Sorry it has taken me so long to get some info up on the trip to Hawaii. To recap, six GCIT swimmers were selected to the NCSA All-American team based on their performance at the NCSA Junior National Championships this past March in Orlando. 
The top 9 swimmers in each event were selected for this trip. The six swimmers from GCIT represented the second largest contingent from one team behind Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club in the Washington, DC area. It bears mentioning that RMSC has over 1,500 swimmers on their team and swims out of 5 different facilities in Virginia and Maryland. We had a large team (by our standards) of 165 swimmers this year. I was fortunate enough to be selected as the head coach for the East Women's Team.
The team began gathering in Los Angeles Saturday night, June 2nd and in Honolulu the next day. The team's went through three days of intense training at the Central Oahu Veterans Memorial Pool (the groups averaged 15,000 meters on Monday, 13,500 meters on Tuesday and 14,000 meters on Wednesday) mixed in with touristy type excursions to the North Shore of Oahu, Waikiki Beach and Pearl Harbor. Highlights would definitely be surfing on Waikiki Beach, rock jumping into Waimea Bay and the trip to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.
Thursday and Friday evening (June 7th and 8th) was the competition pitting some of the best swimmers ages 18 and under in the East and West against one another in a dual meet.
GCIT swimmers fared very well with Joanna Thomas winning the 800 free and 400 free, Jamie Marks taking the 400 IM and 1500 free, Bill Cregar winning the 200 IM (after being in 4th place going into the freestyle leg). Emily Creran walked away with lifetime bests in the 400 IM (a 1-2 finish for GCIT swimmers) and the 400 free (coming from 3 seconds down to take a pivotal 3rd place). Mike Joyce "took one for the team" and swam the 1500 free for the first time ever and had nice swims in the 400 IM. Blake Trabuchi-Downey also had nice swims in the butterfly events.
The top 9 swimmers in each event were selected for this trip. The six swimmers from GCIT represented the second largest contingent from one team behind Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club in the Washington, DC area. It bears mentioning that RMSC has over 1,500 swimmers on their team and swims out of 5 different facilities in Virginia and Maryland. We had a large team (by our standards) of 165 swimmers this year. I was fortunate enough to be selected as the head coach for the East Women's Team.
The team began gathering in Los Angeles Saturday night, June 2nd and in Honolulu the next day. The team's went through three days of intense training at the Central Oahu Veterans Memorial Pool (the groups averaged 15,000 meters on Monday, 13,500 meters on Tuesday and 14,000 meters on Wednesday) mixed in with touristy type excursions to the North Shore of Oahu, Waikiki Beach and Pearl Harbor. Highlights would definitely be surfing on Waikiki Beach, rock jumping into Waimea Bay and the trip to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.Thursday and Friday evening (June 7th and 8th) was the competition pitting some of the best swimmers ages 18 and under in the East and West against one another in a dual meet.
GCIT swimmers fared very well with Joanna Thomas winning the 800 free and 400 free, Jamie Marks taking the 400 IM and 1500 free, Bill Cregar winning the 200 IM (after being in 4th place going into the freestyle leg). Emily Creran walked away with lifetime bests in the 400 IM (a 1-2 finish for GCIT swimmers) and the 400 free (coming from 3 seconds down to take a pivotal 3rd place). Mike Joyce "took one for the team" and swam the 1500 free for the first time ever and had nice swims in the 400 IM. Blake Trabuchi-Downey also had nice swims in the butterfly events.The East Women's team were able to eek out a 7 point victory over the West while the East Men's team had a hard time with a talented West squad.
All in all, it was a great trip for all. The swimmers were able to meet some new people and train with some of the best young swimmers in the United States. As a coach, I was able to sit round-table with some of the best coaches in the country and get new ideas on team administration and training.
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