Seton Competes in Our Annual Winter Invitational

Final Scores

In spite of the fact that we were missing five (5) of our top female swimmers who were at National Catholics, the meet scores still turned out quite favorable for Seton:

Boys

Norfolk Academy     191.5     Seton                                                             93.5

FUMA                     181        Seton                                                              104

Seton                       166        Woodberry Forest                                           104

Seton                       189        Highland School                       72

Seton                       190        Trinity Christian                        71

Seton                       210        St. Michael the Archangel                                  56

Seton                       210        Chelsea Academy                     43

Seton                       221        Middleburg Academy                 19

Girls

Trinity Christian       181        Seton                                                              102

Seton                       136        Highland School                                               128

Seton                       171        Norfolk Academy                                           107

Seton                       189        Middleburg Academy               66

Seton                       211        Chelsea Academy                    16

Seton                       220        St. Michael the Archangel                                 12

Face-off in the Five Hundred

Both David Flook (FR) and Jerry Dalrymple (8) are going to be a huge part of the future of Seton Swimming.  For this year, they are both very close the State cut for the 500 Free, so I decided to put them in lanes right next to each other in the hopes that they would race each other to the State cut – and they almost did it!   The State cut is a very fast 5:48.84, which is faster than 1:10 per 100 yards so they had their work cut out for themselves.

In the end, they raced side-by-side for 20 lengths of the pool and both got down to 5:51.  In David’s case, that was a 7.61 second PR and in Jerry’s case, that was a 3.78 second PR.  Great swims for both of them!  David also beat his 200 Free PR by 4.71 seconds.

I was very pleased with how well they swam and the encouragement they gave to each other.  It was a great example of teamwork and sportsmanship.

Eleven (11) Swimmers Who Really Shined

Every PR gets my attention – it’s what we are working for when we get up early three mornings a week – but at every meet, there are always some swims that really get my attention.  Here are thirteen of the most impressive:

• Alex Ceol (JR) got his second State cut with a tremendous swim in the 100 Free. His .30 second PR got him down to a boy’s team best :54.00.  Alex also has the State cut in 100 Fly, and he is the only boy to have qualified for the State Championship individually – so far.
• Justin Fioramonti (FR) is another freshman with a big future in Seton Swimming. He told me before the meet that he had a good feeling about 100 Free and 100 Back, so I gave him a shot at them both.  Amazingly, he dropped 7.23 seconds in 100 Free and 4.52 seconds in 100 Back.  Justin is really starting to get competitive times for the high school level.
• Rosie Hall (JR) cemented her spot on the Varsity line-up with her willingness to swim the events that others found less desirable – and in the process, she made a very valuable contribution to the team. On Saturday, she swam 200 Free and 100 Fly, and hit big PRs in both events.  In the 200 Free, Rosie dropped an incredible 32.48 seconds, and in 100 Fly, she dropped 2.09 seconds.
• Emily Flynn (7) used her strong underwaters to propel herself to a 4.09 second PR 1:20.40 in 100 Fly. That is a very fine time for a 7^th grader – I can’t wait until she can score!
• Jack Santschi (8) took a shot at the 200 Free after a long hiatus and just killed it. How about a 31.13 second PR to go 2:14.75.  That’s a very good time for an 8^th  Then he cut 3.21 seconds in 100 Back to go 1:18.68, another very good time for a swimmer his age.
• Ashley Cackett (JR) had a breakthrough swim in the 100 Free with a 2.71 second PR to go 1:06.68. At Ashley’s swimming level, it is hard to drop that much, but she broke the mold.  Her mother sure was excited 😉  Ashley also cut .05 from her 50 Free PR.
• Ben Ceol (JR) has shown me that he is a lot more than a sprinter. His 4.26 second PR in 100 Breaststroke now has him with a very competitive time under 1:20.  Ben also somehow managed to cut another .65 seconds from his 100 Free PR.  The guy has a real talent for this sport.
• Seamus Koehr (JR) was awesome in his 100 Free. He’s been up against the 1:00 barrier for most of the season, so it was very exciting to see him cut a huge 1.36 seconds to go 59.31!
• Shane Koehr (FR) also had a great swim in the 100 Free, lowering his PR by a whopping 2.66 seconds to go 1:01.68. Can he break a minute before the end of the season?  I was impressed with Shane’s 100 Back too after he lowered his PR by .38 seconds to go 1:11.43.
• Peter Tozzi (FR) has been working very hard in practice, and it showed in his 100 Fly. I was so pleased to see his 1:20.45, a time 10.69 seconds faster than his previous PR
• Kevin Geiran (JR) had an awfully good meet, swimming some events that are not common for him. I’m glad I let him try them, because he really showed me something on Saturday.  How about a 39.31 second PR in 200 Free?  Or a 3.34 second PR in 100 Fly?

53 Personal Records this Week

There were plenty of other great swims on Saturday that made it worth the trip for me back from Baltimore – here are the rest of our 53 Personal Records:

• Brendan Santschi (JR) crushed the 200 Free with a 4.56 second PR. He also swam a .65 second PR in 100 Fly.
• Therese Bingham (7) had two very big drops. In 100 Breaststroke, she cut her PR by 9.01 seconds and in 100 Free, she cut it by 1.36 seconds.
• Maria Tozzi (8) swam the 500 Free with her characteristically efficient stroke and dropped 7.21 seconds.
• Christian Ceol (FR) lowered his 50 Back PR by .82 seconds leading off a medley relay. I was more impressed with his first ever attempt at the 200 IM where he had an impressive time.
• Mary Ostrich (SO) had no trouble at all in her first attempt at the 500 Free. I was very pleased with her 7:33.  Mary also cut 1.62 seconds in 100 Fly.
• Patrick Murray (JR) didn’t have a PR, but that is only because he had never swum the 500 Free before. He had a great swim in his first try at the event.
• Kathleen O’Malley (FR) was very impressive in 100 Free with a 2.35 second PR on an already fairly fast time. Kathleen also cut .16 seconds from her 50 Free PR – she’s right on the cusp of breaking :30!
• Katharine Rowzie (FR) managed to cut another 1.03 seconds in 100 Free, lowering her time to 1:05.62. She’s getting very fast!
• Ryan Hall (JR) also swam the 200 IM for the first time and did a great job. Later in the meet, he swam 100 Breaststroke and cut his PR by 2.61 seconds.  Nice job Ryan!
• Katie Dealey (FR) had a great swim in the 200 Free, cutting 1.65 seconds from her previous best. Katie also tackled the 500 Free for the first time and went an impressive 7:34
• Nick Foeckler (JR) had his own cheering section, and he gave them something to cheer about. First, he cut a huge 1.61 seconds from his previous best in the 50 Free.  Then he showed us his long and smooth stroke in the 500 Free which he completed in the competition for the first time.
• Julianna Holmes (SR) has really improved her strokes this year, particularly her balance while swimming freestyle. Last week though, it was Breaststroke and Backstroke where she shined.  In 100 Breast, she cut 2.00 seconds and in 50 Back leading off a medley relay, she cut 2.08 seconds
• Collette Waldron (SO) was super in 100 Breast, swimming the event 7.75 seconds faster than ever before.
• Mary O’Malley (7) beat her lifetime best in 100 Breast by 2.96 seconds and in 50 Free by 1.03 seconds.
• Anne Konstanty (FR) had a great swim in the 200 IM, lowering her PR by 2.84 seconds. She also cut her 50 Back PR leading off a medley relay by .28 seconds.
• Katya Konstanty (JR) had a great swim in the 200 Free when she swam it 3.28 seconds faster than ever before.
• Timmy Kelly (8) made a great first-ever attempt at the 200 IM and then dropped .91 seconds in 100 Breaststroke
• Jeremy Kleb (FR) cut another .23 seconds from his 100 Back PR
• Liam Kellogg (8) cut .78 seconds in 100 Back.
• Matthew Kelly (SO) continues to improve his sprint freestyle, this time cutting .50 seconds in 100 Free.
• Maddie Given (7) had a nice swim in 100 Back, lowering her PR by .31 seconds
• Bernadette Hassan (SO) led off a medley relay with a 50 Back that was .15 seconds than ever before.
• Theresa McGrath (7) swam well in spite of the amount of practice she’s had to miss due to sickness. She came back strong with a .21 second PR in 100 Breast and a .08 second PR in 50 Free.

Renaissance Montessori Swimmers Continues to Improve

Our sister school also had some highlights on Saturday with all three of their girls in the water:

• Lucy Garvey (7) is one of our swimmers from Renaissance Montessori School who has very strong prospects for her future as a high school swimmer. I’ve been letting her try all eight (8) events, and I haven’t found one yet for which she cannot excel.  On Saturday, she took a shot at the 200 Free and beat her lifetime best by 11.97 seconds!  Lucy also cut another 2.55 seconds from her lifetime best in 100 Free.  Her times are already competitive at the high school level.
• Ethiana Hasch (7) had another great meet. I was particularly pleased with her 100 Back in which she cut 3.55 seconds.  I’m looking forward to have her back next season – and hopefully Ethiana and Lucy bring enough RMS kids to start swimming relays under the Renaissance banner!
• Samantha Wong (SO) swam her first competitive 100 yard race on Saturday. Congratulations to Sam for her first ever 100 Back in competition.  She swam 8.62 seconds faster than she swam after practice earlier in the week.  Sam’s last meet is this weekend, so we’re going to celebrate the grand finale with a 100 Free at the Junior Varsity Invitational!

Final Notes

Let’s wrap it up with some final notes:

• With our sister team Wakefield Country Day and Renaissance Montessori School, we had 62 swimmers swim a season low 52 Personal Records or .84 PRs per swimmer. On many teams, that might be pretty good, but we are used to better.  A big part of the reason for the low PR count was almost certainly the way our team practiced over Christmas break.  The captains ran several very good practices, but the lanes were far too empty with swimmers who I knew were in town staying home.  We need to fix that next season, and I’ll most likely start with the Varsity letter criteria.
• If you were able to take the time to read this entire blog, I’m guessing that it would be nearly impossible for you not to start getting excited about the number of strong young swimmers that we have coming up the ranks right now. The Seton Girls won four (4) State Championships in a row ending five (5) years ago.  I think we may have another group capable of adding to that total before they graduate.  We also look like we have a group of young Seton Boys that are every bit as strong in talent if not in numbers.

See you Monday morning,

Coach Jim Koehr