How fun and convenient it is to swim in a meet down the street from your house! We don't often get this luxury. This weekend, Lexy is swimming nine events in the Midland Barracuda meet, and we are making it a family affair -- Mom is timing, Sydney and Julius are "running" and Dad is taking video and generally cheering Lexy on.
We also are very fond of swim meets that last 90 minutes! There were so few kids signed up for the morning events, that we started at 10 am, and were done by 11:30. Now that's my kind of meet!
Actually, the meet started Friday night, and the office staff played a CD of Michael Jackson's best hits for the warmups. You know, the guy could really sing. It's too bad he melted down later in life.
Lexy swam her only long event Friday night, the 200 Free. She was trying to beat her best time of 3:07.36 and get a Q1 time of 3:00.19. She swam in the last heat, with girls who already had very fast times, so she finished 6 seconds faster at 3:01.42. Just 1.23 to go! She can do it!
On Saturday morning Lexy had four events: 50 Fly, 100 Free, 100 Breast and 50 Back. In her first event, 50 Fly, she was trying to beat her best time of 50.31 and get a Q1 of 43.59. She shaved off 4 seconds, to finish with a best time of 46.45. That 50 Fly is tough, but she did a great job.
In her 50 Back and 100 Free she was pretty much on her times. No major changes at all. But the real excitement came when Lexy got up on the blocks to swim the 100 Breaststroke. She had no recorded time in this event, but she got the Q1 time a couple of weeks ago at Eastern Michigan in the 50 Breast, and then she beat it at Oakland. We had every reason to believe she would do well in the 100 Breast today.
And boy, did she! Not only did she get the Q1 (the time to beat was 1:48.39) with a time of 1:48.18, she also broke the meet record for that event in her age group! It was Lexy's very first meet record. The best part was that she was swimming in Lane 3, where I was timing, and I got to give her the first wet hug for getting her Q1!
I cannot vouch for these videos -- Ed was behind the camera this meet!
Watch Lexy swim the 200 Free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17mfZVlSG4A
Watch Lexy swim the 50 Fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQagKVTySF4
Watch Lexy swim the 100 Free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvm8xrDPe6o
Watch Lexy swim the 100 Breast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYIRt-t1iHs
Watch Lexy swim the 50 Back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teBAnMXiAIc
Looking forward to a great day tomorrow, and four more events.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Lexy's Triumphant Return
Lexy has been away at swim camp for a week, and a long week was had by all. Lex had some less-than-ideal experiences with the other campers and her roommate, resulting in some late night sobbing sessions. But she persevered, and had a very successful week.
I couldn't believe how many kids there were! It was easily over 60 total. Here they all are, on the starting side of the pool deck: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQx7GcnKzi0
Coach Pete Hovland has been coaching at Oakland over 30 years, and he told the parents he used the same techniques, the same drills and the same teaching methods with the campers that he uses on his varsity swimmers. It made me feel that Lexy's received a quality first swim camp experience.
Today, on the last morning of camp, the coaches organized a mini swim meet for the parents to demonstrate what the kids had learned. It was very obvious to me and, according to the comments of the parents around me, that the kids had made a lot of progress in the week.
The meet was comprised entirely of relays, with each team having 8 members. Since the ages in the camp ranged widely, there were a variety of ages on each team, but they were organized to compete with kids in the same age range, i.e. 13 year olds would swim against 13 year olds; 9 year olds would swim against 9 year olds, and so on. This way, the teams were really close competitively.
After each event, the teams were assigned points based on how they finished First Place got one point, and so on -- so the team with the lowest score after eight events would be declared the winner and all the participants would win a Varsity Oakland Grizzlies swim cap!
By the time we had reached the seventh out of the eight events, Lexy's team, in Lane 1, was in first place, leading by one point.
The last event was the Freestyle relay - I recorded the entire event because I knew it would go fast and was it ever exciting!! Remember, Lex is always the last swimmer.
Watch Freestyle relay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K05O0Gn98M
P.S. -- They won the swim cap!!
Here are the other relays. I missed the backstroke relay (forgot to push Record!) but I have all the others. I only taped the last couple of legs because the videos would get quite long. Some are crazy and fun! If you're a Lexacuda follower, I hope you notice her great improvements in breaststroke and butterfly!
Corkscrew Relay: alternating freestyle and backstroke, they swim in a spiral to the other end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSqQzsE-zqw
Breaststroke Relay: they got second in this one, but look how close it was!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cxWwdjkFTk
Inner Tube Relay: the kids had to sit in the tube and get to the other end without falling out. They weren't supposed to lay on their backs and do backstroke, but some kids got away with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL3SL-U4hHE
Butterfly Relay: Sorry about the bad camera work. I got so into watching her stroke that I lost my focus! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XKF7NqA7UA
T-Shirt Relay: kids had to swim with a shirt on and then transfer that shirt to the next swimmer. They got pretty creative with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4nCi_rSRa0
Well, not sure if we'll go back to the same camp next year, but if we do, I'm sure it will be a positive experience. Now -- let's see if Lex gets any more Q1s for the state meet!
I couldn't believe how many kids there were! It was easily over 60 total. Here they all are, on the starting side of the pool deck: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQx7GcnKzi0
Coach Pete Hovland has been coaching at Oakland over 30 years, and he told the parents he used the same techniques, the same drills and the same teaching methods with the campers that he uses on his varsity swimmers. It made me feel that Lexy's received a quality first swim camp experience.
Today, on the last morning of camp, the coaches organized a mini swim meet for the parents to demonstrate what the kids had learned. It was very obvious to me and, according to the comments of the parents around me, that the kids had made a lot of progress in the week.
The meet was comprised entirely of relays, with each team having 8 members. Since the ages in the camp ranged widely, there were a variety of ages on each team, but they were organized to compete with kids in the same age range, i.e. 13 year olds would swim against 13 year olds; 9 year olds would swim against 9 year olds, and so on. This way, the teams were really close competitively.
After each event, the teams were assigned points based on how they finished First Place got one point, and so on -- so the team with the lowest score after eight events would be declared the winner and all the participants would win a Varsity Oakland Grizzlies swim cap!
By the time we had reached the seventh out of the eight events, Lexy's team, in Lane 1, was in first place, leading by one point.
The last event was the Freestyle relay - I recorded the entire event because I knew it would go fast and was it ever exciting!! Remember, Lex is always the last swimmer.
Watch Freestyle relay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K05O0Gn98M
P.S. -- They won the swim cap!!
Here are the other relays. I missed the backstroke relay (forgot to push Record!) but I have all the others. I only taped the last couple of legs because the videos would get quite long. Some are crazy and fun! If you're a Lexacuda follower, I hope you notice her great improvements in breaststroke and butterfly!
Corkscrew Relay: alternating freestyle and backstroke, they swim in a spiral to the other end. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSqQzsE-zqw
Breaststroke Relay: they got second in this one, but look how close it was!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cxWwdjkFTk
Inner Tube Relay: the kids had to sit in the tube and get to the other end without falling out. They weren't supposed to lay on their backs and do backstroke, but some kids got away with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL3SL-U4hHE
Butterfly Relay: Sorry about the bad camera work. I got so into watching her stroke that I lost my focus! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XKF7NqA7UA
T-Shirt Relay: kids had to swim with a shirt on and then transfer that shirt to the next swimmer. They got pretty creative with it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4nCi_rSRa0
Well, not sure if we'll go back to the same camp next year, but if we do, I'm sure it will be a positive experience. Now -- let's see if Lex gets any more Q1s for the state meet!
Monday, June 15, 2009
Oakland Live "y"ers Invitational -- Day 2
Every time we go to a meet we learn something new. Being under age 12, Lexy usually swims in the mornings, which makes deciding whether we are going to stay over in a hotel a no-brainer. You get up early, you swim, and you're done by noon. Once in a while, though, we encounter a meet where the 12 & unders swim in the afternoon. This makes a rude surprise for the teenagers, who are used to the p.m. timeslots.
Since Lex swam in the afternoon for both days of this meet, we drove down on Saturday morning, she swam in the afternoon, and then we went home. Not only did we save on the hotel room, but we also got to sleep in our own beds, which I think is an added bonus. Also, this meet was only about an hour and a half from the house, so not unmanageable.
The driving, however, does tend to tire you out, so I really do think there are some tradeoffs -- hotel and meal costs vs. gas costs and familiarity.
Lexy had a full day on Saturday, and actually fuller than I expected. I hadn't signed her up to swim the 100 Fly, but she was on the roster to swim it anyway. So, after all was said and done, she swam the 200 Free, the 50 Back the 50 Breast and the 100 Fly.
In the 200 Free, Lexy was about 5 seconds slower, but she was faster in everything else today.
Watch Lexy's four events.
200 Free: Lexy is in lane 7 and finisheds five seconds slower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DY89qdgTkk
50 Back - half a second faster, Lexy's is in Lane 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDDqXdygVpU
50 Breast - half a second faster and still a Q1! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC8GnW9Mi6U
100 Fly - First time swimming and within four seconds of a Q1! Try not to listen to the guy who is barking in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5zFOVk3bQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5zFOVk3bQ
After the meet, we walked to Lexy's dorm and got her settled in for her week-long swim camp. We were a little later than the other kids since only a few of the kids were swimming in the OLY meet, but we met up with the rest of the group just as they were finishing their tour of the campus and headed for the dining hall. Lexy called me later that evening to tell me how great the food was (they have an ice cream bar) and how hot the room is (we should have brought a fan). But hey, let's face it, it's a lot better than a mosquito infested tent up in Harrison! I'm looking forward to the mini-swim meet the camp will host on Friday, and seeing some improvement in her fly, back and breast strokes.
Love you louie!!
Since Lex swam in the afternoon for both days of this meet, we drove down on Saturday morning, she swam in the afternoon, and then we went home. Not only did we save on the hotel room, but we also got to sleep in our own beds, which I think is an added bonus. Also, this meet was only about an hour and a half from the house, so not unmanageable.
The driving, however, does tend to tire you out, so I really do think there are some tradeoffs -- hotel and meal costs vs. gas costs and familiarity.
Lexy had a full day on Saturday, and actually fuller than I expected. I hadn't signed her up to swim the 100 Fly, but she was on the roster to swim it anyway. So, after all was said and done, she swam the 200 Free, the 50 Back the 50 Breast and the 100 Fly.
In the 200 Free, Lexy was about 5 seconds slower, but she was faster in everything else today.
Watch Lexy's four events.
200 Free: Lexy is in lane 7 and finisheds five seconds slower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DY89qdgTkk
50 Back - half a second faster, Lexy's is in Lane 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDDqXdygVpU
50 Breast - half a second faster and still a Q1! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qC8GnW9Mi6U
100 Fly - First time swimming and within four seconds of a Q1! Try not to listen to the guy who is barking in the background:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5zFOVk3bQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV5zFOVk3bQ
After the meet, we walked to Lexy's dorm and got her settled in for her week-long swim camp. We were a little later than the other kids since only a few of the kids were swimming in the OLY meet, but we met up with the rest of the group just as they were finishing their tour of the campus and headed for the dining hall. Lexy called me later that evening to tell me how great the food was (they have an ice cream bar) and how hot the room is (we should have brought a fan). But hey, let's face it, it's a lot better than a mosquito infested tent up in Harrison! I'm looking forward to the mini-swim meet the camp will host on Friday, and seeing some improvement in her fly, back and breast strokes.
Love you louie!!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Breaking in the New Suit
Today and tomorrow, Lexy is swimming at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. Oakland is a fairly new school with an absolutely pristine swimming complex. Lexy was scheduled to swim four events today, and she will swim four more tomorrow. And, after she's finished with her events tomorrow, we'll check her in to her swimming camp, which is also taking place at Oakland. We appreciate the Oakland club for timing their meet so conveniently for us! She'll be here for a week, and then I'll come back to get her on Friday and deliver her to next week's meet in Dearborn.
The big excitement today was that Lexy was swimming for the first time in her new Speedo FastSkin. If you'll recall, this suit was promised to Lexy when she got her first qualifying time for the state meet, and she got that two weeks ago. These are popular suits and it was hard to find one in the size and color Lexy wanted, but we called around and managed to get it in time for this meet. And, it wasn't until I walked into the viewing stands that I realized I'd forgotten my video camera. Oh well, all that means is there will be no visual aids for this installment. I'll remember it tomorrow.
The suit, however, did not make a marked difference in Lexy's performance. She finished about a second slower in the 50 Free, about two-tenths faster in the 50 Fly, she was disqualified in the 100 Backstroke for gliding too far into her turn, and finished about two seconds slower than her fastest time in the 100 Freestyle. While it wasn't a day with big celebrations, you can't have those every time. Lexy put in a very solid performance, swimming at or just below her fastest times.
We came home tonight to sleep in our own beds instead of staying in Oakland. . .and we rented
Alvin and the Chipmunks from the big red box video vending machine. How cool is that?
The big excitement today was that Lexy was swimming for the first time in her new Speedo FastSkin. If you'll recall, this suit was promised to Lexy when she got her first qualifying time for the state meet, and she got that two weeks ago. These are popular suits and it was hard to find one in the size and color Lexy wanted, but we called around and managed to get it in time for this meet. And, it wasn't until I walked into the viewing stands that I realized I'd forgotten my video camera. Oh well, all that means is there will be no visual aids for this installment. I'll remember it tomorrow.
The suit, however, did not make a marked difference in Lexy's performance. She finished about a second slower in the 50 Free, about two-tenths faster in the 50 Fly, she was disqualified in the 100 Backstroke for gliding too far into her turn, and finished about two seconds slower than her fastest time in the 100 Freestyle. While it wasn't a day with big celebrations, you can't have those every time. Lexy put in a very solid performance, swimming at or just below her fastest times.
We came home tonight to sleep in our own beds instead of staying in Oakland. . .and we rented
Alvin and the Chipmunks from the big red box video vending machine. How cool is that?
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