. . . and now, turning to sports and weather . . .
Lex had a good day of swimming, but she didn't qualify for any more events for next weekend's Michigan Team Swim League Championships. She'll need to be content to swim the 50 Free, 100 Free, 200 Free and 100 IM.
On Saturday, swimming in a dual meet against the Bay Area swim team, Lexy tried her hardest to break the barriers keeping her from qualifying in the other 50 yard events. While she finished in second place in nearly everything, she was still a second or two, or even a few tenths of a second shy of a qualifying time. Qualifying times were hard to come by today, and Lex wasn't the only one who was frustrated.
Watch Saturday's videos:
200 Medley Relay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj8wg4qP0jU
50 Fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Lob7Wvrsk
50 Back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX4IGeR9H4k
50 Breast: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVd-VCbHvq4
And now to weather -- winter made a comeback in full force today. It snowed nearly all day, leaving us with about 5.5 inches when all was said and done. Just one more brutal reminder that winter isn't over in mid-Michigan until it is darned good and ready to be done.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentine's Day Meet, Bay City Western High School
What's there to love about a swim meet on Valentine's Day? A lot, if you're swimming to qualify in the state meet. It also helps when the organizers move the start time from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. I hate going to swim meets in the dark! This one was also better because it was only about 10 minutes away in Bay City and, since it was snowing lightly, we didn't have too far to go in the snow.
Lexy had a full day, with two relays and four individual events. She has already qualified for three events at the league championships: the 50 Free, 100 Free and 200 Free. She needs to qualify in all the other events: 100 I.M., 50 Fly, 50 Back and 50 Breast. These were the four she swam today.
I think you'll love the end of the first relay. This was the 200 yard medley relay, where all the kids swim their best stroke. It's always tough to decide who to put in the anchor position, and this time the coaches chose Bridget. I hope it is as fun for you as it was for me!
200 Yard Medley Relay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41OI9Ke-Zvw
Next was the 100 I.M. Lexy went into this event with a best time of 1:33.25. She needed a 1:31.00 and she got a 1:28.60!!! Help me cheer Lexy on to one of her best time drops ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF0p18cPhWM
Right on the heels of the 100 I.M. is the 50 Butterfly. The qualifying time for this event is a 44.00. Lexy's best time is a 46.12, and in this swim, she drops .09. You'll hear me say she missed it by .03, but she really misses by :02.03
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHGdusKhZ_w
Next was the 50 Backstroke. She needs at 42.00 in this event, and we went in with a 46.47. She Swam a 47.71. We have a ways to go with this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rotLnu46P5U
Her final individual event, the 50 Breastroke, was kind of weird. . .I thought she was getting in line to swim, but she seemed to be just standing around. So I got her attention and beckoned her over, and it turned out she did not realize she was swimming the 50 Breast. I showed her that she was the top seed in the event--last heat and lane three which is the "pole position" for swimmers. The next best swimmer was more than two seconds slower. So, Lex got in and blew away her 49.68 by two seconds! She also came in first in this event! She winds up with a 47.95 -- which is fantastic, but still :00.95 slower than the qualifying time. We have one more second to shave, and we have only one more weekend to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7lRusOT6Yg
And, finally, the girls team up once more for the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwBlS4FOTwA
Looking forward to next weekend, and the Midland/BAYS Dual Meet.
Lexy had a full day, with two relays and four individual events. She has already qualified for three events at the league championships: the 50 Free, 100 Free and 200 Free. She needs to qualify in all the other events: 100 I.M., 50 Fly, 50 Back and 50 Breast. These were the four she swam today.
I think you'll love the end of the first relay. This was the 200 yard medley relay, where all the kids swim their best stroke. It's always tough to decide who to put in the anchor position, and this time the coaches chose Bridget. I hope it is as fun for you as it was for me!
200 Yard Medley Relay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41OI9Ke-Zvw
Next was the 100 I.M. Lexy went into this event with a best time of 1:33.25. She needed a 1:31.00 and she got a 1:28.60!!! Help me cheer Lexy on to one of her best time drops ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF0p18cPhWM
Right on the heels of the 100 I.M. is the 50 Butterfly. The qualifying time for this event is a 44.00. Lexy's best time is a 46.12, and in this swim, she drops .09. You'll hear me say she missed it by .03, but she really misses by :02.03
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHGdusKhZ_w
Next was the 50 Backstroke. She needs at 42.00 in this event, and we went in with a 46.47. She Swam a 47.71. We have a ways to go with this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rotLnu46P5U
Her final individual event, the 50 Breastroke, was kind of weird. . .I thought she was getting in line to swim, but she seemed to be just standing around. So I got her attention and beckoned her over, and it turned out she did not realize she was swimming the 50 Breast. I showed her that she was the top seed in the event--last heat and lane three which is the "pole position" for swimmers. The next best swimmer was more than two seconds slower. So, Lex got in and blew away her 49.68 by two seconds! She also came in first in this event! She winds up with a 47.95 -- which is fantastic, but still :00.95 slower than the qualifying time. We have one more second to shave, and we have only one more weekend to do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7lRusOT6Yg
And, finally, the girls team up once more for the 200 Yard Freestyle Relay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwBlS4FOTwA
Looking forward to next weekend, and the Midland/BAYS Dual Meet.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Lengths for Loot Swim A Thon, Feb 10, 2009
Lengths for Loot is the new annual fundraiser for Dolphins and Barracudas. Instead of making the kids (parents) sell candy / candles / wrapping paper / you name it, this year the kids had to swim a prescribed number of lengths based on their swimming experience, and get people to sponsor them.
At Lexy's level, she had to swim 150 lengths of a 25 yard pool (slightly more than two miles) to have her sponsorship count. She did it, in 67 minutes. That's an average of about 22 seconds per lap. She was allowed to wear her swim fins, so that made a huge difference in how quickly she was able to put those laps behind her. A couple of times she took off the fins and the laps took forever!
Here are some representative videos of the event:
Just getting started: HUGE Smile and chatting with Jennifer Yu!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNk4II0P9I
Lap 35: Lex is getting bored with freestyle already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htLdg02EPhk
Lap 70: She is getting a little punchy. What she is saying is that having a Slurpee makes you go faster!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oy4Ac2Lw7E
Lap 100: 2/3 done! She looks bored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NdhHtc-DI8
The end is near! Four laps to go. That wasn't so bad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRFB44VwnsI
At Lexy's level, she had to swim 150 lengths of a 25 yard pool (slightly more than two miles) to have her sponsorship count. She did it, in 67 minutes. That's an average of about 22 seconds per lap. She was allowed to wear her swim fins, so that made a huge difference in how quickly she was able to put those laps behind her. A couple of times she took off the fins and the laps took forever!
Here are some representative videos of the event:
Just getting started: HUGE Smile and chatting with Jennifer Yu!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqNk4II0P9I
Lap 35: Lex is getting bored with freestyle already.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htLdg02EPhk
Lap 70: She is getting a little punchy. What she is saying is that having a Slurpee makes you go faster!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oy4Ac2Lw7E
Lap 100: 2/3 done! She looks bored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NdhHtc-DI8
The end is near! Four laps to go. That wasn't so bad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRFB44VwnsI
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A different kind of meet. . .
We’re taking a break from swimming this week—but not from traveling! This weekend is the Michigan Open for swimming, but Lexy didn’t have any qualifying times. Maybe next year! Good thing, too, because Sydney has been rehearsing with the Drama Club almost every day after school for the Drama regional competition, which is being held at Holland High School this weekend.
Midland High won the district competition against Bay City and Saginaw a few weeks ago, so this weekend seven high schools across this region are competing. Each high school needs to prepare a 45-minute one-act version of a play or musical. If the performance goes over 45 minutes they are disqualified! I don’t know all the criteria the kids are judged on, but length is definitely one of them.
In 2007, MHS performed Seussical, and in 2008 they performed 45 minutes worth of Godspell. This year, the musical is “Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” I wasn’t familiar with the show, but it is fun, and the kids do a great job with it. The basic premise is about growing up while attending Catholic School. Sydney plays trombone in the pit orchestra. She has to dress as a nun.
Holland is the tulip capital of Michigan, and is 145 miles from home! But we’re still a few months “Tulip Time”, as the local festival is known. I’ve only been to the tulip festival once, and the tulips were on the wane anyway.
Holland is also known for its Dutch-inspired architechture, which is fun to look at, as well as a number of outdoor tourist attractions, most of which are closed in February. It is a bit warmer than it has been – the local bank showed a temperature of 49 degrees at 9 am. I guess this is what caused the ice on the roof of our hotel to melt and slide off at varying intervals during the night. I would just drift off and then – BANG—there went another sheet of ice. The wind also woke me up from time to time. I later learned it was gusting up to 60 mph. If it was any colder, there would be a wicked wind chill! But we are thankful it is warmer and the sun is out.
After we dropped Sydney and Julius off at the school, Lexy and I went over to Bob Evans for a ‘real’ breakfast. As we were leaving, a man tapped on my driver side window. Weird, but whatever. He wanted to tell me that he had also once owned a Ford Expedition and that he sold it but kept his third-row seat. He had noticed that I didn’t have my third-row seat in my car. I told him I don’t usually drive around with it because it’s so heavy and I get better mileage without it. I guess he walked away disappointed because he really wanted to get rid of it! After he left Lexy and I laughed for a long time because it was just so weird!!
I didn't make Lexy sit through all seven performances today, so we did a few things while the other schools were performing, and made sure we were back by the time Midland High School went on. We spent a good part of the day at the nicest pool I've ever visited -- and I've been to a few over the past couple of years! The Holland Community Aquatic Center gets high marks from me for being a very clean, modern swimming experience. They had not only an eight lane lap pool, but also a huge curvy slide, a splash zone for the younger kids, several diving boards, tubes, a basketball net and a floating obstacle course. Lexy had a great time here! It was about as much fun as she could have for $5!
Back to Sydney -- we went back to Holland High School in time for MHS's performance. They did a great job, even better than at districts. All this rehearsal time was really paying off! The audience laughed in all the right places, and I enjoyed it even more the second time. The judges were VERY late with their awards though -- almost an hour later than expected -- and since Holland is 2.5 hours one way to Midland, I really was getting antsy to leave. They had to do all kinds of awards for the seven participating high schools but the amazing news is that Midland won the competition against some really excellent schools. They will go to states next weekend. I wish them luck!
Midland High won the district competition against Bay City and Saginaw a few weeks ago, so this weekend seven high schools across this region are competing. Each high school needs to prepare a 45-minute one-act version of a play or musical. If the performance goes over 45 minutes they are disqualified! I don’t know all the criteria the kids are judged on, but length is definitely one of them.
In 2007, MHS performed Seussical, and in 2008 they performed 45 minutes worth of Godspell. This year, the musical is “Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?” I wasn’t familiar with the show, but it is fun, and the kids do a great job with it. The basic premise is about growing up while attending Catholic School. Sydney plays trombone in the pit orchestra. She has to dress as a nun.
Holland is the tulip capital of Michigan, and is 145 miles from home! But we’re still a few months “Tulip Time”, as the local festival is known. I’ve only been to the tulip festival once, and the tulips were on the wane anyway.
Holland is also known for its Dutch-inspired architechture, which is fun to look at, as well as a number of outdoor tourist attractions, most of which are closed in February. It is a bit warmer than it has been – the local bank showed a temperature of 49 degrees at 9 am. I guess this is what caused the ice on the roof of our hotel to melt and slide off at varying intervals during the night. I would just drift off and then – BANG—there went another sheet of ice. The wind also woke me up from time to time. I later learned it was gusting up to 60 mph. If it was any colder, there would be a wicked wind chill! But we are thankful it is warmer and the sun is out.
After we dropped Sydney and Julius off at the school, Lexy and I went over to Bob Evans for a ‘real’ breakfast. As we were leaving, a man tapped on my driver side window. Weird, but whatever. He wanted to tell me that he had also once owned a Ford Expedition and that he sold it but kept his third-row seat. He had noticed that I didn’t have my third-row seat in my car. I told him I don’t usually drive around with it because it’s so heavy and I get better mileage without it. I guess he walked away disappointed because he really wanted to get rid of it! After he left Lexy and I laughed for a long time because it was just so weird!!
I didn't make Lexy sit through all seven performances today, so we did a few things while the other schools were performing, and made sure we were back by the time Midland High School went on. We spent a good part of the day at the nicest pool I've ever visited -- and I've been to a few over the past couple of years! The Holland Community Aquatic Center gets high marks from me for being a very clean, modern swimming experience. They had not only an eight lane lap pool, but also a huge curvy slide, a splash zone for the younger kids, several diving boards, tubes, a basketball net and a floating obstacle course. Lexy had a great time here! It was about as much fun as she could have for $5!
Back to Sydney -- we went back to Holland High School in time for MHS's performance. They did a great job, even better than at districts. All this rehearsal time was really paying off! The audience laughed in all the right places, and I enjoyed it even more the second time. The judges were VERY late with their awards though -- almost an hour later than expected -- and since Holland is 2.5 hours one way to Midland, I really was getting antsy to leave. They had to do all kinds of awards for the seven participating high schools but the amazing news is that Midland won the competition against some really excellent schools. They will go to states next weekend. I wish them luck!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Club Wolverine Waterfest, Feb 1, 2009 (part deux)
Goodbye January; hello February. Here is my top ten list of why I was elated to flip the calendar today:
10. We don't have to listen to people whine about the Lions for six months.
9. It's three days shorter than last month.
8. It's was about 20 degrees warmer today than yesterday.
7. TBS will play Groundhog Day tomorrow.
6. TBS will play Groundhog Day tomorrow.
5. TBS will play . . . (just kidding).
4. Drag racing season starts next weekend (that was for Ed).
3. It would be nice not to hear the words "Did you see Dow on the news last night?"
2. I have a nice dinner planned for Valentine's Day.
. . . and the number one reason why February is better than January is:
1. Lexy got three best times at her swim meet today, and four this weekend!
Before I get into the details of the meet, I have to say, I learned a good lesson this weekend. The answer to the following question should ALWAYS be NO! "Shall we confirm you in a non-smoking room with two double beds?"
If you haven't stayed in a hotel lately, let me help: a "double" bed in hotel terms is just a wee bit wider than a twin bed. Therefore, trying to squeeze even two reasonably sized people into one would prove challenging. Since I decided to give Sydney a respite from Lexy's tendency to overtake the bed, I spent both nights clutching my side of the mattress, hoping not to fall off. I was playing the role of bed barnacle, for lack of a better term.
As I mentioned in number one of my top ten list, Lexy had a terrific day today. She swam three individual events: the 50 backstroke, the 50 butterfly, the 100 freestyle, and one relay. For the 50 back, she finished .3 seconds faster. from 46.47 to 46.16.
Watch 50 Backstroke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voEv2s-nzdo
This whole year the 50 fly has not been one of Lexy's better strokes, but today she knocked off almost two seconds, from 46.37 to 44.69.
Watch 50 Fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63XBwLvaxqE
But the coup de grace was the 100 Freestyle. Lexy has been sitting at 1:21.02 since she set the time several months ago. It was enormously gratifying to see her finish today at 1:18.10.
Watch 100 Free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgHJwmetCr8
And, let me apologize in advance to all you Spartan alums for saying the following: I actually enjoyed myself in Ann Arbor this weekend (wince). Yes, it pains me to say it, but I had a nice lunch at Amer's deli on State Street, and fun shopping at Orchid Lane (a.k.a. The hippie store). It was truly a delightful day -- warm and sunny for February first. There were lots of folks with spring fever; and tomorrow there will be lots of folks with winter colds!
10. We don't have to listen to people whine about the Lions for six months.
9. It's three days shorter than last month.
8. It's was about 20 degrees warmer today than yesterday.
7. TBS will play Groundhog Day tomorrow.
6. TBS will play Groundhog Day tomorrow.
5. TBS will play . . . (just kidding).
4. Drag racing season starts next weekend (that was for Ed).
3. It would be nice not to hear the words "Did you see Dow on the news last night?"
2. I have a nice dinner planned for Valentine's Day.
. . . and the number one reason why February is better than January is:
1. Lexy got three best times at her swim meet today, and four this weekend!
Before I get into the details of the meet, I have to say, I learned a good lesson this weekend. The answer to the following question should ALWAYS be NO! "Shall we confirm you in a non-smoking room with two double beds?"
If you haven't stayed in a hotel lately, let me help: a "double" bed in hotel terms is just a wee bit wider than a twin bed. Therefore, trying to squeeze even two reasonably sized people into one would prove challenging. Since I decided to give Sydney a respite from Lexy's tendency to overtake the bed, I spent both nights clutching my side of the mattress, hoping not to fall off. I was playing the role of bed barnacle, for lack of a better term.
As I mentioned in number one of my top ten list, Lexy had a terrific day today. She swam three individual events: the 50 backstroke, the 50 butterfly, the 100 freestyle, and one relay. For the 50 back, she finished .3 seconds faster. from 46.47 to 46.16.
Watch 50 Backstroke: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voEv2s-nzdo
This whole year the 50 fly has not been one of Lexy's better strokes, but today she knocked off almost two seconds, from 46.37 to 44.69.
Watch 50 Fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63XBwLvaxqE
But the coup de grace was the 100 Freestyle. Lexy has been sitting at 1:21.02 since she set the time several months ago. It was enormously gratifying to see her finish today at 1:18.10.
Watch 100 Free: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgHJwmetCr8
And, let me apologize in advance to all you Spartan alums for saying the following: I actually enjoyed myself in Ann Arbor this weekend (wince). Yes, it pains me to say it, but I had a nice lunch at Amer's deli on State Street, and fun shopping at Orchid Lane (a.k.a. The hippie store). It was truly a delightful day -- warm and sunny for February first. There were lots of folks with spring fever; and tomorrow there will be lots of folks with winter colds!
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