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On Saturday, we held our annual Seton December Invitational with our continued December focus on expanding the horizons of our swimmers toward all eight (8) individual events. Not only did we mix up our individual entries, we also mixed up our relays quite a bit in an attempt to get as many splits as possible so that we can line up the fastest possible relays in January.
The Meet was also our first live-stream broadcast of the season with all of the system integrations that it required with our scoring systems. Like a duck, on the surface everything seemed to run fairly smoothly, but I subsequently learned that the Stream Team and our team of dry-deck officials were paddling like heck underneath the water.
It all started with our new live-stream configuration and newly added pre-Meet videos. While Paul Fifield was under the gun figuring out the wiring problem for the newly mounted cameras, YouTube blocked our stream because of copyrights on the music we were playing. He quickly configured a new live-stream feed, and just as he was about to get Coach Palazzo, Coach Judge, and I to start the pre-game show, he pulled me in to update the link on the website. Thanks to the technical ability of the Seton Stream Team of Mr. Fifield, James Hill, Nora Blanchette (JR) and Gabe Hambleton (SR), we were up and running only a few minutes late.
Then the issues shifted to our dry-deck officials. After struggling with the printers that wouldn’t print (probably because the toner cartridges had frozen when left outside), the entire scoring system crashed. Imagine the implications of 286 kids swimming 4 events each – other 1,000 individual times – not being recorded and tabulated in real time. But Will Waldron had already saved the day!
Just the week before, Will overheard a conversation that Bill Dealey, Hank Konstanty, and Mike Judge were having about the need for a back up scoring laptop. Without being asked, Will jumped in to supply the required backup laptop. It turned out to be divine intervention, because Mr. Dealey had just configured it the day before the Meet!
And if that wasn’t enough, then the Dolphin stopwatches stopped communicating with the Dolphin Controller Application. It was like a perfect storm.
With the steady hands of Melissa Sokban and Hume Nguyen helping out on the Colorado Timing System and John Kleb keeping a great face on the whole production, Mr. Dealey and team got the scoring system back up and running while I remained in happy oblivion on the live-stream broadcast.
I do not think that most of us are fully aware of the complexity of the technology behind a Seton Meet, but when you see the video live-stream, the hype videos and warm-up schedule displayed on the scoreboard, the electronic timing with the Colorado Timing System and the Dolphin stopwatches, the electronic scoring with Hy-Tek’s Meet Manager Software, and the very detailed splits in our results, please keep in mind the first value in our GEMS – Gratitude:
We are very fortunate to have some a capable group of Seton parents making all of this happen!
Meet Results
The December Invitational continues 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 backstroke. Next week will feature breaststroke and butterfly.
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 – but do not be deceived into thinking that a Conference Championship is assured.
Last year, the December results with Trinity Christian were similar to this, but we need to remember that they were missing more USA Swimmers than we were, and they, like Seton, were also focused more on seeing what their kids could do than on winning. So, while the scores look favorable to us, I think it would be safe to consider them inside the margin of error. January 6th could go either way.
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 158 Trinity Christian 153
Seton Swim & Dive 190 Fredericksburg Christian 105
Seton Swim & Dive 199 Oakcrest 114
Seton Swim & Dive 209 Trinity Meadow View 66
Seton Swim & Dive 211 Immanuel Christian 73
Seton Swim & Dive 238 Fresta Valley Christian 45
Seton Swim & Dive 242 Carmel School 27
Boys
Seton Swim & Dive 202 Trinity Christian 109
Seton Swim & Dive 233 Fredericksburg Christian 42
Seton Swim & Dive 220 Immanuel Christian 72
Seton Swim & Dive 220 Trinity Meadow View 54
Seton Swim & Dive 227 Fresta Valley Christian 48
Seton Swim & Dive 233 Carmel School 40
The Circle of Life
On the day before our Meet, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I got a call from my oldest daughter Kaitlyn Brindle (Seton Class of 2003) announcing the arrival of Colleen and my 16th grandchild, Kaitlyn’s 8th – Emily Marie Brindle, 8 lbs, 8 oz, 20 inches long. Baby and Grandpa are doing fine.
God’s plan for our lives is often compared to a big circle where some come and some go. In my case, I took the call from Kaitlyn while sitting at my father’s bedside at hospice. He just turned 86 on November 29th which has been a remarkable run for a man with only one (1) kidney his entire life. That limitation has finally caught up to him.
For those of you who have listened to my talks over the years, you know what a big influence my father has been on my life. The son of man whose father died while he was in the womb and a woman with only an 8th grade education, he was the first in our family to go to college.
He had none of the advantages in life that his sons and grandchildren do, yet he rose to become the first Admiral in the history of US Naval Oceanography and Meteorology and sent two (2) sons to Notre Dame and the two (2) others to the US Naval Academy. He has truly lived the American Dream.
As a young man with parents that did not particularly value education, he somehow intuitively knew that education was the key to escaping the cycle of mediocrity in life. He convinced his father that he needed to go to St. Louis University High School, the Jesuit high school where all the “rich kids” went. He covered the tuition himself.
When you hear me remind you that
any advantages or disadvantages
can be negated or overcome
by the choices you make
I am thinking of him.
Then he moved on to St. Louis University and eventually Officer Candidate School (OCS) for the US Navy. As a young Naval Officer, he treated every assignment as if it were the most important job in the Navy. I have picture of my father in my house with an inscription I often think about:
When you hear me tell you to
“Bloom Where You are Planted”
I am thinking of him.
His excellent choices continued as a young Naval Officer when, 61 years ago, he married a Navy Nurse who was the youngest orphaned daughter of Italian immigrants who was raised in a company coal mining town. Her father was crushed in the mine when she was five (5) and her mother died of a “broken heart” when she was 12. If you meet my mother today, you would never know that she did not have indoor plumbing until she was 13-years old – she is certainly a ball of fire. My father has given her a great life with her four (4) boys – and vice versa. They have been quite a team.
Another way that you have all directly experienced my father’s influence is in our definition of excellence. My father’s most common question to me as a kid was “Did you do your best?” It did not matter if I was a terrible runner or couldn’t hit a baseball as long as I tried as hard as I could. The hammer really came down if he didn’t think I did.
When you hear me say
“Just do the best you can today, whatever that is”
I am thinking of him.
On the surface, my father and I are almost nothing alike. A son of depression-era parents, he was completely baffled when I quit my job as a corporate Vice President to run without a net as an entrepreneur. He was particularly baffled that I did it when Colleen was 8-months pregnant with our 10th child. I can still hear his colorful Navy language.
But in the ways that matter most, I am the product of my father’s vocation as my father. I will love my Catholic faith as he did, I will love my wife as he did, I will push my kids to faithful excellence as he did, and I will always strive to answer “yes” when I hear him ask
“Did you do your best?”
Our Biggest Diving Meet, Ever
After Seamus Koehr started a diving team at the beginning of COVID, and after Coach Ashley Keapproth took over to make the Seton Diving program one of the best in the State, the Virginia Christian Athletic Conference (VCAC) has kept the pace.
On Saturday, we had an all-time high 38 divers from VCAC schools in the Meet! We also had more help from other schools than we’ve ever had. After last season, I never would have imagined it, but we were able to have a full 7-judge panel! Thank you to former Seton Diving Coach Maureen Duran for volunteering her talents to be one of those judges.
Our Seton Divers had some outstanding performances. On the Boy’s side, Mick Fioramonti (SR) took 1st place followed by Gus Kohlhaas (JR), Connor Koehr (JR), and Jacob Oswald (JR). Gus was particularly good with a new Personal Record score of 162.50. That means that the top-4 Boy’s 6-Dive scores in the VCAC this season were done by Seton Divers. We only get four (4) scoring divers, but had Max Gonzalez (JR) been able to score, he would have placed 6th.
On the girl’s side, Rosie Waldron (JR) too 3rd place with a Personal record score of 146.55. Rosie is now only 6-points away our team record, currently held by her sister Mary Clare Waldron. Maria Miller (SO), Meghan Condon (8), and Elizabeth Francis (JR) rounded out our scoring 6th, 8th and 10th place overall.
Other Seton Divers that had Personal Record scores included:
- Philip Gomez (JR) scored 98.05, 3.35 points higher than his previous best.
- Cecelia Kelly (8) beat her previous best by 9.8 points
- Mary Catherine Hurley (JR) crushed her previous best by 21.45 points
- Grace Catabui (6) improved her PR by 3.00 points.
- Penny Kramer (FR) beat her previous PR by 4.8 points.
- Claire Kay (6) improved by 9.8 points
- Rachel Baughman (7) increased her best score by 18.9 points.
We also had several new Divers competing in their first-ever live competition:
- Dan Jackson (FR)
- Anna Russo (JR)
- Lucy Herwick (7)
- Jane Judge (8)
Tempest Swimming Continues to Grow
It was another great meet with a great group of enthusiastic swimmers from Trinity School at Meadow View. I was so proud of the way they swam, but even more importantly, I was so proud of the way they are coming together as a team to start what I hope will be a great tradition of swimming at the school.
Like the Seton team, I focused our Trinity Meadow View entries on expanding the variety of events in which each of our swimmers have competed this season. One of the results of that approach was three (3) new team records:
- Girls 200 Free – Charlotte Mazanec (SO) set a new standard of 2:23.75, breaking the record previously set by Lauren Kelley (SO) at Time Trials.
- Girls 100 Back – Lauren Kelley (SO) broke her own records of 1:08.52 with a time of 1:08.41. Aine Maloney was just .02 seconds behind Lauren.
- Boys 50 Free – Elijah Soto (SO) went 23.13, breaking his own previous record of 23.36.
With Levi Soto (8) in the water with us at the end of the Meet, we were able to get our first relay qualified for States – the Boys 400 Free Relay. I’d expect that, if we make the choice, we can get all three (3) boy’s relays qualified. We have some very talented swimmers on this team.
In addition to all these new Team Records, we also had twelve (12) new Personal Records (PRs):
- Sydney Arllen (SO) dropped 2.29 seconds in 100 Back, showing off her improved stroke in the process.
- Sophie Blankenstein (JR) had a great swim in the 50 Free, lowering her previous best by 1.76 seconds. She also cut a whopping 6.69 seconds from her 100 Back PR.
- Lauren Kelley (SO) looked very strong in her 100 Back where she lowered her PR by .11 seconds.
- Aine Maloney (JR) had a wonderful swim in her first high school attempt at 100 Fly, and her time of 1:03.45 was fast enough to qualify for States. She also dropped 1.72 seconds in 100 Back in her very tight race with Lauren.
- Charlotte Mazanec (SO) is approaching that :29 second barrier after a .63 second PR.
- Reagan Mazanec (FR) lowered her 200 Free PR by 7.99 seconds, which may explain how she set the new Team Record with the swim!
- Shane Monroe (JR) had two (2) great individual swims. In 100 Fly, he went 1:06.02 in his first high school attempt at the event, and in 100 Back his improved stroke technique earned him a 2.50 second PR – even though he wasn’t feeling well.
- Lizzie Neal (FR) had two (2) opportunities to try events for the first time in a high school meet, and swam excellent times in 200 Free and 100 Back.
- Eamon Schrock (FR) showed his versatility with a great time (2:24.69) in his first attempt at 200 IM. He also rocked his 100 Back with a 2.84 second PR.
- Elijah Soto (SO) took the opportunity to swim 200 IM and 100 Fly for the first time in a high school meet, and his times were both could enough to qualify him for States in the events. Elijah is now qualified in every State event except 100 Breaststroke, which we hope to rectify shortly.
- Joseph Thiede (7) continues to get better. His 50 Free was 2.43 seconds faster and his 100 Free was .63 seconds faster. Too bad 7th graders are not eligible to swim at States.
There were Some Crazy Personal Records on Saturday
During this point in the season, I have become accustomed to seeing kids drop massive amounts of time, but last Saturday struck me even more than usual. An example of what I mean was the improvement we saw in the 200 Free.
Believe it or not, the 15 kids we had swim the event dropped a total of nearly three and a half minutes (3:26.02 to be exact) with 14 of the 15 swimming a new Personal Record. That is an average of 14.72 seconds of improvement per PR!
Here are some of the biggest Personal Records that we saw on Saturday:
- Brian Orellana (8) had an insane drop in 100 Back – 83.61 seconds.
- Rosie DeWolf (7) also had an insane drop in 100 Back. Hers was by 45.97 seconds. Her 50 Free dropped by .55 seconds.
- Katie Bauer (8) was crazy good on Saturday with a 51.05 second PR in 200 Free and a 7.96 second PR in 100 Back.
- Audrey Mayer (6) cut a remarkable 43.11 seconds in 100 Backstroke.
- Penny Kramer (FR) destroyed her 100 Back PR by 41.11 seconds. She also beat her 50 Back PR by 4.61 seconds and her 50 Free PR by .18 seconds.
- Kyleigh Fifield (JR) showed how much she has improved with a huge 36.08 second PR in 200 Free and a 4.06 second PR in 100 Back.
- Colette Kramer (SO) had two (2) massive Personal Records. In 100 Back she dropped 33.64 seconds and in 50 Back leading off a relay she cut 26.94 seconds.
- Patrick Judge (FR) crushed his Personal Record in 100 Back by 33.13 seconds. He also dropped another .73 seconds in 50 Free.
- Evie Mayer (7) was incredible in 100 Free, dropping almost 30 seconds (29.05 to be exact). She also had a huge drop in 50 Free, cutting 11.51 seconds.
- Angela Andreu (8) demolished her 100 Back PR by 25.37 seconds and her 50 Free PR by 2.02 seconds.
- Gabriella Russo (FR) showed great improvement in her freestyle with a 24.80 second PR in 500 Free and a 6.25 second PR in 200 Free.
- Katie Cooley (6) sure had a great swim in 200 Free, beating her previous best by 23.10 seconds. In 100 Back, she beat her previous best by 2.52 seconds.
- Clare Judge (7) lowered her 100 Back PR by a massive 22.86 seconds.
- JJ Garvey (7) had a great swim in the 200 Free where he dropped 22.47 seconds. He also cut 1.79 seconds in 50 Free.
- Molly Bauer (JR) got us excited on the live-stream while we were watching her great swims. How about an 18.60 second PR in 100 Back, a 13.67 second PR in 50 Back leading off a relay, and a 1.53 second PR in 50 Free!
- Aidan McCardell (SO) has figured out how to swim backstroke better, and it showed with an 18.01 second PR.
- Caroline Brand (FR) had a huge drop in 200 Free, lowering her PR by 16.09 seconds. She also lowered her 100 Back PR by 2.73 seconds.
- John Cooley (8) looked better than ever in 100 Back with a 16.03 second PR. He also dropped 6.53 seconds in 50 Back and .79 seconds in 50 Free.
- Camila Quispe (7) crushed her 100 Back PR by 16.00 seconds. She also beat her 50 Free PR by .20 seconds.
- Haley Fifield (JR) was all smiles after her 15.99 second PR in 500 Free.
- Giselle Hill (SO) was correct when she told me during the Meet that “today is my day!” In 200 Free, she beat her PR by 15.65 seconds, and in her first attempt at 100 Fly, she went a very competitive 1:09.88. She took 4th place overall in both events.
- James Reynolds (7) had a massive drop in 100 Back, by 13.00 seconds.
- Joe Borneman (JR) looked very strong in 100 Fly, beating his previous best by 12.52 seconds. In 50 Fly in a relay, he beat his previous best 50 Fly split by 1.49 seconds.
- Evan Wible (7) had two huge PRs in his first meet of the season. He cut 11.70 seconds in 100 Back and 11.22 seconds in 100 Free.
- Michael Brox (JR) surprised no one with his 11.39 second PR in 100 Breaststroke. He now holds the 2nd fastest 100 Breaststroke time on the team this season. Michael also has the 2nd fastest 50 Backstroke split on the team after dropping 2.90 seconds.
- Sophia Halisky (8) put a smile on my face with her 10.88 second PR in 200 Free and her 6.99 second PR in 100 Breaststroke.
- Elodie Brox (JR) found a way to cut 9.90 seconds from her 100 Fly PR.
- Walter Saffian (JR) showed huge improvement in 100 Back with a 9.47 second PR. He also cut .37 seconds in 50 Free – even after a bad start. I think he can break :30 in a future swim this season.
- Greg Bauer (SO) just keeps getting better. I loved to see his 9.32 second PR in 100 Back and his .54 second PR in 100 Breaststroke.
- Max Wilson (JR) had a great meet. At his level, it is really difficult to drop more than a whole second in 100 Free, but he dropped 2.28 to go :56.00! He also dropped 9.08 seconds in 200 Free, .56 seconds in 50 Free (to break :25), and .30 seconds in 100 Back.
- Jonas Wilson (8) cut 9.00 seconds from his 200 Free PR and 2.46 seconds from his 100 Fly PR.
So Many Other PRs!
As I’ve said many times before, 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 – 153 new Personal Records.
We have already heard about some of the swimmers who had massive Personal Records (PRs), but here are the other swimmers who had PRs this past weekend:
- Michael Zahorchak (FR) dropped 2.05 seconds in 100 Back and 1.20 seconds in 50 Free leading off a relay.
- Rose Waldron (JR) not only had a big PR in diving, she had two (2) more in swimming with an 8.64 second drop in 200 IM and a 2.93 second drop in 100 Free.
- Lily Waldron (8) cut another .70 seconds from her 50 Free PR.
- Daniel Sokban (FR) showed more improvement in 100 Fly with a .70 second PR.
- Briana Shillingburg (JR) swam a Personal Record every time she hit the water. In two (2) attempts at 50 Free, she cut 2.73 seconds then another .11 seconds, and in 100 Back she cut 2.89 seconds.
- Caroline Schroer (6) lowered her 50 Back PR leading off a medley relay by 1.54 seconds. She also cut .98 seconds in 50 Free and .79 seconds in 100 Back.
- Noemi Rodriguez (FR) beat her previous PR in 100 Back by 4.07 seconds.
- Evan Rodriguez (JR) had two (2) PRs. In 50 Free she cut 3.24 seconds, and in 100 Back she cut 2.03 seconds.
- Alison Quispe (SO) dropped 4.32 seconds in 100 Free.
- Luke Partridge (FR) had great first-time swims in 200 IM and 100 Fly, and his brother Paul Partridge (6) also tried the 200 IM for the first time with great success.
- Kenneth Nguyen (FR) looked great in 100 Back during his 6.37 second PR.
- James Nguyen (6) is catching up to his brothers in 100 Back after dropping 8.40 seconds. He also dropped 1.60 seconds in 50 Free and 1.64 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- Bella Nguyen (8) beat her previous by in 100 Back by 2.75 seconds and in 50 Back by 2.41 seconds.
- Andrew Nguyen (JR) is getting pretty competitive in 100 Fly after a 6.43 second PR.
- Mary Catherine Munsell (SO) had a big drop in 100 Back, by 7.22 seconds.
- Maggie Mikkelson (6) looked better than ever in 100 Back, and it showed with a 2.64 second PR.
- Matthew Maranian (6) cut 3.73 seconds in 50 Free with a great swim.
- Julia Maranian (8) looked great during her 2.74 second PR swim in 50 Free.
- Luke Mantooth (SR) is seeing some great improvement in his final year on the team. A 7.22 second drop in 200 IM and a 2.46 second drop in 100 Free is unusual for a senior. I can’t wait to see what he does in 100 Breaststroke on Tuesday at Madeira.
- Avila Mantooth (8) beat her 100 Back PR by 2.48 seconds and her 100 Free PR by 2.41 seconds.
- Cora Kramer (FR) dropped 4.22 seconds in 100 Back and .41 seconds in 50 Free.
- Peter Konstanty (SR) continues to make his 200 IM time more competitive, this time with a .96 second drop.
- Daniel Kohlhaas (7) lowered his 50 Free PR by another 2.48 seconds.
- Connor Koehr (JR) looked great in 100 Fly, his form was nearly perfect. A 4.87 second PR was the result.
- Philomena Kay (FR) dropped 1.30 seconds in 100 Free leading off our 400 Free Relay.
- Patrick Kay (8) had three nice PRs – by 4.32 seconds in 100 Free, by .86 seconds in 100 Breaststroke, and by .15 seconds in 50 Back.
- Claire Kay (6) is going to be a double threat in both Swimming and Diving when she gets to Seton, and that will be especially true if she keeps dropping .13 seconds in 50 Free.
- Jane Judge (8) looked great during her 7.87 second 100 Back PR and her 5.59 second 100 Free PR.
- Dominic Judge (FR) is proving his value to the team in 200 Free with another 5.15 second PR that took 7th place overall. He also took 3rd in the 500 Free.
- Mary Catherine Hurley (JR) cut .84 seconds in 100 Fly.
- Elizabeth Hurley (8) beat her PR in 100 Free by 1.11 seconds.
- Jack Herwick (8) had a big PR in 100 Breaststroke, dropping 4.40 seconds. He also dropped .82 seconds in 50 Back leading off a relay.
- Liam Halisky (JR) showed that he can do a lot more than just sprint. I was very pleased with his 3.48 second drop in 100 Back and his 1:15.79 in 100 Fly.
- Orla Haggerty (JR) caught my eye during her 100 Back so it didn’t surprise me to see that she had dropped 5.94 seconds. She also dropped 04 seconds in 50 Free.
- Eamon Haggerty (7) cut 6.86 seconds in 100 Free and 3.94 seconds in 50 Free leading off a relay.
- Aoife Haggerty (FR) cut 6.16 seconds in 100 Back and .66 seconds in 50 Free.
- Jack Gregory (SR) dropped his 100 Free PR by 3.57 seconds.
- Maggie Gibbons (SR) expanded her horizons with the 200 IM and lowered her PR by 3.36 seconds.
- Gigi Gibaldi (FR) lowered her 50 Free PR by 2.22 seconds and her 100 Back PR by .67 seconds.
- Anastasia Garvey (SO) dropped a bit 1.46 seconds in 50 Free. She also dropped .32 seconds in 200 Free.
- Luke Fifield (7) beat his previous best in 50 Free by .86 seconds.
- Ben Ellis (FR) is getting the hang of things in backstroke, and it showed with an 8.27 second PR.
- Annie Dusek (8) swam a PR in 100 Back by 3.48 seconds.
- Lucy Cunningham (JR) lowered her 100 Free PR by 1.66 seconds and her 200 IM PR by .18 seconds.
- JJ Cooley (SO) is back on the team, and in his first meet of the season set new PRs in 100 Free by 8.26 seconds, 100 Back by 3.46 seconds, and 50 Free by 2.22 seconds.
- Clara Condon (JR) swam a season-best in 100 Free by .34 seconds.
- Grace Catabui (6) had a great swim in 100 Back where she cut 1.62 seconds.
- Malia Buser (SO) dropped 3.25 seconds in 100 Back.
- Joel Bookwalter (7) beat his previous best in 100 Back by 2.46 seconds and in 50 Free by 1.45 seconds.
- Meg Blanchette (JR) looked great in 100 Back with a 2.78 second PR. She also had a .71 second PR in 50 Free.
- Veronica Bingham (7) dropped 4.90 seconds in 100 Back and 3.87 seconds in 100 Free.
- Lucia Bingham (JR) cut 8.54 seconds in 200 Free.
- Betsy Arnold (8) lowered her 100 Back PR by 1.16 seconds and her 200 Free PR by .26 seconds.
- Sage Armstrong (FR) continues to improve during her first year on the team. On Saturday, she had a PR in 100 Free by 1.41 seconds and a PR in 50 Free by .19 seconds.
- Jed Albin (SR) had a good swim in 200 Free where he cut 1.18 seconds and in 100 Free where he cut .09 seconds.
Championship Meet Qualifiers
Recall that 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.
I have posted both the qualification standards and the qualifying swimmers under Meet Information for both Meets.
Congratulations to the following qualifiers so far (new ones in bold):
- For National Catholics:
- Lionel Martinez (FR)
- Michael Brox (JR)
- Ariana Aldeguer (FR)
- Stella Paradise (SR)
- Clara Condon (JR)
- Elodie Brox (JR)
- Giselle Hill (SO)
- Maggie Gibbons (SR)
- Philomena Kay (FR)
- Girls 200 Medley Relay, both A and B
- Boys 200 Medley Relay, A
- Girls 200 Free Relay, A
- Girls 400 Free Relay, both A and B
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
- Girls 200 Free Relay, A only
- Boys 200 Free Relay, both A and B
- Girls 400 Free Relay, both A and B
- Boys 400 Free Relay, A only
- Trinity Meadow View
- Elijah Soto (SO)
- Aine Maloney (JR)
- Lauren Kelley (SO)
- Girls 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays
- Boys 400 Free Relay
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 boy’s and girl’s relay event where I hope to get at least an A relay in every relay event for Trinity Meadow View.
Our Annual Homecoming Meet
Next Saturday, 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.
If you know of alumni, please ask them to e-mail me so I can get as many alumni entries done beforehand as possible. If they show up with a suit and goggles, I’ll definitely 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 will also have Diving Practice on Friday, December 22nd at the normal times for the normal groups. 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 have been very pleased with your performances so far this season. We’ve got one more December meet on Saturday. Expect to swim something different in our last December meet.
See you at practice,
Coach Jim Koehr