GTSA Has Big Start to 2012
Greater Tampa Swimming Association wrapped up their first meet of the new Calendar year this past weekend. They competed with some of the world’s elite swimmers at the Clearwater Aquatic Team’s Al Soltis Invitational. Participants included the Canadian Youth National Team, Club Wolverine’s Elite Group, as well as T2 Aquatics which has current American Record Holder in the 200 SCY Backstroke Liz Pelton. The team was not intimidated by the competition and compiled a number of great performances over the weekend. When the meet was over GTSA had accumulated 336.5 points and a 6th place finish. Twenty different GTSA swimmers scored points including three swimmers who finished in the top three in their age groups. Ana Sanchez (31points) finished 2nd in the 8&under girls, While Jayson Reddick (27 points) and Grace Sanchez (61 Points) were high point winners in the 8&under boys and 11-12 girls respectively. Grace’s 61 points were the most scored by any individual in the meet. The team finished with 71% best times on the weekend including 100% best times from Ana Delong, Larry Gomez, Isabel Hanewicz, and Sydney Whitfield. In other exciting news Ana Delong became GTSA’s 9th qualifier for FLAG’s. One of the highlights as a coach was seeing the excitement expressed by our swimmers in regards to meeting and watching the swimmers from Club Wolverine Elite. There is always so much to be learned from everything that great athletes do, and at the same time those guys greatly appreciate the admiration shown by our swimmers. All of the guys came up to me and asked that I personally thank all of you for the cards and the kind words. I will do my best to keep you up to date on all of their progress through the rest of 2012 and the lead up to London. 2012 is a special year and our sport and I hope that all of you swimmers and parents alike take the time to enjoy it! GTSA will return to the pool on the weekend of February 23-26. Our senior swimmers will be competing at Florida Senior Championships while the remainder of the team will be in St Petersburg.
