1 Down, 4 to Go

What an exciting first meet against the White Columns Waves! Each and every swimmer gave it their all in the 86 events swam that night. All of our coaches and I were especially proud of new swimmers who competed in their very first meet. Although we didn't manage to pull out a win against the Waves, all of our Stingrays put up a great fight, with a final score of 297 to 381.

First, I want to recognize all of our 6&Under swimmers:

Austin Anderson            

Rachael Lawrence

Riley Broadway             

Luke Lohman

Josyln Cameron             

Kayla Macleod

Meg Esposito                 

Ashley Meyer
Harris Newbold

Owen Jacobson              

Devon Schoonover 

Caroline Jenacova          

Gwyn Wallace 

All of our 6&Unders have made tremendous progress in the last few weeks of practice. Many of them swam an entire length of the pool without any assistance for the first time! 6&Unders- we are so proud of you, keep up the good work!

Second, we want to say how impressed we were with our IM swimmers at the meet. The IM (individual medley) is a very difficult event for swimmers of any age. These swimmers were great examples of  "team players" by trying their hardest at any event given to them, especially one as hard as the IM. We even heard some swimmers ask to swim the IM again next week!

After every week during the season, we want to acknowledge special swimmers as "Swimmers of the Week."  Here are the first 4 of the season:

Swimmers of the Week: Week 1

Elliot Esposito

Elliot practiced extra hard all week to improve his strokes in preparation for his first IM. His enthusiasm and team spirit stood out this week, and we are proud of how well Elliot swam all of his races- way to go!

McKenzie Glaze

Our coaches took note on how dedicated of a swimmer McKenzie is. She works very hard at every practice, but tries even harder at any race given to her. Moving up from 9/10s to 11/12s is very difficult, and McKenzie continues to give %100. You go girl!

Haven Newbold

Haven has made tremendous progress as a swimmer in the last few weeks. After a great amount of practice, Haven finally swam putting her head in the water and without holding her nose. Haven stepped out of her safety zone, and tried something she didn't feel comfortable doing in effort to improve her swimming. We can't wait to see your next race Haven! 

Luke Lohman

All of the coaches agree that Luke has come a very long way since the first day of practice. Ever since the first practice, Luke refused to get off the steps or go near the deep end. Every now and then, he would swim with a coach holding on, but it was never for long time or long distance. But the week of the first meet, he became a little fish! At the first meet, he finally got into the deep end, and swam the entire lap. Even at the start of the meet Luke, was so excited to swim that he got upset when he wasn't able to jump right in because the big kids were warming up. He is another swimmer who stepped outside his safety zone. Keep up good work Luke! 

Finally, our coaches want to note the sportsmanship our team displayed at our first meet of the season. Swimmers remained in the water until the last person finished, shook hands with opponents, cheered on their relay throughout the entire event, and more. We are so proud of the races and effort shown, but we are more proud of how our team carried themselves during a tough meet.

Keep it up Stingrays!