GTSA Meet Schedule March-July 2012   Date Meet Location Dist./PForTF Open/Qualify Mar. 8-11 Florida Age Group Champs Sarasota, FL   25Y/PF Qualify Mar. 15-18 Southern Zone Sectionals Orlando, FL   50M/PF Qualify Mar. 23-25 Area 3/5 Championships Sarasota, FL   25Y/PF Open Apr. 13-14 SPA Fri/Sat at the Races St. Pete, FL   50M/TF Open Apr. 27-29 BSAC LCM Invitational Brandon, FL   50M/TF Open May 5 Hurricane Man/Beach Day St. Pete, FL   Open Water Open May 19-20 St. Pete Aquatics Invitational St. Pete, FL   50M/TF Open Jun....

      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...

           Over the weekend 42 GTSA swimmers participated in the Jingle Bell Invitational in Clearwater, FL.  That is the most swimmers GTSA has taken to a meet in recent history!  Although the team did not attend finals on Sunday, to enjoy ourselves at our annual Christmas party, the team finished in 7th place with 829.5 points!  26 different swimmers earned point over the three days.  The 8&under boys that consisted of Noah Halpern and Jayson Reddick contributed 103 points which got them 2nd among 8&under boys teams.  The team had...

GTSA Holiday Practice Schedule   Monday Dec. 19-Sunday Dec. 25 Senior Group: Monday:        8:00-9:30am- swim                         2:30-3:30pm- weights                          4:00-6:00pm- swim Tuesday:        8:00-9:30am- swim                          2:30-3:30pm- weights                          4:00-6:00pm- swim Wednesday:  8:00-9:30am- swim                          4:00-6:00pm- swim Thursday:      8:00-9:30am- swim                          2:30-3:30pm- weights                          4:00-6:00pm- swim Friday:            8:00-10:00am swim Saturday & Sunday:  OFF   Age Group I:             Monday-Thursday:    8:00-9:30am- swim                                                    4:00-5:00pm- swim             Friday:                           8:00-9:30am- swim            Saturday & Sunday:  OFF             Age Group II:             Monday-Thursday:    4:00-5:00pm- swim             Friday:                          8:00-9:00am- swim            Saturday & Sunday:  OFF   Minnows I & II...

                       GTSA Swimmers started off the Thanksgiving Holiday with a strong 7th place showing at the YCF Turkey Invitational in Orlando, Florida.  The team amassed 965 points over the three day meet putting the team in the top third of the 25 team meet.  Twenty different GTSA members contributed points to the effort making it a whole team effort.  9 swimmers had 100% best times on the weekend and as a team GTSA has 66% best times.  We also added a FLAGS qualifier as Reagan Flynn made her first cut...

                   Thursday the Plant High School Men’s and Women’s Swim Teams participated in the FHSAA 3A State Finals.  All 6 GTSA swimmers that were represented helped score points for their team.  The Plant girls were helped by strong relays 200 Medley Relay 4th Carter Flynn, Ally Donahue), 200 Free Relay 7th (Ally Donahue), 400 Freestyle Relay 14th (Carter Flynn, Emma Donahue).  Individually Ally and Emma Donahue scored in the 100 Breaststroke finishing 5th and 9th respectively.  The great swimming lead Plant to a 4th place finish in the state.  The...

TAMPA — Emma Donahue, a swimmer at Plant, has an interest in chemistry. And she’s the experiment. Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 9, Donahue can’t produce insulin and therefore can’t regulate the amount of sugar in her blood. So, she must do it manually. A shot of Lantus, long-acting insulin, once every 24 hours. A shot in her thigh of Novolog, short-acting insulin, after breakfast, lunch, dinner and any snack. Finger pricks to check blood sugar levels before she eats, at least two hours after, and any time...

                     This weekend the best high school swimmers in the state of Florida will converge on the Central Florida YMCA Aquatic Center in Orlando, FL.  The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSA) swimming state finals will be contested starting Thursday and concluding on Saturday. 8 GTSA swimmers, representing 2 area high schools (Plant, Holy Names) have advanced to participate in this very exclusive meet.  The Plant swimmers (Ally Donahue, Emma Donahue, Carter Flynn, Tyler Heath, Jeremy Parker, and Giakomo Rosso) will be competing on Thursday, while the Holy Names swimmers...

Greater Tampa Swimming’s own Emma Donahue was recognized as a 2011 USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.  This is a great honor; only 1,000 10, 11, or 12 grade women across the country were recognized with this award.  The following is USA Swimming’s description of a Scholastic All-American. Each year, USA Swimming recognizes its members who excel both in the classroom and in the pool. The Scholastic All-America Team is made up of high school student-athletes who have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and who have achieved the required...

                                                                                                                           This past weekend’s NIKE Classic was full of different weather conditions, from high winds Saturday to heavy rains on Sunday, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell just looking at the way GTSA competed.  GTSA amassed 428 points over the two days to earn a 4th place finish.  19 different GTSA swimmers scored points, while 5 different swimmers combined to win 15 events.  Jayson Reddick, Grace Sanchez, and Matthew Dieffenthaller finished in the top 3 in their respective age group’s high point races.  Matthew won all 8 events...