Senior One December Meet Wrap-ups

Candy Cane

Great job battling in the cold, getting aggressive in the mornings, and dealing with long sessions with lots of downtime. Mike was thrilled to see some of the performances, as was I. There were a handful of races that were so distant from practice performance that it suggested something was going on in race prep or minds before, during, and after the races. Athletics demands everything and promises nothing. All Senior 1 swimmers who raced had at least one best time. The only other stat I found: everyone was let down by an event they had been consistently prepping for in practices. We practice multiple events for this reason; we are more than one thing, one idea, one practice, one stroke. Grow that, don’t impose a limit on yourself. 

Cool stats from Candy Cane: 

- Lincoln dropped in all fly events, averaging 6% improvement across all fly events 

- Dylan posted her second-fastest backstroke time, beating times from over 2 years ago 

- Piper achieved 100% best times 

- Katie S was 4 for 5 in best times, breaking 2:00 for the first time in her 200 Free 

 Tualatin 

Solid showing at the Tualatin Invite. All Senior 1 swimmers who swam every session went at least two best times. Some of the Tualatin best times were new best times from a few weeks prior, which is a tough challenge to face. There were a few challenges that were just hard to deal with: getting sick, early mornings, and the air quality. As we prep for Sectionals, keep this experience in your pocket. Lots of logistics will be 

Shoutouts from Tualatin: 

- Lukas posted best times in all his Freestyle events, dropping 15 seconds in his 200 Free 

- Joe dropped his 200 free over 3 seconds and got under 1:45 for the first time 

- Adia dropped her 500 to less than a second from Futures cut (5:02.5) 

- Katie Plank got under 2:10 in the 200IM for the first time, and earned a sectionals cut in the 100 Free 

- Kyler improved his 200 free by 4 seconds, almost a 4% improvement! 

 Junior Nationals 

Historically, winter junior nationals have been a challenging meet for a multitude of reasons. We had a few first times, a few breakthroughs, smart swims, and learning opportunities. 

There are two people I want to shout out for working through challenges or creating success before the meet: Kevin and Lily. 

Kevin went 2 out of 5 on best times in individual events. He also missed a turn on both of the best times, including a relay. Two of those missed turns happened on the first night of competition, in his 1000 and on the men's 800 free relay. Kevin made a choice the second he missed that wall, and he told me that thought following the race. “I was not done with my race yet, Coach. I’m frustrated that it happened, but I still had a job to finish.” Great work, Kevin. That is a very challenging moment to work through. 

Lily, a few weeks before Junior Nationals, had the best 3-day meet I have been a part of. A few key numbers to consider: 1000 dropped by 16 seconds, 500 dropped by 7 seconds, 4IM dropped by 7 seconds, and her mile dropped by 35 seconds. Getting the brain to think it can repeat those without much improvement evidence between the meets is almost impossible. She landed right in the middle of her new bests and old bests. Her results at Juniors are still among the fastest times Lily has ever done. That is a very demanding turnaround and mental shift. Great work Lily. 

Shoutouts: 

- Two individual podium finishes: Grant (1st 200 Free) and Paige (3rd 1650) 

- First Junior Nationals: Myra, Lily, Kevin, and Porter 

- First A-final at Junior Nationals: Grant and Sasha 

- One or more best times: Porter, Kevin, Lily, Grant, Alexa, Langston, Marley, Myra, Ragan, and Sasha 

- Men's 800 Free Relay - 4th place & team record Kevin, Grant, Porter, Langston

- Men’s 400 Free Relay - 8th place & team record Grant, Cohen, Porter, Langston

- Women’s 800 Free Relay - 9th place (0.22 from team record) Ellie, Paige, Marley, Reagan