We had a really great meet. A lot of swimmers dropped time. We observed techniques from practice being used in the water. Starts were great and turns improved. A few swimmers had some exceptional accomplishments this evening. They are:
Deenah Fitzpatrick- Deenah had reached a plateau. It seemed no matter how hard she worked she couldnt get the race to show her efforts. She just made it over the hurdle with a 3 second drop on her 100IM!

Trinity Gilbert- It's hard to go all out after you haven't had practice in a few days. But Trinity showed us where her heart is. After days out of the water, Trinity dropped 4 seconds off her IM.

Quetzali Pichardo- Quetzali had been on vacation. That means that she missed a lot of practice, and right after winter break. She showed us how hard she works by dropping 14 seconds in her 100 IM.

Sha'man Spann- We always tell the swimmers it doesnt matter hiw fast you are if you have technique to work on. Sha'man has been working on his butterfly kick and timing. His hard work was rewarded with a 2 second drop on his 50 Fly.

We won! Great job Seademons. The coaches couldn't be prouder of how you all swam at this meet. Specifically, the starts. We know it was a challenge having to whistle start but you all did it with grace and decorum. No false starts and mininal delays! Dives looked incredible and the hustle was real. As usual it was hard to pick just 4 swimmers to shine the spotlight on, but here are the 4 we chose this week:

Aaliyah Hooks- Aaliyah powers through every practice no matter how tough the set is. She has been working on her form and endurance. At this meet Aaliyah dropped 8 seconds ofd her 50 free!

Maya Hooks- Maya has been out of practice for a little bit. However, she returned and put in 200%. Her hard work paid off when she dropped 2 seconds off her 100 Free.

Timothy Abercrombie- Tim brought more energy to this meet than we have seen. He swam hard and he showed good sportsmanship. He killed it with his backstroke in the relay, and has maintained consistency in his times.

Damian Oliva- Damian has been working hard on his form in practice. He swam with his arms straight and his chin up in backstroke, and he looked amazing! We are so proud of his hard work .

What an outstanding meet we had! We had a lot of swimmers drop time, and a few qualify for Regionals. Even though we didn't beat Mannheim, we still won.
Swimmers of the meet were:
Gabe Ponce- Gabe has been working rigorously in practice and showing up more frequently. In this meet he dropped 20 seconds in his 100 freestyle.
Lali Angeles- Cytlali has been pushing herself to her limits in practice to tighten streamlines and finish strong. She dropped 6 seconds in her backstroke.
Madilyn O'Connell- Madilyn has worked for 4 seasons to earn this honor. She shows up to every practice and never complains about a set. She always gives 150%. Tonight she dropped 2.5 seconds on her backstroke.
Andrea Medina- A recent move to level 2 has ramped up the energy for this swimmer. She has been pushing her own boundaries to see what she is capable of. She dropped 3 seconds on her butterfly.

What a meet! If you aren't aware, Lemont is a "heavy" pool. That means the pool is filled with well water that is naturally enriched with heavy metals that makes the water feel thicker, or "heavy." That being said, if you don't train in the water, it is really hard to drop time competing in it. Us coaches look for far more than just dropping time when considering swimmers of the meet, but they did a good job of making it easy this night. Here are the swimmers of the meet:

Nia James: Nia is such a hard worker. She has really been working on her butterfly and it paid off. Nia dropped her butterfly time from 37 seconds to 29 seconds. That's huge.

Jenny Melgar- Jenny has also been pushing herself to her limits. She really showed through by dropping 2 seconds in her IM.
Sha'man Spann- We don't always look for time drops. Grit and determination are also important factors. Sha'man has been illegal in breaststroke for a long time. However, I pushed him to work on it and he swam it successfully!
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Josh Childress- Another quality we look for is enthusiasm. Josh embodies enthusiasm. He got confused and missed his event, but found a way to swim anyway. Even if it didn't count for time, we are proud of him.

Practice this week will be at
The Kroc Center
1250 w 119th
Chicago, Illinois 60643
normal times for all levels today and Wednesday.
Tuesday ALL LEVELS are 6-7 only.
12 and under need to be walked in by an adult.