Sunday, September 30, 2007

Fall Fest 2007 Swimmers Excel

Swimmers Excel in First Meet of Season

September 24, 2007……The Summer of 2007 is officially over according to the calendar, and attention has now turned to swimming indoors. The first area-wide sanctioned meet in the USA Swimming Short Course Swim Season took place this past weekend when the Excel Aquatics Fall Fest Swim Meet was held in Brentwood TN.

Swimmers from Sumner Country ranging from Hendersonville to White House to Westmoreland and back down to Gallatin, who train with Excel Aquatics, converged on the Indoor Sports Complex in Brentwood and competed against 529 swimmers from Alabama, North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee who made the trip to compete in the meet.

Representing Sumner County at the meet were Dylan Bollinger, Jimmie Joe Boone, Caroline Cole, Kathryn Cole, Schuyler Daniel, Griffin Garrison, Kathryn George, Alyson Gomer, Maggie Greene, Brittany Henderson, Madison Kolbe, Caroline McCrory, Katie Mize, Hannah Ray, Allison Riley, Sarah Rittenberry, Jenni Singleton, Abbie Wood, and Brittany Zobl.

Placing in the Top 8 in events during this meet were Kathryn George, Senior Girls, 2nd Place 400 Yard Individual Medley; 3rd Place 100 Yard Butterfly; 4th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; 6th Place 200 Yard Butterfly; and 7th Place 200 Yard Backstroke. Maggie Greene, 8&Under Year Old Girls, 8th Place 100 Yard Freestyle. Madison Kolbe, 11&12 Year Old Girls, 5th Place 50 Yard Breaststroke; 8th Place 50 Yard Backstroke. Katie Mize, Senior Girls, 7th Place 100 Yard Butterfly. Brittany Zobl, 13&14 Year Old Girls, 7th Place 50 Yard Freestyle; 7th Place 200 Yard Backstroke; 8th Place 100 Yard Backstroke.

Swimming in their first ever year-round USA Swimming sanctioned meet were Dylan Bollinger, an Indian Lake Summer League participant in the 10&Under Boys category; Griffin Garrison, 10&Under Boys; Maggie Greene, 8&Under Girls; and Jenni Singleton, 11&12 Year Old Girls.

“The Excel Aquatics coaches are proud of all of these swimmers.” Excel Assistant Coach John Barnes proclaimed. “Our Silver 1 squad under Coach Andreea Ianoli-Mitrofan turned in some great time drops. Those with significant double digit drops in seconds in some of their events from this group were Caroline Cole, Kathryn Cole, Schuyler Daniel, Alyson Gomer, and Allison Riley. Madison Kolbe dropped times in every one of her events, Sarah Rittenberry showed some great time drops in her Individual Medley event and Fly and Free events, while Jimmie Joe Boone did great in his Free, Breast, and IM events.”

Excel newcomer Abbie Wood, a Freshman at Pope John Paul II High School and a summer league swimmer at Blue Grass Country Club who is now training with Excel’s Gold squad, stepped up to the blocks and competed in some events that were outside her comfort zone. “Abbie has been working hard these past 4 weeks of practice, and has made some great strides already. We entered her in events such as the 200 Yard Freestyle and the 500 Yard Freestyle that would challenge her and ultimately make her a stronger swimmer in terms of experience and versatility.” Barnes explained. “Abbie did a great job in both events, and came within 92 one-hundredths of a second away from the State of Tennessee High School Championship Meet Qualifying Time in the 200 Yard Free, and 3.54 seconds away from the standard in the 500 Yard Freestyle. She is going to contribute immediately to Pope John Paul II in every one of the Freestyle events, from the 50 to the 500, and is working to refine her technique in the other strokes. In the long run that hard work will pay off and make her a well-rounded swimmer and add value to her high school team.”

“At Excel Aquatics we have multiple goals for our swimmers. We want to drop times, be competitive with anyone anywhere at any time, improve our stroke techniques, and we also want to instill a sense of hard-work into these student-athletes that they will carry with them the rest of their lives. There are no short-cuts to being a successful swimmer, and there are no short-cuts to succeeding in school and life.” Coach Barnes explained.

The next meet for these swimmers will be the Nashville Aquatic Club October Open to be held in Nashville on October 13th and 14th. In November the team will be traveling to the world-famous Indianapolis Natatorium, one of the fastest pools in the world.

For more information on competitive swimming visit www.ExcelAquatics.org

No comments: