List of 2 news stories.

• 9/12 Meet @ USN

  12/15/2024
  Syd Lindblom
  Thank you all for such a solid start to our competitive season yesterday! Both Harding's and Currey Ingram's coaches approached me individually to let me know how much they love coming to meets at USN because of the fun and supportive atmosphere. That is precisely the reputation we want to build as a team. 

  
  

  Since this was the first meet of the season, let me first offer congratulations to all of our 5th graders who competed in their first USN swim meet! You all handled it like pros. We also had some 6th-8th graders who were competing for USN for the first time, and it is so exciting to have you all join us. Typically, I recognize "first swims"-- events that athletes compete in for the first time-- in my meet recaps, but for all of our new swimmers, that was true each time they got in the water! Guess what: that also means that all of those swimmers PRed in those events. 

  
  

  Nonetheless, we did have some returning athletes compete in new events, so I want to recognize those swims. Layla Jahangir and Avery Horst both swam their first 200 frees and Claire Yu and Elliott Karpinos did their first 160 IM while Avi Kerrigan, Austin Choe, and Teddy Sauer completed their first 100 frees. 

  
  

  In addition to all of the automatic PRs, we had some ABSURD time drops from our returning swimmers at this meet. 

  • 200 Free: Lucy Garrison dropped about 25 seconds (2:53.22), James Michels improved 1 second (2:09.20), and Henry Sloane dropped 23 seconds (2:24.95).
  • 40 Free is one of our trademark USN events, so we had lots of improvements there!
    • Shredded more than 4 seconds: Reya Roy (30.67), Avi Kerrigan (41.61), Oren Schwartz (25.02), James Barbieri (31.41), Austin Choe (35.80)
    • Improved 3-4 seconds: Rosie Hauser (30.63), Brooks Lukach (25.31), Teddy Sauer (40.68)
    • Dropped 1-2 seconds: Ella Murdock (34.56), Emma Tillman (34.88), Owen Spangler (21.67), Caldwell Adams (29.84), James Keiper (31.62), Neel Sinha (32.42)
    • Shaved a little off: Nick Keegan (31.32)
  • 100 Fly: Rose Theobald crushed an 11 second drop (1:19.36) and Elliott Karpinos took down six seconds (1:12.36).
  • 100 Free is another common event with lots of major drops!
    • Absolutely astronomical improvement: Reya Roy took down 38 seconds to 1:30.88! Ella Murdock crushed a 24 second improvement as well (1:45.76). James Barbieri has the second-largest drop of 37 seconds (135.39)
    • Big drops: Claire Yu (-12, 1:06.52), Avery Horst (-16, 1:16.92), Oren Schwartz (-11, 1:15.93), Brooks Lukach (-11, 1:21.72), James Keiper (-14, 1:39.75)
    • 5-10 second improvement: Layla Jahangir (1:10.14), Norah Clarke (1:22.11), Owen Spangler (1:05.09), Henry Sloane (1:07.37), Oliver Burnette (1:11.45), Caldwell Adams (1:27.00), Nick Keegan (1:32.55), Mark Braun (1:35.10)
    • 3-5 second drops: Neel Sinha (1:39.52)
    • 1-2 second PR: Laney Martin (1:20.05), James Michels (58.83)
  • 100 Back: Laney Martin dropped four seconds (1:40.28), Peter Weiss dropped two (1:09.39), and Ian Drewry dropped one (1:12.08). 
  • 100 Breast: Rose Theobald took down 5 seconds (1:23.37), Amelie Schuetz-Sevin dropped 3 (1:29.67), Norah Clarke also dropped five seconds (1:32.00), and Lucy Garrison improved ten seconds (1:34.45)! For boys, Griffin Johnson dropped six seconds (1:24.82), Samuel Womer improved 5 (1:26.03), and Oliver Burnette took down an incredible sixteen seconds (1:26.37).

  Oftentimes, I will note our scorers for meets. You will not see the points listed on the side of the results for this meet because it was scored as a double dual-- that means that a swimmer might have earned different points in the meet against Harding and Currey Ingram. At dual meets, only three individuals and two relays from each team are allowed to score in each event. After the third swimmer from each team, there is an "x" next to each successive swimmer's time. That time still counts; the 'x' just indicates that it did not score! This is also one of the reasons why swimmers may end up in an event that is not their favorite-- there are likely risk-free points to earn in that event! 

  
  

  We did win all of the meets yesterday! 

  COMBINED-

  • USN (176) vs. Harding (68)
  • USN (203) vs. Currey Ingram (14)

  BOYS-

  • USN (100) vs. Harding (16)
  • USN (102) vs. Currey Ingram (14)

  GIRLS-

  • USN (76) vs. Harding (52)

  Here's who contributed points: Peter Weiss (160 MR, 100 fly, 100 back, 160 FR), James Michels (160 MR, 200 free, 100 free, 160 FR), Elliott Karpinos (160 MR, 160 IM, 100 fly, 160 FR), Ian Drewry (160 MR, 100 free, 100 back, 160 FR), Brooks Lukach (160 MR, 40 free), Oliver Burnette (160 MR, 100 breast), 160 FR, Griffin Johnson (160 MR, 100 back, 100 breast, 160 FR), Owen Spangler (160 MR, 40 free, 100 free, 160 FR), Claire Yu (160 MR, 160 IM, 100 free, 160 FR), Rose Theobald (160 MR, 100 fly, 100 breast, 160 FR), Layla Jahangir (160 MR, 200 free, 100 free, 160 FR), Avery Horst (160 MR, 200 free, 100 free, 160 FR), Laney Martin (160 MR, 100 back), Panambi Edmonds Cuellar (160 MR, 160 FR), Amelie Schuetz Sevin (160 MR, 100 breast), Norah Clarke (160 MR, 100 breast), Lucy Garrison (200 free), Henry Sloane (200 free, 160 FR), Eliana Wolf (40 free), Lena LeClere (40 free, 100 back, 160 FR), Elaina Yu (40 free), Oren Schwartz (40 free), Syra Bangalore (100 back), Sam Womer (100 breast), Reya Roy (160 FR), Rosie Hauser (160 FR). Having such a long list indicates that we have a team with depth!

  
  

  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. I am excited to report that we already have SEVENTEEN swimmers who have qualified to attend! Here is who has made those times already:

  1. Oliver Burnette- 100 Free
  2. Norah Clarke- 100 Breast
  3. Ian Drewry- 100 Free, 100 Back
  4. Lucy Garrison- 200 Free, 100 Breast
  5. Avery Horst- 200 Free, 100 Free
  6. Layla Jahangir- 200 Free, 100 Free
  7. Griffin Johnson- 100 Back, 100 Breast
  8. Elliott Karpinos- 100 Fly
  9. James Michels- 200 Free, 100 Free
  10. Amelie Schuetz Sevin- 100 Breast
  11. Oren Schwartz- 100 Free
  12. Henry Sloane- 200 Free, 100 Free
  13. Owen Spangler- 100 Free
  14. Rose Theobald- 100 Fly, 100 Breast
  15. Peter Weiss- 100 Fly
  16. Sam Womer- 100 Breast
  17. Claire Yu- 100 Free

  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! I am confident that we will be adding more to that list very soon! 

  
  

  While we swim to get faster and win meets, we are also in the practice of becoming better athletes and humans. Not everything can be measured in just times and places. Here were some great things that the coaches spotted on deck:

  • So much good kicking! Usually, the first meet includes yelling "KICK!" from the side a lot, but even with our 200 frees, swimmers kept strong, consistent kicking throughout their entire races.
  • Lucy and Avery were the first victims of the 2o-yard pool, accidentally stopping a 40 early. They got right back in the game and did not complain!
  • Avery was nervous about her first 200 free, but she approached it exactly as she should: She asked for a strategy the day before and decided to tackle it with a smile. 
  • We didn't review this beforehand, but it is generally considered good sportsmanship to stay in the water until everyone in the race has finished. Even without the reminder, Layla, Laney, and Ian did this. 
  • Overall, we have an excellent cheer squad, but I saw consistent cheering from Griffin, Peter, Oren, Oliver, Elliott, Ian, James, and Panambi.
  • Avi did her first flipturn in her 40 free and then did a flipturn on every wall in her 100 free! Aston tried out flipturns as well! 
  • We always have some goggle issues, but we saw lots of swimmers persevere without perfect vision: Riley, Owen, Caldwell, Oliver
  • I could tell that James K and Caldwell have been really focusing on streamlining off their starts in practice! 
  • Elliott had an excellent final 20 of his 100 fly, almost catching the second place Harding swimmer
  • Griffin, Owen, and Crockett all helped pick up a gross gingerbread mess on the deck. This is also a reminder that any snacks on deck should be in containers and disposed of quickly. 
  • While winning is fun (and we did have some lapping happen in this meet!), close races are fun to watch. The boys' 100 fly, first heat of the 100 breast (with Oliver and Sam), and the first heat of the girls 160 free relay (the C and D relays) had me wondering what was going to happen next. 
  • I had multiple conversations with swimmers who were using their performance to set time goals for the remainder of the season-- often thinking about if they could qualify for MTHSSAs! 
  • Cruze Vanatta is competing with our team this season, but he is a student at DCA. Joining a team with a bunch of people who already know each other is quite intimidating, but Cruze has taken it all in stride. Thank you to all of our swimmers who introduced themselves yesterday, and I hope you all continue to strive to welcome him into our USN family! 

  Finally, thank you to our wonderful volunteers! Justin Karpinos might be the only official who can get a meet to run AHEAD of schedule, and we are eternally grateful for him. I hear that the timing competition yesterday ended in a tie with each set of timers getting the exact same time three times. You guys also help the meet run smoothly by directing swimmers and paying attention to your surroundings-- thank you so much!
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• 9/14 Meet @ ENS

  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:

  1. 3rd place finishes: Peter Weiss’s 500 free
  2. 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
  3. 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, 
  4. 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
  5. 7th place finishes: Griffin Johnson’s 200 free; Ian Drewry’s 100 back
  6. 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
  7. 10th place finishes: Rose Theobald’s 200 IM; Amelie Schuetz Sevin’s 100 breast
  8. 11th place finishes: Griffin Johnson’s 100 free
  9. 12th place finishes: Claire Yu’s 100 back; Elliott Karpinos’s 100 breast
  10. 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
  11. 14th place finishes: Sam Womer’s 100 free
  12. 15th place finishes: Avery Horst’s 100 back
  13. 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. 

  1. Oliver Burnette- 100 Free, 50 free
  2. Norah Clarke- 100 Breast, 50 free
  3. Ian Drewry- 100 Free, 100 Back, 200 IM
  4. Lucy Garrison- 200 Free, 100 Breast
  5. Avery Horst- 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 free, 100 back
  6. Layla Jahangir- 200 Free, 100 Free, 50 free, 100 fly
  7. Griffin Johnson- 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 free, 100 free
  8. Elliott Karpinos- 100 Fly, 100 breast
  9. Brooks Lukach- 50 free, 100 back
  10. Laney Martin- 50 free
  11. James Michels- 200 Free, 100 Free, 200 IM, 100 back
  12. Amelie Schuetz Sevin- 100 Breast, 50 free
  13. Oren Schwartz- 100 Free, 50 free
  14. Henry Sloane- 200 Free, 100 Free
  15. Owen Spangler- 100 Free
  16. Rose Theobald- 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 200 IM
  17. Peter Weiss- 100 Fly, 200 free, 500 free
  18. Sam Womer- 100 Breast, 100 free
  19. 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:

  1. 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. 
  2. 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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