The only bad part was that these meets were one week apart. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to make the meet schedule work for everyone. I try to have a home and an away meet per month, and if we don't count the Far Western Champs in early April, I can say I did it! It just wasn't pretty, I mean who wants to go to a swim meet on the tail end of spring break? 12 swimmers did! And who wants to go the a home meet 7 days later ... or 5 days after joining the team? So, yeah, like I said, not pretty.
Still, the 12 swimmers who participated in Rohnert Park, had a blast. Not only we had almost 80% best times which in itself is no small feat, but it was one of the few meet we've gone that had this home meet feel that we all like. Laid back, low intensity - we even perform or first "quiet" cheer in the history of the team - organized by friendly people, it really doesn't get much better than that. 8 year old Lilly Blanadet was lucky to choose this meet for her first competition ever ... and she was back 7 days later at our home meet participating in her first relay, she had a blast. Jack Berkenfield finally achieved a goal that had been eluding him for a while: his Junior Olympic cut in the 50 free. Excited, is a sadly understated word to describe him after the race. We will be back in Rohnert Park on May 16th, June 5th and most likely on July 18th.
Team Meeting before our "Quiet Cheer".
Our last home meet was a success as well. 39 Marlins swimmers participated and 40 North Bay swimmers (mostly younger) graced us with their presence. The 2 teams have had so many meets together, they seem to blend where I sometime forget we watch Marlins and NBA swimmers in the pool, but rather kids I know ... and kids I know less. 63% best times, makes this meet average, but a lot of the faster swimmers have just finish their most important meets with really fast times which will take a little while to improve again. We welcomed 3 brand new swimmers, some with just a couple days of practice under their belt. Congratulations to Alyssa Mulligan who's boiling excitement propelled her across the pool as if she was a veteran, Ali Thomas who showed tremendous potential as a competitor and Alexei Muromcew who, although a bit nervous, found the courage to swim the 50 free. We had another team record in the 9-10 Free relay where James Beard, Bennett Carbone, Lani Kamler and Violet Loo obliterated the last record in style.
Last, but not least, on behalf of all the swimmers, I would like to thank the parents who stepped up and help run the home meet, and timed at the away meet. We really could not do it without you ... literally!
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