Our last meet was a great one. All the swimmers showed excellent technique and clearly displayed their hard work. Oak Forest is the same pool that Conference will be held at this week so it was a great opportunity for the swimmers to get to feel out the pool.. There were a few swimmers who showed just a little extra something. They are:

Aaliyah Pichardo: Aaliyah has been working  very hard on her freestyle technique. Speed is nothing without proper technique. Aaliyah dropped 10 seconds on her 100 freestyle. 

Jordan Steen: Jordan has been working for a while now on his butterfly technique. As one of the more challenging strokes, it can be quite difficult to drop time on it. Jordan dropped 6 seconds on his 50 fly.

Maya Hooks: Maya is very talented in and out of the pool. When she is in the pool she always gives 150%. She is very close to a regional time for her 50 freestyle and she dropped 1 second on it. 

Charles Stewart: Charles has a very unique natural ability to swim. He makes his hard work look effortless. His talent has earned him times for 5 regional events. 

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.