What a fabulous
weekend of swimming! The FISH swimmers were on top of their game.
After months of training and preparing for the Junior Olympics, the FISH
swimmers were ready to face the challenge. The Best
Time Report (individual events) compiled by Coach Ray and
the Best Times Report (relays) compiled by
Coach Andy speak for themselves. Congratulations to all the FISH swimmers we
are very proud of you!
Congratulations Lea! Lea Gwennap won the High
Point Award for the 11-12 Girls.
And here is what Coach Matt observed:
I thought it was
really cool to see how all the hard work that the kids and we all put in, all
the morning practices, all the meets, all the stroke work, all the tough sets,
everything coming together at Junior Olympics. For me, the highlights
were David DiMeglio and Mason Greenblatt. Best times by a lot in all of
their events. They both had dramatic improvements in both racing skills,
and in stroke technique, and very dedicated and hard working all year. It
was also really cool to see people getting pumped up for relays and really
swimming much faster in a relay than they could in an individual race.
Also, some people showed some fire and aggression that I hadn't ever seen from
them in a race (Maria Liu and Joanne Fu, for example). Also, every time
Lea Gwennap was on the blocks, it was a highlight for me. To see someone
improve so much in a year, and be able to have the power and speed off her
walls and underwater like she has is just amazing to me.
Coach Steven observed even more:
The atmosphere at JOs finals was
electrifying, and it brought back memories of my college conference meets. There were so many sparks in the air. Several of our FISH swimmers had some truly amazing races
that were just as exciting to watch as any collegiate or world level races.
One of the first races I had the
opportunity to see was also one of the best, which was Emily's 200
Backstroke. Emily had a smile on her
face the entire 200, even on the last 50 when she broke away from the leading
Curl Burke swimmer to finish 1st with a record breaking
2:05.88. That was definitely a
race to smile about, and it set the mood for the rest of Finals.
I also had the experience of watching
Isabella, Michelle, and Joanne represent the FISH in the finals heat of the 200
IM. What a race! Isabella was in a back-and-forth battle
for first (with a 12 year-old) throughout the entire race, and finished second with
a very impressive 2:13.58.
Michelle and Joanne also went best times, and both were beaming with
pride when they talked to us after their race.
Jason dropped an entire minute (and 4
one-hundredths of a second) in his 1650 on Sunday morning at prelims. Jason demonstrated shear toughness by
going out in a 27 on his first 50 and holding solid 32's for the rest of the
race. All of the coaches knew
Jason would have a break-out meet at JOs due to his reinvigoration following
Retriever. What a way to wrap up your
last Junior Olympics as a 14 & Under Jason!
Speaking of break out meets, Chris Murphy
definitely had one. He had 3 best
times in the 100 Free alone, including an exciting swim-off for 9th place at
finals. Chris also had a great 200
free at finals, posting a very impressive 1:48.51 AAAA time. Chris has matured so much since he was
a wee 12 year old, so much so, that he mentored Ben Sharer following his 100
Fly. I can't wait to see Chris
dominate JOs next year as a 14 year-old.
It was awesome to see the name Maddie Donohoe seeded in the heat sheet
as the only 9 year-old in finals.
Maddie swam a total of 12 best times at JOs. I guess we will need to start handing out 12 Best Times Caps!
The 2011 Junior Olympic Championships brought opportunity to many of our swimmers to show case all the hard work and dedication we committed ourselves to this past season. Many of our swimmers at the meet were showcasing their skills for the first time at this meet's level. It was an exciting meet for all our swimmers and not one walked away without a best time, whether in a relay or individual events everyone experienced success at the meet.
Surprising, and refreshing were the number of kids that improved upon improvements. Many of the kids swam out of their minds to qualify for the meet just two weeks before at Age Group Champs. These kids always create a worry for coaches at the big meets. Often time's swimmers spend the whole season working towards just qualifying for and getting to the big meet. When they finally reach their goal and qualify; they often feel their season is done and they accomplished everything they wanted. I am elated to say that we didn't have any of those swimmers. Everyone showed up to swim and compete this past weekend; not to just be a part of the event.
I am very confident that the program is headed in the right
direction and I see a bright future for FISH. The proof of improvement is in the best times list. Our relays all improved and every
swimmer walked away with something to be proud of.
We had an awesome meet and better season!
