We have been looking forward to the Guppy Bowl for weeks, but getting there was quite an adventure! It wasn't a complicated drive down to Lake Orion, but we got about two inches of very wet snow last night -- on top of the foot we got earlier in the week. Getting out of Midland and over to 75 was a white knuckle ride. We saw at least two people in the center median, having just recently slid in. We saw a lot of telltale tread marks that could only mean that there had been many more! About every 20 miles or so we saw someone else who had just gone in or who was getting towed out. A few had their headlights pointing TOWARD us. We were happy to make it to Lake Orion safe and sound.
The Guppy Bowl showcases events for swimmers 8 years old and under. You might be wondering - how many swimmers can there be at 8 years old and under? Twenty-two swim teams entered 233 swimmers! More than two thirds of these were girls, and two were Barracudas -- Lexy and Lydia. They both had a great meet, swimming five events each. A big thank you to Coach Mary Hillebrand (Lydia's mom) who was the coach on deck for the meet.
The U.S.S. meets are typically harder than our local MTSL meets, so we don't go in with dreams of blue ribbons. Our goals are to shave off seconds and turn in personal best times -- which Lexy and Lydia both accomplished. Lexy placed in the top 8 in each of her five events, and came home with two seconds, one fourth, one fifth and one eighth - a VERY successful day!
The first event of the day - and Lexy's first event - was the 100 I.M., one of Lexy's favorites. She recorded a best time of 1:37.78, shaving about 4 seconds off her previous best time. She placed 5th in the event, taking home a really cute Guppy Bowl medal with a green ribbon.
After a substantial lag due to a computer glitch, Lexy got back in the pool and pulled out an 8th place and another best time in the 25 backstroke. She took off about one-tenth of a second to record a 21.18.
A few minutes later she took second place in the 100 Freestyle, winning her heat and scoring a great fleece scarf (the heat winner's prize). This is an event Lexy has only swum twice, and this time she took FIVE seconds off her time, coming in at a very respectable 1:21.02. This is the first 9-year old time that she has achieved.
Her next event was the 50 Freestyle, where she turned in a 37.94 -- about six-tenths of a second faster than her previous best. We think she placed fourth in this race. Finally, she swam the 50 backstroke. This was another heat winner, so she snagged another scarf! I didn't remember her ever posting a time for this in the past, but she beat her previous time by about five seconds, and another second place!
We're glad we got this chance to go to the Guppy Bowl in 2008. Since Lexy will be 9 next year, she will be too old. It was a worthwhile experience. We hope all Lexy's teammates had successful weekends, at the Michigan Open and also the Huron Valley Penguin meet. We are looking forward to the Penguin meet next year.
We're looking forward to next week's meet, the Mt. Pleasant Invitational, in Alma, Mich. These are usually at Alma College - Home of the Fighting Scots! Go Dolphins!!
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