state killed the swim coach...

ok not really but man was that meet long (only like, 30 hours...) and I was sick, so sorry for the lack of updates, my hit counts indicate that the faithful have been waiting..

Anyways turns out that when I don't have to be at the pool at 6, I actually sleep, meaning I have less time than ever...

But

First thing first - here are the state results. I was really pleased with how everyone closed the year out, especially the little kids.

Take a little look there, you'll notice that the 8-under boys cut 9 seconds in their medley relay and took 3rd. And for anyone not impressed by that, the only two teams that beat them (skyline and virginia vale) scored B relays in the top 10. So yeah, steroids.

Some other awesome swims -

Morgan got 10th in her breaststoke and Inez got her crazy fly cleaned up (read, beautiful) and took 5th (1/10 second from 4th) in about 37 seconds. Did I mention they're both only 11? Very nice.

Tristan, Dylan and Mateo all brought home individual medals in addition to their relay hardware.

Todd and Kevin crushed a bunch of kids 2-3 times their size.

Oh yeah, and Cody won the backstroke... Bo ya.

That about wraps it up (well not really, but I'm late for work), as you can imagine I had no time to write an article after that meet, but I'll get something in next Thursday.

In the meantime I'll be publishing occasional updates throughout the year (we're just so close now, I can't let you go..) and I'll put together a feed so you don't have to anxiously check the site every 20 minutes only to be let down. And if you don't know what a feed is, go ask your 10-year-old.

So yeah, whenever I have time, which may be never, but I guess you'll have to keep anxiously checking the site to find out, right?

Time for work! Sorry for the wait! Great job everyone!

State updates

what a beautiful day...

So as you might imagine, the majority of todays 8-under state meet was postponed due to rain (we weren't wet anyway?), cold (the give the little ones special treatment) and lightening (whatever, the pool was never even hit..)

However, that wasn't before our boys medley relay cut 9 SECONDS and took 3rd (out of 50 teams!) and smashed the old team record with a 1:33. Oh, and Dylan broke his own record again with a 17 low/16 high in the 25.

Couldn't be prouder.

Remember warm-ups are as follow

Sat morning - 8:00-8:20 (bring Luke coffee)
Sat afternoon (400s) - 3:00p-3:50p (open, be at pool by 3)
Sat evening (8-unders again) - End of 400s (5:45ish)-6:00p (bring Luke stronger coffee)
Sun morning (13-18s) - 7:20-7:40 (I specifically asked for an early time after Thursday's practice..)

Also remember that our swamp is pretend, this swamp is real. The ground is nasty and sopping wet, so do yourself a favor and bring something waterproof to sit on like a tarp. Also, warm shoes will be of vital importance for all swimmers, I better not catch anyone barefoot in the cold mud or I'll put your face in the cold mud... And bring an umbrella (or 3) cause the rain isn't supposed to stop anytime soon.

That's it, great job today! Let's hope the weekend forecast isn't accurate...

Banquet time!

Hello!

Just a heads up, the banquet begins this evening at 6 if you'd like to eat, the ceremony will begin at 7.

A few notes, all non-members need to sign in at the front but they will not need to pay. The festivities begin at 6, non-members can enter the grounds at that time. Also, there's really a lot of food, so please bring an appetite.

That's it, we'll try to go as fast as possible but man are there a lot of kids... Bring your pillow if you must, we'll shake you when it's your kid's turn.

And bring suits, we'll swim until 7 and it will be hot...

Finally, the link to the results has been changed, so it won't work anymore. Anyways apparently the results of the meet are top secret, I'll figure out some other way to get them online as soon as I get some time.

Thanks!

Correction!

After Kevin Kruse pointed out to me tonight that we only have 2 9-10s who will be practicing this week, and that the 11-12s are actually having to get up earlier as a result of our switch, I realized it really makes more sense to allow them to do the 9-10 practice at 8:45a - 9:45a.

So that said, if the later time doesn't work for anyone, I'd be happy to have any 9-10/11-12s at the 7:15 practice if that suits your schedule better.

Thanks! Sorry for any confusion!

League wrap-up!

Here are the complete league results -

http://stingrays-sc.com/files/Meet_Results/2007/League2007.pdf

They weren't publicly posted but, uh, yeah, there they are.

So I'd like to start by saying that the coaches are incredibly impressed with the way the team performed this weekend. As you saw in the last post, we had a very great first 2 days, and Sunday was no different. Thanks to everyone who swam their hardest and worked their butts off this season to make it the incredible success it has been so far.

Even though it seems like we might not have done as well this year compared to last (ie 3rd rather than 2nd) we beat last year's point total by about 40 points and swam a lot more races. That's a huge step forward and the only thing that kept us from winning was the fact that the league was re-structured this year, placing a few traditional D-1 teams in our division. Anyways, great job!

Second, hope everyone enjoyed their morning off today, remember practice at 8 p.m. tonight for all state qualifiers!

Note that we will be changing morning practice times for this week due to our reduced numbers! They will be as follow!

11-12's & Upper division - 7:15a - 8:45a
9-10's - 8:45a - 9:45a
8-unders - 9:00a - 9:45a

Next, if you are seeking any information about the state meet (ie directions, warm-ups, event schedule, whatever) you can visit the web site at www.statemeet.com (easy, right?)

Finally, some well earned congratulations.

First, NEW STATE QUALIFIERS Brady Cotten and Brian Long! These guys worked hard to get those times and they'll get to swim another week.

Also, NEW TEAM RECORD HOLDERS Dylan Jacob, Tristan Gess and Brian Pak! Dylan set the mark in the 25 free (17.65), Tristan got his in an incredible, league winning 25 breaststroke race (23.40) and Brian Pak broke his own mark in one of the most thrilling races I've ever seen, coming from the 3 seed to win the 100 breast in a time of 1:12. Talk about going out on top! Congratulations guys!

Note that Gator swimmers Emily Cotten, Elise Chevalier, Alex Sutherland and Dylan Jacob (in 2 more races..) all have legitimate shots at breaking new records this weekend at state.

Finally, congratulations to LEAGUE CHAMPIONS Cody Spencer, Brian Pak, Tristan Gess, Dylan Jacob. We had a fantastic time watching you guys grow and achieve great things this year.

I'll have all state entries posted later today, we will only be taking relays for 8-under boys, 13-14 girls and 15-18 men and women.

See ya tonight!

WOW!

Congratulations to EVERYONE who has participated in the league meet so far! There have been so many amazing swims, I can't even begin to describe how thrilled the coaches are.

Following yesterday's fantastic 400's (really fantastic..) following all the way through the amazing 1/3 finishes of Cody and Sam at the end of today's meet, I've been very impressed with everyone's effort and spirit.

Quick recap (I don't have any paper results, so I'll surely be forgetting things)

- HUGE cuts for nearly every relay, 2nd place for 8-under boys, 3rd for 15-18, 4th(?) for 11-12 boys

- Awesome 400s, including a fantastic 5th place for Molly (possibly our swimmer of the meet so far) and a very dynamic 2/4/5/6/11 finish (for a grand total of 45 points) in the 15-16 boys race.

- Lightning fast 50s - Inez, Evan and Todd hit 34s (and uh, they're 11-12), Elise nearly broke 30 (pretty much my time) and Pakman went a blistering 27 flat.

- 11-12 boys have been incredible! Evan, Derek and Todd have blown the competition out of the water. Brady and Brian will hit the water tomorrow in the breaststroke, this is a great group of kids and I'm very proud of them.

- Mr Dylan Jacob broke the team record in the 25 free, posting a top 3 finish in 17.65 seconds. He also took first in the 100 free with an incredible 1:33! AWESOME JOB!

- Ethan Schick cut an unbelievable 21 seconds in his 200 free to hit a state time. And yes, I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. What a big time swim!

- Senior Gator Casey Zelus put her relay on pace to smash it's time by 7 seconds this morning then smashed her own PR in the backstroke with a gutsy 1:21 100 back. 2 more races for Brian, Josh and Casey tomorrow, don't miss em!

- Finally, and by far the most impressive of all, the upper division had the covers off and were putting the lane ropes in when I arrived at the pool at 6:30 this morning. It's all karma...

Anyways there's more worth writing about but I'm rather tired and need my nap.

Great job today, can't wait to see what we can accomplish tomorrow (especially in breaststroke)!

Good luck 400 swimmers!

Good luck to Alex, Molly, Jimmy, Scott, Rebecca, Sam and Riley! You've worked hard (mostly) and should have have great races today. 5 p.m. warm-up, be there on time!

I'll post an update after the races tonight, see my previous entry for all important warm-up info tomorrow!

16, Scott, 16!

Make your kids go to bed early tonight!

League schedule

Hello again!

First, some practice notes -

NIGHT PRACTICE HAS BEEN CANCELLED! I've tried to make the announcement as often as possible but I'm not sure if everyone knows, so spread the word, please! There's an after hours party at the club so we can't get the pool... No worries, we'll do lots of starts tomorrow, and I'll bring my suit to get in.

NO MONDAY MORNING PRACTICE! Everyone needs to s-l-e-e-p sleep. We'll have a real practice at 8 p.m. for all State qualifiers.

400 SWIMMERS need not attend Friday practice, we'll see you at 6th Ave West at 5 p.m.

Next - League!

Events go like so -

400's - Friday
Medley Relay through Backstroke - Saturday
Free Relay through IM - Sunday

Our warm-up on Friday is 5-5:30 (open)

On Saturday and Sunday warm-up is at 6:20-6:40. DO NOT MISS OR BE LATE!!!

That said, to reduce congestion (42 swimmers, ages 7-18, 2 lanes, 20 minutes? I think not...) I would like all UPPER DIVISION swimmers to warm-up at the SWIM CLUB rather than at the Stingray pool. So here's the drill:

Even though our warm-up is at 6:20, the meet doesn't start until 8! So, I want all upper division swimmers to meet at the club at 6:30 with the intent of getting IN THE WATER at 6:45, out by 7:15. This will give you plenty of chance to get over to the pool before your relay starts.

PARENTS - if your upper division swimmer doesn't have a car, you have a few options.

1 - pick your kid up, drive them to the pool.
2 - Have them swim regular warm-up with the little kids, not the end of the world.
3 - get them a ride with a TRUSTED upper division swimmer (they aren't all to be trusted, trust me)
4 - tell me they need a ride, and I can take them in my porche. The best option if your child would like to arrive in style.

So that's it, here's a link to the stingray website if it's easier to follow.

But now I'm running late for work, look what you did...

quick notes

pizza party - 6-8 for pipsqueaks, 7-9 for upper d. Tonight. Bring shirts, appetites

Psych sheet - see link below, read up on your races, prepare for inspiration tomorrow.

pop/sugar - banned. Don't do it.

general activity - little to none. Save your energy for the weekend.

think clear - drink enough water that you are, uh, seeing clear too.

We'll see everyone tonight!

The moment we've all been waiting for...

League psych sheets are here!

You can access it online at:

http://www.stingrays-sc.com/files/PDFs/League2007_PsychSheets.pdf

Get excited! Don't forget - NO night practice today! Thursday night will be starts for ALL league qualifiers!

Tomorrow is the Pizza Party for EVERYONE, NOT JUST LEAGUE QUALIFIERS!

Congrats, we've got some great looking races coming up here!

I almost forgot!

to post this week's yourhub.com article!

And an update - I probably can't get the things I need to post entries on my computer until sometime tomorrow. In the meantime, everything is posted at the pool.

Remember, night practice tonight and Thursday! Open to all league qualifiers for starts and turns.

Thanks!

League bound!

Hello everyone!

First off - Congratulations NEW LEAGUE QUALIFIERS Jason Mortenson, Kevin Mercy and Michael Tsarevski! These guys all 3 hit the 9-10 breaststroke qualifying time at Last Chance today! Well done!

So that brings our total to...48. So close! We'll talk up a new deal tomorrow..

Also a special congrats to Morgan Genkinger and Duncan Sutherland, both of whom picked up qualifying times in events today, and everyone else who came and swam today. It's been a looooong weekend, everyone deserves some rest.

Speaking of long weekend, we finished our league entries after a long 5 hours today. I would post them but I don't have the meet on my computer yet. I should have everything by tomorrow so I can get it up online. But all entries, relay and individual, will be posted tomorrow.

Please note - we added B relays for some age groups but did NOT fill in names because we were not entirely sure who would be available. We're counting on the ENTIRE upper division being there, minus the Engers. PLEASE let us know asap if you are a 15-18 and can't come, especially if you already told me and I forgot.

The follow age groups have B relays:

8-under girls
9-10 boys
9-10 girls

If you are in one of these age groups and would like to be in a relay, we can almost certainly make that happen. Just show up to practice and let us know. If we don't see you, you'll probably hear from us. There are NO 13-14 boys relays.. We'll be strong there next year, promise.

That's it! Julie and I will NOT be at practice Monday morning. If any upper division swimmers are willing and able, we'd LOVE to have your help for the second 2 practices.

Also remember that Monday and Thursday night practice are open to EVERYONE SWIMMING LEAGUE! They will consist of a long warm-up and then starts and turns. Come if you can!

Thanks!

1 down, 1 to go!

Hello again!

First thing - the Lakewood meet is usually good and today was no exception.

When I pulled up at 5:45 a.m. this morning I thought - WOW, my team showed up on time today! Actually, Lakewood was there... Betty may not have the biggest team any more, but by God were they ready to go today.

Our relays swam very well (especially the 15-18 men's 1-2 SWEEP in the Free Relay) and we had a surprising number of best times, considering where we are in the season (i.e. about to begin taper..)

Here's your Sports Center recap with 30 seconds of high-definition, in-your-face action! Err, uh, just read fast and it'll seem more exciting...

Kelsey Tuttle learned to swim fly correctly, finally. I guess it's my fault, I never told her to pull her arms out *cough, except for every week, cough cough* but regardless now she got it down and will probably kick some serious butt tomorrow...

Alex Sutherland got within .2 seconds of the team record in the 100 Breast in a race that could only be described as sassy. And Lauren didn't even yell at me during her IM this week...

Cody's cousin (Lakewood swimmer Dane Kelly) asked me to take my eye out more than Cody usually does... Maybe I'll donate it to the Spencers to hang on the family Christmas tree.

The Giustos (Luke and Evan) decided to come to the ol' league meet next weekend rather than camp with an in-town cousin.. Everyone should do a Snoopy dance to celebrate.

Brian Pak and Casey Zelus swam their last races at The Swamp today, proving that all good things must indeed come to an end. Their class, leadership and companionship will certainly be missed, let's enjoy these two for the last 2 weeks while we can!

Tons of kids swam their last races of the season today. Thanks for ALL your hard work and all of your personal contributions to the team! My experience and the experiences of your teammates wouldn't be the same without you - I really hope you had a great time! Sleep in, but make SURE you come to the pizza party Wednesday!

Congrats to NEW LEAGUE QUALIFIERS Olivia Moore and Carina Wang! That puts our total up at 45 and we've got one more day - let's make it a fast one! 5 more is more doable than you think...

Speaking of one more - let's talk about Last Chance

First - Here's your map! Detail is zoomed in on the Indiana exit off 6th Ave. Just go right on up into the the housing developments, looks very easy to find.

Seond - Warm-up is at 6:20 - please be READY TO GO at that time! Being late to the last chance meet is like forgetting your suede shoes at the dance - just don't do it.

Third - If there's EVER been a meet where you've needed to come talk to your coaches before your races, this is probably it. Rich (wedding) and Julie (Knee-braska) won't be there, but Shelby and I will be. Here's your checklist for the evening (this pretty much applies for league/state too...) -

- Drink TONS of water (I told everyone they needed to pee at least 3 times before they went to bed. You better get on the ball.)

- Stretch tonight and tomorrow morning. Meets tend to lead to some lactic acid build-up, and some of you simply haven't been in the pool at all since you've been out of town.

- Eat something grainy and full of carbohydrates, like delicious pasta and bread. Try not to eat much in terms of fat, grease or sugar.

- SLEEP! Go to bed by 9! Wake up early and stretch! Be on time!

And that's it! Have a great night everyone, see some of ya in the morning.

Meet photos and more!

First - So sorry for not posting about tonight's canceled practice, this is the first computer access I've had since we closed the pool. If you actually showed up tonight I'll cry a little tear for you before I go to bed...

As usual, Mr. Miguel Lander was kind enough to take his personal time at the intrasquad and has some more fantastic photos to share with everyone. You can check out the whole album at http://picasaweb.google.com/mvlander/GMSTSwimMeet71107! You definitely have to check it out...

Speaking of the meet, congrats to NEW LEAGUE QUALIFIER REBECCA GARNER! She had a very exciting 400 race where she literally qualified by hundredths of a second in a 6 minute race.. Congrats! We've got a couple more RIGHT on the brink, let's hope for a big weekend!

And thanks to all of the parents/swimmers who stuck around to cheer and help us set up/take down the meet.. We had a great time and quite a few big swims..

Oh and congrats to the (exhibition) upper division relays that swim oh-so-fast at the end of the meet. Unfortunately, one relay was petrified of the parents (Jay Wilsey spit in their lane while Dave Kruse pulled their little speedos over their heads...) and added an extra (and illegal) boy.. The other relay included Cody (who hasn't showered in a week...gross) so obviously they couldn't get enough swimmers and Mr. Spencer had to swim (illegally) twice.

So congrats to the parents, better luck next year upper division, and coaches - you'd better start training now or I'll blind you with my tan line again...

Past my bedtime! Saturday warm-up is at 6 at GM! Relays will be at the pool tomorrow! Check em, we're looking a little slim this week...


Goodnight!

Intrasquad!

Running late but...

Don't forget! 5:30 p.m. warm-up, 6:00 p.m. start tonight! A GREAT chance to pick up any times you need!

Also we WILL be doing coach/parent relays tonight, and the upper division will get it's butt kicked as usual... If you're interested in participating, bring a suit! We'll find you a slot!

Polo, Cody update..

For those of you wondering this morning, the weather has warmed. Anyways the forecast is calling for showers essentially all day, but we'll see if that pattern holds

Anyways I'm still planning to be at the pool for a board meeting at 7. If it's very nasty the meeting will likely be moved, which would mean that I couldn't be there for practice (which would also mean that it would be too nasty for polo...)

Anyways call the club before you go if it's questionable, I'll leave a message with the guards there. 303-985-5880.

As for Cody -

As of last night he had been released from the hospital mid afternoon and was doing quite well. Apparently he was even cleared for practice this morning, but wanted to give it another day just in case.

Anyways that's great news, but we will be asking Cody to wear a helmet (the race car driver kind) next time he enters the pool...

send your thoughts and prayers...

to Cody Spencer.

Cody suffered a concussion and a neck injury in practice this morning when he made contact with a wall during a backstroke turn.

His mom thinks he'll be OK; he's currently recovering at National Swedish Hospital.

Thanks to everyone who helped take care of him this morning, give him a call and wish him well if you get a chance!

The push to 50!

Here's this week's yourhub.com article.

Something worth noting - we've qualified 42 swimmers for league so far! That's already 10 more than last year's total - something I'm very proud of. I want to set a goal of 50 swimmers this year, meaning we need to qualify 8 more people over the next 3 meets.

Swimmers on the brink include Nicole Cotten, Madison Crowder, Kevin Mercy, Katie Denney, Rebecca Garner, Lauren Sutherland, Luke Giusto, James Lucas, Jessica Lucero, Jason Mortenson, Olivia Moore, Sarah Papke, Caleb Schroder and Briana Wenholz. Maybe we should be going for 60...

Make sure you cheer these guys on, three more chances!

And I intend to keep my yourhub promise...

The very busy weeks ahead...

The season is going by faster than a teenage driver in a work zone...

Let's talk end of the season schedule - lots of important info here!

WEEK OF JULY 9

1. No practice changes, morning and night practices will remain as usual

2. Wednesday - Intrasquad swim meet! Warm-up will be 5:30 p.m., the meet will start at 6:00 p.m. This is the first of our last 3 meets before League, so if you need to qualify in something you had better make sure you're there! If you DON'T need to qualify or better a seed time, I expect you to swim some odd events and try to round out your meet resume on the year. Regardless, it'll be a lot of fun, so be there!

3. Saturday - WR/LAKEWOOD @ GREEN MOUNTAIN! Our warm-up will run from 6:00 a.m. - 6:20 a.m., everyone will be together. This is meet 2/3, and same drill - qualify, improve seeds and swim something new.

4. Sunday - LAST CHANCE @ 6TH AVE WEST. This is the final meet of the season to qualify for league or state!! It will be Sunday morning, I don't yet have warm-up info. This meet is important for a few reasons.

First, it obviously provides everyone a chance to swim fast competition (you MUST have a B qualifying time in the events you swim here) and make the times you need to attend league/state.

Second, it's our only meet at 6th Ave West, like, ever. If you're swimming at league, it's probably wise to attend this meet simply to test out the pool and discover any little quirks. I've personally never even been to the pool, so I'd imagine most of you aren't familiar with it either. Not mandatory, just recommended.

WEEK OF JULY 16

1. Practice will remain as usual, with the exception of no Tuesday night practice. Swimmers who will not be swimming at league need not attend (unless you really want to!) Get some darn sleep (then transfer your energy to my exhausted body...) Monday and Thursday night practices will be open to all swimmers attending league, they will concentrate largely on starts
and turns.

2. Wednesday we will have a Pizza and Tye Dye party! We always make league shirts, this year we'll be doing tye dye! Start time will likely be 6:00 p.m. And someone needs to start planning my beautiful shirt now...

3. Friday - Sunday - LEAGUE @ 6TH AVE WEST! Without a doubt, the most wonderful time of the year... More details will be out soon, but just know that all I want for Christmas is a sweet freakin trophy for everyone to get some new best times...

WEEK OF JULY 23

1. Significant practice changes! Currently the times remain the same, but we might condense and allow everyone to sleep in a bit... Also, NO MONDAY MORNING practice this week! We'll all be very tired from league and everyone needs to sleep until at least 10 a.m. (that's an order, moms) and Monday night practice (8 p.m.) will be open to all state attendees.

2. Wednesday night will be our banquet at the pool! Prepare for a dazzling display of wit and charm from your coaches that may last well into the night (we love the sounds of our own voices, in case you never noticed...)

3. Friday - Sunday - STATE @ COLUMBINE COUNTRY CLUB! I petitioned to have state somewhere horrible and remote again this year but they wouldn't listen (I was hoping for Pueblo, Trinidad or Kearney, Nebraska..)

The schedule will go like so -

Friday - 8-unders
Saturday - 9-12's, 400's
Sunday - Upper Division

Make sure you're in town if you've qualified! And again, more info as the date approaches.

Sorry for the novella, I'll link to this bad boy somewhere so you can find it again.

YourHub article coming soon...

Weekend prep!

Hey everyone!

Here's your daily bedtime story...And I don't check under the bed for monsters.

LINKS -

Several have been updated on the right sidebar, including new best times (in meters) and meet photos for the year. Thank upper division swimmers Josh Fleming and Brian Pak for getting those online when I couldn't make it all work.. Anyways, check it out!

MEET -

Sign-up ended today for Saturday's meet and relays are done. If you still wish to attend the meet SAT at Applewood Athletic Club, please tell me at practice or e-mail me if necessary so I can check your events. The events will be limited, but it will still be a VERY long meet. Please plan on being at the pool late!

Also, I haven't gotten ANY warm-up info, so count on getting IN at 6:15. We'll only be getting 15 mins for the WHOLE TEAM, I'm quite sure, so don't be late. And we'll be the 3rd biggest team there... Yikes.

Relays will be posted tomorrow, I still need to type them...

PRACTICE -

Practice will resume its normal schedule FRIDAY. Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th, and I know everyone had a great time at water world today...

Have a great night, check out our cover appearance on yourhub today (Thurs)!

See y'all soon.

Mt. Vernon Meet photos!

Mr. Miguel Lander took some great photos this weekend, you can find them all on his web album here.

Enjoy! There are some really awesome shots!!

YourHub, things to come..

Here's this week's article.

I think I stressed out our local yourhub.com lady when I called her last Monday night and told her she actually couldn't expect a story from me... Anyways we'll be back in this Thursday, hopefully once again in amazing technicolor...

I'll post more details on Water World soon, but all of the info is at the pool! Here's a brief reminder of this week's schedule!

Monday and Tuesday
Regular Practice (Meet sign-up will be TUESDAY! E-mail entries if you can't come!)

Wednesday (4th)
NO PRACTICE! COME CELEBRATE THE 4TH WITH US AT 11 A.M.!

Thursday
NO PRACTICE! TEAM PHOTOS AND WATER WORLD! SEE POST BELOW!

Friday
Regular practice

Saturday
Big quad meet with Golden, AAC and Wheat Ridge! GET THE DAY OFF WORK! This'll be a long one..

Stay tuned, more announcements coming regarding a team pizza party! Also, Mr. Lander was kind enough to take photos at the meet again this week. I'll post photos as soon as he has a chance to get them online.

See you all at practice!

Team Photos!

Grace Long will be in charge of organizing photos this year!

She will have envelopes with all of the necessary info in your folder at the pool Friday, it may not be until after practice.

Remember, swimmers should be at the pool ready for the photo(s) by 7:30 a.m. July 5th, please bring your suits and smiles, frowns will be methodically photoshopped from the main team photo and replaced with someone cuter and happier. Also, please try not to look nicer than me as I enjoy being the center of attention at all times. I'll have a bucket of mud for you to smear on your face if this becomes a problem at any time.

We'll leave for Water World straight from the pool, so make sure you get there on time, whether you're doing individual photos or not! If you bought tickets, you'll need to pick them up from Grace at the club after the photo has been taken. If you need to work out another arrangement (or if you're generally bored/unhappy and need someone to harass,) contact her at gblong@hotmail.com.

Promise, I'll post all of the technique week stuff when I can, as well as updated best times (in yards!) but y'all keep me too busy... Sandy, could we fit a personal assistant into the budget next year?

Playin catch-up!

Alright! Finally have some time...

Ken Caryl/Pentathlon

The meets this weekend were awesome! Despite having a rather tough week of practice, we had best swims for 9/10 races at KC, which I'm obviously very pleased with. Alex Sutherland, Ethan Schick, Kevin/Molly Kruse, Kelsey Bollig, Cassidy Stein and ALL the 8-unders had really excellent meets.

It was really fun to see the swimmers out pace their seeding in nearly every instance. In fact, it got to the point that by the end of the day Friday (uhh 10:30 p.m.) I could tell a swimmer to go and cut 10 seconds and it would happen. That's the kind of confidence and attacking attitude that will make this a dangerous team come championship season.

For the final, we finished 9th out of 19 - beating out teams like Bear Creek, Governor's Ranch and Greeley Country Club. Most of the 8 teams that did finish ahead of us (5 or 6) are traditionally division 1 teams at state - we should be very proud of our finish. Most impressive? The fact that we moved UP from 10th to 9th on day 2 (lower division), something that virtually never happens with us. It's just another sign that we're starting to garner the depth with our lower division to make us a solid, well-rounded team.

Congrats!

Practice

This week is Technique Week! Today we did butterfly and spent about 45 minutes talking on deck before we got in. Expect the same the rest of the week, but please make sure you're ON TIME so you don't miss any key points!! Wednesday is backstroke day! I'll also be posting the videos I show as well as my stroke outline that we discuss so the swimmers can reference them again in the future, or catch up if they missed out! Watch for those this week!

Water Polo

Is now going to happen on Tuesday nights, rather than Wednesday mornings. This is in an effort to draw more people to night practice as well as provide swimmers who DON'T like polo a chance to have a cohesive practice every day.

Photos

I'll get em up as soon as I can, still working for it..

Water World

Info at the pool! The date is July 5! It's a good deal and a great time, make sure you're there!

Weekend Meets

Sat - Gators @ Mt Vernon Country Club. Warm-up is 6:30 for lower division, 6:45 for upper division. Please be there 15 minutes before your warm-up, and allow time for travel! It's off the Genesee Park exit on I-70, map available in the calendar! This is a meet against league and division rivals, a very good team. Come if you can, sign-up will be on Wednesday!
*NOTE - this is a yards pool! Note that when making cards! We'll get a yards best times print-out at the pool ASAP!

Sun - C/D @ Wheat Ridge Rec Center! This is for swimmers who have not qualified for A/B times, and is really a helpful meet! Entries are DUE from us Thursday, so we can't take anything late. Warm-up at 6:00 a.m.!

That's it for now! Sorry to miss so many days, I hope this quenched your thirst...

agh!

Too busy to post all that I need to post..but

- Night practice is ON. I'll be back from Boulder in time (barely)

- C/D meet is requiring us to get a headcount TOMORROW... So yeah, it's getting a little crazy but if you want to attend C/D meet (you must have swum your event and NOT made an A or B time) on Sunday morning, I need to know via e-mail or at practice Tuesday if you can make it!

- I don't think there will be a yourhub article this week, there's just no time!!! It'll be back, so sorry!

I'll post more later, perhaps tonight!

Luke

C/D meet date, pentathlon qualifiers!

It was finalized last night that the C/D meet will be held NEXT Sunday, June 30 at the Wheat Ridge Rec Center. Times were given but I don't have them with me at the moment, I'll be sure to add all of the info for that, and for Pentathlon as soon as I have it (they didn't give me Pentathlon info at the meeting!)



Here is a final list of swimmers who qualified for the Pentathlon, this Sunday!



Kelsey Bollig

Elise Chevalier

Cara Cogswell

Dan Cope

Ianna Debrunner

Josh Fleming

Morgan Genkinger

Tristan Gess

Molly Kruse

Jimmy Mee

Inez Moore

Todd Otto

Brian Pak

Lauren Pearce

Cody Spencer

Cassidy Stein

Derek Stein

Alex Sutherland



Total - 18



If you will NOT be attending, I need to know asap at practice, or you can leave a message at the pool or just e-mail me...



Otherwise congrats to all of these swimmers, qualifying for this meet is the sign of a truly well rounded swimmer, these swimmers have all had great seasons!



Time will be posted soon, but count on a 6 a.m. - 1/2 p.m. sort of meet. It's fun, I'd encourage everyone to sign up!



Have a great night.

YourHub.com article..

Can be found here. Watch for it Thursday!

Oh, and give me stars, it makes me feel good about myself.

Meet madness!

Here's a big ol' heaping hunk of post. Don't read it too early - it might spoil your dinner.

First - 3 practice reminders!

1 - Monday night practice is canceled because of a league meeting. There will be no coaches around! (btw, upper division - that's the hardest you've ever worked for me today.. So, uh, thanks.)

2 - Friday morning practice is canceled for upper division because of Ken Caryl! The other 2 age groups WILL swim that morning!

3 - Monday practice will be canceled for ALL age groups following that fabulous 3 day weekend of Ken Caryl and Pentathlon. We'll get more info on C/D tonight, but it's very doubtful for Sunday.

Second - Let's talk about the Stingray meet!

Everyone swam extremely well and I was especially pleased with the fantastic team atmosphere we had. There truly was a 'home-field advantage' and it had hardly anything to do with the Bucket 'O Swamp Sludge (TM) I dumped in the pool right before the meet.

Here were a few lessons learned this week.

- Quality over quantity. Our medley relays, outnumbered nearly 2-to-1, won seven out of eight races. There were big time performances from nearly every swimmer involved and it really got the team off on the right foot. The team, outnumbered by nearly 30 swimmers, showed enormous depth and ran away with a 50 point victory.

- Big things come in small packages. Sophie Aiken completed a week-long sweep, continuing her incredible improvement streak by hitting best times in every event she swam in the week's two meets. Kevin "Krusher" Kruse turned his peashooters into potent weapons, blowing away his old best time and grabbing a league qualifying time in his breaststroke - a goal dating all the way back to the beginning of last year.

- Hard work pays dividends. Ethan Schick, one of the hardest working swimmers I've ever seen, dropped six seconds in a gutsy 200 free that earned him a league-qualifying time and showed off his sky-high potential. Talk about leaving it all in the pool!

- New blood keeps the heart pumping. Gator 17-18 "rookies" Cara Cogswell, Dan Cope and Sam Garin demonstrated their true value to the team. Aside from being potent relay weapons and versatile individual competitors, they bring a strong work ethic, dedication and great spirit to the team. Welcome to the Gator family!

- Aim high. Miss and you'll land amongst the stars. When Ianna Debrunner told me at winter clinics that she'd like to attend the Pentathlon this year, I had some doubts. But this week when she hit three of the four times she needed, all doubt was erased. She didn't miss her goal, but she has the chance to be a real "star" there.

- Perseverance pays off. Longtime Gator Rebecca Garner was beginning to hit her stride at the end of last season, a result of hard work and an uncanny ability to actually listen to her coaches. This year she's taken off, hitting three more solid B times this week and threatening to qualify for league in nearly every event. Watch for a breakthrough soon!

Lots more great swims too, y'all are making my job easy...

Final note - Looking ahead to the JULY 7 quad meet between GMST, WR, state-powerhouse AAC and defending state champions GOLDEN! This will be a truly incredible opportunity to swim the absolute best competition in the league, and some of best in the entire state. The problem? The sheer mass of this meet will make it extremely long. Unless events are severely limited, the sun will be well on its way West before we pack up (read 3 p.m.) That said, I think this will be a great chance for us to come out as a team and show what we can do against the very best, I'd like as much of the team there for as long as possible, so plan ahead now!

I'll post intrasquad photos either later this afternoon or tomorrow afternoon, there's just so many it's taking my computer eons to pull itself together...

Fact (this hardly seems fair while he's out of town...) - Rich dressed as Cupid for Halloween last year, wearing nothing but a diaper and fairy wings for three days.

And there is a picture. But...he'd have to something horrible like run over my cat for me to publish it, I think...

We'll see everyone tomorrow!!

Monday night practice CANCELLED!

Hey everyone!

A few quick things..

1 - Monday night practice is canceled because there is a league meeting that I have to attend and Julie is out of town. So there will be no coaches available. Sorry!
2 - Ken Caryl entries, info and directions are posted! Check em over, notify me of mistakes!
3 - I'm still very much planning on writing about the meet Saturday, but the combination of Ken Caryl entries yesterday and Fathers Day today have put me a bit behind. The CD compilation of intrasquad photos (nearly 400) from Sean Hill that crashed my computer 4 times today didn't help either...

Anyways Mr Hill worked from start to finish at that meet and there are so many great shots and almost every member of the team is in it, so as soon as my computer stops threatening to explode, I'll get them online. Check back late Monday for more...

Oh, and we did win the meet, 427-375. And we were outnumbered, 105-76. Very nice. Everyone swam great, I couldn't be prouder!

Relays are posted!

You can view tomorrow's relays here. Sorry, I know it's late but I had 3 scratches and an add tonight... Couldn't get these together much sooner. Anyways to view the doc you MIGHT need a google account. I think I'll publish all of our results and top times this way as well if possible.. I'll experiment with it.

Notice specifically that the 8-under girls relays are currently non-existent. That's due to a last minute scratch that left us a little screwy, Julie will get them straightened out in the morning - we just don't know who to expect at the meet.

Remember, little kids at 5:45, big ones get there by 6.

Finally, some of you may have noticed a new coach at practice today, Katie Klane.

Those of you who have been around the club for a while will certainly recognize her, she's worked and swam at the club for years and years. She's also my roommate and my teammate up at CU.

She'll be joining us at the meet Saturday and then for practice all next week while Shelby, Richard and Julie go on trips. She'll be working with all age groups during that time.

While her personal swimming resume is impressive (1 year at DI UNC and multiple collegiate club champion and record holder) she also has a lot of great coaching experience. She's coached with Applewood Athletic Club the past two seasons and has been teaching lessons for many more. We're thrilled that she'll be helping out. She's a great resource so please use her while she's here!

And watch out, she gets a little crazy sometimes...

I dunno...

Fact - Richard has a collection of Kelly Clarkson songs on his iPod.

Meet lists!

Here are the promised lists and they are organized like so -

K.C. - If you have qualified in any events you are listed with the NUMBER of events you qualified for in parentheses. If you have 3 or fewer events and do not qualify for more on Saturday, simply tell me you want to swim. If you have more events, I need to hear from you what you want to do. Coaches will have some say at league/state, we let the swimmers choose whatever they want at k.c. Just as importantly, I need to know if you qualified and CAN'T come. An e-mail is acceptable. We must submit entries THIS Saturday afternoon.

The schedule runs like so -

Friday, June 22 (UPPER DIVISION ONLY!)

400's - Warm-up 12:30p, Start 1:00p
Rest of meet - Warm-up 3:00p, Start 4:00p

Saturday, June 23 (LOWER DIVISION ONLY!)

11-12's/9-10 BOYS - Warm-up 6:00a, Start 7:00a
9-10 GIRLS/8-unders - Warm-up 11:00a, Start 12:00a

Pentathlon - Your name is listed if you have qualified or are feasibly close. What I mean by that is that you have either not swam all the necessary events yet or you simply have gotten very close and haven't hit it. If you need more events, it will say how many in parentheses by your name. Remember, pentathlon requires a B time in four of the following 5 events - Fly, Back, Breast, Free (8-unders - 25, 9-12 - 50, 13-up - 100) and IM.

REMEMBER, SATURDAY'S MEET VS. STINGRAYS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO QUALIFY FOR THESE MEETS!

FINALLY, if you did NOT qual for Ken Caryl but are interested in coming up to watch/swim relays, let us know and we'll try to find you a spot!

Oh, and everything is alphabetical(ish)...

KEN CARYL

8-unders
Ianna Debrunner (2)
Beth Brewster (3)
Dylan Jacob (3)
Tristan Gess (4)
Mateo Zielbauer (1)

9-10's
Jessica Lucero (1)
Cassidy Stein (3)
Carina Wang (1)
Kevin Kruse (2)
Jason Mortenson (1)

11-12's
Katie Denney (1)
Inez Moore (6)
Morgan Genkinger (4)
Brady Cotten (1)
Evan Giusto (2)
Todd Otto (4)
Derek Stein (3)

13-14's
Kelsey Bollig (4)
Emily Cotten (1)
Molly Kruse (ALL)
Olivia Moore (1)
Sarah Papke (2)
Duncan Sutherland (1)

15-18's
Elise Chevalier (4)
Cara Cogswell (3)
Nicole Cotten (1)
Shelby Denney (3)
Laura Enger (1)
Sam Garin (2)
Rebecca Garner (4)
Ashley Hill (2)
Lauren Pearce (3)
Lauren Sutherland (3)
Briana Wenholz (4)
Casey Zelus (5)
*we could totally bring a C relay...
Dan Cope (3)
Chris Enger (4)
Josh Fleming (ALL)
Rodrigo Lander (1)
Jimmy Mee (5)
Brian Pak (ALL)
Sam Papke (3)
Scott Raia (2)
Cody Spencer (5)
Alex Stricker (1)
Alex Sutherland (1)
Riley Zelus (6)
*or 2...

PENTATHLON

Kelsey Bollig (NEEDS 1)
Beth Brewster (NEEDS 2)
Elise Chevalier (NEEDS 1)
Cara Cogswell (NEEDS 2)
Dan Cope (NEEDS 2)
Ianna Debrunner
Shelby Denney (NEEDS 2)
Chris Enger (NEEDS 1)
Josh Fleming
Rebecca Garner (NEEDS 2)
Morgan Genkinger
Tristan Gess (NEEDS 1)
Evan Giusto (NEEDS 1)
Ashley Hill (NEEDS 1)
Dylan Jacob (NEEDS 3)
Molly Kruse
Rodrigo Lander (NEEDS 2)
Jessica Lucero (NEEDS 1)
Jimmy Mee (NEEDS 1)
Inez Moore
Todd Otto (NEEDS 1)
Brian Pak
Sam Papke (NEEDS 3)
Ethan Schick (NEEDS 2)
Cody Spencer
Cassidy Stein
Derek Stein (NEEDS 1)
Alex Sutherland
Lauren Sutherland (NEEDS 3)
Briana Wenholz (NEEDS 1)
Casey Zelus (NEEDS 1)
Riley Zelus

Fact - Rich once sent an e-mail to the CU swim team with 16 words and 9 mistakes. Darn right I counted...

And I am so not swimming masters in the morning...

4 down, a lot to go...

Compliments Agnes Debrunner

Hey everyone! Sorry for the recent post lapse, that intrasquad really took it out of me (actually practice this morning post-intrasquad took it out of me..) In fact, I was so tired this morning that I had an "at 6:30 in the morning this will be easier to demonstrate than discuss" followed very shortly after by an "oh no, my phone is in the pool" moment. Oops..

Anyways no time for the usual post-meet write-up but several people (read Duncan S, Sophie A, the Giustos, Ianna D, Daria R, ect...) had a really, really great meet. So congrats to them!

To those of you who have joked that you'd love to remove my ring with a pair of pliers - it's a bit, umm, stuck now. I might have to take someone up on that...

I will post a list of CURRENTLY eligible swimmers for Ken Caryl/Pentathlon tonight! Please check this and if you ARE on the list and AREN'T attending Friday practice/Saturday meet you need to e-mail me your entries/your scratch.

ALSO - looking at the sign-up sheet I think a lot of kids who made practice missed sign-up... This is probably just due to some miscommunication but we'll be extending the sign-up through morning practice Friday.

And if you can't be there, just call me. Oh wait...

2 last notes - we've had 4 meets, and we're only on our second week of morning practice! That said, if your swimmer does NOT qualify for pentathlon or Ken Caryl, you get that weekend OFF! C/D meet is either moving, or cancelling. There doesn't seem to be anyone to host the thing, but it will NOT be that weekend.

Next, I've received numerous letters, calls, e-mails, visits and death comments over my wish to name the Gator - apparantly its name is Gary. I missed chats, chants and even a parade in his honor. What can I say, only one eye... I can't be expected to catch everything.

Final comment - it's been determined that coach Richard does NOT read this blog.. That said, I'm going to tell you an embarrassing fact about him in every post from now on until he sees it.

Fact (a warm-up..) - Richard once had an afro that he would pick out before school every day. I'll post a picture if I can find one...

Have a great night!

The official intrasquad post...

OK first, if you're reading this now, go to bed! We have practice in like, 7 hours...

We'll be having our second official intrasquad tomorrow (Wednesday!) night at the pool!

VITAL STATS -

Pool close/warm-up start: 5:30 p.m.
Meet start: 6:00 p.m.
Event sign-up: Morning practice/at the meet*

That little * means this - I would like, ideally, for every swimmer that is physically capable of swimming every event during the season to do just that - at least once. This is a great opportunity to knock out some of those odd events you wouldn't normally swim in a meet. So here's the deal:

UNLESS you need to re-swim an event again to qualify for Ken Caryl/Pentathlon, I want you swimming new events. Upper division - 3 NEW events. 9-12's 2 NEW events. 8-unders, just do what Julie says...

Remember, there are no limits on how many events you can swim, you just better get some new ones in there.. I'll re-emphasize this during practice and at the meet, but I'll have my little book out, checking you.

Make sure you swim the events you need to qual in before anything else! A list of Ken Caryl qualifiers will be posted at practice tomorrow, and for Pentathlon you need a B time in 4/5 events (fly, back, breast, free, IM) to swim - ALL THIS SEASON!

We'll also start sign-up for the meet vs Stingrays tomorrow, and first come, first serve! Events ARE being limited for this meet (except 50/25 free and backstroke) and once an event is full, it's full... 5 swimmers per event! Relays are also being severely limited, so priority will be established in this way as well.

See ya in the morning! Send Gar(r)y the Gator a goodnight kiss...

No night practice!

Not because of the weather (you guys are tough..) but because of the club board meeting - there won't be a coach available for the practice. Sorry for the late posting, we didn't realize the issue until we were at work today...



Thanks, sorry!

It's official...

The 15-18 men broke the team record of 2:04.59 by 6 hundredths of a second... That relay actually did not include Tim Campbell, but it did have a Dreesen (god knows which one.)

It's also worth noting that Brian Pak broke his own 100 breast record, set at state last year, with a 1:13.40 last week at Wheat Ridge to little fanfare. Here's your official recognition, great job buddy.

Congrats guys!

And here's this week's yourhub.com article...

http://denver.yourhub.com/Lakewood/Stories/Sports/Youth/Story~319621.aspx

Goodness what a clever title...And yes, The Swamp is our new official pool name, when it comes to swim team anyways. We're Gators after all, I'll dump some sludge in the deep end before our next meet if it makes you faster...

Side note - I'll buy 5 Laffy Taffys for whoever can come up with the best name for our currently nameless stuffed Gator mascot. 5 bonus points if you're under the age of 10 (including Cody.)

Andd I'm all posted out. Goodnight!

Meet photos!

Here are some beautiful shots from Saturday's meet, complements of Mr. Miguel Lander (son Rodrigo.)

You can view the entire album (73 photos) at http://picasaweb.google.com/mvlander/GMSTSwimMeet6907. Please take some time to check this out, there are a lot of really great shots!

Here are a few of my favorites...










Thanks again to Mr. Lander for all of these gorgeous shots, look for them in this week's YourHub!

Congrats! Some notes from the Swamp

First, for Shelby - http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/retroactive

Second - congrats to everyone who competed today! Not only were we EXTREMELY competitive with (Division 1) Columbine Knolls, close to 90 percent of today's swims were season bests with TONS of personal bests. It's crazy what 9 months did to you kids...

Because there were SO many great swims (just about every heat of that glorious 6 1/2 hour meet) I can't mention them all but there's a lot worth talking about.

Here were some highlights for me today -

- Getting the priceless 'you've gotta be kidding me' look and head shake from both Denney girls on multiple occasions as they got up on the block next to swimmers twice their size. Katie crushed some old times and Shelby hung darn close with CKST state record holder (lots of state records, actually) Ashley Weers (who only had 2-3 heads on her.)

- Getting a call from the Foothills League officials saying the only way Dylan Jacob gets to swim at league is if we tie bricks to his feet. His 25 free today - 18.4 seconds. Last year's league champ? 19.03. Anyone else excited for week 3?

- Watching Scotty Way "get it" today. He made me promise him that he swam the best of anyone on the team today, but seeing as how he averaged about a 15 second drop for every race he swam, it's hard to argue..

- Cheering Derek Stein on to 2 league times and one solid B (practically league) at one of his strongest showings since league '05.

- Watching Brady Cotten get his groove - and his mojo - back, debuting a new block dance and dropping some real time in his breaststroke, qualifying for league once more. Now if we could get the kid to grow a few (six) inches...

- Having Gator newbies Ellie Howell and Emma Sargent swim their first butterfly races ever, stay completely legal, then get out and tell me with big smiles how much 'fun' that was. Uhh...yeah!

- Seeing Tim Palese compete (and compete hard!) in his first meet ever after a tough bout with illness and a rather scary block experience Friday. Gotta love that spirit!

- Seeing Ashley Hill back in the water after an adversity-filled year that has only made her a stronger person. She serves as an inspiration to her coaches and all of her teammates and we're thrilled to have her back in the Gator family this summer.

- Being a firsthand witness to history and watching our esteemed (and oh-so-humble) 15-18 men fend off three CKST relays and set a team record (a record that isn't safe as long as these guys are together) in the medley relay with the team of Cody Spencer, Brian Pak, Josh Fleming and Riley Zelus. That 2:04 at the beginning of the meet? It didn't just break a record, it pumped up the team and put us on track for a great day. That's what real champions do. Someone call Tim Campbell and tell him we're on a mission to stamp his name out of that record book for good...

- Watching all the parents volunteer their time so readily this week and last! These meets don't run without you and I've been very impressed with our efficiency. It makes a big difference to the coaches and the swimmers and we appreciate it (except Julie, who demands to be fed grapes and dusted with a soft mist next week.)

And again, there are so many more people I could have talked about, I was really proud of the effort we put in today!

Don't forget -

Ken Caryl AND the ACC Pentathlon are in 2 WEEKS! You have 2 more meets to qualify for those events (intrasquad Weds. and meet vs. Stingrays Sat.) so you need to check your status and make sure you choose your events wisely! I'll post more details on that soon. If you qualify, I'd STRONGLY recommend attending! Those are 2 of my favorite meets of the year!

ALSO - I haven't received any photos from parents yet! If you have anything, please send it to me ASAP! Mr. Landers spent virtually the entire meet shooting Gators in action, a special thanks to him - can't wait to see the shots! I'll be posting a super condensed version of this post onto YourHub.com tomorrow for Thursday publication (hopefully) so I'd really like to publish some of your work!

morinl@colorado.edu

Ok well it's late now, I'm glad you all get to see how I spend my Saturday nights... Have a great weekend, we'll see everyone Monday!

Night practice is retroactively cancelled...

I can do that, right?

Sorry, forgot to post about this one before practice but I was tired from mowing the monster weeds at the club all day and my brain wasn't really working. Anyways it's about 41 degrees, I would hope no one showed up..

If you did show up, we keep the thumb screws in the back of the snack bar, I'll get 'em out for you tomorrow...

That said, tomorrow morning is looking a bit like this morning. For those of you who slept in, we actually did end up getting people who showed up in for all 3 practices, but it was a touch cold. It'll probably be the same drill for tomorrow, especially if it's sunny again. Just use your discretion, I won't be mad if you don't bring your 6-year-old, I'll be less sympathetic if you don't get your 16-year-old butt out of bed.

Finally, YourHub.com online editor Erin Feese got in touch with me today and said she'd be willing to give us some space in the paper every week if we submit it to her. Well she couldn't promise it, but it sounds like she's got a quarter-page slot she needs to fill (the same slot we filled today. Here's the extended version.) and is requesting highlights, results and an action photo after each meet. I'll take care of the results and highlights, but I need help with photos. So get nutty with your cameras at meets, shoot me some great action shots, get them to me in a timely manner and they might get published. It might even go front page one of these weeks (she said we'll get one cover...) and I can post lots of photos online.

I'll also get a photo sharing community together soon, sorry, I know, lots of promises, not so many results yet.

That's it, make sure you check up on the site tomorrow, I'll definitely post relays PRE-MEET so we're all on the same page come Saturday morning!

Thanks!

p.s. commenting on the blog is OK. In fact, I'd be at least 10 percent less cranky in the morning if I knew you read the blog (compared to 500 percent less cranky if you brought me coffee...)

Get over here!

Rather than "moving in during the during the night and settling in over Denver" the "storm" doesn't appear to be here yet. Kathy Sabine can be such a liar sometimes (but I still love her.) It's a little colder than usual but, c'mon.

Anyways upper division practice is still on. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

If things take a turn for the worse by the later practices, you may call the club (303-985-5880) and I'll try to keep the phone with me. But I'll also be coaching (and expecting thousands, if not millions of calls), so I'll just update the message if I can't answer. And 8-under parents, don't take the 65 degree thing 100 percent seriously, but if it's too cold for your kid, you're allowed to keep em home.

OK see everyone at the pool.

I have a hunch...

That we'll be forced to cancel morning practice.

Despite the beautiful forecast, (47, feels like 40, 20 mph winds. Really, I just want the pool all to myself.) I do not endorse torturing swimmers in most situations.

I'll post before it's time to leave in the morning (maybe not by much) but uh, use your common sense. Except you 13-18 year olds, I know that part of your brain is on an extended lunch break. Ask your little sister. Just don't call poor Sandy.

Julie also wanted me to pass it on that if it's not 65 degrees (it won't be) don't bring your 8-unders. Unless they've been especially sassy...

We WILL be doing relays tomorrow for Saturday's meet, regardless of whether we have practice or not. I need any missing entries ASAP by e-mail! MorinL@Colorado.Edu

Some final reminders -

Letters of interest for the open coach's assistant jobs are due Saturday. Strong coffee brewing experience a plus.

Warmups for Saturday's meet vs Columbine Knolls (at GMSC) will be as follow

• 12-unders - 6:00 a.m. - 6:15 a.m. (be at pool at 5:45 a.m.)
• 13-ups - 6:15 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. (be at pool at 6:00 a.m.)

I'll post everything possible from team manager as soon as I get the time to figure out how (might be tomorrow, if the pool doesn't open)

See everyone tomorrow.

Or not.

Back in action!

Hey everyone!



Sorry the blog has been M.I.A. the last few days, this weird thing called 'work' popped up out of nowhere and just won't leave me alone...



A few announcements -



FIRST - Job announcment! Any of you who have been lucky enough to be around at 9 have seen that our 8-under division has exploded in size!! We're thrilled to have so many newcomers, but at the same time we need some help getting it under control.



We're looking to hire two people to come every day from 9-9:45 and get in with the kids and help them learn. The positions will go 5 weeks (or so) and will pay $5 a day (that's like, $7 an hour or something.)



All upper division swimmers are welcome and encouraged to apply! If you are interested, please turn in a short letter of interest to either myself or Julie by Saturday! It's a great opportunity to make some extra money and get really valuable teaching/coaching experience that could help you get a job later down the road...



SECOND - Meet sign-up was today! If you missed practice/didn't sign up for the meet, please come tomorrow to get on the list. If you CAN'T attend tomorrow and missed today, please send your entries to me via e-mail - morinl@colorado.edu. Bailey and Caleb - you're covered.



That's it for now, work is back and he's starting to nag...

Monday practice reminders

A few things to note for MONDAY!

• Morning practice starts
  
• Upper Division - 6:30 a.m. - 8:00 a.m.
• Please COME and be on time! We'll be having a quick meeting at 6:30 to discuss the season and a few other things.
  
• 9-12 - 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.
• 8-unders - 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

• Night practice will start for upper division, Monday/Tuesday/Thursday
  
• 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
• Night practice is OPTIONAL and meant to supplement morning practice, not necessarily to replace it. If you can make the morning, we'd like to see you there!

I'm currently also working on setting up a photo sharing system where parents can post photos they take online. And still working on obtaining/posting results. Coming, promise!

Thanks! See y'all Monday.

Congrats swimmers!

Congratulations to everyone who swam today in a resounding victory over the Wheat Ridge Pihranas! To be fair, they're a much smaller club, but you guys kicked butt!



I was also thrilled to see all of the contributions our brand new swimmers were able to make and I'm very excited about the future potential for everyone!



A few moments that stuck out in my mind -



- Jessica Way losing goggles and a cap during a race - and never slowing down

- The return of the Moore girls - Olivia and Gabrielle swimming their first meets after a season (or multiple season) hiatus and not missing a beat

- Tristan Debrunner's well earned 6-second drop in the 50 free after a very hard working winter (he made more clinics than I did...)

- A preview of whats to come of an elite upper division squad. Hey boys, how's a state relay title sound?

- Cassidy Stein's debut as a 50 swimmer, showing that the 8-to-9 jump isn't unkind to everyone...

- Jessica Lucero having a bit of a breakthrough meet and showing a bit of competitive fire we haven't seen before

- Dylan Jacob crushing the state time in the 100 free by 11 seconds in our first meet of the year. Wow.

- Baily Sherrard stepping up and swimming a distance freestyle program (including that nasty 200) and showing some real grit

- All of our new swimmers (including a huge group of ultra-tough 8-unders, some CARA transfers and a few league veterans) coming out and competing hard for the team!



We had a lot more special races but these ones were really great to me. I hope everyone had as much fun as the coaches today!



A side note - we had a few no call/no shows today. Remember that when you sign up for a meet, we put you on relays and expect you to show! It's certainly understandable that things happen and sometimes a kid is forced to miss, but please e-mail me (I checked my e-mail as late as midnight last night) or call the club so we know what's going on and we can make adjustments!



I'd also like to take a minute to re-emphasize the importance of being on time for warm-up! 12-unders must be READY to go at 6 because they only swim until 6:15. I still expect the upper division to be there at 6 because that group arguably needs more warm-up time (longer events!) and you can't run off of 5 minutes of warm-up. Make sure you AND your kids are ready to go! Cards can wait until AFTER warm-up for home meets (get em done before warm-up on the road, 6:30-7:00 warm-ups then.)



I promise I'll post results and perhaps best times as well as soon as I have them (and as soon as I figure out how to do it...)



Stay tuned...Have a great weekend! We'll see everyone at morning practice Monday!

Practice, meet reminders!

Remember -

Upper division - practice at 10 a.m. today!
12-unders - no practice today (enjoy your last day of school!)

For the meet tomorrow (WR @ GMST) -

Warm-up begins at 6 a.m. Because of the increasing size of our team, and the very small size of our pool, we will be splitting the warm-up like this.

12-unders - warm-up 6:00 - 6:15 - be at the swim club at 5:45 and READY TO SWIM at 6!
Upper division - warm-up 6:15 - 6:30 - be at the swim club at 6:00 and READY TO SWIM at 6:15!

Finally, if you want to enter the meet, please e-mail me asap with your entries so I know you're coming. It's too late to get into relays anymore if I haven't heard from you yet, but please e-mail if you're coming and haven't signed up yet.

morinl@colorado.edu

Thanks! Can't wait to start seeing you all at 6 a.m. rather than 6 p.m.!

Practice is on!!

The weather is nice and we are having practice today

Plan B

In case we have to cancel again due to cold weather, I'd like to encourage anyone interested to head over to the gm rec center to swim with me anyways.. You'll have to pay a normal entrance fee, but we need to get some swimming in!



Just remember that if we have to cancel because of lightening, we can't swim at the rec either.



So here's to hoping we just don't have to cancel!



Watch for a 4 p.m. update.

Practice scrapped

It's getting colder and the storms haven't left, so practice is off for the evening!



Don't forget -



8-unders - 5 p.m. Weds/Thurs



Upper division - we WILL be practicing Friday. 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.



Everyone else - no practice Friday, the pool will be opening at 1!



Thanks, I sure hope we can swim some time this week...

Practice not looking good..

The storms have returned, lightning is everywhere and the temp seems to be dropping fast (currently a very hypothermic 52...)



It's frustrating to have to cancel practice but it's looking more and more likely.



I'll post an update just after 4 with the final decision!

Important practice notice!

Please note that we will be adding an extra practice this week week (Tues, Weds, Thurs) at 5 p.m. for the 8-unders! All other practices will stay the same, but we've simply grown too large for the entire team to fit into a 2-hour time slot.



Again, the only swimmers directly affected by this are the 8-under age division, and coaches Julie and Shelby will be contacting all of those families by phone.



Have a fun and safe Memorial Day! We'll see you all tomorrow, but watch the blog! It's supposed to be cold again...

Intrasquad!

Just wanted to say great job and thanks to everyone who came out to the pool to participate in our intrasquad meet tonight! It was a bit chaotic, we know, and a bit cold once the sun set, but hopefully everyone had a great time!



A reminder - NO PRACTICE until Tuesday! We have GMHS graduation Friday (Julie and I both have to get to go to graduation) then a holiday Monday. Enjoy the weekend and let's hope for some warmer weather next week!



A final note, if any of your swimmers (new or old!) are feeling discouraged about a disqualification or what they feel like is a slow time, it should be remembered that:



A) we've had ONE practice!! This was just an orientation!

B) everyone gets disqualified in breaststroke/butterfly at LEAST once. I dq'ed in the breaststroke the first 4 times I swam it. Coach Julie still disqualifies regularly.

C) no day that ends with an ice cream social can be a bad day.



Here's a good practice tip for anyone struggling with a kicking problem - while you're at home watching TV, lay on your back, put your hands under your bottom and practice the kick - over and over and over again. Watch the movement of your feet, knees and the direction your toes are pointing. And if you're not sure how the kick should look, I promise, you'll hear plenty about it over the next few weeks!



Happy Memorial day, we'll see you all Tuesday!

Some quick reminders/calendar update!

Don't forget -



Intrasquad TONIGHT! This will be very low key. I know that the majority of the team probably hasn't even been in the water yet so this is little more than a nice warm-up and an opportunity for new families to get accustomed to how the meet process works. We'll be hosting 4 or 5 meets this year, so it's vital that everyone understands how the process of running a meet goes, as well as the importance of volunteering!



Be there by 5:30! That's when we'll start our parent meeting and warm-ups!



THE CALENDAR



Some people have had trouble with the calendar because as it turns out, you must have a google account to access it. Oops!



So I published another version of the calendar, but it's pretty unreadable and you could spend all day clicking on each event trying to figure out what's going on. My suggestion would be to follow the button I've published below and take two minutes to create yourself an account! Google won't do anything with your information and it's very easy to sign up.



Once you've done that, the calendar you can access by clicking the button is much more functional, and is also printable. Just remember that it's always subject to change, so it's probably worth checking online every once in a while, even if you've printed it out.



Have a great day! See everyone tonight!



- Luke

Hate to do it but...

No swimming this afternoon.. It's a blustery 48 and even if the rain/hail/lightening/wind were to stop, that's just too cold to be swimming outdoors safely.

That said, I will be at the club at 7 p.m. with running shoes (and my inhaler) ready to run. Unless it's still pouring rain, in which case I'll be sitting in my car shivering and telling you to go home.

But if the weather is clear, anyone is welcome to join me for a little jog. If you're an upper division swimmer you should be there.

Hope everyone has a great day, DON'T FORGET, parents meeting/intrasquad warm-up at 5:30 tomorrow (Thursday)! Please be there!

Oh, and bring your favorite ice cream topping to share for our ice cream social afterwards. I'll be bringing old coffee grounds (delicious on vanilla), so if you don't want that you should bring something else!

- Luke

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Weather watch...

So the skys are clear(ish) and the temp is warm(ish) right now, but the forecast for tonight isn't pretty..

Stay tuned to the blog, I'll post updates as we get closer (good thing I have nothing else to do..) but tentatively, we're still on.

Unless it's pouring rain, we'll still do something active, even if we can't get in. Luke needs to lose his gut.

Bring a pair of socks and sneakers to the pool as a backup! Look for another update around 4 p.m.

- Luke

NO PRACTICE TODAY!!

For those of you who may have been wondering...



Practice is canceled today (Tuesday) because of weather (unless you really want to swim in the 48 degree air)



Some other important reminders..



Thursday 24th -



5:30 p.m. - Parent Meeting

6 p.m. - Intrasquad meet (Ice cream social afterwards)



Friday 25th -



NO PRACTICE! (GMHS graduation)



Remember, the schedule is a bit, uh, screwy the first few weeks, so PLEASE check the calendar (right sidebar) to make sure you are up to date!



See you all tomorrow (hopefully..) Check the blog if the weather is bad for practice status.



- Luke

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Startin up!

PRACTICE



Don't forget! We have our first official practice MONDAY, MAY 21 at the swim club! The pool is full and the weather has been nice (so far..) so we're ready to roll!



Practice will be after school for 2 weeks, running through June 1 when everyone is on summer break (your coaches have been on break for what, 2 weeks now?)



Times are as follow:



6 p.m. - 7 p.m. - 8-unders, 9-10's, 11-12's

7 p.m. - 8 p.m. - Upper Division



We are looking at adding another hour if attendance warrants such. Watch the blog for updates!



INTRASQUAD



We will be having our first intrasquad meeting THIS Thursday, MAY 24 at the swim club! The intent of this meet is not only to get the kids excited for the season, but also to allow new families and swimmers the opportunity to learn how our meets work.



Watch the blog for further updates! We'll see everyone at the pool!



- Luke

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