If you watched the Opening Ceremonies last night you probably saw the young Chinese boy who walked out with Chinese Flag Bearer Yao Ming. This six year old boy was in school on May 12th when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck. Two-thirds of his classmates were killed in the quake and he was buried under a pile of rubble. However this boy was able to climb out from underneath the rubble and pull two of his classmates to safety. When asked why he went back to get his classmates he said, "I am the hall monitor. It is my job." Wow...I mean WOW. A six year old boy can put his own safety aside to help others in a dire time of need. I'd like to think I would do the same thing if presented with the same situation and not throwing people out of the way like I was George Costanza.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Awesome
If you watched the Opening Ceremonies last night you probably saw the young Chinese boy who walked out with Chinese Flag Bearer Yao Ming. This six year old boy was in school on May 12th when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck. Two-thirds of his classmates were killed in the quake and he was buried under a pile of rubble. However this boy was able to climb out from underneath the rubble and pull two of his classmates to safety. When asked why he went back to get his classmates he said, "I am the hall monitor. It is my job." Wow...I mean WOW. A six year old boy can put his own safety aside to help others in a dire time of need. I'd like to think I would do the same thing if presented with the same situation and not throwing people out of the way like I was George Costanza.
Olympic Prelims I Recap
Don't count on a recap of every swimming session from me, I'm just telling you that now. After tryouts on Monday and Tuesday Tjitske and I will be taking some much needed R&R with the rest of the family at the Shore. We don't get the greatest internet signal down there, so it all depends on how the wind blows I guess.
However, while I'm here.......
Tonight you will have the chance to see Finals I (can't say Day 1 Finals because its Day 2 in Beijing). The swimming gets started at 10 am in Beijing, 10 pm for those of us in the E.D.T.
Order of Events:
Men's 400 IM Final - Michael Phelps set the Olympic Record with his preliminary swim. Pretty quick considering he seemed to shut things down about halfway through the race. Of course Phelps main competition will come from Ryan Lochte, who cruised to a 4:10 this morning.
Women's 100 Fly Semi-Final (2 Heats) - Both Americans, Elaine Breeden and Christine Magnuson, are in Heat 1. Remember, the top 8 swimmers total from both heats will make it back to tomorrow's Final.
Men's 400 Free Final - Larsen Jensen set the American Record with his preliminary swim and is seeded 1st for tonight's Final. Peter Vanderkaay will be seeded 6th. This is going to be a very, very close race as the difference between the top six finalists this year is .63.
Women's 400 IM Final - Elizabeth Beisel continued on a path toward an Olympic Medal putting up the fastest time in the preliminary heats with World Record Holder Katie Hoff coming in second. Australian Stephanie Rice will be seeded fourth tonight. Hoff, Rice, and Beisel are the three fastest ever in this event. The difference in this race will be the breaststroke where you can look for Hoff and Rice to try to put some distance on the field.
Men's 100 Breast Semi-Final (2 Heats) - Americans Brendan Hansen and Mark Gangloff both advanced to the Semi-Finals. Hansen is the World Record Holder in the race and has the fastest time in the world this year.
Women's 400 Free Relay Final - The US's chances were greatly hurt by the Jessica Hardy situation but definitely has the sprinters with experience to fill in the gaps. I still think the Dutch are the team to beat here with the Australians and Chinese fighting it out with the US for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.
I had some predictions written into this post but decided to take them out. This is because every time I try to predict something it becomes a curse to those I predict good fortune for. Carnac the Magnificent I am not. So there will be no predictions for this meet.
One More Thing...
Hey, check out the blog of Robin and Mark Vanderkaay, Peter's parents. They are in China and are writing about their experiences here.
However, while I'm here.......
Tonight you will have the chance to see Finals I (can't say Day 1 Finals because its Day 2 in Beijing). The swimming gets started at 10 am in Beijing, 10 pm for those of us in the E.D.T.
Order of Events:
Men's 400 IM Final - Michael Phelps set the Olympic Record with his preliminary swim. Pretty quick considering he seemed to shut things down about halfway through the race. Of course Phelps main competition will come from Ryan Lochte, who cruised to a 4:10 this morning.
Women's 100 Fly Semi-Final (2 Heats) - Both Americans, Elaine Breeden and Christine Magnuson, are in Heat 1. Remember, the top 8 swimmers total from both heats will make it back to tomorrow's Final.
Men's 400 Free Final - Larsen Jensen set the American Record with his preliminary swim and is seeded 1st for tonight's Final. Peter Vanderkaay will be seeded 6th. This is going to be a very, very close race as the difference between the top six finalists this year is .63.
Women's 400 IM Final - Elizabeth Beisel continued on a path toward an Olympic Medal putting up the fastest time in the preliminary heats with World Record Holder Katie Hoff coming in second. Australian Stephanie Rice will be seeded fourth tonight. Hoff, Rice, and Beisel are the three fastest ever in this event. The difference in this race will be the breaststroke where you can look for Hoff and Rice to try to put some distance on the field.
Men's 100 Breast Semi-Final (2 Heats) - Americans Brendan Hansen and Mark Gangloff both advanced to the Semi-Finals. Hansen is the World Record Holder in the race and has the fastest time in the world this year.
Women's 400 Free Relay Final - The US's chances were greatly hurt by the Jessica Hardy situation but definitely has the sprinters with experience to fill in the gaps. I still think the Dutch are the team to beat here with the Australians and Chinese fighting it out with the US for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.
I had some predictions written into this post but decided to take them out. This is because every time I try to predict something it becomes a curse to those I predict good fortune for. Carnac the Magnificent I am not. So there will be no predictions for this meet.
One More Thing...
Hey, check out the blog of Robin and Mark Vanderkaay, Peter's parents. They are in China and are writing about their experiences here.
The 2007-2008 Season Finally Closes Out
Back home this morning from Juniors. The girls finished off the meet as they started with two more best times and two more team records. Hayley dropped 8 seconds off of her best time in the 1500 for a 16:56, good for 11th place in the event. Emily then finished 10th in the 200 IM and set new 17-18 and Open Team Records with a time of 2:20.39, under the 2008 Olympic Trials standard. So for the meet they swam 13 events, produced 12 best times, established 16 new Team Records and reached three time standards for next June's World Championship Trials Meet...
Chelsea finished second last night at the Zone Meet in the 100 Backstroke. The Middle Atlantic Team is swimming very well, safely in third place right now. If the team stays there it will be its highest finish at a Summer Zone Meet in a number of years...
And with that, the 2007-2008 season comes to a close, and not a moment too soon as the 2008-2009 season gets underway in less than a month!
Chelsea finished second last night at the Zone Meet in the 100 Backstroke. The Middle Atlantic Team is swimming very well, safely in third place right now. If the team stays there it will be its highest finish at a Summer Zone Meet in a number of years...
And with that, the 2007-2008 season comes to a close, and not a moment too soon as the 2008-2009 season gets underway in less than a month!
Friday, August 8, 2008
Olympic Update
I've been so immersed in what is going on here in Minneapolis that I haven't even thought about the fact that the Olympic (technically) have started already. I watched a couple of clips from the Opening Ceremonies online and it looks amazing...be sure to tune in to NBC tonight to watch.
The swimming gets started tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 6:30 am Eastern Time. Finals will be televised live in the United States throughout the meet and will begin at 10 pm Eastern Time. I know this is rather late for some of the younger swimmers out there, but it is of the utmost importance that every young swimmer gets the chance to watch this meet. I strongly advocate doing what you can to make sure your younger swimmers can watch the events, and in today's hi-tech world that should not be hard at all as you can watch the races archived on nbcolympics.com...just go to the Olympic Widget at the bottom of the page, select swimming, and click on video.
SWIMMING WORLD MAGAZINE ONLINE...ONE STOP OLYMPIC HEADQUARTERS
Swimming World Magazine online will have complete coverage of the Olympics at their website. Click (and bookmark) here for results, pictures, interviews...everything except video from the actual races (NBC television and online are the only places you can find that stuff).
The swimming gets started tomorrow with preliminaries beginning at 6:30 am Eastern Time. Finals will be televised live in the United States throughout the meet and will begin at 10 pm Eastern Time. I know this is rather late for some of the younger swimmers out there, but it is of the utmost importance that every young swimmer gets the chance to watch this meet. I strongly advocate doing what you can to make sure your younger swimmers can watch the events, and in today's hi-tech world that should not be hard at all as you can watch the races archived on nbcolympics.com...just go to the Olympic Widget at the bottom of the page, select swimming, and click on video.
SWIMMING WORLD MAGAZINE ONLINE...ONE STOP OLYMPIC HEADQUARTERS
Swimming World Magazine online will have complete coverage of the Olympics at their website. Click (and bookmark) here for results, pictures, interviews...everything except video from the actual races (NBC television and online are the only places you can find that stuff).
GO USA!!!
Eastern Zone All-Star Meet
Chelsea Martin, Alaura Walz, and Delaney Walz are all representing Middle Atlantic at the Eastern Zone All-Star Meet in Rockville, MD. Chelsea finished 7th in the 800 Free on Wednesday night. Then last night she took home 2nd place in the 200 Backstroke with a personal best time of 2:26.46. She is also seeded 2nd tonight in the 100 Back. Alaura swam a personal best time in the 200 Free by a second for a 2:17.54.
You can follow the real time meet results here.
You can follow the real time meet results here.
Junior Nationals Update - Friday Morning
Five great swims from Hayley and Emily on Thursday. Emily swam both of her races first. She dropped a second off of her best time in the 100 Backstroke (lowering her 17-18 and Open Team Records in the process). Then she won her heat going away in the 400 Free with a 4:25.11, her best time by a second and a half. Hayley dropped three seconds in the 400 Free for a 4:21.43. That time qualified her 16th for Finals at night. She also dropped a second in her 100 Fly for a 1:04.47, breaking Kelly O'Hara's four year old 17-18 and Open Team Records.
Hayley swam even faster at night in the 400 Free, finishing third in the consolation heat with a 4:18.74. This time established new 17-18 and Open Team Records by almost two seconds and is one second under the former Olympic Trials standard.
This morning Emily swam the 200 IM. She dropped two seconds off of her best time (and the 17-18 and Open Team Records) for a 2:20.78. She will be seeded 10th at Finals tonight. Hayley has her final swim of the meet this afternoon in the 1500 Free. Coming in to the meet she was seeded 14th and has a great shot to finish in the Top 8 and get onto the medal podium.
Overall its been a great meet as the two girls have combined to break 14 team records thus far with two races to go.
Hayley swam even faster at night in the 400 Free, finishing third in the consolation heat with a 4:18.74. This time established new 17-18 and Open Team Records by almost two seconds and is one second under the former Olympic Trials standard.
This morning Emily swam the 200 IM. She dropped two seconds off of her best time (and the 17-18 and Open Team Records) for a 2:20.78. She will be seeded 10th at Finals tonight. Hayley has her final swim of the meet this afternoon in the 1500 Free. Coming in to the meet she was seeded 14th and has a great shot to finish in the Top 8 and get onto the medal podium.
Overall its been a great meet as the two girls have combined to break 14 team records thus far with two races to go.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Junior Nationals Update
Both Hayley and Emily are swimming very well thus far. Emily went a 2:16.07 to finish 10th in the 200 Backstroke. Her time established new 17-18 and Open Team Records in the event. Hayley had a great swim dropping three seconds off of her previous best time (done at the Summer Solstice in June) in the 200 Fly for a 2:17.43. The time was good enough to break both the 17-18 and Open Team Records in the event.
Today Hayley shaved a second off of her best time in the 200 Free for a 2:06.52. Emily swam a faster preliminary 400 IM than she ever has before for a 4:57.95.
Tomorrow both girls will compete in the 400 Free. Emily will also swim the 100 Back and Hayley will also swim the 100 Fly.
Today Hayley shaved a second off of her best time in the 200 Free for a 2:06.52. Emily swam a faster preliminary 400 IM than she ever has before for a 4:57.95.
Tomorrow both girls will compete in the 400 Free. Emily will also swim the 100 Back and Hayley will also swim the 100 Fly.
Team Tryouts
Team tryouts for group placement purposes will take place as follows:
Monday, August 11th: 6pm to 7pm
Tuesday, August 12th: 1pm to 2pm
If you can not make it to these tryouts please call 856-468-1445 x. 2304 to arrange a separate tryout date and time.
Monday, August 11th: 6pm to 7pm
Tuesday, August 12th: 1pm to 2pm
If you can not make it to these tryouts please call 856-468-1445 x. 2304 to arrange a separate tryout date and time.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Junior Nationals
I'll be blogging from Minneapolis this week as I am at Junior Nationals. Hayley Edwards and Emily Creran are here representing GCIT. Hayley got the ball rolling this evening in the 800 Freestyle: she dropped seven seconds for a 8:54.38. The time is a second under the Senior National qualifying time (Hayley also has the 1500 Free cut) and was good for a 12th place finish in the race.
You can follow live results for the meet here.
You can follow live results for the meet here.
Great Showing at Tri-County Champs
GCIT swimmers had a great showing this weekend at the Tri-County Championship Meet. We had 8 individual winners, two swimmers who were double winners, and one new meet record.
- Brittany O'Brien (11-12 Girls 100 IM and 50 Fly)
- Emily Shenk (11-12 Girls 50 Free...touching out Brittany Bayes for a 1-2 GCIT finish)
- Julia Costa (9-10 Girls 50 Free)
- Jamie Noonan (15-18 Girls 100 Free)
- Marissa Moskalow (11-12 Girls 50 Breast...only one of a handful of swimmers who won events despite being at the bottom of their age group)
- Brendan McHugh (15-18 Boys 100 Free and 100 Breast)
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