LCM Development Meet Review
LCM Development Meet Review
After an extended period of time out of the racing pool SWAT Age Group swimmers returned to the lanes for a 50m pool Long Course (LCM) competition for everyone. This meet is in an interesting time of year with AA swimmers not having raced for several weeks, but AAA and ECC swimmers taking a well-deserved break over the Easter Weekend after a busy Championship Season in March. Swimmers from different groups and different levels of competition were at different points of their respective training blocks and the results and event choices were influenced by these factors. 47 SWAT swimmers raced in the Long Course pool. LCM is a rare treat for AA swimmers. Junior AA swimmers may have seen LCM last year at this meet and Novice swimmers have likely never seen LCM racing at all. As a result, there are many New Events as swimmers open their LCM accounts in most races and learn the differences between Short Course and Long Course racing. To spice things up for this mid season meet SWAT rocked special edition Pink Caps. Go Watermelons!
Starting with Novice. 11 swimmers showed up for racing over the April 25-26 weekend. Some of the swimmers that were part of the Novice program last year may have seen LCM racing last year, but most have not seen a 50m pool very often. Nearly all the events for the Novice swimmers are considered New Events as they got their first taste of racing in the LCM pool. A special call out to Jae for making his SWAT racing debut after joining the club earlier in April. There are also extra Kudos for: Jude, August, Avery, Rachel for racing in their first 800m Freestyles. Another extra kudos for Jude for achieving his first AAA cut in the 400m Freestyle. He will need to make one of the IM times or 2 other 200s to complete qualification, but he has started the process.
Senior swimmers came off a 6-day break over the Easter long weekend. Couple that with many racing at AAA and ECC and events and results reflected a more relaxed approach to racing and swimming some off events rather than their main events. 16 swimmers earned 27 best times and there were 2 New events LCM. Most of the Senior swimmers were entered in the 400 IM to be sure they raced it one time this year. Gabe A had 3 best times from his 4 events. Ignoring his very old 400 Free time his best results were a 9 second improvement in the 400 IM and a 6 second improvement in the 200 Free. Gabe C had 3 best times and his first LCM 400 IM and 100 Breast. He dropped 10 seconds in the 100 Back and 3 in the 200 IM racing under 3:00 for the first time LCM. Jack made 3 new personal records including a 400 IM improvement of 29 seconds and then another 13 in the 200 Back. Maggie lowered her 400 IM time by nearly 3 seconds. Ethan K bettered his 50 Free nearly claiming a Canada Games Selection time in the event. Jason bettered 3 of his old times including a 20 second best time in the 400 IM and a 3 second best time in the 50 Breaststroke. Eugene has 2 modest best times dropping a second in both the 400 IM and the 100 Breaststroke. Ben L made a new Personal Best in the 100 Fly. Taite found new times in 3 events including an 8 second drop in the 400 IM. Alana had a new pb in the rare 100 Breaststroke. Ben P made good use of his 1 best time by cutting over 31 seconds in the 400 IM. Joel cut 3 times down highlighted by 8 seconds in the 400 IM and 5 in the 200 Breaststroke. Sam S finished his AAA qualification with a great LCM 400 Freestyle after being sick on day one of the meet. Emma rejoins SWAT after completing her first year of University.
20 Junior swimmers also jumped in the pool bettering 41 times and racing in 26 new LCM events. In Junior group tradition, each swimmer was entered in the 200 Fly, 400 IM, and 800 Free. For many of the swimmers this was their first attempt at any of these events. Erica B had 2 best times including a 7 second drop in the 400 IM. She also swam her first 800 Free. Addison took down 4 of her old times including a massive 58 seconds off in the LCM 800 Free, and 11 and 10 second cuts in the 100 Breaststroke and 400 IM respectively. Nick H also had 4 best times on the weekend. His highlights were 13 seconds off the 200 Fly and 15 seconds off in the 800 Free. Sam H had a big 5 best times on the weekend including massive improvement sin the 400 IM, 200 Fly, and 200 Back. Angus had 2 best times and swam his first ever 200 Fly. He had a big 4 second improvement in the 50 Free LCM. Claire earned herself 3 best times. At the top of her list was a 22 second cut from her 400 Free. Madelynn had 2 best times and 3 new events: the three big events. Wyatt bested one of his old times, a 15 second battering of his 200 IM. Charlotte swam to a 5 second best times in the 200 IM and swam her first 200 Fly. Ocean dropped 5 seconds in the 200 Breaststroke and swam her first 400 IM and 800 Free. Maria had 2 PBs including a 12 second improvement in the 400 IM. Farrah raced in her first meet as a Junior group swimmer, makes her first LCM racing appearance, and her first 800 Free, 200 Fly, and 400 IM. Ethan had 2 best times and 2 New events. Kennedy took off 25 seconds from her previous 200 IM for a new PB and then swam the big three for the first time ever. Marco had 2 best times on the weekend including a 43 second best time in the 800 Free. Leonie went 2 best times and 2 New events. Erica R cut 18 seconds from her 800 Free time and 6 from her 400 IM entry time as part of her 4 PBs. Ryan found 5 seconds to lose in the 200 Free and then raced the big three for the first time. Alex W found himself 2 best times and swam the big three for the first time. Morgan swam one event for the first time LCM.
Racing continues in May. AA swimmers make the journey to Sydney, Nova Scotia to race May 10 and 11. Members of the Senior group travel to Ontario to race in Markham May 15-18. Junior and some Senior AAA swimmer race at Dalplex May 23 and 24. Finally, Nova Tech Swimmers finish their racing season May 24 and 25 in Truro at the Nova Tech Explosion in their last chance to make AA.