Sunday, February 14, 2010

Michigan Open, Feb 12-14, 2010

This was Lexy's first trip to the Michigan Open, a meet for swimmers with "A" times. Lexy was qualified to swim 9 events in this meet. There are only two meets left in the season now: the Junior Olympics and the short course state meet. The swimmers in the meet this weekend were trying to improve their times, either to a Q1 (state meet) or Q2 (junior olympics). Q1 is faster than Q2.

The weekend started very well, with Lexy dropping 33 seconds in the 500 Freestyle, her Friday night event. This qualified her for the state meet with a Q1 time! She iss now qualified to swim three events at states, which is my minimum to make the trip.

On Saturday Lexy swam four individual events: 200 Free, 100 IM, 100 Fly and 100 Breast. Lexy already has Q1 times in the last two, so she was going for faster times in the first two. She swam solidly in both the other events, but still not enough for the Q1. She can swim them at JO's and try again.

Saturday we went for a good pasta dinner to get Lexy revved up with carbs for Sunday (and to celebrate Valentine's Day). Lelli's in Auburn Hills was a welcome surprise.

Sunday started with the 200 IM. Lex needed to drop 12 seconds for the Q1. She dropped an amazing 6 and a half, to finish at 3:00.13. Her times in the 50 free, the 100 Free and the 50 breast were all good, but none earned her spots at states. She will swim those at JO's and, if she makes the Q1, can go on to swim those events at states.

As a family, we feel so fortunate to be able to go to these special meets to cheer Lexy on. She is a talented swimmer and we will continue this as long as she continues to enjoy the sport.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

May I Please Have Second(s)?

At this year's BAYS Valentine's Day Invitational, we were seeing red. Not because things were going poorly, not at all. Red is the color of every ribbon Lexy will get for today's meet.

Lexy swam six events total and, every time, came in second. That goes for both relays as well as her four individual events.

We don't usually focus too much on Lexy's place in races. Usually it's whether she bettered her time -- that's what's really important. A couple of years ago, when she swam 8 & Under at the MTSL championships, she took first in everything, and Ed was so surprised when he came home to four 1st place tropies.

But 10 is a long way from 8.

Lexy's first event today was the 200 Freestyle -- one of her better events. She's good at the endurance races, less so in the sprints. Her last best time was 2:35.90, and she needed 2:31.59 to get a state qualifying time. She did better her time by nearly 4 seconds, finishing at 2:32.13. She was neck and neck with her teammate, Jenny Yu, the whole time, but at the end Jenny finished with a 2:29, sealing the win.

The 100 IM was next, which has always been a strong event for Lexy. Jenny and Lexy were the top two seeds, with times only two seconds apart. But Jenny Yu is CRAZY fast at backstroke, and it's a weak stroke for Lexy. So, second place again.

In the 50 Free, there were three people seeded faster than Lexy, and even though Lexy swam it one second slower than usual, she took second!

Lastly, she swam the 50 breaststroke. This is Lexy's strongest stroke, and she and Jenny Yu were the top two seeds again, with Jenny two seconds faster. Lexy dropped the two seconds to finish at 42.89, but Jenny was just on fire today, finishing first again. Lexy had to be content with second yet again.

I definitely do not want to sound disappointed about second place. There have been some meets where Lexy has finished at or near the bottom of the pack. We are very pleased with how well she has been swimming. Most of all, I am so glad she has been hitting her turns! All the extra attention paid to the turns has paid dividends in dropped time. Way to go Lexy!!

Lastly, there are no videos again this week for a couple reasons: first, my preferred video capture device had a nervous breakdown. Second, I used my backup video capture device (my phone) but cannot upload those to YouTube. Boo. Hiss.

See you next week at the Michigan Open!!