written by Coach Andy
The athlete who most epitomizes our summer
swim program this year is Megan McCreary. There were several swimmers that were
offered the option to raise their intensity and commitment by coming to more
practices offered by our summer program - she took it to heart and maximized
every opportunity available. Megan had great practice attendance, continually
took advantage of the evening practices, and always worked hard while at
practice.
Megan demonstrated her intense desire to reach her goals on more than on one occasion this summer; however, this story is a great reflection of Megan's drive and determination.
Megan was offered the chance to swim with FISH at a Prelims/Finals meet in Baltimore - this meet provided her with one last opportunity to make her goal of achieving the qualifying times for PVS Long Course Age Group Champs. However, attendance at this meet did not come without sacrifice.
Megan swims for a very competitive
NVSL team and in order to attend this meet she needed to bypass her final
meet as a 12 year old, her final "A" meet of the season. She
decided that reaching the goals she had set for herself at the start of the
season was more important than attending her NVSL meet - therefore, she came to
Baltimore with a very high level of focus and determination.
All of Megan's hard work and dedication
shined as she was able to get best times in 5 events (50, 100, 400, 800, 1500
Freestyle) and made her goal of qualifying for Age Group Champs in the 400,
800, and 1500 Freestyle. Megan's sacrifice is unsurpassed and for
this we grately appreciate her commitment to the FISH, her teammates, and most
importantly herself.
After this meet Megan came back to practice, determined to continue her progress and do even better at Age Group Champs just
a few short weeks later. Because of her passion and hard work, she was able
to jump 4 spots and place in the top 5 after being seeded 9th in the
1500 at Age Group Champs. In her other events, the 400 and 800 Freestyles, she
was able to move up at least 2 more places than her initial seed, and ended up
dropping a total of 41 seconds throughout the meet.
We are all very excited to watch Megan
progress and continue reaching and exceeding her goals.
