The Results are In
The weekend was a stinker, very hot! Fortunately a rather stiff breeze stirred the air most of the time and make it more tolerable.
The children all put in a great effort and everyone earned medals for various places. Medal are awarded down to 8th place. Points are also alloted to 8th place with the person having the most points at the end of the two day meet becoming the winner of that age group. Plaques are awarded down to 6th place on the podium.
The medal ceremony had to be held outside this year and it was in the full sun. So you’ll understand the very red faces appearing in some of these photo’s.
Cody swam well in a huge field of 9-10 year old boys. This would have to be the biggest age group and has some very stiff competition in it. Having not even qualified to swim at the A Regional Championships last year Cody had the goal to qualify and swim there this year.
He has improved beyond anyones dreams and has actually qualified to swim various races at the Nationals as well as those he competed in this weekend.
So for him to place in a couple of races and come away with medals was - in his own words…”I feel really happy to have won some medals”. We are of course ecstatic that he got some as well to reward him for training so hard over the last couple of months. He also got a silver medal for second place in the freestyle relay with 3 other children from our team.
Hot and happy Cody has two more medals to go with this lot!
Chloe has also improved beyond anyones imagination this year. She suddenly got a little competitive at the beginning of the season when she realized she was within sight of the top girls as far as times go, where never having shown that drive in the past.
She had “fun” with it before, more or less just enjoying the swim meets and training. Since then her times have continually improved all season and it showed in her lane/heat placings being in the top 8 for this big meet.
She amassed a bunch of medals yesterday including a gold. Having only just scrapped into the A’s last year at the last moment with one qualifying swim it was truly a delight to see her up on the podium in 5th place.
Chloe told me she thought she didn’t swim as well as she hoped, and therefore that she did not place. Her surprise and happiness at placing and winning a plaque brought on the tears, which you can’t quite see in this photo. She is holding them back and trying to smile at the same time.
The placings for 6th through to 3rd were all within a point or two of each other so it was a very close competition for those spots on the podium. The girl who won the age group is also from our team and trains with Chloe. We were very happy that she won it!
Happy tears and 5th Place!
Jarred did very well in this equivalent of a State Final meet. He got the burn to win while competing in the A’s last year. His training level has increased no end (as has Chloe’s who has trained with him) and it has shown in a remarkable improvement in his times.
He placed 3rd overall yesterday which has fired him up so he is raring and ready for the Nationals in two weeks time. The boy that beat him into first place this weekend came first at the A’s and at the Nationals last year(Jarred did not place at the Nationals). This has really spurred Jarred on to training and swimming extra hard and competing so well.
There is a lot of friendly rivalry between the two boys. The same boy also broke two national swimming records this weekend and said that the competition from Jarred has pushed him hard too.
Well done!
Shania was in the same place as Chloe last year. She just scrapped into the A’s, won a couple of medals but didn’t have enough points for the podium or a place.
This year she came first!
She couldn’t quite believe it!
Talk about giggle pot. She was sitting on the mat with all the other children when they announced it, and even though we had told her we thought she had placed, I don’t think she really took it in. Then when they announced first place as being her she just turned and look at us…like…
“Me, really me????”
Up she climbed into first place on that podium and you could not wipe the grin of her face for anything! She continued to grin for the next hour, hugging her big first place plaque to her chest all the way home.
Now it is back to the pool and into the last two weeks of training before the National Swimming Championships. We fly up there on Wednesday the 28th. The competition is on Thursday the 29th and Friday the 30th. Then we catch a flight home that night.
I’ll try and add some more photo’s from the weekend here soon.
Filed under: Photos, Swim Meets, Swimming on May 17th, 2008 | No Comments »
