Ames’ Rock the Blocks meet Highlights.

The first meet held at the Furman Aquatic Center was filled with pretty fast times, and ACAC swimmers were a big part of that! Here are the individual highlights:

Lauren Banwart (Senior 1): got four best times and dove in for four new events, achieving 1 new A time (50 free), 1 new BB time (100 free) and 4 new B times (200, 400, and 800 free, and 200 IM);

James Bentley (Age Group 3): got four best times and dove in for two new events, coming out with 4 new BB times (400 free, 50 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM);

Sara Bentley (Senior 2): got seven best times and got in for one new event, for 1 new AA time (100 breast), 3 new A time (200 back, 200 breast, and 400 IM), and 1 new BB time (100 fly);

Bryan Bjorklund (Senior 1): got one best time and dove in for 6 new events, including a new B time (200 breast);

Matt Boylan (Age Group 3): got six best times and did one new event, for 1 new AA time (100 back), two new A times (50 and 1500 free), and one hew B time (100 fly);

Michael Burke (Age Group 2): got one best time for a new BB time (50 free), and swam one new event;

Grace Carleton (Senior 1): got two best times and dove in for 5 new events, including a new BB time (50 free) and 2 new B times (100 and 400 free);

Wes Carleton (Age Group 3): swam his first 4 events in LCM;

Tia Cavender (Age Group 2): dove in for 3 events in her first LCM meet;

Blaire Collet (Novice): got three new events in the bag debuting in LCM;

Meghan Collet (Novice): in her first LCM meet, dove in for 4 evnets;

Hannah Dietrich (Age Group 2): dove in for 6 events in her LCM debut;

Irfan Dotani (Age Group 1): did his first 4 events in LCM;

Matthew Farrel (Age Group 2): got two best times;

Meredith Farrel (Senior 1): got three best times and did two new events, for a new BB time (50 free) and a new B time (200 back);

Taylor Flummerfelt (Senior 1): dove in for three new events, including two new BB times (400 free and 400 IM) and one new B time (200 fly);

Madie Fowler (Age Group 3): in her first LCM meet, dove in for 5 events;

Peyton Gaumer (Senior 1): got in for 6 events in his LCM debut, including two BB times (100 and 200 breast) and four B times (100 and 400 free, 100 back, and 200 IM);

Ryan Gaumer (Age Group 2): completed six events in his first LCM meet, including two BB times (50 back and 50 breast);

Jon Hagen (Senior 1): dove in for one new event, which is a new B time (200 breast);

Sabrinna Hegelheimer (Age Group 2): did her first 3 events at LCM, including one B time (50 breast);

Jazlyn Horras (Age Group 3): got 4 best times and dove in for two new events, totaling 5 new A times (50, 100, and 400 free, 100 breast, and 200 IM) and 1 new BB time (100 fly);

Olvia Jenks (Age Group 2): dove in for 6 new events, 5 of which are new B times (50 free and 100 free, 100 breast, 100 fly, and 200 IM);

Timothy Jenks (Age Group 1): completed two new events;

David Jiang (Age Group 1): dove in for his first 3 events in LCM, 2 of which are B times (50 free and 50 back);

Wendy Jiang (Age Group 1): completed her first 4 events in LCM;

Ethan Johnson (Age Group 1): got in for 4 new events;

Jaci Johnson (Age Group 3): dove in for 9 new events, three of which are new B times (50, 100, and 400 free);

Rucha Kelkar (Age Group 1): in her first meet, completed one event;

Alec Knight (Senior 1): completed 6 new events, including 1 new BB time (50 free) and 3 new B times (100 and 400 free, and 100 breast);

Stephanie Koch (National): got one best times, which is also a new ACAC Record (200 back: 2:33.13);

Chloe Kuehner (Senior 2): in her first LCM meet, got in for 9 events, including 3 A times (50 free, 100 and 200 breast) and 5 BB times (100 and 400 free, 200 back, 200 and 400 IM);

Josh Lee (Senior 1): completed 8 events in his LCM debut, including one AA time (50 free), one A time (100 free), and 5 B times (200 free, 100 and 200 breast, 200 and 400 IM);

Myca Lee (Age Group 3): in her first LCM meet, completed seven events, including 1 BB time (50 free) and 2 B times (100 free and 100 breast);

Alyssa Lehman (Age Group 2): dove in for 5 events in her first LCM meet;

Nicky Lin (Age Group 2): completed 4 events in her LCM debut, including three A times (50 and 100 free, and 50 back);

Rachel Manderscheid (Age Group 3): dove in for her first 9 LCM events, including 1 AA time (100 breast), 3 BB times (50 and 100 free, and 200 IM), and 3 B times (400 free, 100 back, and 50 fly);

Ezra Manus (Novice): competed in his first meet, diving in for two events;

Josie Manzer (Age Group 2): completed three LCM events, all of which are B times (50 and 100 free, and 50 back);

Ian Mart (Senior 1): dove in for his first 5 LCM events, including 2 BB times (50 and 100 free);

Isabel McLeod (Age Group 3): competed in her first 6 LCM events, and got out with 1 A time (50 free), 2 BB times (100 free and 50 back), and 3 B times (400 free, 100 breast, and 100 fly);

Sydney Meier (Age Group 2): competed in her first meet;

Christopher Merchant (Senior 2): got five best times and completed two new events, totaling 1 new AA time (50 free), 1 new A time (400 free), and 2 new B times (100 and 200 back);

Taylor Messingham (Senior 1): got four best times and dove in for 5 new events, one of which is a new BB time (50 free) and 3 are new B times (100 and 400 free, and 400 IM);

Molly Muench (Age Group 2): got five best times and did three new events;

Anna Napolitano (Age Group 3): got three best times and got in for three new events, for a total of 3 new A times (400 free, 100 fly and 200 IM) and 2 new BB times (50 back and 100 breast);

Hannah Newell (Senior 2): dove in for three new events, 2 of which are new BB times (400 and 800 free);

Alex Pyle (Senior 2): got three best times and competed in three new events, totaling 1 new AAA time (50 free), 2 new BB times (1500 free and 400 IM), and 1 new B time (200 breast);

Charlotte Quant (Senior 1): got five best times and dove in for four new events, totaling 1 new A time (50 free), 4 new BB times (200 and 400 free, 200 back, and 400 IM), and 2 new B times (200 breast and 200 fly);

Cael Rasmussen (Age Group 1): got two best times and completed one new event, for 1 new A time (50 back) and 2 new B times (50 and 100 free);

Cameron Rasmussen (Age Group 3): got six best times and competed in two new events, for 1 new AA / ACAC Record (400 IM: 5:58.00), 2 more AA times (50 free and 200 IM), 2 new A times (1500 free and 100 fly), and 2 new BB times (100 back and 50 fly);

Wyatt Rasmussen (Senior 2): got seven best times and dove in for three new events, totaling 3 new BB times (50 free, 200 and 400 IM) and 2 new B times (100 back and 200 breast);

Dustin Rhoads (National): competed in two new events, for 1 new A time (200 IM) and 1 new B time (200 fly);

Alli Rogers (Age Group 1): dove in for her first 3 LCM events, including 1 new A time (50 back) and 2 new B times (50 and 100 free);

Lauren Rosser (Senior 2): got three best times, including 1 new A time (400 IM), and dove in for one new event, which is also a new BB time (800 free);

Tony Rosser (Novice): got one best time and completed one new event;

Morgan Rosser (Age Group 3): got one best time and competed in one new event, which is a new A time (800 free);

Katie Sailer (Age Group 3): got three best times and dove in for five new events, totaling 1 new BB time (50 free) and 3 new B times (100 free, 100 back, and 200 back);

Eva Scheibe (Age Group 3): got one best time and competed in five new events, for 1 new AA time (100 breast), 4 new BB times (50, 100, and 400 free, and 200 IM), and 1 new B time (100 fly);

Rachel Shriver (Senior 1): got three best times and dove in for four new events, 2 of which are new BB times (400 free and 200 back), and 1 is a new B time (200 breast);

Gracie Snyder (Age Group 3): got six best times and competed in two new events, totaling 1 new AAA time (50 free), 3 new A times (100 free, 50 fly, 200 IM), and 1 new BB time (400 free);

Sophie Sorenson (Age Group 3): got six best time, all of them new AA times (50 and 100 free, 100 breast, 100 fly and 200 IM) and two of which are new ACAC Records (100 fly: 1:27.99; 200 IM: 3:02.87), and dove in for one new event, which is also a new A time (400 free);

Sydney Sorenson (Senior 2): got six best times and dove in for two new events, totaling 3 new AA times (50 free, 100 and 200 breast) and 3 new BB times (400 free, 100 fly, and 400 IM);

Quentin Strohm (Novice): competed in 3 new LCM events, and got his first B time (50 back);

Zak Strohm (Age Group 3): went 6 for 6 in best times, including 3 new BB times (100 and 400 free, and 100 breast);

Ben Utesch (National): got three best times, 1 of which is a new ACAC Record (200 back: 2:27.86), and 1 which is a new BB time (200 breast);

Caleb Utesch (Senior 2): got four best times, 1 of which is a new A time (50 free), and dove in for two new events, including a new BB time (400 IM);

Sam Wiedemeier (Senior 1): got one best time and dove in for five new LCM events, including 1 new BB time (200 back) and 3 new B times (400 free, 100 fly, and 400 IM);

Molly Winer (Age Group 2): got two best times and dove in for four new events, totaling 4 new BB times (50 and 400 free, 100 breast, and 200 IM) and 2 new B times (50 back and 100 fly);

Erin Wolter (Age Group 2): competed in her first 3 LCM events, and got 1 new B time (50 free).

Congrats, ACAC!

Two videos for you today

Both the videos below come from SwimmingWorld.TV

Some of our athletes don't like the idea of swimming "back-to-back" events, even though that usually means an interval of at least 20-30 min between swims. Here's Ryan Lochte after doing the 100 free only 12min after the 200 back! Any idea why he's so good?

Matt Grevers as always is material for a good interview. Here's his own take at how to better his performances:

Great video with Matt Grevers giving us a tour around the swimmers hospitality area in the Charlote Ultraswim this past weekend. I guess that makes it much more attractive to be a top notch swimmers, doesn't it?

Meet Recap

ICE Meltdown

May 1-2, 2010

Goals

1. Familiarize swimmers to long course swimming.

We performed some sets during warm-ups for extra practice.

Plus, swimmers swam a full slate of events allowing them to gain more experience in long course racing.

2. Learn Race strategies.

The swimmers took time to plan out race strategies. We still had a few swimmers that were unprepared for a few races. I believe we will get better throughout the course of the season.

3. Understanding swimming fast versus getting best times.

We did a great job of this. Swimmers got up and performed well. They did swim fast for themselves and against competition. Swimmers were generally not focused on beating the time in the heat sheet. This allowed swimmers to focus more on how to swim the race.

4. Learn Swim Meet procedures.

Swimmers were mostly on task. There were a few instances where swimmers needed to be reminded that they needed to cool down. There were also a few instances where swimmers were not completely warmed-up for the races. Swimmers did an excellent job making sure they were behind the blocks at an appropriate time; not too early, not too late.

5. Understanding how to eat properly during the course of competition.

Swimmers did a good job of bringing their own food to eat during the course of competition. I did not see a lot parent interaction, meaning they had worked out plans before the meet started and that swimmers were taking ownership of their swim meet diet plans.

Areas for Improvement:

Transitions: Swimmers were able to perform long underwater dolphin kickouts, however, we did not breakout with any competitive advantage. This was due to the fact that swimmers lost speed between the dolphin kicks and the breakouts. Swimmers need to learn more about the transitions between underwater swimming and surface swimming.

Turns and Finishes: Swimmers were gliding into walls on both the turns and finishes. This resulted in a few disqualifications for backstroke turns and some slow finishes in freestyle events.

Mental Preparations: Swimmers did a great job with swim meet procedures. I do think we could have done a little more to get “fired-up” for some races. Some swimmers still did not know which events were on which days. This means that swimmers were not mentally prepared before the meet. If swimmers take the time to rehearse strategies and plans before the meet, they will also likely go through mental “pump-up” procedures as well. This will lead too more focused swimming at the meet with reduced effort to get oneself “pumped-up”.

General Comments

I noticed some of the faster swimmers from other teams were really snapping kicks, or really snapping their hips in a freestyle rotation. Swimmers should always practice to be powerful. Notice how your own body reacts to the water and whether or not you are “snapping” your own movements.

Meet Highlights from 2010 ICE Spring Meltdown.

We had a small group of swimmers attending the ICE Spring Meltdown meet this past weekend. Since this is the first LCM meet of the season, we encourage kids to attend just so that they get to experience LCM racing before the meet season picks up in June. While at it, some swimmers also performed pretty well. Here are the Highlights:

Sara Bentley (Senior 2): four best times, including a new A time (200 IM), and one new event for a new B time (200 Fly);

Christopher Merchant (Senior 2): three best times, including 2 new A times (50 and 100 Free), and two new events, including 1 new B time (200 Breast);

Taylor Messingham (Senior 2): after a long retreat from LCM racing, swam seven events for 6 new B times (200 Free, 100 and 200 Back, 100 and 200 Breast, 100 Fly, and 200 IM);

Alex Pyle (Senior 2): one best time for a new a time (200 IM), and one new event for a new B time (200 Fly);

Lauren Rosser (Senior 1): dove in for two new events and 2 new BB times (400 Free and 200 Breast);

Morgan Rosser (Age Group 3): swam two new events, for a new BB (200 Breast) and a new AA and ACAC 11-12 Record (1500 Free: 20:55.71)

Gracie Snyder (Age Group 3): got two best times, including 1 new AA time (50 Free);

Sydney Sorenson (Senior 2): one best time for a new A time (200 IM), and dove in for one new event a new B time (200 Fly);

Caleb Utesch (Senior 2): one best time;

Chrisann Zuerner (National): one best time for a new B time (100 Back).

Highlights from Sectionals!

Swimmers attending the 2010 Spring Speedo Sectionals did a great job representing ACAC. Here are the Highlights!

Taylor Flummerfelt: got two best times, including a new AAAA time (50 Free);

Jon Hagen: got three best times;

Taylor Kutchen: got one best time, which is also a new AAA time and new ACAC Record (200 breast: 2:12.89);

Dustin Rhoads: got three best times, including 1 new AAA time (100 free), and 1 new Senior Summer Nationals Cut! and new ACAC Record (100 back: 49.25);

Lauren Rosser: got one best time, which is also a new AA time and new ACAC Record (200 Fly: 2:15.54);

Sydney Sorenson: got one best time;

Chrisann Zuerner: got two best times.

ISI Senior Champs Highlights

On top of claiming 4th place overal and the Team Spirit Award, ACAC swimmers also had plenty of individual highlights during the ISI Senior Champs. Here they are:

Lauren Banwart (Senior 2): got two best times, including 1 new AA time (50 free);

Sara Bentley (Senior 2): including a relay leadoff went seven for seven in best times, including 2 new AA times (100 back and 100 breast);

Luuk Dekkers (National): three best times, including 1 new AA time (100 fly) and 2 new A times (100 back and 100 breast);

Taylor Flummerfelt (National): four best times, including 1 new AAAA time (100 free);

Jon Hagen (National): one best time, which is also a new Sectionals Cut (100 back);

Taylor Kutchen (National): one best time, which is also a new AA time (50 free);

Christopher Merchant (Senior 2): three best times, including 2 new AA times (100 free and 200 free) and 1 new A time (50 free);

Taylor Messingham (Senior 2): four best times, including 1 new A time (200 IM);

Hannah Newell (Senior 2): five out of five in best times including 2 Sectionals Cuts (50 and 100 free), one of which is a new AAAA time (50 free), 1 new AAA time (200 free), and 1 new AA time (100 fly);

Alex Pyle (Senior 2): four best times, including 1 new AAA time (50 free);

Wyatt Rasmussen (Senior 2): one best time;

Abby Rewoldt (Senior 2): three best times;

Dustin Rhoads (National): four best times, including 2 new Sectionals Cuts (200 free and 100 breast), 2 new AAA times (200 free and 200 IM), and 1 new AA time (100 breast);

Lauren Rosser (National): six best times, including 1 new Sectionals Cut (200 IM), 3 new AA times (100 free, 100 fly, and 200 IM), and 1 new A time (200 fly);

Sydney Sorenson (Senior 2): including a relay leadoff, when 7 for 7 in best times, including 1 new Sectionals Cut (100 breast), 3 new AAA times (50 free, 100 free and 200 IM), 1 new AA time (200 free) and 1 new A time (100 fly), and 1 new ACAC Record (200 Breast: 2:30.59);

Michael Stark (Senior 2): got 4 best times, including 1 new AAA time (100 free) and 2 new AA times (50 free and 200 free);

Caleb Utesch (Senior 2): two best times, including 1 new AA time (1650 free), which is also a new ACAC Record (18:20.42);

Sam Wiedemeier (Senior 2): three best times, including 1 new Sectionals Cut (100 back), 1 new AA time (100 free) and 1 A time (200 free);

Tim Wiedemeier (Senior 2): three best times;

Seth Wills (Senior 2): got 1 best time;

Chrisann Zuerner (National): went 4 for 4 in best times, including 1 new Sectionals Cut / AAA time (100 free).