2009 MBR 12/Under Grand Prix Series Championships

Lowstate 12/Under Grand Prix Series Concludes with Championship!
What started as an idea almost 3 years ago came to fruition for 2008-09 - the 12/Under Grand Prix Series.  The idea was to bring teams from the Lowstate together for a series of meets specifically for 12/Unders with less than current SCS State q-times; allow the swimmers to compete in one-day events as a segway from summer league and lessons into more competitive club swimming; to track the development of the participating swimmers; and finally, award Series champions based on their score in specific events from their best times in those events.

For the Riptides, the GP Champs was our third-hosted meet in 6 weeks!  And just as the other two meets, this was just as successful, even more so.  Thank you to all of our volunteers who dedicated so much of their time to making this meet, and the the Winter Invite and LCQ meets, such great experiences for our athletes.  Without the help of you, none of this would work.

A huge thank-you to our guest meet referee Jim Keogh, who not only ref’ed the meet, but also held an officials clinic on Saturday morning.  For those parents who participated, do not delay in finishing your apprenticing and then taking your online test.  If you have questions about such, contact me or any of our other officials.  As a team, the Riptides is one of the top-3 teams with certified officials.

And onto the swimming!  We had 15 swimmers compete in the Championship event.  The Riptides had 58 personal best times and 2 new SCS State q-times.

Chad Bateson led the Riptides going 8-for-8 in personal best times and earned new SCS q-times in the 50- and 100-freestyle events.

Jack King led all swimmers with the largest improvements, slashing over 53 seconds in the 100-IM and also shaved over 42 seconds in the 200-IM.

Mackenzie Angwin, Eddie Bateson, Noah Cruz, Noelle Cruz, Wonka Lewis and Quinna Muthard each had at least one swim with a double-digit drop from their previous best.  Complete RESULTS.

As a team, we had just 5 dq’s, which only demonstrates how much better our swimmers are becoming.  We are building a strong foundation for the future in all aspects of our team - athlete development and performance, volunteerism, coaching development, and our business structure.  The future holds many more things for us.  Thank you to all the Riptides for making us The Finest Team Along the Grand Strand.