Swim Orlando YMCA

Well Folks, it has been a year since our last trip to YMCA Nationals. I was so pleased with the experience we had last season in Ft. Lauderdale and the positive environment of a meet run with YMCA Core Values:
 
Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility ...The atmosphere of this meet is wonderful.
 
Last year was great but this year was even better. We raised our level of performance dramatically. Last year we had two individuals qualify to swim at night time finals and no relays score points. This year we had six individuals make finals and three relays score points resulting in 38.5 points up from 14 last year.
 
Before we get into details I would be remiss if I did not send a major Thank You to our Parents. They were incredible helping shuttle the kids to and from the pool, helping to set up our seating area (which ended up being one of the best there) and feeding and keeping them safe. We could not have done it without you. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
 
Additionally I would like to Thank a couple other people who do so much for us:
         
Steve Corrie, our Executive Director at the Aquatic Center is also a member of the prestigious National YMCA Swimming and Diving Committee. His guidance through the YMCA culture and history has been invaluable to me in navigating these strange waters, which even though I've been around awhile are still rather new to me.
Carlos Burgos, our Director of Membership (and all around jack-of-all-trades) designed a team shirt for us on short notice and the kids opinion was that it was the "best team shirt we've ever had".
Thank you both for all you do for Swim Orlando YMCA.
 
On to the swimmers!!!!!!
 
Gaby Gil had a great meet swimming best times in every event she swam highlighted by a 13th place finish in the 200 fly (2:05.3) with a three second drop in her best time. Her 500 (5:09.8) was a two second drop and she took off a few tenths in her 100 fly and 200 IM. Gaby also lead off our 800 FR with a best time of 1:55.4 (a two second drop from 1:57.+ previously).
 
Halie Lacey did best times in both of her specialties, the 100 and 200 breast with a six tenth drop in her 100 (1:06.2) and a three second drop in her 200 (2:23.3). Halie got a second swim in the100 and came back with a solid 1:06.5 at night.
 
Unfortunately some of our ladies were a little under the weather. However I could not be more proud of how they handled the adversity. We had some solid relay swims and individual performances from Ellice Mae Sanchez, Cristina Sanchez and Jen Gavin. They kept fighting the whole week and got faster as the meet went on ending with two gritty efforts in the 200FR and the 400MR on Saturday.
 
Our men had some excellent showings as well:
 
Robbie Duran continued to show that hard work and consistency in training pay off. He had best times in the 200 and 400 IM. His 400 IM put him in at night where he came back and lowered his best time by a second and set the team record with a 4:02.6. Robbie's most outstanding swim came in the middle of the 800 FR where we qualified 16th in the consols in lane eight and on the second leg dropped his 200 Free time from 1:44.7 to 1:42.66.
 
Braden Bouchard on the same relay also came up big with a third leg which dropped his time from 1:44.9 to 1:42.30. He went out fast and just kept hanging on. An incredibly gutsy performance. Braden also had lifetime best in the 50 Free and 100 back as well as a best ever relay split of 46.6 on the 400 FR.
 
Emmanuel Arias and Illya Prikhodko were the other two legs on the 800 FR and now is a good time to talk about them. Emmanuel led off and was headed for his best time but dramatically missed his turn at the 150 yet fought back courageously and still went a 1:44.6 (less than a second off his best). He also had tough lead off legs on both the 200 and 400 FR. Illya was not feeling good and was not having a great meet but he turned in one of the toughest relay legs I have seen in a long time. Even though he was hurting he went 1:44.8 on the anchor leg which is right at his best time.
That relay went from 16th in lane eight to 12th with a three and a half second drop from the morning. It was one of the most fun relays I have coached and I have had a lot of years watching relays. This ranks way up there!
 
Stephen King was also a stalwart on our relays with his best splits in the 200 and 400 FR as well as doing his best time ever in the 100 Free and 100 Back. Stephen has come a long way in less than a year that he has been with us and the future is only going to get better.
 
Richie Hildebrand. What can I say about Richie. This young man came to us about eighteen months ago as a high school backstroker. We told him he might want to try breast and the rest is history. He went from 1:17.0 to 58.11 in the 100 breast in 14 months and got second in the Florida High School State meet. This past week he surprised us with his 200 going from an already greatly improved 2:12 to a 2:07.77 and getting into finals at his first National meet.
 
Kai Honeck broke the 22 second barrier in his 50 for the first time and was a key member of our team record setting 200 and 400 FR. His start on the prelim 200 FR was a thing of beauty. All his explosive potential finally came together in that one start when he left the block at the knees of the swimmer in the lead and came up on his first stroke at his shoulder. I just started smiling.
 
Riley Bouchard and Brandon Nestor rounded out our men's team. Riley showed true maturity and patience by sticking with the major stroke changes we are working on before he goes off to his academic and swimming career at Cornell University. He has handled the adjustment to a new stroke with grace and seems to know it will help significantly in the long run. Brandon had some excellent unshaved/untapered swims and he got a lot of experience for the future. He is focused this season on Irish Nationals in late April. We wish him Good Luck in the next few weeks.
 
Overall we had fifteen lifetime bests in a pool which is acknowledged as being significantly slower than our Aquatic Center. We had so many swims close to bests that I think in our pool we would have 8-10 more. Additionally we had 12 lifetime best relay splits which is incredible. Coming through on relays always warms my heart as it shows the swimmers commitment to each other and the team.
 
What excites me the most is that two years ago many of these young people did not even think about swimming in a meet of this caliber and yet here they are. 
 
We have a large number of Seniors who are going on to their college careers in the fall. On one hand that can be a little scary. Is the cupboard bare? I don't think so. When I look out at our workouts each day I see so many of our 11-16 year old swimmers who will be at this meet next year or soon thereafter. Every year in my college coaching I would look at our departing Seniors and wonder how on earth we were going to replace them. Funny thing is, all the freshmen, sophomores and juniors became sophomores, juniors and seniors and there was a new crop of freshmen waiting in the wings. That is how I see our younger swimmers. They are the next generation of Swim Orlando YMCA National Team Members just waiting in the wings.
 
It is only going to get better. We are on our way.
 
Thank you for your continued support,
 
Mel Nash
Senior/National Coach
Swim Orlando YMCA