Since swimming is a numbers oriented sport, here is a look at some key stats from the 2008-09 R-MC swimming season:
113 - Lifetime best swims (pretty awesome)
11 - Dual meet wins - sets a single season record for R-MC Swimming
8 - All-ODAC swimmers on our team
8 - Pool record holders on our roster
7 - New Estes Aquatic Center pool records (in 6 different events)
6 - New school records (in 5 different events)
6 - School record holders on our roster
4 - ODAC Swimmers of the Week
1 - ODAC Scholar Athlete of the Year - Shafer Busch
The numbers don't lie. 8 out of 18 swimmers on our team own an Estes Aquatic Center pool record and were named to either the ALL-ODAC 1st or 2nd team, and 6 out of 18 have a school record. In other words, if you are an R-MC swimmer, there is a 44.44% chance that you have a pool record and/or were named to the ALL-ODAC squad, and a 33.33% chance that you own a school record. Those are pretty good odds.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
St. Mary's Last Chance Meet
The ODAC Championships was not the end of the line for everyone on our team. This past Saturday, St. Mary's College of Maryland hosted the Seahawk Invitational, a last chance meet for NCAA qualification. We took 3 swimmers to the meet in effort to improve some times - Corinne, Brianna, and Sarah. It was a pretty successful trip. Sarah swam the 50, while Corinne and Brianna went to get another crack at a 2fly. Sarah finished 2nd in the 50, with a 25.15 (with a bit of a slip off the blocks).
The 2fly was great. 6 days prior, in finals at ODACs, Corinne finished 2nd in 2:17.98. The event was won in 2:16.13, and she was understandably upset. On Saturday, Corinne went after it and ended up with a new best time of 2:11.69. That crushes her own school record which had been 2:14.15, and was certainly a little redemption from the previous weekend. Brianna also put up a really good swim in the 2fly, and dropped her best time from a 2:22.63 to a 2:21.54.
And with that, the season is officially over for R-MC swimming.
The 2fly was great. 6 days prior, in finals at ODACs, Corinne finished 2nd in 2:17.98. The event was won in 2:16.13, and she was understandably upset. On Saturday, Corinne went after it and ended up with a new best time of 2:11.69. That crushes her own school record which had been 2:14.15, and was certainly a little redemption from the previous weekend. Brianna also put up a really good swim in the 2fly, and dropped her best time from a 2:22.63 to a 2:21.54.
And with that, the season is officially over for R-MC swimming.
ODAC Recap
OK, so the ODAC Championships finished last Sunday and I have yet to write about it. My bad. Here's a recap of how the meet went down for R-MC:
The ladies on the team swam very well and finished firmly in 2nd place as a team, 169 points clear of 3rd place Sweet Briar. As a team we put up 30 new lifetime bests during the weekend. While we didn't win any events, we did have 10 2nd place finishes. Leading the way was the 200 medley relay team of Hallie, Kellianne, Shafer, and Sarah, who shattered their own school record - as well as the previous conference record - in a time of 1:50.95. Sarah's split on the end of that relay was the fastest of the meet at 23.82. She also put up the best 100 free split of the meet in anchoring our 400 free relay in 53.09...all that while swimming in a suit held together with duct tape and nail polish! I'm already excited about what our relays are going to look like next season.
The biggest time drop of the weekend for R-MC came from Tracy Spurrier, who has just made some enormous improvements as a distance freestyler this year. Tracy's previous best in the 1650 was the 20:56.43 she put up at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in November. Last Sunday Tracy slashed nearly a minute and 5 seconds from that PR, finishing in 6th place overall in a time of 19:51.65.
The R-MC highlights weren't just contained to the pool during the weekend, however. On Sunday night, Shafer Busch became just the 2nd swimmer in R-MC history to grab top honors as the ODAC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Shafer beat out all other juniors and seniors in the conference for this award, which recognizes both academic and athletic accomplishments. It was a great way for Shafer to end her career as a swimmer.
All in all, it was a good championship meet for our team. The meet as a whole was much improved from last year, and our team was definitely a lot stronger than we were a year ago. We're making progress, and will continue to move forward next season.
The ladies on the team swam very well and finished firmly in 2nd place as a team, 169 points clear of 3rd place Sweet Briar. As a team we put up 30 new lifetime bests during the weekend. While we didn't win any events, we did have 10 2nd place finishes. Leading the way was the 200 medley relay team of Hallie, Kellianne, Shafer, and Sarah, who shattered their own school record - as well as the previous conference record - in a time of 1:50.95. Sarah's split on the end of that relay was the fastest of the meet at 23.82. She also put up the best 100 free split of the meet in anchoring our 400 free relay in 53.09...all that while swimming in a suit held together with duct tape and nail polish! I'm already excited about what our relays are going to look like next season.
The biggest time drop of the weekend for R-MC came from Tracy Spurrier, who has just made some enormous improvements as a distance freestyler this year. Tracy's previous best in the 1650 was the 20:56.43 she put up at the Yellow Jacket Invitational in November. Last Sunday Tracy slashed nearly a minute and 5 seconds from that PR, finishing in 6th place overall in a time of 19:51.65.
The R-MC highlights weren't just contained to the pool during the weekend, however. On Sunday night, Shafer Busch became just the 2nd swimmer in R-MC history to grab top honors as the ODAC Scholar Athlete of the Year. Shafer beat out all other juniors and seniors in the conference for this award, which recognizes both academic and athletic accomplishments. It was a great way for Shafer to end her career as a swimmer.
All in all, it was a good championship meet for our team. The meet as a whole was much improved from last year, and our team was definitely a lot stronger than we were a year ago. We're making progress, and will continue to move forward next season.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Inspiration Anyone?
ODAC Championships start tomorrow. Time for a little inspiration...the Billy Mills story. The American underdog who become an unlikely Olympic Champion in the men's 10K in 1964. He chopped nearly 2 minutes off his best time and overcame obstacles during the race to pull off an amazing victory. I'll stop typing now, just watch this video.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
ODAC Swimmer of the Week - Shafer Busch
Shafer Busch has been named the ODAC swimmer of the week following her performances last weekend against Mary Washington/Hood on Friday and Randolph/Guilford on Saturday. On Friday, Shafer broke a school record as part of the 200 medley relay team that finished in a time of 1:52.63. Shafer's fly split was 26.37. She also placed second in the 100 fly in 1:01.57, which is the top time in the conference so far this year. On Saturday, Shafer won the 50m freestyle and was a part of the winning 200 freestyle relay.
Congrats Shafer!
http://www.odaconline.com/09pow_0202.htm
Congrats Shafer!
http://www.odaconline.com/09pow_0202.htm
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