On Saturday, we held our annual home opener – the Seton Icebreaker Invitational. It was relaxed and intimate, giving our large number of new swimmers a chance to break into the regular season by participating in their first competitive meet at Seton against other teams. I know there were lots of nervous young swimmers competing in their first meet, but all of them overcame their fear and showed how much they have already improved after only four (4) weeks of practice.
Wasn’t the new scoreboard at the Freedom Center incredible! It was so much fun being able to add our Seton Hype Video to the opening of our Meet production. A big thank you to Bill Dealey who has spent many hours helping the Freedom Center staff (or were they helping him?) to configure the scoreboard. When that hype video came on, John Kleb really had the pool rocking.
The Meet went incredibly smoothly given that it was our first meet of the season and that we had 260 swimmers and divers in the competition. You’d think we’d been running big meets at the Freedom Center for two (2)-decades or something 😉
Of course, the whole key is the volunteer culture we have at Seton. With graduations each year, that team of volunteer parents continues to evolve with new faces stepping in where old faces are starting to step out.
It was a very big Meet in which Hank Konstanty and Mike Judge were cutting their teeth as the head dry-deck officials. Fortunately, Mr. Konstanty already has several years of experience under his belt helping Mr. Dealey, who was still around to advise, and Melissa Sokban had things completely under control on the CTS.
With the opening of the Seton Fall Play pushed back into our swim season, we were scrambling a bit with some key volunteers and captains missing for the weekend. Coach Anne Judge was one of those volunteers who managed to do double-duty by making sure the Team areas were set up around the pool prior to the Meet. Thank you for your commitment to Seton Swim & Dive, Coach!
If was the first big Meet for some of the new young swimmers in Coach Judge’s practice lane, but one of the reasons Coach Judge was able to get back to her duties at the play was because she was able to enlist the leadership help of Meg Blanchette. Coach Judge appointed Meg their “Lane Captain”, and Meg did a great job taking the girls in her lane “under her wing”. “I was so grateful and relieved that the girls were in good hands”, Coach Judge told me after the Meet.
I could mention countless other parents who make these massive productions look easy, but I’ll end with a mention of our new talented and joyful Team Nurse, Molly Herwick. I rather enjoyed watching how Mrs. Herwick set up shop at the bottom of the steps behind the blocks and started seeing a string of “patients”. She even had a tablecloth with a big red cross on it. It was obvious to me how her infectious smile was helping the kids feel better, even before she did anything to actually help. Welcome to Seton Herwick family!
Meet Results
The Icebreaker Invitational was the beginning of the unique cadence we have for a Seton season for the swimmers and coaches too. In December, we concentrate very heavily on stroke technique and getting as many kids as possible to swim as many different events as possible. We are four (4) stroke swimmers at Seton, particularly in December. This past week, we concentrated on freestyle. The next two weeks will feature backstroke and then breaststroke/butterfly.
Then, over Christmas and in January, we will hit the conditioning much harder until we rest down for the championship meets in February. From what I saw on Saturday, I think the championship season is likely to treat Seton very well this year.
Although we lined up our entries with an emphasis on personal swimmer development rather than team scoring, the team scores still turned out quite favorably for us. We faced six (6) girls’ teams and seven (7) boys’ teams – and we won with both the boys and girls against everyone except a very powerful boys’ team from The Heights.
Recall that regular season Dual Meets are scored as what is called a “3+ Dual Meet” which means there is actually a dual meet going on between every combination of teams present. If you want to learn more about how high school swim meets are scored, you can check out my single most-read blog called, “So How is a High School Meet Scored, Anyway?”
Here’s how the scores turned out:
Girls
Seton Swim & Dive 171 Alexandria City 121
Seton Swim & Dive 201 Trinity Meadow View 76
Seton Swim & Dive 220 Covenant 66
Seton Swim & Dive 234 Immanuel Christian 40
Seton Swim & Dive 240 Fresta Valley Christian 38
Seton Swim & Dive 241 Carmel School 34
Boys
The Heights 165 Seton Swim & Dive 147
Seton Swim & Dive 187 Immanuel Christian 118
Seton Swimming 198 Alexandria City 88
Seton Swim & Dive 223 Covenant 68
Seton Swim & Dive 233 Trinity Meadow View 38
Seton Swim & Dive 246 Carmel School 31
Seton Swim & Dive 252 Fresta Valley 8
Connor Koehr Breaks Decade-Old Diving Record
When I hung the big record board in the Seton gym around 2014 – after our run of seven (7) VISAA Division II State Championships between 2008 and 2011 – the records were so fast, I naively thought that I wasn’t going to have to climb a ladder again while I was still the coach.
Then came Anna Kenna, Ariana Aldeguer (FR) – and now, Connor Koehr (JR).
Over the past few seasons, we have seen a revolution in the way our team can compete at the State-level – the emergence of a very significant diving program.
Led by Coach Ashley Keapproth, a Nokesville attorney who doesn’t even have kids at Seton, we have developed a team of 24 divers that have the use of two (2) diving boards at the Freedom Center and a new dryland diving practice facility she built at Renaissance Montessori School. Both facilities are now equipped with cameras and widescreen TVs that utilize software to allow divers to review their dives in fast- or slow-motion immediately after completing them.
The results under her leadership have been stunning. At last year’s State Championship Meet, Coach Keapproth placed three (3) boys in the top 16 with JJ Brox taking 15th, Mick Fioramonti (SR) taking 7th, and Connor Koehr (JR) taking 5th. This year, her goal is to place four (4) boys in the Top-8, and Friday night’s performance starts to make you believe it is possible. Jacob Oswald (JR) worked hard all summer, and if Gus Kohlhaas (JR) and Max Gonzalez (JR) continue to improve like Jacob, we could make a spectacular showing in Christiansburg next February.
These Divers are not the first good male Divers we’ve had at Seton though. Back in 2013, Coach Maureen Duran had her best Seton diving team, led by her son, Joe Duran. Joe ultimately went on to the bronze medal and All-State status at the VISAA State Championship that February. His score of 351.15 is still the Team record.
On the way to the State Championship, on January 19, 2013, Joe competed in a 6-Dive meet at Woodberry Forest and set the standard that stood for more than a decade – 207.40.
Yesterday, that changed with Connor Koehr’s 6-Dive score of 230.45 – a new team record!
Connor’s work with Coach Keapproth in the Dryland Facility seems to be really paying off. His previous Personal Record was 188.18 – so a score of 230.45 is a massive improvement. His hurdles (i.e., the approach to the end of the board, the jump, and the bounce) have gotten very strong and balanced. He was literally six (6) higher in the air than some of the younger divers, which makes a huge difference.
One of those differences is the time it allows to do difficult dives with high degrees of difficulty. The Degree of Difficult (DD) is important because your score on a particular dive is the sum of the three middle scores from the Judges, multiplied by that DD. A basic front dive might have a DD of something like 1.3, but Connor’s third dive, a front 2 ½ somersault in the tuck position, has a DD of 2.4. With scores of 6.5, 6.5, and 7.5, added together and then multiplied by 2.4, Connor scored 49.20 points on that dive alone!
Congratulations Connor! Given that this is the first Meet of the season, I have a strong hunch that your new record is just the beginning of me climbing a ladder in the Seton gym!
While I’m on Diving, I should highlight several others who have benefited so much from the great coaching they are receiving. In Coach Keapproth’s words, “several other divers who demolished their prior personal records including, Mick Fioramonti who beat his prior PR by over 45 points and was less than 10 points away from the old Seton record, Jacob Oswald who beat his prior PR by over 34 points, and Meghan Condon, who beat her prior PR by nearly 30 points. Maria Miller and Gus Kohlhaas also beat their prior PRs by over 10 points. These divers worked really hard at the RMS gym in the off season … AND IT SHOWS!”
Her last sentence is right on, I think. If Mrs. Zadnik’s statistics class made a plot of score improvement vs. number of appearances at the Dryland Diving facility, her class would easily conclude that the two are “highly correlated”!
Is Madelyn Zadnik Some Sort of Super-Woman?
I sometimes think I have a lot going on, but I’ve started feeling a bit lazy after I compare myself to Captain, Assistant Coach, Assistant Director, Swimmer, and Student, Madelyn Zadnik (SR).
I’m sure most of you saw The Chief’s (aka Mrs. Carroll) e-mail review of “A Christmas Chaos”, this year’s Fall play. “It was one of the most enjoyable afternoons I’ve had in a long time. I could hardly stop laughing (and didn’t want to stop). Everything about the play was sheer fun. I was so proud of the students.”
Well, Team Captain Madelyn Zadnik apparently had quite a lot to do with the set and how much of the play unfolded. When I found this out, I tried to imagine how it was possible?
Not only is Madelyn in the middle of swimming season with our early morning practices, but she also comes on Wednesday and Friday morning to help take charge of the coaching for our Group 5 swimmers.
Together with her follow student-assistants Michael Brox (JR) and Mary Clare Osilka (SO), as well as Coach Jerry Zadnik and Coach Tara Judge, Madelyn must have been extremely pleased flipping through the results from this Meet. Her Group 5 swimmers truly lived up to our team value of Excellence – they were dramatically better!
During it all, Madelyn has made every swim practice, and I’m pretty sure she has a straight-A average at school.
You are an amazing young woman, Madelyn Zadnik. Thank you for your great example of how you are never too busy to serve others.
The Trinity Meadow View Record Board Continues to Take Shape
Unlike the Seton record board, which is well established and features the top swims across almost 30-years, the Trinity Meadow View record board is just beginning to be established.
So not surprisingly, we saw many new records set on Saturday – some for the very first time and some breaking the initial records set at Time Trials:
- Girls 50 Free – Lauren Kelly (SO) broke her own record of 27.78 with a time of 26.84
- Girls 100 Back – Lauren Kelly (SO) broke her own records of 1:10.15 with a time of 1:08.52
- Boys 200 Free – Elijah Soto (SO) went 1:58.11, breaking his own previous record of 1:58.91.
- Boys 500 Free – Elijah Soto (SO) broke his own previous record of 5:49.00 with a time of 5:21.53.
- Girls 200 IM – Aine Maloney (JR) established our team record at 2:24.11
Our Trinity Meadow View Girls also established three (3) relay records for the first time:
- Girls 200 Medley Relay – Lauren Kelley, Sydney Arllen, Aine Maloney, Reagan Mazanec – 2:02.07
- Girls 200 Free Relay – Sophie Blankenstein, Charlotte Mazanec, Lizze Neal, Sydney Arllen – 2:04.33
- Girls 400 Free Relay – Aine Maloney, Lauren Kelley, Reagan Mazanec, Charlotte Mazanec – 4:09.48
If we can get a 4th boy to compete with at some of our meets, I think we can put together some pretty fast Trinity Meadow View relays!
In addition to all these new Team Records, we also had ten (10) new Personal Records (PRs):
- Sydney Arllen (SO) dropped 3.46 seconds in 100 Free and .40 seconds in 50 Free.
- Sophie Blankenstein (JR) had a great swim in the 100 Free, lowering her previous best by 3.02 seconds.
- Lauren Kelley (SO) looked very strong in her 50 and 500 Free races. Her 50 Free is now down to 26.84 after she cut .94 seconds from her PR.
- Aine Maloney (JR) had a wonderful swim in the 500, missing her PR by only .28 seconds. That PR was set at practice, so it makes me wonder if she only swam 18 lengths, because after watching her beautiful stroke on Saturday, I can’t imagine she would have gone faster at practice.
- Charlotte Mazanec (SO) is approaching that :29 second barrier after a .63 second PR.
- Reagan Mazanec (FR) had more than just great relay swims – she also dropped another .77 seconds in 50 Free.
- Shane Monroe (JR) tied his 50 Free PR exactly and had a strong first attempt at the 200 Free.
- Lizzie Neal (FR) had to miss Time Trials and some of the early practices, so I didn’t have a starting time on her for 100 Free. I could see from just watching it though that she had a strong swim.
- Eamon Schrock (FR) is looking like he’s going to be a good one for the Tempest. I was very pleased to see him rock a 25.48 in 50 Free, .82 seconds faster than his previous best. He also set a new PR in 100 Free.
- Elijah Soto (SO) established two (2) new PRs in the 200 and 500 Freestyle, events he is learning to love. Elijah looked particularly good in the 500 where he dropped 27.47 seconds.
Breakout Performances on Saturday
Every year, it is so much fun for me as a coach at this point in the season to watch kids emerge as potential scoring leaders for the team, either now or in the future. Usually it is just one (1) or two (2) kids, but on Saturday, we had number of swimmers jump out at me and the other coaches:
- Joe Borneman (JR) really broke out at States last year with some very fast relay splits. He looks even stronger this year with a 4.10 second PR in 200 Free and a 2.85 second PR in 100 Breast. His split at the end of the medley relay was a super-fast 23.85 – that is almost a whole second faster than his fastest 24.82 split at States last year!
- Michael Brox (JR) looked really good during our backstroke work at practice so it didn’t surprise me at all when he popped a 4.62 second PR in 100 Back. With more training, I’ll bet he can break the 1:00 barrier this season. He also rocked a 23.28 split at the end of our “A” Medley Relay.
- Liam Halisky (JR) is another junior who has gotten a lot stronger this year. I gave him a shot at the 500 Free this weekend, and he dropped 14.70 seconds.
- Max Wilson (JR) rocked his 100 Fly in 1:06.79, a PR by 4.60 seconds. He also went 2:27.89 in 200 IM to show off his versatility. I feel like I can literally put Max in any event.
- Connor Koehr (JR) is another member of this powerful class of Junior boys and perhaps our most versatile athlete. Not only can he Dive for big points, but he can also score in all eight (8) swimming events. I was particularly pleased with his 2.12 second PR in 200 IM.
- Thiago Martinez (8) is finally old enough to score, and I predict he is going to score a lot! You don’t see many 8th graders go 2:15.26 in 200 IM (a 7.59 second PR), 28.81 in 50 Back leading off a relay (a 1.59 second PR) or 1:03.38 in 100 Fly (a 1.24 second PR). Thiago is going to be quite an addition to his brother Lionel Martinez (FR) on our relays come championship season.
- Jack Herwick (8) is new to the team, but I can already see this 8th grader is going to be an impact player for us. I particularly enjoyed his .66 second PR in 50 Free and his 1.70 second PR in 100 Free. He should be under :26 and under 1:00 very shortly in those two (2) events.
- Giselle Hill (SO) is another swimmer who is new to the team and is going to have a big impact. From practice, I can see what an all-around swimmer she is so I gave her a shot at both the 200 IM and the 500 Free. She did not let me down!
- Patrick Kay (8) is only in 8th grade, but he is going to be one to watch. He cut 7.42 seconds in 200 IM and 5.41 seconds in 100 Breaststroke on Saturday.
- Philomena Kay (FR) is also an up-and-comer for Seton, especially after her 4.84 second PR in 200 IM.
- Luke Partridge (FR) is learning very fast in Coach DD Ross’ lanes, and the result was an 8.75 second PR in 200 Free. I’m looking forward to getting that long, lean body sliding through the water!
- Peter Konstanty (SR) showed his versatility with great swims in 100 Fly and 100 Breast, cutting 6.04 seconds and 2.43 seconds, respectively. His times are now fast enough to do some serious scoring for us this season.
- Maggie Schroer (8) showed me how she can score in multiple events with an excellent performance in her first attempt at the 200 IM and a 3.52 second PR in 100 Free.
So Many Other PRs!
Personal Records (aka PRs or lifetime best times) are THE key metric at Seton Swimming, and if that is the measure of success, then we were incredibly successful on Saturday – 111 new Personal Records.
We have already heard about some of the swimmers who had massive Personal Records (PRs) and breakout performances in their first meet of the season, but here are the other swimmers who had PRs this past weekend:
- Jed Albin (SR) cut .36 seconds from his 50 Free PR
- Ariana Aldeguer (FR) swam what she generally considers her weakest events and showed me that she is really good at both. She cut another .59 seconds in 50 Free and .62 seconds in 100 Breaststroke. She actually won 100 Breaststroke outright.
- Angela Andreu (8) had two massive PRs, lowering her 50 Free time by 6.76 seconds and her 100 Free time by 6.55 seconds.
- Betsy Arnold (8) dropped 1.88 seconds in 100 Free.
- Greg Bauer (SO) got another .70 seconds to breaking the 1:00 barrier in 100 Free.
- Katie Bauer (8) just keeps getting better. On Saturday, she dropped 3.34 seconds in 100 Free and .51 seconds in 50 Free. I can’t wait to see her swim backstroke next week after she proved she could swim the stroke with a cup on her forehead!
- Jenny Baughman (7) lowered her PR in 50 Free by 2.87 seconds.
- Meg Blanchette (JR) had PRs in both 100 Free and 50 Free, by 1.92 seconds and .89 seconds, respectively.
- Joel Bookwalter (7) did very well in his first meet, cutting .84 seconds from his 50 Free PR.
- Caroline Brand (FR) looked better than I’ve ever seen, and it showed with her 4.62 second PR in 100 Free and her .74 second PR in 50 Free.
- Elodie Brox (JR) is bouncing back from a lacrosse injury, so it was good to see her hit a 3.37 second PR in 100 Back.
- Grace Catabui (6) dropped an amazing 2.34 seconds in her 50 Free.
- John Cooley (8) had a massive 10.96 second PR in 100 Free and a huge 1.56 second PR in 50 Free. He was so good; his brother JJ Cooley (SO) is coming back to the team.
- Katie Cooley (6) cut another .55 seconds from her 50 Free PR.
- Rosie DeWolf (7) crushed it! How about a 15.86 second PR in 100 Free and a 10.23 second PR in 50 Free!
- Annie Dusek (8) cut 1.17 seconds and 1.04 seconds in 50 Free and 100 Free, respectively.
- Ben Ellis (FR) had a 5.18 second PR in 100 Free.
- Kyleigh Fifield (FR) dropped 1.87 seconds in 50 Free and .36 seconds in 100 Free.
- Luke Fifield (7) looked great swimming .82 second and .15 second PRs in 50 Free and 100 Free, respectively.
- JJ Garvey (7) swam huge PRs in 100 Back and 100 Free by 2.71 seconds and 1.42 seconds, respectively.
- Gigi Gibaldi (FR) took advantage her opportunities at her first Seton meet with a 2.66 second PR in 50 Free.
- Veronica Gonzalez (8) looked great during her 1.50 second PR in 100 Free.
- Sophia Halisky (8) looked great in her first attempts this season at the 200 IM and the 500 Free where she cut 8.03 seconds and 2.12 seconds, respectively. I love it when a swimmer this young can already be so versatile.
- Mary Catherine Hurley (JR) lowered her 100 Breaststroke PR by 2.69 seconds.
- Monica Irving (8) cut .82 seconds in 50 Free and 1.68 seconds in 100 Free.
- Clare Judge (7) had two absolutely amazing Personal Records. How do you drop 10.36 seconds in 50 Free and 10.00 seconds in 100 Free. Those are really big improvements!
- Patrick Judge (FR) matched his sister’s stellar levels of improvement with a 7.50 second PR in 50 Free and an 8.74 second PR in 100 Free.
- Dominic Judge (FR) is came on strong with a .59 second PR in 50 Free and a 3.12 second PR in 100 Free.
- Claire Kay (6) is going to be a spectacular diver I predict, but she can also swim fast – or should I say “faster” after her .53 second PR in 50 Free?
- Thomas Keapproth (7) looked fast during his 1.62 second PR swim in the 50 Free.
- Daniel Kohlhaas (7) dropped a massive 25.87 second in 50 Free.
- Colette Kramer (SO) had a massive 25.99 second drop in 100 Free!
- Cora Kramer (FR) cut 10.37 seconds from her 100 Free PR.
- Penny Kramer (FR) lowered her 100 Free PR by an unbelievable 46.62 seconds. The Kramer girls had a very good afternoon!
- Joey Lynch (8) looked great with PRs in 100 Free, by 1.57 seconds, and in 50 Free, by .39 seconds.
- Luke Mantooth (SR) was wearing his ND shirt rather than that rag from UVA, and it must have helped because he cut 10.90 seconds from his PR in 500 Free.
- Julia Maranian (8) was very smooth in her 50 Free and the result was a 5.23 second PR.
- Lionel Martinez (FR) is probably our top male swimmer, and his 5:08 in the 500 Free, a .86 second PR, showed how he can score in any of the eight (8) events.
- Audrey Mayer (6) is really starting to get the hang of things, and it showed with her 14.40 second PR in 50 Free and her 7.63 second PR in 100 Free.
- Aidan McCardell (SO) has come a long way on our team. It was so great to see him continue to progress with an 11.33 second PR in 100 Free and a 1.22 second PR in 50 Free.
- Maggie Mikkelson (6) cut 2.72 seconds from her 50 Free PR.
- Joseph Minarik (SR) recovered from the Ohio State-Michigan game with enough strength to drop 4.57 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay, .77 seconds in 50 Free, and 3.44 seconds in 100 Free. I don’t think his father or brother Andrew have recovered so well yet.
- Mary Catherine Munsell (SO) is back on the team and picking up where she left off on her improvement track. How about a 3.77 second PR in 100 Breast and a 1.12 second PR in 50 Free?
- Bella Nguyen (8) had a huge PR in 100 Free where she dropped 12.44 seconds. She also cut 1.04 seconds in 50 Free.
- James Nguyen (6) dropped .09 seconds in 50 Free.
- Kenneth Nguyen (FR) had two (2) nice PRs. In 100 Free he dropped 3.27 seconds, and in 50 Free he dropped 1.43 seconds.
- Brian Orellana (8) made his older brother Kevin proud with an 8.51 second PR in 50 Free.
- Stella Paradise (SR) showed that she is one of our top returning swimmers with a great swim in the 500 Free, 3.05 seconds faster than ever before.
- Paul Partridge (6) is going to be a fast one when he eventually comes to Seton – in fact, he’s already a fast one. He even cut .05 seconds in 100 Free.
- Allison Quispe (SO) dropped .96 seconds in 50 Free.
- Camilla Quispe (7) continues to improve. On Saturday, she dropped 10.37 seconds in 100 Free and 2.39 seconds in 50 Free.
- James Reynolds (7) had two (2) big PRs – in 100 Free by 6.57 seconds and in 50 Free by 4.24 seconds.
- Gabby Russo (FR) looked great while cutting her PR in 100 Free by .94 seconds and her PR in 50 Free by .12 seconds.
- Walter Saffian (JR) is keeping me smiling in practice. And that continued into the Meet while I watched him drop 7.16 seconds in 50 Free and 6.52 seconds in 100 Free.
- Caroline Schroer (6) is getting faster – this time by 1.02 seconds in the 50 Free.
- Briana Shillingburg (JR) did a nice job dropping 5.76 seconds in 100 Free.
Championship Meets that Require A Qualification Time
There are two championship meets that are unique in that, to qualify, you or your relay must beat a qualification time at a high school meet during the current season. Those meets are:
- The National Catholic High School Championship at Loyola University of Maryland in Baltimore, MD on January 13-14, 2024 (aka “National Catholics”)
- The VISAA State Swimming & Diving Championship at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center in Christiansburg, VA on February 16-17, 2024. (aka “States”)
Seton will go to both these meets and Trinity Meadow View will only go to States.
We’ve already had some kids qualify individually for these meets. I’ve posted both the qualification standards and the qualifying swimmers under Meet Information for both Meets.
Congratulations to the following qualifiers so far:
- For National Catholics:
- Lionel Martinez (FR)
- Michael Brox (JR)
- Ariana Aldeguer (FR)
- Stella Paradise (SR)
- Clara Condon (JR)
- Elodie Brox (JR)
- Giselle Hill (SO)
- Girls 200 Medley Relay, both “A” and “B”
- Boys 200 Medley Relay, A
- Girls 200 Free Relay, A
- Girls 400 Free Relay, A
- For States:
- Seton
- Lionel Martinez (FR)
- Thiago Martinez (8)
- Ariana Aldeguer (FR)
- Stella Paradise (SR)
- Boys and Girls 200 Medley Relays, both A and B
- Boys and Girls 200 Free Relays, A only
- Boys and Girls 400 Free Relays, A only
- Trinity Meadow View
- Elijah Soto (SO)
- Aine Maloney (JR)
- Lauren Kelley (SO)
- Girls 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays
- Seton
I expect these lists to get much longer, particularly for the relays where I hope to qualify both A and B Relays for Seton in every boys and girls relay event where I hope to get at least an A relay in every relay event for Trinity Meadow View.
On Your “Own Program”
I learned this weekend about an expression that the Marines use when someone is separating themselves from the team and just doing their own thing. Marines who behave that way are said to be on their “Own Program”. I believe the Marines insert a colorful Naval adjective in the middle of the expression, but we’ll leave that out for this blog 😉
I bring this up because I was getting very frustrated with two aspects of our behavior on Saturday that I am going to count on the captains to fix:
- Cheering in our Team Area
- During COVID, we were forced to put our team area up in the bleachers so we could spread out more – but it is no longer COVID.
- Because of our numbers, we still maintain space in the bleachers, but that is NOT our team area.
- I talked about this in our Team meeting prior to the meet, but since this is a new emphasis this year, I suppose I should expect some confusion. So, to be clear, bags in the bleachers, butts on the deck. Please don’t be on your “own program” by separating yourselves from the team, sitting up in the bleachers.
- Uniforms on Deck
- Unless you are a) behind the blocks ready to swim, b) actually swimming, or c) returning from your swim, you should be in your uniform.
- This is not a new thing – you all know how important this is to me, but it still seemed to require me to get upset before people would respond. We even had a kid in the National Anthem line out of uniform. I literally could not believe it.
To some of you, I know I got a bit too much like the Dad my older boys occasionally saw at home, so I apologize for that. When you have twelve (12) kids over the course of nearly 40 years, and nine (9) of them are boys, its hard not to develop a rather direct style to handling boys on their “own program”. I know that can be a bit more direct than is appropriate for all situations. Forgive me. But also please listen to me here.
Two other areas where I see an opportunity to improve:
- Finishes
- We haven’t gotten to Finishes in our stroke technique work at practice yet, but when we do, you are going to hear me repeatedly say, “Never, never, never, never ….. never finish the race by grabbing the top of the gutter”
- When you finish a race, you should reach for the touchpad with your head down, and touch the pad below the surface of the water.
- Not only will that ensure that your time is recorded properly, it is also the fastest way to finish.
- Missed Events
- We had only one (1) swimmer miss their event without me personally knowing about it in advance.
- For our first meet, that is not too bad, but I just want it to be clear on these points:
- This is a high school swim team, so you all should be responsible enough to get to where you are supposed to be in time for your event.
- If you feel like you can’t swim the event, you need to talk to me.
And while we are a discussing how not to be on our “own program”, let me take this opportunity clarify two times when the whole team will gather together during each meet:
- Team Meeting Before the Meet – right after we conclude our warm-up session, everyone will return to the bleachers, get their uniforms on, and reconvene in the hallway outside of the racquetball courts for a pre-meet team meeting. At the meeting, we will start with a team prayer and discuss our goals for the Meet.
- Post-Meet Handshake – At the beginning of the first heat of the Boys 400 Free Relay, the entire team should be on deck and in uniform to cheer for the final two relays. That way, as soon as the last heat of girls finishes, we can show our gratitude to the officials, timers and our competitors by marching around the pool for the post-meet handshake.
I had a few interesting conversations with swimmers who wanted to leave the meet early because they were done swimming. Fortunately, the swimmers with whom I was speaking have played other sports so I was able to frame the issue in a way that they could clearly understand. Imagine you are at the end of the bench with your team for a football, baseball, basketball, hockey or soccer game, and you know you are done playing. Would it ever be OK for you to head to the locker room before the game ended?
Our Annual Homecoming Meet
Two Saturday’s from now, on December 16th, is our annual Homecoming Meet at the Freedom Center. 1st warm-up starts at 1:00 p.m. and the first event goes off at 2:08 p.m.
As we have in the past, we’ll be running some alumni relays along with our own scoring relays. I know that the Wilson Brothers will be there with a family relay, and I’ve also heard that Coach Mulhern, Coach Zadnik, and Coach Palazzo are putting together a relay.
If you know of other alumni, please make sure they know they are welcome. If they show up with a suit and goggles, I’ll try to get them in a relay and an exhibition heat of 50 Free.
Christmas Break Practices
Traditionally, every Christmas Break, we have practices at the Freedom Center for the Varsity swimmers who will be scoring in the key Conference and Championship meets starting in January.
Since we don’t yet know who is on the Varsity team, in general, this means Group 1 and 2 Swimmers who were entered as a scoring swimmer in one of the December meets. That means that most of the swimmers who practice with Coach Mulhern, Coach Palazzo, or Coach Ross should plan on attending.
Everyone else can take the holiday off. I know that some of you want to swim, but we won’t have enough lanes or enough coaches to accommodate any more kids. So, if you are not Varsity, relax and enjoy Christmas – then come back ready for the push to the January 27th JV Invitational at the WARF.
For Diving, Coach Keapproth is open to Divers for all three (3) of the groups, but only Group 1 Divers are expected to attend as many practices as possible over the break.
I’m still finalizing the schedule, but I am anticipating practices from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. for swimming and 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. for Diving on:
- Thursday, December 21st
- Wednesday, December 27th
- Friday, December 29th
- Tuesday, January 2nd
We are also hoping to have Diving Practice on Friday, December 22nd at the normal times, but that is not final yet. Our Christmas practice schedule is posted on the Team Calendar on www.setonswimming.org
Also remember that we have the Cystic Fibrosis Swim-a-thon on Saturday, December 30th from 10:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the Freedom. I have more information posted on that shortly.
If you are in town, please plan on being at these practices and the Swim-a-thon. I’m sure that Trinity Christian and Oakcrest will be working hard.
We’re off to a great start this season – great job! We’ve got two more December meets on the next Saturdays. Expect to swim something different in those two meets.
See you at practice,
Coach Jim Koehr