Washington State Champs
Highlights: Team place 19th, 16 individual records, 10 relay records.
Individual Records:
Nate Endebrock, 200 Free (15-18), 500 Free(15-18), 1000 Free (15-18 & Open)
Jacob White: 50 back (15-18), 100 Back (15-18), 200 Back (15-18)
Conner Hickey: 100 Free (15-18), 100 Fly (15-18), 200 Fly (15-18 & Open), 200 IM (15-18)
Madi Lydig: 1000 Free (15-18 & Open)
Faith Barr: 50 Breast (15-18 & Open)
Relay Records:
200 Free Relay: Nate Endebrock, Asa Wolfe, Rustin Babcock, Conner Hickey (15-18 & Open)
400 Free Relay: Conner Hickey, Asa Wolfe, Jacob White, Nate Endebrock (15-18 & Open)
800 Free Relay: Nate Endebrock, Rustin Babcock, Asa Wolfe, Conner Hickey (15-18 & Open)
200 Medley Relay: Jacob White, Asa Wolfe, Conner Hickey, Rustin Babcock (15-18)
400 MEdley Relay: Jacob White, Asa Wolfe, Conner Hickey, Nate Endebrock (15-18)
400 Medley Relay: Madi Lydig, Faith Barr, Kaylee Beck, Stephanie Bayless (15-18)
800 Free Relay: Stephanie Bayless, Kaylee Beck, Ali Bumann, Madi Lydig (15-18)
Day 1:
We loaded up a bus at 7:45 this morning, drove over to Federal Way and got ready to head over to the pool. I went early with Todd and Vicky Marsh, followed by the kids and the bus at 3:30. Warm ups looked fast and the kids had a great energy to them.
The racing was kicked off by Madi Lydig, who started the Waves meet off well. She raced to a 10:31.57 a new 15-18 and Open team record in the 1000 Free, a 15 second best time. Teammate Kaylee Beck dove in a little later, dropped 20+ seconds, placed 11 th and qualified for Sr. Sectionals. Nate Endebrock then kicked off the guy’s side of the meet with a new team record 10:18.67, in the 15-18 and open categories for the 1000 Free. Alli Bumann dropped 15 seconds placing 22 nd , and Meghan Merrick placed 29th. It was an awesome way to kick off a long 4 day meet, we’re home early tonight to rest up for the rest of the weekend.
Day 2:
The morning started around 6:45, breakfast at the hotel, leave for the pool at 7:10, and warm-ups till 9AM. We started with 200 Free Relay, the 15-18 guys began their meet with a team record, with everyone splitting a best time. Alli Bumann, Kaylee Beck had great drops in the 200 free, and Madi Lydig qualified to swim in finals. Heather Spall and Stephanie Bayless also swam the 200 showing great 2nd half speed. On the guys side, Nate Endebrock broke the team record, dropped 2 seconds and qualified to swim in finals as well. Conner Hickey also swam, dropping over a second. Faith Barr requalified for Sr. Sectionals, also qualifying to swim in finals. Our two swims on the boys side, Asa Wolfe and Rustin Babcock, were best times, both dropping a little over a second. Madi Lydig followed up her great 200 free with an in-season best in the 200 Back, qualifying to swim in finals in that event as well as the 200 free. Jacob White dropped 2 seconds on the guys side, breaking an 8 year old team record. Qualifying in the B finals, the only guy to score individual points that day. The 100 Fly both our girls swimming dropped, Kaylee Beck 2+ seconds, Izzy Madill 1+ seconds. Conner Hickey broke the guys team record in the 100 Fly, qualifying to swim again in finals that night. We wrapped up the morning by breaking both team records in the Womens and Mens 15-18 400 Medley relay. It was great to see everyone put it all together, get 4 teammates to swim great at the same time.
Finals Day 2:
Going back to finals after a few hours back at the hotel was great. Madi moved up and dropped a little from her morning swim, Nate rebroke his team record by dropping a few seconds from his morning swim as well. Faith Barr held her ground, trying out a different race strategy and going the same time as the morning. Madi Lydig got up again, 30 minutes after her first race and dropped another second from her morning swim, just missing the team record by 1.5 seconds and place 11th. Jacob White place 15th, adding a bit from his morning swim but placing the highest for any of the guys that night. Conner Hickey placed 23 rd in finals in the 100 fly, wrapping things up for our team. Overall we broke 4 team records and were 75% for best times. It was a great day, which we followed up by enjoying a catered Olive Garden dinner back at the hotel
Day 3:
Day 3 started just like day two. The guys broke the 15-18 team record for the relay, breaking the mark by over 10 seconds. Jacob White just missed also breaking the 50 back record leading off the 200 Medley relays. Kaylee Beck kicked things off for the individual events, dropping 2.5 seconds, and placing 19 th , earning a spot in finals. Meghan Merrick, Heather Spall, and Izzy Madill also swam the 200 fly. They raced well, but didn’t make it back to finals. Conner Hickey got out to a great start, dropping 3 seconds, setting a new team record in that event as well. The splash and dash was up next (50 Free), Dani Sherven swam an impressive 24.81, and made her first final at a Senior level meet. On the boys side, Asa Wolfe dropped to a 23.25, and both Conner and Rustin broke the 23 barrier. Faith Barr was up in the 200 Breast next, swam her second best ever time, a season best by several seconds. Jacob, Asa, and Rustin all dropped time by at least 2 seconds. To wrap up the morning, Jacob swam the 50 Back, really working his kickouts, he broke the 10 year old record by .2 seconds qualifying for a finals swim. The 500 was next, and Madi Lydig swim one of her best races, a gutsy 10 th place performance. Then one of the odder things happened, Nate swam the 500, dropped a few tenths and place 30 th . Usually they take top 24 to finals at night. Then 6 other people scratched who were ahead of Nate, so he squeaked into finals. Then, like Day 2, we ended with both the girls and guys breaking the 15-18 800 Free Relay record. Great work guys.
Finals Day 3:
Finals on day 3 was a bit tough. Everyone was starting to get tired, but we got a lot of great experience. The girls all tried different race strategies, racing, holding their places and going about the same times. Nate on the other hand had a great race. He was scratched up 6 spots, squeaked into finals and made it count. He dropped 4 seconds, set a team record in the 500, and moved up to 20 th . Jacob White again the only guy scoring points place 16th in the 50 back. Great work Waves! It’s been a long hard meet, looking forward to the last day.
Day 4:
The day started out rough, with the first couple of swims being a little off. Then we just started racing hard. Jacob White got things rolling with an impressive 100 back, breaking another 10 year old record. Then Conner and Jacob both got up and dropped big time in the 200 IM. Conner’s time qualified him at 17 th , and broke a team record. Then both Stephanie and Dani got up and just crushed their heats in the 100 free, both with a best time. Nate Endebrock got up and broke our team record in the 100 free, only to have it re-broken in the next heat by team mate Conner Hickey. Asa Wolfe also raced, dropped almost 2 seconds. Faith Barr then dove in and swam amazing. She qualified 2 nd in the 50 Breast, breaking her own team record by almost a second in a 50!. Stephanie Bayless dropped almost 2 seconds, and Asa Wolfe almost 3 seconds. Then we raced the 400 Free Relays. The 15-18 girls just missed the team record, but raced hard. The B relay had 3 best times, and the lead off girl Izzy Madill just missed a best time and had a lot of fun. The guys relay was outstanding, all 4 guys swam a best time, breaking their 5 th out of 5 team records.
Finals Day 4:
After the relays, we got up for one of our best events as a team. Kaylee Beck, Madi Lydig, Ali Bumann, and Meghan Merrick all dove in at the same time in two different pools. The average time drop was over 20 seconds, and they placed 9 th , 17 th , 21 and 33 rd respectively. Nate Endebrock dove in right after that, swam a great race and placed 12 th . In finals that night, Conner raced to 21 st place, the joined Nate in the 100 free final. Nate dropped a little time and place 21 st , Conner raced 15 minutes after his 200 IM and placed 23 rd . Faith Barr raced the final swim of the meet with another great 50 Breast, placed 5 th and ended our long weekend at the Washington Senior State Championships.
