Written by Coach Josh Hyde
2010 NASA Best Times
We the FISH have already had an extremely
successful season, but a couple of our athletes felt like they had some
unfinished business and they decided to trek down to Coral Springs, FL to participate
in the first ever National Age Group Swimming Association's Showcase Classic.
Ben Sharrer, who had just been nominated
FISH of the Month for March, was one of the athletes who decided to make the
trip down to Florida; and he took full advantage of every opportunity. He ended
up walking away from this meet with a best time in every event he completed,
and achieved an AAA time standard in
both the 50 and 100 fly which automatically qualified him for the meet next
year as a 10 year old.
The other FISH athlete who made the trip was Isabella Rongione. Isabella has already had an extremely successful season - being a high point winner at Junior Olympics, a multiple PVS record holder, and also a multiple event winner at the Eastern Zones Championship just a short week ago. However, she still felt like she had something left in the tank, and so she set out to NASA Showcase Classic with something to prove. She signed up for a full slate of 12 events over 4 days (which comes out to 23 races with prelims and finals) and ended up putting on one of the most dominant performances I have ever seen. She ended up winning 11 of 12 events (with a second place finish in her only non-winning effort), broke 2 FISH team records, broke 2 more PVS records, and took home the meet High Point Award (with 237 points out of a possible 240).
Watching both of these young swimmers perform was quite a treat for me as a coach. They both had to push themselves to levels that neither of them had ever reached before. Just as the final session was set to begin, I found myself struggling to find the words to get these athletes motivated. "What more could I possibly ask of them?" I thought, and then there was an announcement over the speakers that a very special guest had arrived. This special guest ended up being the one and only Dara Torres, and by the conclusion of her speech, I saw that there would be no need for me to fire up either one of these athletes. They both appeared to have a sparkle in their eye and seemed more than ready to put on a show - and they ended up doing just that.
Isabella ended her meet with 3 victories, 2 best times, and 2 PVS records! Ben, riding the momentum established by his FISH teammate, ended his meet with a 2nd and 3rd place finish in the 100 butterfly (a drop of over 5 seconds from prelims), and 50 freestyle; achieving two personal bests along the way!
We all should be extremely proud of these young FISH team members as they both were great ambassadors for our program and certainly left a lasting mark on the first annual NASA Showcase Classic. If you are lucky enough to see either of these athletes, please be sure to wish them congratulations on their accomplishments.
