The Weekly Wave (1/5)

Jan 5, 2010

“As a rule, men worry more about what they can't see than about what they can. “
Julius Caesar

Happy New Year! The start of a new year brings the desire to change with New Years resolutions. Basically resolutions embody the desire to change but with any change you must stick with it to make it a habit. So keep up with the change(s) and don’t listen to that little voice in the back of your head that states “its ok to not continue” keep working and make the choice to keep making yourself better and striving for greatness. One more quote from Albert Einstein, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity", I thought that fit well.

Continuing from the previous Weekly Wave where we covered the Team Travel meet to West Virginia and the Pilgrim Pentathlon, we move onto the Tom Dolan Invitational. We had a correspondent in the field covering this meet so I am going to hand this over to Tori Webb.

The Tom Dolan meet was fantastic!! We placed 18th out of the 30 teams that attended the meet. Last year we placed 24th out of 25. This was due to the great swims and hard work that everyone put in prior to the meet. One of my favorite things that happened at this meet were the relays!! They were so suspenseful to see all the teams neck and neck during the relays.

Being the only swimmer to go last year to Tom Dolan, I was so grateful to share this experiance with my teammates. I loved having someone to talk too and to spend time with. I also enjoyed competing on the relays with my teammates. I love it when a team comes together and pumps each other up for a great race. I had a great time watching all of the fast swimmers from other teams as well… some people’s strokes were amazing!!!

Being on a team is amazing! Some people never get as much support from their teammates, parents, or coaches as we do. Just the thought of having someone there right behind you, means the world! The relationship between our teammates is incredible. You always want to form great friendships with your teammates and coaches. That’s why I love being part of Blue Waves, you have the best teammates and coaches right behind you.

Recap of the Weekends races:

On December 3^rd through 6^th, some of our Blue Wave swimmers went to the Tom Dolan Invite. Those swimmers were Justin Allen, Javi Mery, Jack Morrisroe, Eric Yang, Amber Kerico, Abby Pasztor, Dani DeGooyer, Brooke Graham, Jessica Norrlinger, Caroline Haines, Megan Thiede, Tori Webb, Marissa Coggins, Rachael Mihalic, Holly Williams, Lydia Qian, Megan Patterson, Grace Boyles, Lizzie Mandrgoc, Jonathan DeValle and Jackson Lucas. On the first day of the meet Jack Morrisroe started the attack on the record board with the 1000 free breaking his own previous record with a time of 10:55.38. On Friday, we started off with our 13 and overs. Brooke Graham started off the Blue Waves that day with a 100 breaststroke at a time of 1:18:17. Then, Amber Kerico swam the 100 breaststroke breaking her previous record with a time of 1:12.05. After that, Jack broke another record in the 200 free with a time of 2:01:09. Then the Blue Waves moved on to the butterfly events. Amber swam the 100 fly with a time of 1:03.85. Then in the boys fly, Jack swam the 100 fly in a time of 1:03.55. Up next, the 400 IM where Amber broke her previous record with a 4:53.62 and Jack got a 4:47.80. Then, the younger session came in. We started off with Lizzy Mandrgoc swimming the 50 breast at a 42:48. After that, Tori Webb came in and swam the 100 free with a time of 1:02.60. For the 9-10 boys, we had Jonathan DeValle swim it in a 1:17.83. After the 100 free, came the 50 flys. Jessica Norrlinger swam it with a time of 32:03. Then, Tori swam it with a time of 33:56. After the 11-12’s, Lydia Qian swam the 50 fly with a time of 34:83. After the fly, came the backstroke. Caroline Haines swam the 100 back with a team record breaking time of 1:12.41. Then the 9-10’s came in and Lydia swam it with a time of 1:21:99, Rachael Mihalic at a time of 1:23:20, and Lizzy coming in at a 1:24.22. For the 9-10 boys Jackson Lucas swam it in a 1:19.37. After the 100 back’s, Megan Thiede came in and swam the 200 breaststroke at a time of 2:56:84. The last event of the day was the 400 freestyle relay, which consisted of Caroline, Jessica, Megan, and Tori. They crushed the previous team record by 16 seconds in a time of 4:31:25.

On to Saturday, we start with the 13 & overs. For the girls 200 free relay, we had Dani DeGooyer, Brooke, Amber, and Abby Pasztor, broke the previous record with a 1:50.15. Next the guys, we had Javi Mery, Justin Allen, Eric Yang, and Jack they set the team standard with a 1:48.90. After the relays, came the 200 breaststroke. Amber represented Blue Wave in this event, getting a 2:33.62. Then, came the 100 backs. Jack swam this event in a 1:03.23. After the backstroke came the 400 medley relays. The girls, which had Dani, Amber, Abby, and Brooke, swam the relay in a record breaking 4:26.90. While the guys, which had Javi, Justin, Jack, and Eric swam it in a 4:30.29. Once the older Blue Waves were done, the younger session started. The meet started with the 200 medley relay, for the 11-12’s, we had Caroline, Megan, Jessica, and Tori, breaking the team record in a 2:13.70. Then for the 9-10’s, we had Megan Patterson, Lizzy, Lydia, and Holly Williams. They also broke the team record in a 2:28.52. After the relays, we had the 50 free. For the 11-12’s, Tori swam it in a 28.12. For the 9-10’s, we had Holly swim it in a 33.16 and Jackson broke the team record in a 31.17. On came the 50 Back, where Lydia swam it in a 37:45 and Jackson swim it in a 36:78. Then came the 200 IM’s, where Lydia swam it in a 2:55.54, Lizzy swam it in a 3:02.77 and Rachael swam it in a 3:04.58.

On to the last day, Sunday, the first relay was the 200 medley. Blue Wave had Eric, Justin, Jack, and Javi. They broke the team record with a 2:04.96. Next, came the 200 back. Jack swam to another team record with a 2:16.21. After the back, came the 400 freestyle relay, where Justin, Eric, Javi, and Jack swam it in a 3:59.61. After all the relays, we had Jack swim the 1650 free crushing his previous record by 53 seconds in a 18:14.75. On to our younger session, it started off with the 200 freestyle relay, for the 11-12’s we had Tori, Megan, Marissa Coggins, and Caroline swam to another team record in a 1:58.09. For the 9-10’s, we had Lydia, Grace Boyles, Lizzy, and Holly swim it at a 2:15.22. Then came the 100 IM, where Lydia swam it at a 1:20.98. Then there was the 100 butterflys, where Lydia broke her previous record with a 1:18.91 and Rachael at a 1:28.95. After that, there was the 200 freestyles, where Blue Wave had Lydia swim it at a 2:38.60, Rachael at a 2:43.50, and Holly at a 2:51.20 and Jackson broke his previous team record with a time of 2:36.00. At the end of the meet, we had the 400 medley relay which had Marissa, Megan, Caroline, and Tori swimming to the final team record of the meet with a 4:56.17. Congrats to all that achieved the qualifying time(s) to compete at this highly competitive meet!

We Broke 16 Individual Records:

Caroline Haines: 11-12 50 & 100 Backstroke
Amber Kerico: 15-18 & Open 100 Breaststroke and 400 IM
Jack Morrisroe: 13-14 and Open 1650 Freestyle, 13-14 200 & 1000 Freestyle, 13-14 200 Back
Lydia Qian: 9-10 100 Fly
Jackson Lucas: 9-10 50 & 200 Free
Dani DeGooyer: 15-18 & Open 100 Back achieved on the lead off Leg of the record breaking 400 Med Relay.

We Broke 11 Relay Records:

10 & Under 200 Medley Relay - Megan Patterson, Lizzy Mandrgoc, Lydia Qian, and Holly Williams
11-12 200 Free Relay - Tori Webb, Megan Thiede, Marissa Coggins, and Caroline Haines
11-12 400 Free Relay- Caroline Haines, Megan Thiede, Jessica Norrlinger, and Tori Webb
11-12 200 Medley Relay- Caroline Haines, Megan Thiede, Jessica Norrlinger, and Tori Webb
11-12 400 Medley Relay- Marissa Coggins, Megan Thiede, Caroline Haines, and Tori Webb
Open 200 Free Relay- Dani DeGooyer, Brooke Graham, Amber Kerico, and Abby Pasztor
Open 400 Medley Relay- Dani DeGooyer, Amber Kerico, Abby Pasztor, and Brooke Graham
13-14 and Open 200 Free- Javi Mery, Justin Allen, Eric Yang, and Jack Morrisroe
13-14 and Open 200 Medley- Eric Yang, Justin Allen, Jack Morrisroe, and Javi Mery

The following swimmers achieved time standard improvements:

Caroline Haines: A in Backstroke
Jackson Lucas: A in Backstroke; A in Freestyle
Jack Morrisroe: AA in IM
Lydia Qian: A in IM; A in Freestyle
Megan Thiede: A in Breast

Thank you Tori for that great recap of the Tom Dolan Invitational, you can watch of all the races on SwimmingWorld.tv

In the next installment of the Weekly Wave we will cover the Turkey Clause Championship and the Reindeer Mini Meet.