9/14 Meet @ ENS

Publish Date: 12/15/2024

Syd Lindblom

Great job to all of our swimmers yesterday! That was a long meet, and it is hard to tackle two meets just a day apart. Coaches were proud of our resilience and positive attitudes throughout the meet.

We had some stellar swims yesterday! A few of those were first attempts for some of our swimmers: Claire Yu’s 200 free; Lena LeClere’s, Olivia Dozier’s, and Brooks Lukach’s 50 frees; Lena LeClere’s 100 free; Rosie Hauser’s 100 back; and Crockett Zieher’s 100 breast.

For our repeat swimmers, we also had some solid time improvements in many events:

200 IM: Rose Theobald dropped 6 seconds (2:46.74), James Michels dropped one (2:29.08), and Ian Drewry took off two (2:38.46).
50 Free: This was our first time swimming the 50 free this season! Because of our unusual pool, we don’t get all that many opportunities to do so, and we entered lots of swimmers in it to get a good base time from them.
- Took off more than 3 seconds: Laney Martin (-4, 35.96), Ella Murdock (-21, 44.24– I think you’ve gotten just a smidge faster than last year), Oliver Burnette (-4, 31.91), Oren Schwartz (-4, 33.84)
- Improved 2-3 seconds: Layla Jahangir (29.77– under the 30 barrier!!!), Norah Clarke (35.73), Lucy Garrison (36.58), Zoey Wei (37.03), Rosie Hauser (40.19), Crockett Zieher (47.83)
- Dropped 1 second: Avery Horst (32.77– and this was an improvement from just this summer’s PR!), Amelie Schuetz Sevin (35.13)
- Shaved a smidge: Caldwell Adams (38.33)
100 Fly: Layla Jahangir dropped an incredible 4 seconds (1:35.79) and Elliott Karpinos took off an additional one second from Thursday’s PR (1:11.37).
100 Free: Lots of our swimmers swam this on Thursday, but not all of them! Nonetheless, it feels different in a pool with only 3 walls. Lucy Garrison dropped 7 seconds (1:23.94), Olivia Dozier improved 4 (1:37.66), and Griffin Johnson dropped a second (1:07.09). Oliver Burnette went the exact same time as Thursday (1:11.45)-- at least he’s consistent!
100 Back: Claire Yu dropped 5 seconds (1:25.32), Avery Horst improved NINE (1:28.68), James Michels dropped a second (1:11.09), and Brooks Lukach improved by 3 seconds (1:30.92).
100 Breast: Sam Womer was our final best time of the meet, dropping 5 seconds (1:26.07).

So I didn’t go a best time. Now what? That’s totally fine and to be expected. Every race is a good race if you learned something from it. There are lots of factors that can affect your ability to improve– from general fatigue, to trying new strategies, and even the order of your events. If you are a returning swimmer, your meets earlier in the season might be slower than at championship meets from the end of the last– that’s normal. We still have plenty of time to get better.

Since this was an invitational, the top 16 finishers in each event scored points. This is why sometimes it pays to swim events that fewer people are in– it’s guaranteed points! Here’s who scored points for our team:

3rd place finishes: Peter Weiss’s 500 free
4th place finishes: James Michels’s 200 IM; Boys Free Relay of James Michels, Elliott Karpinos, Ian Drewry, and Peter Weiss; James Michels’s 100 back
5th place finishes: Boys Medley Relay of James Michels, Elliott Karpinos, Peter Weiss, and Griffin Johnson; Claire Yu’s 200 Free; Peter Weiss’s 200 free; Elliott Karpinos’s 100 fly; Girls Free Relay of Claire Yu, Rose Theobald, Avery Horst, and Layla Jahangir; Rose Theobald’s 100 breast,
6th place finishes: Girls Medley Relay of Claire Yu, Rose Theobald, Avery Horst, and Layla Jahangir; Ian Drewry’s 200 IM; Layla Jahangir’s 100 free
7th place finishes: Griffin Johnson’s 200 free; Ian Drewry’s 100 back
9th place finishes: Layla Jahangir’s 100 fly; Boys Free Relay of Sam Womer, Griffin Johnson, Oren Schwartz, and Oliver Burnette; Norah Clarke’s 100 breast
10th place finishes: Rose Theobald’s 200 IM; Amelie Schuetz Sevin’s 100 breast
11th place finishes: Griffin Johnson’s 100 free
12th place finishes: Claire Yu’s 100 back; Elliott Karpinos’s 100 breast
13th place finishes: Boys Medley Relay of Brooks Lukach, Sam Womer, Ian Drewry, and Oliver Burnette; Oliver Burnette’s 50 free; Girls Free Relay of Lucy Garrison, Norah Clarke, Amelie Schuetz Sevin, and Laney Martin; Sam Womer’s 100 breast
14th place finishes: Sam Womer’s 100 free
15th place finishes: Avery Horst’s 100 back
16th place finishes: Girls Medley Relay of Lucy Garrison, Norah Clarke, Amelie Schuetz Sevin, and Laney Martin

With all those points tallied, I was very pleased with our overall ranking yesterday! Our girls finished 5th out of 17 teams and our boys came in 3rd out of 16 teams (beat only by Ensworth and Brentwood Middle). This was a very strong showing for us! It should make you all excited for the season to come.

One of our team's goals is to send a robust team to the MTHSSA Region Meet in January. This is the only meet on our schedule with qualifying time standards.We had lots of new qualifying times and some new individuals qualify yesterday! I have bolded new times/qualifiers.

Oliver Burnette- 100 Free, 50 free
Norah Clarke- 100 Breast, 50 free
Ian Drewry- 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 IM
Lucy Garrison- 200 Free, 100 Breast
Avery Horst- 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 free, 100 back
Layla Jahangir- 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 free, 100 fly
Griffin Johnson- 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 free, 100 free
Elliott Karpinos- 100 Fly, 100 breast
Brooks Lukach- 50 free, 100 back
Laney Martin- 50 free
James Michels- 200 Free, 100 Free, 200 IM, 100 back
Amelie Schuetz Sevin- 100 Breast, 50 free
Oren Schwartz- 100 Free, 50 free
Henry Sloane- 200 Free, 100 Free
Owen Spangler- 100 Free
Rose Theobald- 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 200 IM
Peter Weiss- 100 Fly, 200 free, 500 free
Sam Womer- 100 Breast, 100 free
Claire Yu- 100 Free, 200 free, 100 back

As previously noted, if your name is on that list and you will not be able to attend MTHSSAs on Saturday, January 25th, please let me know ASAP!

As I always like to do, not everything can be evaluated with quantitive measures. We had lots more to be proud of at yesterday’s meet!

So many swimmers located coaches after their swims to get feedback on what they did well and what they could improve upon. Some of them applied that feedback as quickly as their next race! Brooks Lukach had a notably better-looking 50 free as a part of the relay as opposed to his individual event because he focused on breathing less and elongating his stroke.
We heard lots of focus on improving times and setting goals to qualify for MTHSSAs! We can only get there if we think about where we are trying to go.
I loved seeing swimmers move around the deck– to opposite sides of the pool and behind lanes to support their teammates. It’s harder to focus on the meet in a larger pool, so this effort is noted. Additionally, some of us were there for over 5 hours yesterday, so special thanks to the cheer crew for the last event– James Michels, Rosie Hauser, and Norah Clarke– and our swimmers in the last few heats: Elliott Karpinos and Sam Womer. It got notably emptier on deck, and that’s a less fun environment to swim in!
James Michels took a hard kick to the face during warm-up, but he spent some time evaluating how he felt and rallied well during the meet.
Cruze Vanatta did not want to swim fly on the relay, but he understood that sometimes, it is required that we take on things we are not excited about for the sake of the team. Similarly, Claire Yu has been dreading the 200 free ever since she saw the entry list, but she swam a great race with a strong finish– perhaps she had even more in the tank?
Griffin Johnson had a stellar relay start on his medley relay– both quick and safe.
For maybe the first time ever, Caldwell Adams’s goggles stayed on for 3 consecutive races! This is perhaps thanks to Coach Wokasch’s suggestion that he put them on tightly enough to “suffocate his face.”
Peter Weiss has been battling some illness, and we were not sure whether or not he was going to swim his 500 for this reason. He chose to swim it efficiently rather than push for the strongest swim, and this was absolutely the right choice.
Amelie Schuetz Sevin had an excellent final leg of the 200 free relay, which let her outtouch the girl in the lane next to her.
Rose Theobald took fewer breaths on her leg of her 200 free relay, and looked very efficient doing so!
Sam Womer didn’t lose his goggles on the free relay, but they did flip up and fill with water, but we couldn’t even tell from the pool deck!
Rosie Hauser had some tough walls in their 100 back, banging their head pretty good at one point. Nonetheless, they looked strong throughout the entire race and mostly complained of tired legs afterward.
Avery Horst put some energy into her 3rd flipturn of her 100 back, and with a strong push off, she was ready for a race in her final lap.

Complete meet results are linked here:
Scores
Times

As we move into our last few days of practice together before winter break, there are a few tweaks that we could make to have astronomical impacts on our team:

Being aware and creating space at the wall during practice. It was really clear to us which swimmers spend most of their practices in the middle or towards the end of their lane– they rarely get to finish to the wall, and it shows when we show up to meets! If we can all do a bit more to make sure there is space, we could see quick and easy improvements there.
Adding some distance to our practices. This one is on the coaches, and it will be harder because of our space, but we have become reliant on a wall every 20 yards, and that last 5 yards is tricky for us, and we rarely get the opportunity to swim 100s during practice! Expect to see us trying to add in some longer reps more frequently.

Great job to all of our swimmers yesterday! That was a long meet, and it is hard to tackle two meets just a day apart. Coaches were proud of our resilience and positive attitudes throughout the meet.

For our repeat swimmers, we also had some solid time improvements in many events:

200 IM: Rose Theobald dropped 6 seconds (2:46.74), James Michels dropped one (2:29.08), and Ian Drewry took off two (2:38.46).
50 Free: This was our first time swimming the 50 free this season! Because of our unusual pool, we don’t get all that many opportunities to do so, and we entered lots of swimmers in it to get a good base time from them.
- Took off more than 3 seconds: Laney Martin (-4, 35.96), Ella Murdock (-21, 44.24– I think you’ve gotten just a smidge faster than last year), Oliver Burnette (-4, 31.91), Oren Schwartz (-4, 33.84)
- Improved 2-3 seconds: Layla Jahangir (29.77– under the 30 barrier!!!), Norah Clarke (35.73), Lucy Garrison (36.58), Zoey Wei (37.03), Rosie Hauser (40.19), Crockett Zieher (47.83)
- Dropped 1 second: Avery Horst (32.77– and this was an improvement from just this summer’s PR!), Amelie Schuetz Sevin (35.13)
- Shaved a smidge: Caldwell Adams (38.33)
100 Fly: Layla Jahangir dropped an incredible 4 seconds (1:35.79) and Elliott Karpinos took off an additional one second from Thursday’s PR (1:11.37).
100 Free: Lots of our swimmers swam this on Thursday, but not all of them! Nonetheless, it feels different in a pool with only 3 walls. Lucy Garrison dropped 7 seconds (1:23.94), Olivia Dozier improved 4 (1:37.66), and Griffin Johnson dropped a second (1:07.09). Oliver Burnette went the exact same time as Thursday (1:11.45)-- at least he’s consistent!
100 Back: Claire Yu dropped 5 seconds (1:25.32), Avery Horst improved NINE (1:28.68), James Michels dropped a second (1:11.09), and Brooks Lukach improved by 3 seconds (1:30.92).
100 Breast: Sam Womer was our final best time of the meet, dropping 5 seconds (1:26.07).

3rd place finishes: Peter Weiss’s 500 free
4th place finishes: James Michels’s 200 IM; Boys Free Relay of James Michels, Elliott Karpinos, Ian Drewry, and Peter Weiss; James Michels’s 100 back
5th place finishes: Boys Medley Relay of James Michels, Elliott Karpinos, Peter Weiss, and Griffin Johnson; Claire Yu’s 200 Free; Peter Weiss’s 200 free; Elliott Karpinos’s 100 fly; Girls Free Relay of Claire Yu, Rose Theobald, Avery Horst, and Layla Jahangir; Rose Theobald’s 100 breast,
6th place finishes: Girls Medley Relay of Claire Yu, Rose Theobald, Avery Horst, and Layla Jahangir; Ian Drewry’s 200 IM; Layla Jahangir’s 100 free
7th place finishes: Griffin Johnson’s 200 free; Ian Drewry’s 100 back
9th place finishes: Layla Jahangir’s 100 fly; Boys Free Relay of Sam Womer, Griffin Johnson, Oren Schwartz, and Oliver Burnette; Norah Clarke’s 100 breast
10th place finishes: Rose Theobald’s 200 IM; Amelie Schuetz Sevin’s 100 breast
11th place finishes: Griffin Johnson’s 100 free
12th place finishes: Claire Yu’s 100 back; Elliott Karpinos’s 100 breast
13th place finishes: Boys Medley Relay of Brooks Lukach, Sam Womer, Ian Drewry, and Oliver Burnette; Oliver Burnette’s 50 free; Girls Free Relay of Lucy Garrison, Norah Clarke, Amelie Schuetz Sevin, and Laney Martin; Sam Womer’s 100 breast
14th place finishes: Sam Womer’s 100 free
15th place finishes: Avery Horst’s 100 back
16th place finishes: Girls Medley Relay of Lucy Garrison, Norah Clarke, Amelie Schuetz Sevin, and Laney Martin

Oliver Burnette- 100 Free, 50 free
Norah Clarke- 100 Breast, 50 free
Ian Drewry- 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 IM
Lucy Garrison- 200 Free, 100 Breast
Avery Horst- 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 free, 100 back
Layla Jahangir- 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 free, 100 fly
Griffin Johnson- 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 free, 100 free
Elliott Karpinos- 100 Fly, 100 breast
Brooks Lukach- 50 free, 100 back
Laney Martin- 50 free
James Michels- 200 Free, 100 Free, 200 IM, 100 back
Amelie Schuetz Sevin- 100 Breast, 50 free
Oren Schwartz- 100 Free, 50 free
Henry Sloane- 200 Free, 100 Free
Owen Spangler- 100 Free
Rose Theobald- 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 200 IM
Peter Weiss- 100 Fly, 200 free, 500 free
Sam Womer- 100 Breast, 100 free
Claire Yu- 100 Free, 200 free, 100 back

So many swimmers located coaches after their swims to get feedback on what they did well and what they could improve upon. Some of them applied that feedback as quickly as their next race! Brooks Lukach had a notably better-looking 50 free as a part of the relay as opposed to his individual event because he focused on breathing less and elongating his stroke.
We heard lots of focus on improving times and setting goals to qualify for MTHSSAs! We can only get there if we think about where we are trying to go.
I loved seeing swimmers move around the deck– to opposite sides of the pool and behind lanes to support their teammates. It’s harder to focus on the meet in a larger pool, so this effort is noted. Additionally, some of us were there for over 5 hours yesterday, so special thanks to the cheer crew for the last event– James Michels, Rosie Hauser, and Norah Clarke– and our swimmers in the last few heats: Elliott Karpinos and Sam Womer. It got notably emptier on deck, and that’s a less fun environment to swim in!
James Michels took a hard kick to the face during warm-up, but he spent some time evaluating how he felt and rallied well during the meet.
Cruze Vanatta did not want to swim fly on the relay, but he understood that sometimes, it is required that we take on things we are not excited about for the sake of the team. Similarly, Claire Yu has been dreading the 200 free ever since she saw the entry list, but she swam a great race with a strong finish– perhaps she had even more in the tank?
Griffin Johnson had a stellar relay start on his medley relay– both quick and safe.
For maybe the first time ever, Caldwell Adams’s goggles stayed on for 3 consecutive races! This is perhaps thanks to Coach Wokasch’s suggestion that he put them on tightly enough to “suffocate his face.”
Peter Weiss has been battling some illness, and we were not sure whether or not he was going to swim his 500 for this reason. He chose to swim it efficiently rather than push for the strongest swim, and this was absolutely the right choice.
Amelie Schuetz Sevin had an excellent final leg of the 200 free relay, which let her outtouch the girl in the lane next to her.
Rose Theobald took fewer breaths on her leg of her 200 free relay, and looked very efficient doing so!
Sam Womer didn’t lose his goggles on the free relay, but they did flip up and fill with water, but we couldn’t even tell from the pool deck!
Rosie Hauser had some tough walls in their 100 back, banging their head pretty good at one point. Nonetheless, they looked strong throughout the entire race and mostly complained of tired legs afterward.
Avery Horst put some energy into her 3rd flipturn of her 100 back, and with a strong push off, she was ready for a race in her final lap.

Complete meet results are linked here:
Scores
Times

As we move into our last few days of practice together before winter break, there are a few tweaks that we could make to have astronomical impacts on our team:

Being aware and creating space at the wall during practice. It was really clear to us which swimmers spend most of their practices in the middle or towards the end of their lane– they rarely get to finish to the wall, and it shows when we show up to meets! If we can all do a bit more to make sure there is space, we could see quick and easy improvements there.
Adding some distance to our practices. This one is on the coaches, and it will be harder because of our space, but we have become reliant on a wall every 20 yards, and that last 5 yards is tricky for us, and we rarely get the opportunity to swim 100s during practice! Expect to see us trying to add in some longer reps more frequently.

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