Belmont Aquatic Team Team Specialty Meet
Balfour Natatorium, Wheaton College, Norton, MA
January 12 - 14, 2007
Sanctioned by NE Swimming NE-07-16 & NE-07-16TT
Here are some fast swims and quirky stories from our meet at Wheaton. By the way, we swam really fast, in case you missed it.
Friday night saw Ricky Churchill drop 8 seconds in his 200 IM to go 2:43 and Jill Coghlan dropped 6 in hers, as well. Katelyn Coghlan, not to be outdone by her sister, shaved 38 seconds off her 400 IM, finishing in 5:45. Pat O'Neal dropped 16 seconds in that event, qualifying for 13 and over Championships with a 4:44. Then Brian Keane dropped 6 to finish in 4:38. Avery Riddle led the way in the 500 free, lopping 15 seconds off her best, posting a 6:21. Mary Madigan blasted her way to a 6:20, cutting off 28 seconds. And Tom Cheever, fighting off sickness, bested his previous best time by 18 seconds, breaking 6 minutes for the first time to go 5:54.
In the granddaddy of all races, the 25 free, Bridget McCarthy inched ever closer to breaking the ever elusive 15 second barrier, finishing in 16.7 seconds. The 200 free saw Sarah Goldberg chop 8 seconds off her time, touching the wall in 2:19, "just as fast as Shelby", she added. Cam Crowell turned the Wheaton meet into his breakout meet, partly by taking 5 seconds off his 200 free, finishing in 2:08.
Hannah Riddle lit up the scoreboard in the 200 free, subtracting 10 seconds from her best, with a 3:18, then her teammate, Cari Librett, took 16 seconds off her best to go a 3:02.
Adding to his cache of 13 and over cut times, Pat O'Neal crushed his 100 fly best by 6 seconds, finishing in 1:03. But then there was Marina O'Neill in the 50 fly, besting herself by 10 seconds in 47.5, followed up with some smack talk to Pat. Good work Marina. The biggest drop in the 10 and under girls 50 fly was Emily Lochran, dropping 4 seconds to go 42. But the star of the event was probably Maggie Barry, who qualified for 12 and under Championships to be held in February at URI, with a 36.9. Max Glattstein was not to be outdone by the girls. He took 9 seconds off his previous best.
Chelsea Falkenstein, with her newfound swim meet confidence, shaved 9 seconds off her 100 breast to finish with 1:29. And then there was Mary Kate Elliot, who eclipsed her previous best in the 50 breast by 9 seconds. Sabrina Linskey joined in the fun to go a 51, dropping 6 seconds off her previous best time.
Sarah Goldberg, swiftly moving along in her quest to break 1:00 in the 100 free, came closer, 2 seconds better than her best with a 1:02. "Just attack the walls a little better and you're there", stated her coach. Cam Crowell, on the other hand, managed to break 1:00 for the first time, finishing in 58.2. Way under!!! Tom Cheever bested himself by 2 seconds also, in 57.6. Then is was Sabrina's turn again, demolishing her previous time by 6 seconds to go a 1:34.
In the 100 back, Olivia Zelvis and Emily Lochran tied with a 1:26, a best time for Emily by 6 seconds. Their coaches look forward to them going head to head in a near future practice. In the 200 free, Dylan Davis dropped 7 seconds to finish in 2:26. If you've ever wanted to see a long smooth stroke, check that guy out. Ben White got into the action, posting a time of 2:14. His best by 3 seconds. Elise Campbell crushed her previous best time by 12 seconds, going a 2:32. She used to be scared to swim that event. Now she says, "Bring it!" Jill Coghlan returned to the highlights with a 39 second performance in the 50 fly, besting her previous time by 6 seconds. Ben Zelvis broke 40 for the first time in that event, posting a 38.
MacKenzie Elliott managed to cut 6 seconds off her best in the 100 back with a 1:46. Aly Wolff laughed at her previous best time, by going 5 seconds faster than it, in 1:31. But it was Avery Riddle, getting dangerously close to that 1:10 barrier, finishing with a best time by 3 seconds in 1:13. Then Ricky Churchill, in his new leg fastskins, dropped 3 seconds to go a 1:18.
Jess Perry posted a personal best time in the 100 breast. For a 17 year old athlete that works as hard as she does, to be posting best times before championships is remarkable. She went a 1:13 in her 100 breast. Then Ben White dropped 4 seconds in his. Arthur Su unintentionally made his heat look silly by going his best by 6 seconds in the 50 breast, finishing in 35 seconds. Dylan Davis, with that silky smooth and long stroke, dropped 4 seconds in his 100 free to go 1:06. He tells me that once he learns how to flip turn better, he'll be under a minute. We agreed.
Sara Riordan had a great meet. During one of her conversations with her coaches, she mentioned that it feels nice to feel like she can now compete at this level. The coaches wholeheartedly agree. Keep up the great work Sara!! Avery Riddle, soon to be a world class swimmer, shaved 2 seconds off her 100 free to go a 1:05. She mentioned that she thinks it's her work ethic that makes her such a star. The coaches couldn't agree more.
Brendan English got his 200 free under the 2:50 barrier, posting a 2:49 for a best time. Ben Zelvis, all of a sudden inproving quickly in his freestyle, lowered his best 11 seconds in the 100 free, with a 1:13. Martha Fantom's 5 second dropping performance in the 25 breast is tough to top. She went 29 seconds!!! Christina Venturelli dropped 14 seconds in her 200 IM to go 3:00. She tells us she'll break that barrier next time! Mary Kate Buckley managed to drop 19 seconds from her 100 IM time, going a 2:07. Her competition was very intimidated because she kept looking at them during the race. Marina O'Neill dropped 9 seconds in that event, going a 1:44. Continuing to impress, Hannah Riddle joined the fun, cutting 6 seconds off her best with a 1:38. Then Angela Harrington dropped 8 seconds to post a 1:34. Not a bad event for the Kingfish.
After Meredith VanDingstee's first 25 fly, in an effort to try to help her with her bent arms in fly, the coaches asked her if she had ever seen a butterfly flying around with broken wings. She replied, "No, but I've seen a dead fish." The coaches were baffled.
Mary Kate Buckley won her 25 fly heat, dropping 5 seconds off her best, finishing in 23 seconds. Max Glattstein bested his 100 breast time by 7 seconds, Casey Keohan dropped 11 seconds from hers, Miranda VanDingstee slashed 8 seconds from hers, red hot Hannah Riddle cut 9 seconds from hers, Angela Harrington dropped 6 from hers, and Sabrina Linskey cut hers down by 9 as well. And Brooke Mullen came dangerously close to qualifying for 12 and under championships with a 6 second drop down to 1:41. What a training group that will be in years to come!!!!
In the 50 free, Shannon Hunt had a 2 second drop, as did Hannah Riddle. Elizabeth Buckley had a 3 second drop and Marina O'Neill had a 4 second drop to go 37. After Emily Lochran dropped a second from her time, the coaches asked her how she did it, what had she been doing lately to get so good. She gave away the secret. "I've been going to bed early, Coach". That's it! The secret to success. Thank Emily Lochran for that wisdom gained.
Martha Fantom, saving her backstroke turn for another day, still managed to get a best time by 10 seconds in the 50 finishing in 56 seconds. In the 50 back, Emily Lochran came very close to qualifying for championships with a 38.7 in the 50 back. She tells us it'll happen in Salem. Patrick O'Neal improved big time on his splitting of his 200 fly, putting that little extra effort into his 3rd 50, and qualifying for 13 and over Champs with a 2:20, a drop of 8 seconds for him. Hannah Riddle, Miranda VanDingstee, and Olivia Zelvis burned up the water in the 100 fly, dropping 8, 8, and 5 seconds, respectively. Drew Husted finished with a 4 second drop in his 200 IM, while Hunter Chiasson made deuces wild and chopped 5 seconds off his time to go a 2:22.22.
The 100IM saw Jill Coghlan light up the scoreboard with a 4 second drop to a 1:24, while Avery Riddle and Elise Campbell established the need to do a swim off, both dropping 3 seconds to go 1:13. Not to be outdone, Hunter Chiasson blasted 4 seconds off his time in the 200 breast to go 2:45. Aly Wolff, Jessie Goldberg, and Elise Campbell were the highlights of the 100 breast for 11-12 girls. Their times of 1:38, 1:34, and 1:22 respectively were huge time drops for them. Any time you can chop off a full second in a 50 yard event, it's huge. Just ask Jessie Goldberg (31), Elise Campbell (29), or Avery Riddle (28). Those girls are on fire!!!!
Ben Zelvis, continuing on his quest to make people know him for more than
just his exquisite hairstyle and his
excellent breaststroke, lowered his 100 fly time by 8 seconds, going a 1:31.
Then Ricky Churchill made his first ever 12 and Under Championship cut with a
speedy 1:15. He tells us that his turns are going to be his main focus for
the final month of the season. The coaches think it's a great idea.
Kayla Burgess, fresh off demonstrating all 4 strokes to the senior group at
practice, carved 6 seconds off her 100 fly time, finishing in 1:28. Then
Avery Riddle showed that even though she'll age up the week before 12 and
Under championships, that won't stop her from getting ever so close to her
first championship cut. She dropped 2 seconds to go 1:14.
TJ Lynch, messing with his competition's minds and only competing in Sunday's
events, made it count in the 50 back, with an impressive 8 second drop, going
50 seconds.
All in all, fast stuff from the Kingfish. Maybe, more importantly, lots of fun.
Our favorite moment of the meet was when Arthur Su had just finished his 100 free. He broke a minute for the first time in his life, going 58.6 seconds. Not too bad for a 12 year old. The coaches asked him how he felt. With a smile the size of Kentucky, he said, "I feel fast."
Priceless.