Vaca Swimmers Heat Up At Summer Meets!
From Coach Brad:
Summer Sanders was my first opportunity to watch the swimmers from our National and Senior groups race in what was the largest and fastest Summer Sanders Invitational I have been to out of the past 5 years. Competing against the top swimmers in our area and many from Pacific Swimming’s LSC as well, I was truly impressed with the energy and effort with which our swimmers attacked their races. As a team, our one finalist was Sam Starks, who was only able to attend the meet on Sunday, but still earned a spot in the finals of the 200 IM. Sam finished 3rd in the C final. Great job Sam!
Other individuals from the National group who had an amazing meet included Francesca Minouei, who swam her way to 6 best times; Coty Norton, who swam 5 best times and earned one new Senior Western Zone meet qualifying time in the 100 freestyle; and Neil Shafer and Adam Ha, who both recorded 3 new best times. Great job to all those National group swimmers who attended!
From Coach Andy:
Summer Sanders was a wonderful learning experience for the Senior group, as this was the first time that most of them had been to this meet. They learned a lot about focusing on their own racing and not getting distracted by all that was going on around them - qualities that they will be able to carry forward with them. Outstanding individual performers included: Tim Lee, who swam to 7 best times and made his first 13-14 Far Western time in the 50 Free, Abigail Mitchell, who also swam to 7 best times, and Julia Key who finished with 3 new best times. Congratulations to all the Senior group swimmers who competed this year! We look forward to seeing more next summer!
From Coach Brad:
Lodi was the following weekend, which made for a tough double for those swimmers attending both meets. The National group had a particularly difficult week of training leading up into this meet, and so was forced to learn to manage their fatigue and incorporate new skills and technique into their races. I was very pleased with the overall results and saw a lot of progress with how the swimmers managed their swims. I think everyone learned how difficult it can be to race when tired, but that it is still possible to go fast even when you feel like you are running on empty! Despite every reason to be slowed, the standout performer of this meet was Coty Norton, who added 3 more best times and two new Senior Western Zone cuts, one by dropping 9 seconds in his 400 free!! And another in his 200 freestyle. Great job Coty and congrats to the entire National group for their gutsy performances in Lodi!
From Coach Grace:
This past weekend at Lodi was a success! In both my groups, we had swimmers swim events that had never swam before. Mitch Guinan received a new best time in his 200 IM; Reye Coran earned new best times in many of his events and received B times for all of them; Makayla Medeiros obtained a new time in her 50 free, and Nathan Mills received a new time in his 200 IM. These swimmers had awesome swims! I was really happy to see them go out and try even though the long course pool can be very intimidating. There are a few things from this meet that I would like to work on stroke wise and technique related, but overall I was impressed. GO VACA!
From Coach Megan:
The Lodi Swim Meet was fantastic for the Red, White, and Blue Groups! There was a lot of improvement from everyone on their strokes and times. I was very proud of how well the swimmers did and how prepared they were for the swim meet. I loved seeing all the swimmers supporting each other and cheering for their teammates. I want to make a special note to Emily Mueller, Emma Guinan and Emma Gioia who all earned new BB times! Fantastic job to all swimmers and I can't wait for the next meet!
From Coach Andy:
Lodi was another step for the SR 1 and JR 1 groups. Both groups had strong performances with 64% new best times. New JO times were earned by the following swimmers: Georgia Guinan added 4 new events, Gabriela Hernandez added 2 new events and Alexio Cabanero added 2 new events; Lukas Bechtel added 4 new events and Tim Lee added 2 new events. Way to go both groups!
