Senior Sectionals Recap

7 of the teams top swimmers headed over to the King County Aquatics Center for the Western Regions Speed Champion Series (Sr. Sectionals).  It was a blast.  Every Olympic year, instead of running the usual 25 yard shorts course events(scy), the meet was long course, 50 Meters (lcm).  Our kids, who had not had a chance to train or race in a 50 meter pool since the end of summer, swam awesome.  We broke 10 individual team records, and 1 relay record. 

Thursday:

The meet kicked off with the 100M Free, Conner Hickey and Rustin both broke the previous 15-18 record, however Conner's faster time also broke coach Rory Buck's Open record.  Nate Endebrock also competed in the 100 free.  Madi Lydig swam the 200 Back, 2 seconds off Olympic Trials, and place in her first ever B final.  It took an Olympic Qualifyig time to make the A Final.  Nate Endebrock also swam the 200 back, he dropped over 2 seconds in that race.  Faith Barr swam the 200 Breast, moved up to place 101'st in the event.  Kaylee Beck and Conner Hickey both swam the 200 fly to end the session, both placing 55th.  Later that night, Madi swam in the B final of the 200 back, swimming about the same time as the morning, but going out much harder splitting a 1:08.0 at the 100 mark, .9 faster then her previous best first half. 

Friday:

After the shock of the 50M pool wore off, our team got to business.  The day started off with the 200 Free; Rustin Babcock dropped 4.5 seconds, Madi Lydig dropped 1 second, Nate Endebrock swam just off his best, placing 82nd out of 160 swimmers.  After the individuals were done, we started getting ready for the relays.  Stephanie Bayless led off the girls relay with the fastest split of 28.9, followed by Kaylee Beck, then Faith Barr, and anchored by Madi Lydig.  They just missed a girls 15-18 record, with Kaylee and Madi both splitting best times.  Way to work on those relay exchanges!  On the guys relay, Rustin Babcock led off with a new team record in the 50, followed by Nate Endebrock splitting a best time, Kevin Wang, and anchored by Conner Hickey who also split a best time.  They boys missed the team record by .1 seconds.  We swam time trials in the middle of the day where Rustin Babcock broke the team record in the 50 Free, beating his previous record by several tenths.  Faith, Conner, and Stephanie all time trialed as well, all going just a hair slower than their individual events.  That night, we came back and swam the 200 Medley relays at night.  The girls were so close again to the team record, missing it by less than half a second.  Madi led off the relay with a best time by .5, followed by Faith Barr who also swam a best time by .5, followed by Kaylee Beck who split a best time by 1 second, and anchored by Stephanie Bayless.  The guys relay was a lot of fun, Kevin Wang started it with a team record in the 50 Back, then highlighted by Rustin going a best split by 3 seconds (he doesn't swim breastroke that often), Conner and Nate also matching their best ever splits. 

Saturday:

Madi Started our day out with the 100 back.  She swam just a little slower than how she raced at the Missouri Grand Prix, placeing 57th out of 140 swimmers. Next up was the 400 Free, Kaylee Beck and Madi Lydig both swam great races where the 2nd half was faster than the first.  Kaylee was 83rd and Madi was 77th out of 117 swimmers.  Nate Endebrock dropped a second, and moved up to 47th place out of 122.  Faith Barr swam next, in the 100 Breast placing 101st out of 125.  Kaylee Beck and Conner, much like Thursday ended the session by both racing the 100 Fly.  Kaylee placed 111th out of 142 swimmers, and Conner broke the minute, and the team record (Held by Coach Rory) and placed 60th out of 130 swimmers.  We followed up the morning session with the 400 Free relay, and a few time trials.  The girls relay was great!  Stephanie led off just missing a best time, followed by Kaylee Beck, Faith Barr, and Madi Lydig.  Faith Barr dropped 1.5 seconds on her relay split, Madi dropped 1, and Kaylee dropped about half a second!  On the boys side, Rustin led off with another great swim, just a hair off his best time he swam the day before, Conner split a best time by .5 (which he did just the day before.) Nate split a best time as well, and it was anchored by Kevin.  The boys literally carried that relay to a new team record, by over 2.5 seconds!  Time Trials on Saturday were a little off as we had been spending 10+ hours a day at the pool.  Rusting and Conner both swam the 50, Rustin was .01 off his record performance the day before, and Conner dropped almost half a second!  Faith and Stephanie swam the 100 Breast, Faith a little slower than the day before and Stephanie swam a 2nd best ever time. 

Sunday:

On the final day of the meet it was a day of extremes.  Conner started things off for us in the 50 free, going a second best ever time, just shy of what he did the day before.  Then it was to the distance races.  Madi got things moving with a drop of 4 seconds in the 800, she swim it with a 5 seconds negative split, and placed 33rd in the event.  Kaylee Beck had a great first half, going out 1 second faster then her previous best at the half way mark, but ended up adding a bit of time while placing 74th.  Nate Endebrock who woke up with a tweaked neck swam the 1500 and added some time, still managing to place 73rd in the event.  The last thing was the girls 400 Medley relay, without much gas left in the tank, the girls put up a respectable 4:46, a few seconds off the team record, and placed 40th as a relay.

Individual Records:

Madi Lydig: 800 Free (Girls 15-18 & Open)

Rustin Babcock: 50 Free (Guys 15-18)

Conner Hickey: 100 Free (Guys 15-18 & Open), 100 Fly (Guys 15-18 & Open)

Nate Endebrock: 400 Free (Guys 15-18 & Open)

Kevin Wang: 50 Back (Guys Open)

Relay Records:

Guys Open 400 Free: (Rustin Babcock, Conner Hickey, Nate Endebrock, Kevin Wang)