LCM for Everyone!

AA/AAA LCM Invite

April 6 and 7 welcomed SWAT to some sunny days and Spring racing. Unlike years past this meet was Long Course Meters (LCM) for AAA, and for AA swimmers. For many AA swimmers this was the first time to race LCM, including the 4 Novice swimmers that raced AA for the first time EVER! 41 SWAT swimmers competed. Many were racing events: for the first time, for the first time LCM, that are considered among the toughest events (200m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley, 800m Freestyle or 400m Freestyle).

Novice was represented by 5 swimmers. Madelynn, the AA veteran of the group, got her first taste of LCM racing in her 3^rd AA meet. Supporting Madelynn this time around were Novice AA debutantes: Charlotte, Angus, Andrew, and Kennedy. Each staring their AA AND LCM careers in one meet. It was a little intimidating, but each showed well and look forward to Short Course AA in the near future.

Junior had 15 swimmers compete. The 10 Junior Provincial swimmers made their LCM debuts as well as tackling some of the tougher events. Ethan(5) and Morgan(4) swam LCM events for the first time. Erica B, Addison, Sam H, and Claire jumped into 5 races including the LCM versions of: 200m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley, and 400m Freestyle. Erica R raced her first 5 LCM events including the 400m Freestyle and 400m Individual Medley. Marco, Alina, Sam S had 5 LCM events each including the 200m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley, and replaced the 400m Freestyle with the 800m Freestyle. The Junior Atlantic swimmers had more LCM experience, but still hit some of the longer events. Nick H, Jason had 5 events and hit their first LCM 200m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley, and 800m Freestyle. 400m Individual Medley vet Victoria swam 5 events swapping 400s to the 400m Freestyle. She had 2 personal bests including an 87 second(!) pb in the 800m Freestyle, and 14 in the 400m Freestyle. Maria swam 5 including the 400m Individual Medley and the 200m Butterfly. She had 3 best times highlighted by a 13 second improvement in the 200m Individual Medley. 200m Butterfly vet Haley swam the two 400m events and the 800m Freestyle as part of her 5 events. She was a perfect 5-for-5 on the weekend with a 23 second best time in the 800m Freestyle and 9 off in both 400s.

Senior swimmers used this meet to swim so off cuts and rare gems including: the 200m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley, and 800m Freestyle. All 21 group members competed and resulted in 31 Best times. Many of the Senior Provincial swimmers made their LCM debuts at this meet. Most swimmers had 5 events on the weekend. The following swimmers included the 200m Butterfly, 400m Individual Medley, and 800m Freestyle. Gabe A had 2 personal bests on the weekend including 20 seconds in the 200m Butterfly. Elyse made her LCM debut and battled some early adversity to have a decent meet at the end of Sunday. Maggie made her LCM debut with some very strong race efforts. Gavin had one best time from his weekend. Eugene had 4 bets times including 108 seconds off in the 800m Freestyle, and 76 seconds in the 400m Individual Medley. Both events had a 4 year hiatus between races. Ben P returned with 1 best time from the weekend. Joel had 2 best times. The following swimmers included the 800m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, and 400m Individual Medley. Jevon had 1 best time from his weekend. Ruby Lee also made 1 LCM personal best from her AAA times last season. Ben L came away 5-for-5 and a 30 second best time in the 800m Freestyle. Emma made her long-awaited LCM debut. Gabe C, Taite, and Owen both included the 800m Freestyle and 400m Individual Medley in their 5 events. Gabe C had 1 best time: a 5 second improvement in the 50m Breaststroke. Taite continued to build on his LCM menu recently opened at David Fry East Coast Championships in March. Owen made his LCM debut. Landon had 5 events including both 400m events. He came away with 2 personal bests. Jack and Alana had 5 events including the 200m Butterfly, and 400m Individual Medley. Jack made his LCM debut. Alana had 2 best times from the weekend. Ethan K, who often races the long Freestyle and Medley events had 2 bets times from 5 events including the 200m Butterfly. Nic M, a frequent Butterflier and Medley swimmer came back with 4 personal bests from 5 events, including the 800m Freestyle. Audrey and Jess had busy weekends resulting in shorter racing weekends. Audrey made her LCM debut and swam the 400m Freestyle. Jesstine had 3 best times from 4 races including 14 seconds in the 200m Backstroke.

The next racing opportunity for these swimmers come in early May. AAA swimmers continue their Long Course season at Dal May 3-4. AA swimmers are off to beautiful Cape Breton to race in Sydney May 11-12. After that we have AA Spring Champs at Dal in June with a AAA meet in between. Then Ken Dunn East Coast Champs in NB for AAA swimmers in July.