't as amusing as I think I am!).

Ellie exults for the relay win!

Really, truly, very important second place points were earned by Caroline Miller (free), James Piland (free), Sheridan Phalen (free and fly), Collin Sundsted (free), Emma Jones (free and fly), Kevin Adams-Mardi (free), Andrei Zaitsev (back), Cameron Morey (back), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (back), Torie Bolger (back), Alexander North (breaststroke), Caroline Baker (breaststroke), Colby Webber (breaststroke), Juliette Fore (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (breaststroke), Sean Jansen (breaststroke), Elaina Phalen (breaststroke), Sarah Jones (breaststroke), Lily Palmerino (fly), Charlie Ruppe (fly), Grace McGee (fly), Brian McNamara (fly), and Jessica Metter (fly).  So, the Gators took 25 out of 40 individual second places, outscoring Little Rocky Run 75 to 45 in points -- a 30 point win in a meet MVP won by ten points.

Either this is a cool photographic timing, or

Andrei is drooling.  Definitely a cool photo timing.

Third place points were garnered by Matthew Makin (free), Lily Palmerino (free), Charlie Ruppe (free), Clark Bayer (free), Juliana Skopp-Cardillo (free), Sean Jansen (free), Anna Fracasso (free), Katya Zaitsev (back), Grace McGee (back), Abigail Dittman (back), Collin Sundsted (back), Molly Cabral (back), Gavin Fore (breaststroke), Taylor Makin (breaststroke), Austin Neal (breaststroke), Torie Bolger (breaststroke), Parker Blondin (fly), Olivia Blondin (fly), Cyrus Adams-Mardi (fly), and Emily Walzl (fly).  That means the two teams split the third place points with 20 each.

Sheridan?  More like Sheri-can!

It's a busy week for the Gators, as there is the Monday night Developmental Meet at Mansion House. Weather reports do not include rain, but since it Mansion House, expect a monsoon.  Wednesday is the Divisional Relay Carnival at Lee-Graham, while Oakton travels to MVP on Saturday for the A meet. Saturday is also picture day -- so all Gator swimmers should be there -- see Jim/Tonda's emails for details.

#Winning