This year was an amazing season. We had a lot of challenges and obstacles as a team – we had a lot of talent this year – …. The ones here are the ones who pressed on and finished the season.
The team went 7-1 in head to head meets, defeating conference rivals like North Cross, Roanoke Catholic, and New Covenant. The only head to head loss we avenged by beating Covenant at the VIC Conference Finals
At the beginning of the season the captains and I sat down and outlined some individual goals, and some goals for the team. The team not only met every goal – they went beyond them – over the course of the season, 7 of our school 11 School Records fell. But I’ll talk more about those as I go through the awards.
Secondly, highlights of the year was watching the 200 free relay team come from behind to win the 200 FREE Relay at our district meet. Relays count for twice as many points in the meet so we knew they were crucial to our success. They won the event by seventeen hundredths of a second. In an event like that… it’s not just the anchor who wins – but you can honestly look at each swimming and tell them that every kick, every flip turn, every pull matters!
More highlights from the VIC conference meet: in year’s past we’ve typically finished 6 or 7th at the VIC tournament, losing to the first place team by 60- 80 points. This year we jumped over 3 teams to finish 3rd, only losing to the second place team by 6 points. This would not have been possible if we were not able to take the whole team. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank CPT Cranston.
The final highlight was swimming at the State Meet. This was my third time going to the State meet, but it was the first time, in my time as coach, that we’ve made it past the primary round and into the finals. In other years not everyone did their best at the state meet. This year, however, everyone peaked at just the right time – everyone did their best when it mattered the most.
If I can say that again… every single swimmer did their best when it mattered the most ! This is not just a swim lesson or a sports lesson, but a life lesson.
Leadership award is for the cadet who is the best role model and who leads by example: this cadet was a huge help to the team captains and to me.
A Swim meet is a very busy atmosphere – sound bounces and echos off the water and walls; it’s hard to communicate. We had a lot of new swimmers with lots of questions so it was crucial that my captains and my seniors step up to provide quality leadership for the team. From passing out cell phone to picking up suits – this swimmer provided leadership before I could even ask for someone to do so.
This year leadership award goes to… Ryan Curran.
Cassion Husstle: is for the cadet who Gives 100% in practice and competition.
This cadet made a point of swimming over the summer and hit the weight room hard in December. When the first meet came around he chose to swim one of the harder events in the meet, the 200 FREE. He improved his time by 19.01%. Whenever he’s in the water practice or in competition, I always get his best effort.
This year’s Cassion Husstle award goes to… Gavin Sanger.
Most Improved: With swimmers it is always very easy to see the gains that first and second year swimmers make. This year was no exception; many of our first year swimmers made great gains.
However, what’s harder to notice is the 80/20 rule. This says that for any task or goal that you take one, you can accomplish 80 percent of that goal with 20 percent of the effort…. But to complete the last 20% of that goal… it requires 80% of your overall effort. In other words, it’s relatively easy to go from poor – to average – to good, but it requires something special – it requires 4 times the effort to go from good to great. I’ve been waiting for a while to see if/when this swimmer to choose to make this kind of improvement, and this year he has.
At the State meet, this swimmer dropped -1.55 seconds off his time when finishing 4th in the Bonus 50 as he swam the fastest 50 Free off the blocks in Fishburne History. He was also a part of two 2 record breaking relay teams; 200 free and 400 free.
This year’s most improved goes to… Gavin Flanagan
Iron Cassion Award – the Iron Cassion award goes to the toughest athlete on the team.
This athelete’s toughness was apparent not only by juggling two sports – but also by taking on one of the most technically difficult events.
Breastroke is an event that is easy to learn but very hard to master. It has a complicated start off the blocks , an awkward kick, a difficult pull and exhausting turns. At the state meet he dropped three seconds off his previous best in the 100 Breastroke as he broke the school’s and swam his seasonal best.
He droped 3 seconds off his seasonal best and broke school record for the 100 Breast when he represented FMS at the state meet. He was also part of all three record-breaking, state-qualifying relays.
This year’s Iron Cassion is… Sebastian Holdridge
Coaches Award – is an award for the cadet who has a good attitude, respectful and cooperative.
One of the hardest things that I have to do as a coach is to figure out who will swim what event. Each swimmer can only swim 4 events, 2 individual and 2 relay. To add to the complication, sometime we are limited in the number of swimmers we can put into each event. These limits mean, I have to balance, what a swimmer can do, what he’s best at, and what’s best overall for the team.
As a coach, you love to have guys that can swim anything and everything. In this regard, this swimmer is one of the most flexible swimmers that I’ve ever coached. He proved this point over and over throughout the season as he typically finished one second off the state cut in nearly everything he swam.
His selfless attitude and cooperation freed up the rest of their team to do their best. We would not have been 7-1, or finished 3rd at VIC Confrence without this flexibility.
He’s currently on the record board more than anyone else; 5 times. He anchored the 1st place 200 Free Relay Team at the VIC Conference and again as a State Finalist. He was a part of all three record breaking relay teams. He also holds the school record for the 100 FREE and the 200 FREE.
This year’s Coaches award goes to… Ryan Argueta.
MVP – is the best and most productive person on the team.
This swimmer is has a great heart to help teach and coach other swimmers. He was a valuable resource to me throughout the year to work with first year swimmers in the C Group.
Like I mentioned at the beginning. The team made a huge jump at the VIC conference. Because the State Meet is a qualifying event, not every gets to go. Therefore the VIC Conference meet is the main focus of our year as a team.
By scoring more points than anyone else at the conference meet, this cadet had more to do with those accomplishments than anyone else.
He earned 3 points for a 6th place finish in the 100 FLY
He earned a 7 points and a silver medal in the 100 backstroke. (which was the best individual performance of the night)
He earned another silver medal by swimming the opening leg on the 200 Medley Relay
He earned a gold medal as a part of the 200 Free Relay.
He’s on the record board twice as a part of record breaking, 400 Free Relay and again, as a state finalist on the 200 Medley Relay.
This year’s MVP is… Wesley Loe.
