First things first. Traveling back from Columbia couldn’t have gone smoother. Our flights were all on time or if you can believe it EARLY. We arrived in Cincinnati with about 45 minutes to spare and actually that flight left about 10 minutes late, giving our luggage a little extra time to make it to the plane.
We made it back to Lock Haven at decent hour...I unpacked, and promptly fell right asleep.
Finally ... after looking through our one HUGE posting for NCAA's I have decided to re-organize and re-post each day. Nothing new will be posted (eventually I may add a picture or 2) but it will be easier to go through and relive the week if it is better organized.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Day 8 ~ Travel Day
Our schedule (subject to change!) is as follows...
8:25am depart Columbia, MO
9:15am arrive Kansas City, MO
11:45am depart Kansas City, MO
2:30pm arrive Cincinnati, OH
3:00pm depart Cincinnati, OH
4:24pm arrive Harrisburg, PA
note: the 30 minute connection in Cincy...cross your fingers for us that we make it!!
8:25am depart Columbia, MO
9:15am arrive Kansas City, MO
11:45am depart Kansas City, MO
2:30pm arrive Cincinnati, OH
3:00pm depart Cincinnati, OH
4:24pm arrive Harrisburg, PA
note: the 30 minute connection in Cincy...cross your fingers for us that we make it!!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Day 7 ~ 200 Backstroke
I knew today was going to be a good day when I bought a slightly overpriced mountain dew from the hotel pepsi machine and on the other side of the cap was a “buy 1 get 1 free” coupon.
I rocked our conference championship T-shirt this morning. After all, last time I wore it Amanda won the 200 back at PSAC’s…
We were the first team to arrive, something Amanda was very happy about (only a slight hint of sarcasm there). She eventually got into the pool and did a really solid warm up. Some build ups working the turns.
The first event was the 100 freestyle and the PSAC will be well represented by both men and women in tonight’s finals. The second event was the 200 backstroke. There were 4 total heats, and Amanda, seeded 8th, was in the 3rd heat, lane 3.
She swum a very smooth race. Going out slightly slower than she did at PSAC’s. Her 3rd 50 was too slow and hopefully she won’t let up on the gas as much tonight. She brought it home very well and finished with a time of 2:03.81 (another lifetime best!). Puts her in 4th position for tonight’s final.
After giving the announcer a slight dig in last night’s posting based on his messing up some of the bio’s, I need to give him some props today. He offered me a congratulations on the night before and during the race when Amanda was leading her heat (before the 3rd 50) he reminded the crowd that Amanda was the only LHU and first LHU swimmer at nationals. Maybe he does better without a script?
Going into tonight she is in a little better position than yesterday. There isn’t much to lose, she swam a lifetime best this morning and after taking another quick look at the top 8, I can’t help but to notice she is the only freshman in the championship final, (1 sophomore, 2 juniors, and 4 seniors).
Tonight is all about what Amanda does best…racing. Win, lose or draw she still gets another trip to the podium, a sweet trophy and All American status. Not a bad day.
We attempted to do lunch at IHOP again, but found the doors to be overflowing and so we decided to give Cracker Barrel a shot. We had a wait of about 30 minutes…time was spent playing a game of checkers. (I got my butt kicked!) We had a hearty, filling meal and headed back to the hotel.
Again, nap time and tredmill time await…4:30pm departure for the pool.
(just a quick note about the overall team race … we are 29th, not bad…but there is a tie between perennial swimming powerhouses Drury and Truman State and it is going to be really fun to watch the teams go at it. On the Men’s side, West Chester is currently in 2nd place and is probably not going to win it, but will be fighting to hold on to the silver medal)
~finals~
For those who didn’t get a chance to look at the live results, I will spare you the suspense. Amanda was third with a smoking fast time of 2:01.95.
We talked about a few things that needed to happen to make the final swim faster then her preliminary swim. The first being out in the mid 59 range (Amanda went 59.60), the next was not letting up on the 3rd 50, I was thinking to not go any slower than 31.99 (Amanda went 31.61) and finally kick in and out of the turns (I have no clue if this happened b/c I was a too excited to make mental notes of the turns).
We ended up arriving at the pool a little later than usual, which turned out to still be plenty of time before her race. There were 2 heats of the 1650 and then all the heats of the 100 free, awards and finally the 200 back.
By virtue of finishing in the top 8 twice, Amanda ends her freshman campaign a 2 time All-American.
Amanda swam 5 events this weekend, 50 free prelims, 100 back prelims & finals, and 200 back prelims & finals, each performance was a lifetime best. Awesome.
This season was very much a roller coaster for Amanda and I am so proud of the fact that she ended up on top! I think we can make some adjustments to how we train next season to build upon this year’s successes to continue doing some great things. Next years national meet will be in Houston, Texas…but we are going to take some time to savor this season before thinking about the next one.
Here is how all the PSAC institutions finished at the NCAA meet.
Women…
West Chester, 7th with 202 points
Clarion, 8th, with 190 points
Edinboro 18th, with 54 points
Lock Haven 26th, with 29 points
California 27th, with 27 points
Bloomsburg 30th, with 15 points
On the Men’s side:
West Chester 3rd, with 316.5 points
Clarion 18th, with 68 points
IUP 26th, with 15 points
Finally, thank you to all those who texted, emailed, called and facebooked us. Sorry if replies didn’t come fast and furious and most weren’t nearly as long or detailed as I would have liked (I was uncharacteristically short winded most of the time). Your support did (and still does) mean a great deal to us. Thank you.
I rocked our conference championship T-shirt this morning. After all, last time I wore it Amanda won the 200 back at PSAC’s…
We were the first team to arrive, something Amanda was very happy about (only a slight hint of sarcasm there). She eventually got into the pool and did a really solid warm up. Some build ups working the turns.
The first event was the 100 freestyle and the PSAC will be well represented by both men and women in tonight’s finals. The second event was the 200 backstroke. There were 4 total heats, and Amanda, seeded 8th, was in the 3rd heat, lane 3.
She swum a very smooth race. Going out slightly slower than she did at PSAC’s. Her 3rd 50 was too slow and hopefully she won’t let up on the gas as much tonight. She brought it home very well and finished with a time of 2:03.81 (another lifetime best!). Puts her in 4th position for tonight’s final.
After giving the announcer a slight dig in last night’s posting based on his messing up some of the bio’s, I need to give him some props today. He offered me a congratulations on the night before and during the race when Amanda was leading her heat (before the 3rd 50) he reminded the crowd that Amanda was the only LHU and first LHU swimmer at nationals. Maybe he does better without a script?
Going into tonight she is in a little better position than yesterday. There isn’t much to lose, she swam a lifetime best this morning and after taking another quick look at the top 8, I can’t help but to notice she is the only freshman in the championship final, (1 sophomore, 2 juniors, and 4 seniors).
Tonight is all about what Amanda does best…racing. Win, lose or draw she still gets another trip to the podium, a sweet trophy and All American status. Not a bad day.
We attempted to do lunch at IHOP again, but found the doors to be overflowing and so we decided to give Cracker Barrel a shot. We had a wait of about 30 minutes…time was spent playing a game of checkers. (I got my butt kicked!) We had a hearty, filling meal and headed back to the hotel.
Again, nap time and tredmill time await…4:30pm departure for the pool.
(just a quick note about the overall team race … we are 29th, not bad…but there is a tie between perennial swimming powerhouses Drury and Truman State and it is going to be really fun to watch the teams go at it. On the Men’s side, West Chester is currently in 2nd place and is probably not going to win it, but will be fighting to hold on to the silver medal)
~finals~
For those who didn’t get a chance to look at the live results, I will spare you the suspense. Amanda was third with a smoking fast time of 2:01.95.
We talked about a few things that needed to happen to make the final swim faster then her preliminary swim. The first being out in the mid 59 range (Amanda went 59.60), the next was not letting up on the 3rd 50, I was thinking to not go any slower than 31.99 (Amanda went 31.61) and finally kick in and out of the turns (I have no clue if this happened b/c I was a too excited to make mental notes of the turns).
We ended up arriving at the pool a little later than usual, which turned out to still be plenty of time before her race. There were 2 heats of the 1650 and then all the heats of the 100 free, awards and finally the 200 back.
By virtue of finishing in the top 8 twice, Amanda ends her freshman campaign a 2 time All-American.
Amanda swam 5 events this weekend, 50 free prelims, 100 back prelims & finals, and 200 back prelims & finals, each performance was a lifetime best. Awesome.
This season was very much a roller coaster for Amanda and I am so proud of the fact that she ended up on top! I think we can make some adjustments to how we train next season to build upon this year’s successes to continue doing some great things. Next years national meet will be in Houston, Texas…but we are going to take some time to savor this season before thinking about the next one.
Here is how all the PSAC institutions finished at the NCAA meet.
Women…
West Chester, 7th with 202 points
Clarion, 8th, with 190 points
Edinboro 18th, with 54 points
Lock Haven 26th, with 29 points
California 27th, with 27 points
Bloomsburg 30th, with 15 points
On the Men’s side:
West Chester 3rd, with 316.5 points
Clarion 18th, with 68 points
IUP 26th, with 15 points
Finally, thank you to all those who texted, emailed, called and facebooked us. Sorry if replies didn’t come fast and furious and most weren’t nearly as long or detailed as I would have liked (I was uncharacteristically short winded most of the time). Your support did (and still does) mean a great deal to us. Thank you.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Day 6 ~ 100 Backstroke
Let’s just get to the important part of this morning’s events because I know our loyal readers want to know…I rocked the pink lady eagle swimming t-shirt, jeans and white nike kicks.
Oh yeah, we had the 100 backstroke today. Here is how the morning unfolded...
I made my way over to the opposite side of the pool so I could write the times off everyone in an effort to find out what place she was going to end up a few minutes before it would be announced. Shortly before the backstrokes Chris Rhoades, the Edinboro coach, joined me offering his support and cheered just as loud for Amanda as I did.
As previously mentioned we were seeded 10th going into prelims. I was pretty close on what it would take to get into the top 8. I was guessing 57.2 or 3…turns out it was a 57.17. Amanda’s time this morning … 57.17 (a lifetime best). YESSS! Mission accomplished…she made the top 8. Awesome!
For the non-swimming crowd out there…by virtue of being in the top 8, she is guaranteed no lower than 8th place. This is great b/c we literally have nothing to lose we can only stay the same or (hopefully) move up. Also, the top 8 get to march out to some music and have a short bio read about them AND perhaps more importantly get some on the awards podium to receive some “hardware” as well being awarded the distinction of ALL AMERICAN. It's a pretty big deal...
Taking you through the race a little bit. Amanda was the only swimmer in her heat to not grab the starting block at the start (she grabs the wall). Not sure why I noticed that little factoid, but I did. The start was respectable, not her best, but defiantly not her worst. She spun her wheels a little bit so for tonight’s warm ups we are going to add a few more starts to the routine.
We had been working on getting into the walls really strong (backstroke turns permit you to do a full freestyle stroke before you flip in every practice for the past month we have done something to practice a fast turn). I give the first turn a B minus, the second turn was brilliant, an A plus, flipping early enough to get a full stroke in AND furiously kicked her legs to accelerate the process, it was great. The last turn doesn’t get a grade b/c I don’t remember it.
Amanda is a great finisher and this morning was no different. Ended up 3rd in her heat and 8th overall. After the race, I could tell there was a sense of relief and a great deal of excitment with Amanda. So far 2 swims at NCAA's, 2 lifetime bests!!
Lunch was consumed at Ruby Tuesday. There was a decent lunch crowd joining us that included the University of Wisconsin Softball and Toledo University Baseball teams. We enjoyed a rather satisfying meal with just one exception. Dorthoy, Amanda’s sister, discovered the hard way that the redskin potato salad is actually an apple salad. To put it nicely, she wasn’t overly thrilled about her discovery.
Traditional nap and tredmill time this afternoon with a 4pm departure.
BTW, “live timing” can be found @
http://www.mizzourec.com/
(look under “recent news”)
~finals
Departure time for the pool was 4pm. Much to the sha-grin of Amanda, and pretty much 90% of all the swimmers I have ever coached, I strongly encourage an nice long early warm up, stretch, then have a more race specific warm up closer to the start time. It’s just my style I guess…which is why we are usually one of the first teams at the pool and hopefully one of the first to hit the water. To her credit Amanda hasn’t whined too much about this…
We did get to the pool in plenty of time to swim before they became saturated with swimmers. Our race specific warm up consisted of 4, 25’s … the first 2 where all out, the next 2 where just good breakouts. I felt good about them, but does it really matter how I felt?
With the help of Amanda’s monster towel, which she laid out upon our arrival, her mom and sister scored some front row seats. They arrived and disappeared one at a time only to reappear a short time later proudly sporting matching T-shirts. They were airbrushed shirts of an oversized duck with some supportive wording and Amanda’s nickname. I think Amanda loved it.
The start of the meet finally had a real American Flag, the ROTC color guard placed themselves atop the 10 meter diving platform, for the national anthem. It’s a nice step up from the “cartoon” on the mini-jumbo-tron (is it possible to have a mini-jumbo tron?)
The meet started with the 500’s … seeing the oldest record in all of D2 swimming (1987) get broken by an amazing swimmer from Southern Connecticut State. The men’s 500 saw 3 swimmers from PSAC powerhouse, West Chester, in the championship finals. The next event was the 100 backstroke.
Before each championship final the swimmers have to report to the “ready room” where they are lined up (lane 1 is first, lane 2 is second etc) and marched to the starting block to a song selected by the top seed.
Amanda walked to lane 8 looking a bit nervous, but very confident at the same time. The announcer stumbled through a bio sheet for each swimmer, he usually screws up more then he gets right, and announced to the crowd that Amanda was Lock Haven’s first ever NCAA qualifier and the PSAC runner up in this event.
Amanda’s preliminary swim was much more technically sound (I don’t think I would give any of her turns a grade above a B minus), but tonight she managed to have the exact same time at the halfway point which is a testament to the racing mentality that Amanda possesses. Her feet hit the wall last at the 50 yard mark, but in typical Terray fashion she picked up the pace to finish up the race a shade faster than her morning swim…57.11. A new lifetime best and was good enough for 6th place, improving 2 spots.
So far she’s had 3 total swims and achieved 3 lifetime bests…
Dinner was a small feast at Applebees where a majority of the time was spent calling and texting various people with all the highlights. The Wisconsin Softball team made another appearance only to walk back out the door when they realized there were only 2 empty tables available. After eating out for this entire week it is going to be a LONG time before I go anywhere but home to eat again.
Let’s look ahead to tomorrow’s race…
Key’s for Amanda to have a successful 200 backstroke are get out quick (I am hoping for a 59 at the 100 mark), great turns (utilize the freestyle stroke, and kick, to get into the walls quick), not letting up on the 3rd 50 (sometimes Amanda lets up on the 3rd 50). Of course all this will go in one ear and out the other b/c once the race begins it is exactly that … a race, and I can’t wait to watch!
Oh yeah, we had the 100 backstroke today. Here is how the morning unfolded...
I made my way over to the opposite side of the pool so I could write the times off everyone in an effort to find out what place she was going to end up a few minutes before it would be announced. Shortly before the backstrokes Chris Rhoades, the Edinboro coach, joined me offering his support and cheered just as loud for Amanda as I did.
As previously mentioned we were seeded 10th going into prelims. I was pretty close on what it would take to get into the top 8. I was guessing 57.2 or 3…turns out it was a 57.17. Amanda’s time this morning … 57.17 (a lifetime best). YESSS! Mission accomplished…she made the top 8. Awesome!
For the non-swimming crowd out there…by virtue of being in the top 8, she is guaranteed no lower than 8th place. This is great b/c we literally have nothing to lose we can only stay the same or (hopefully) move up. Also, the top 8 get to march out to some music and have a short bio read about them AND perhaps more importantly get some on the awards podium to receive some “hardware” as well being awarded the distinction of ALL AMERICAN. It's a pretty big deal...
Taking you through the race a little bit. Amanda was the only swimmer in her heat to not grab the starting block at the start (she grabs the wall). Not sure why I noticed that little factoid, but I did. The start was respectable, not her best, but defiantly not her worst. She spun her wheels a little bit so for tonight’s warm ups we are going to add a few more starts to the routine.
We had been working on getting into the walls really strong (backstroke turns permit you to do a full freestyle stroke before you flip in every practice for the past month we have done something to practice a fast turn). I give the first turn a B minus, the second turn was brilliant, an A plus, flipping early enough to get a full stroke in AND furiously kicked her legs to accelerate the process, it was great. The last turn doesn’t get a grade b/c I don’t remember it.
Amanda is a great finisher and this morning was no different. Ended up 3rd in her heat and 8th overall. After the race, I could tell there was a sense of relief and a great deal of excitment with Amanda. So far 2 swims at NCAA's, 2 lifetime bests!!
Lunch was consumed at Ruby Tuesday. There was a decent lunch crowd joining us that included the University of Wisconsin Softball and Toledo University Baseball teams. We enjoyed a rather satisfying meal with just one exception. Dorthoy, Amanda’s sister, discovered the hard way that the redskin potato salad is actually an apple salad. To put it nicely, she wasn’t overly thrilled about her discovery.
Traditional nap and tredmill time this afternoon with a 4pm departure.
BTW, “live timing” can be found @
http://www.mizzourec.com/
(look under “recent news”)
~finals
Departure time for the pool was 4pm. Much to the sha-grin of Amanda, and pretty much 90% of all the swimmers I have ever coached, I strongly encourage an nice long early warm up, stretch, then have a more race specific warm up closer to the start time. It’s just my style I guess…which is why we are usually one of the first teams at the pool and hopefully one of the first to hit the water. To her credit Amanda hasn’t whined too much about this…
We did get to the pool in plenty of time to swim before they became saturated with swimmers. Our race specific warm up consisted of 4, 25’s … the first 2 where all out, the next 2 where just good breakouts. I felt good about them, but does it really matter how I felt?
With the help of Amanda’s monster towel, which she laid out upon our arrival, her mom and sister scored some front row seats. They arrived and disappeared one at a time only to reappear a short time later proudly sporting matching T-shirts. They were airbrushed shirts of an oversized duck with some supportive wording and Amanda’s nickname. I think Amanda loved it.
The start of the meet finally had a real American Flag, the ROTC color guard placed themselves atop the 10 meter diving platform, for the national anthem. It’s a nice step up from the “cartoon” on the mini-jumbo-tron (is it possible to have a mini-jumbo tron?)
The meet started with the 500’s … seeing the oldest record in all of D2 swimming (1987) get broken by an amazing swimmer from Southern Connecticut State. The men’s 500 saw 3 swimmers from PSAC powerhouse, West Chester, in the championship finals. The next event was the 100 backstroke.
Before each championship final the swimmers have to report to the “ready room” where they are lined up (lane 1 is first, lane 2 is second etc) and marched to the starting block to a song selected by the top seed.
Amanda walked to lane 8 looking a bit nervous, but very confident at the same time. The announcer stumbled through a bio sheet for each swimmer, he usually screws up more then he gets right, and announced to the crowd that Amanda was Lock Haven’s first ever NCAA qualifier and the PSAC runner up in this event.
Amanda’s preliminary swim was much more technically sound (I don’t think I would give any of her turns a grade above a B minus), but tonight she managed to have the exact same time at the halfway point which is a testament to the racing mentality that Amanda possesses. Her feet hit the wall last at the 50 yard mark, but in typical Terray fashion she picked up the pace to finish up the race a shade faster than her morning swim…57.11. A new lifetime best and was good enough for 6th place, improving 2 spots.
So far she’s had 3 total swims and achieved 3 lifetime bests…
Dinner was a small feast at Applebees where a majority of the time was spent calling and texting various people with all the highlights. The Wisconsin Softball team made another appearance only to walk back out the door when they realized there were only 2 empty tables available. After eating out for this entire week it is going to be a LONG time before I go anywhere but home to eat again.
Let’s look ahead to tomorrow’s race…
Key’s for Amanda to have a successful 200 backstroke are get out quick (I am hoping for a 59 at the 100 mark), great turns (utilize the freestyle stroke, and kick, to get into the walls quick), not letting up on the 3rd 50 (sometimes Amanda lets up on the 3rd 50). Of course all this will go in one ear and out the other b/c once the race begins it is exactly that … a race, and I can’t wait to watch!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Day 5 ~ Off Day
Amanda’s mom and sister drove in yesterday (quick check on mapquest, Coaldale PA to Columbia MO = 977 miles) that’s a long way to travel…pretty awesome.
It will be nice for Amanda to have her family here. I readily admit that my jokes are ridiculously corny and stories can be hilarious to nobody but myself. If I had a dollar for every time Amanda rolled her eyes at my attempt a humor we could have upgraded our Mazda to a Lexus.
Today is our off day so we are headed to the pool this morning for a good warm up before some down time. Amanda has the uncanny ability to sleep at any time of the day…
Just a quick update on the rest of our day. We had every intention of staying for most of prelims to watch some swimming (I was particularly interested in the lead of legs off the 400 medley relay) BUT, there was a catastrophic error with the timing system that delayed the morning well over an hour. It’s the kind of thing that should never happen at this type of competition … I am thankful that we didn’t have any swims today.
After hanging around for a bit we decided to peace out and get some lunch. We had some another pasta meal and we were graced with the presence of Amanda’s sister, Dorothy, and mom. The highlight of the meal being the endless supply of breadsticks…receiving honorable mention on the meal highlight reel was the lengthy “discussion” on the socks Amanda’s mom had on. (this may fall into the “you had to be there” type of story)
There was some family time after lunch, which if I understand correctly, consisted of a rather productive shopping spree at the mall. I watched the WVU basketball game and spent a very solid 13 minutes on the treadmill.
We headed back to the pool for the evening warm up … it sure took awhile for Amanda to get into the pool to swim, but she got it in. There were some really wicked fast swims this evening. I am pumped to get back to the racing…this was a long day off.
Oh yeah … we got a copy of the heat sheet for tomorrow. Barring a re-seed (which seems to happen about 3 times a session), Amanda is in the last heat (4th) and is seeded 10th…we both agree that this is the perfect place to be. She is right next to an amazingly fast swimmer from D2 powerhouse, Drury, and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Amanda is a straight up racer … so having some stellar competition right next to her tomorrow morning is just what she needs to have a great morning swim.
I really think it is going to take a 57.2 or 3 to make it into the top 8. Amanda’s best time ever is a 57.3, her best time this season is a 57.5. Hopefully the magic of lane 6 (also the lane she swam in for the 50) gives her another lifetime best performance and makes the top 8.
It will be nice for Amanda to have her family here. I readily admit that my jokes are ridiculously corny and stories can be hilarious to nobody but myself. If I had a dollar for every time Amanda rolled her eyes at my attempt a humor we could have upgraded our Mazda to a Lexus.
Today is our off day so we are headed to the pool this morning for a good warm up before some down time. Amanda has the uncanny ability to sleep at any time of the day…
Just a quick update on the rest of our day. We had every intention of staying for most of prelims to watch some swimming (I was particularly interested in the lead of legs off the 400 medley relay) BUT, there was a catastrophic error with the timing system that delayed the morning well over an hour. It’s the kind of thing that should never happen at this type of competition … I am thankful that we didn’t have any swims today.
After hanging around for a bit we decided to peace out and get some lunch. We had some another pasta meal and we were graced with the presence of Amanda’s sister, Dorothy, and mom. The highlight of the meal being the endless supply of breadsticks…receiving honorable mention on the meal highlight reel was the lengthy “discussion” on the socks Amanda’s mom had on. (this may fall into the “you had to be there” type of story)
There was some family time after lunch, which if I understand correctly, consisted of a rather productive shopping spree at the mall. I watched the WVU basketball game and spent a very solid 13 minutes on the treadmill.
We headed back to the pool for the evening warm up … it sure took awhile for Amanda to get into the pool to swim, but she got it in. There were some really wicked fast swims this evening. I am pumped to get back to the racing…this was a long day off.
Oh yeah … we got a copy of the heat sheet for tomorrow. Barring a re-seed (which seems to happen about 3 times a session), Amanda is in the last heat (4th) and is seeded 10th…we both agree that this is the perfect place to be. She is right next to an amazingly fast swimmer from D2 powerhouse, Drury, and if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times. Amanda is a straight up racer … so having some stellar competition right next to her tomorrow morning is just what she needs to have a great morning swim.
I really think it is going to take a 57.2 or 3 to make it into the top 8. Amanda’s best time ever is a 57.3, her best time this season is a 57.5. Hopefully the magic of lane 6 (also the lane she swam in for the 50) gives her another lifetime best performance and makes the top 8.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Day 4 ~ 50 Freestyle
8:30am was our departure time for the pool. We made it there in plenty of time to get a good warm up in a not so crowded lane. (again, sharing the pool with Delta State…apparently, they too enjoy the early warm up).
Before “blogging” further I’d like to take a quick paragraph to mention how much I enjoy the PSAC. There are several “large” PSAC contingents here (Clarion & West Chester) but other teams like Bloomsburg, California, & IUP are in the same boat as us…just 1 qualifier (our Florida training “home slices” Edinboro, have 2 qualifiers). By virtue of their top 5 performance last year WCU received their choice of seating and naturally took some space close to the competition pool. The rest of the PSAC has set up a “team PSAC” section. It was really great to see Amanda talking it up with Bloomsburg Senior, and nationals veteran, Dianna Smith. It’s not always a “love fest” in the PSAC, but when it comes down too it we are there supporting, and rooting for each other.
I tried my best not to be too annoying this morning, so I gave Amanda some space after her 2nd warm up (consisting of 2 all out 25’s). Spent a lot of time talking with legendary Bloomsburg coach, Dave Rider, who I have a feeling was giving an equal amount of space to Dianna.
Amanda was seeded 46th (out of 52) on the psych sheet with a time of 24.63 … after scratches, there ended up being 46 people entered. Amanda popped off a smoking lifetime best performance of 24.22 to end up tied for 24th.
I couldn’t have asked for anything more…a great first swim at her first NCAA’s. To end up in the top 25 is awesome.
We had another delicious meal for lunch, this time at Macaroni Grill…were the crayons are free.
In an effort to get some time outside of the hotel we are going to hit the mall and head back to the pool this evening to get in a warm up swim (it is important to get in the habit of swimming twice in a day) and root on some PSAC swimmers.
Before “blogging” further I’d like to take a quick paragraph to mention how much I enjoy the PSAC. There are several “large” PSAC contingents here (Clarion & West Chester) but other teams like Bloomsburg, California, & IUP are in the same boat as us…just 1 qualifier (our Florida training “home slices” Edinboro, have 2 qualifiers). By virtue of their top 5 performance last year WCU received their choice of seating and naturally took some space close to the competition pool. The rest of the PSAC has set up a “team PSAC” section. It was really great to see Amanda talking it up with Bloomsburg Senior, and nationals veteran, Dianna Smith. It’s not always a “love fest” in the PSAC, but when it comes down too it we are there supporting, and rooting for each other.
I tried my best not to be too annoying this morning, so I gave Amanda some space after her 2nd warm up (consisting of 2 all out 25’s). Spent a lot of time talking with legendary Bloomsburg coach, Dave Rider, who I have a feeling was giving an equal amount of space to Dianna.
Amanda was seeded 46th (out of 52) on the psych sheet with a time of 24.63 … after scratches, there ended up being 46 people entered. Amanda popped off a smoking lifetime best performance of 24.22 to end up tied for 24th.
I couldn’t have asked for anything more…a great first swim at her first NCAA’s. To end up in the top 25 is awesome.
We had another delicious meal for lunch, this time at Macaroni Grill…were the crayons are free.
In an effort to get some time outside of the hotel we are going to hit the mall and head back to the pool this evening to get in a warm up swim (it is important to get in the habit of swimming twice in a day) and root on some PSAC swimmers.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Day 3 ~ Pre-Day 1
We arrived at the pool just before 9am and Amanda was able to get some quality time in the big pool with just a few swimmers from Delta State and Ashland. We finished the workout with 2 sprints from the starting blocks. Since this meet is “big time” the blocks are equipped with reaction pads. These will be used to see how fast (or slow) each swimmer gets off the block. (I also learned at the coaches meeting that touchpads will be used at each end of the pool giving us 25 splits…for the non-swimming crowd reading, that is really cool).
After the swim we used the crackberry and GPS combination to locate the local the International House of Pancakes (IHOP, if you will). Our waiter was a local guy who was very upbeat and energetic. He took our orders without writing them down, promising they would be correct, even repeating them to us 2 times. Apparently he needed a 3rd repeat b/c my sausage links ended up as 2 crispy strips of bacon.
I dropped Amanda off at the hotel and went back for the coaches meeting…oh the “joy” of the coaches meeting, highlighted by a wonderful Turkey sandwich. Edinboro’s student assistant coach, Jon, scored my peanut butter cookie and chips. After all, I am on a diet.
Student-Athlete banquet tonight...
The national championship swim banquet was a site to behold.
University of Tampa dressed as bikers. Fellow Holiday Inn Select residents, University of Seattle, went with a different approach...abnormal color shorts and some rather hideous sweaters…the kind of sweater that is overpriced at the thrift store for 25 cents. Great stuff. Other teams had matching team shirts and most were just plain dressed up. Amanda and I went with plain old khaki’s and our TYR jackets.
Post pasta, salad & chicken dinner we made a quick Wal Mart supply run (razors for Amanda and skittles for myself) and returned to the hotel.
8:30am departure tomorrow.
After the swim we used the crackberry and GPS combination to locate the local the International House of Pancakes (IHOP, if you will). Our waiter was a local guy who was very upbeat and energetic. He took our orders without writing them down, promising they would be correct, even repeating them to us 2 times. Apparently he needed a 3rd repeat b/c my sausage links ended up as 2 crispy strips of bacon.
I dropped Amanda off at the hotel and went back for the coaches meeting…oh the “joy” of the coaches meeting, highlighted by a wonderful Turkey sandwich. Edinboro’s student assistant coach, Jon, scored my peanut butter cookie and chips. After all, I am on a diet.
Student-Athlete banquet tonight...
The national championship swim banquet was a site to behold.
University of Tampa dressed as bikers. Fellow Holiday Inn Select residents, University of Seattle, went with a different approach...abnormal color shorts and some rather hideous sweaters…the kind of sweater that is overpriced at the thrift store for 25 cents. Great stuff. Other teams had matching team shirts and most were just plain dressed up. Amanda and I went with plain old khaki’s and our TYR jackets.
Post pasta, salad & chicken dinner we made a quick Wal Mart supply run (razors for Amanda and skittles for myself) and returned to the hotel.
8:30am departure tomorrow.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Day 2 ~ Recovery Day
After getting to bed just before dawn we decided to wait until the evening to swim. I was able to wake up after a few hours of sleep and ventured to the pool. I checked in and headed back to the hotel. The NCAA gives a gift to all the student-athletes competing. This year's gift was a bag pack and a really (really!) nice blanket. Not too shabby...
We had a nice pasta lunch around 1pm and proceeded to make a Wal Mart run. Followed by nap time for Amanda and tred mill time for myself. We are headed to the pool around 5:15 to get in a swim.
The pool was/is as advertised...phenomenal. Easily one of the best I have ever been in (rivaling the Swim Center at University of Texas). It was a little crowded this evening, so Amanda spent warm up time in the diving well...which is fine b/c tonight's swim was mainly just getting the "travel" out and get ready for a decent warm up tomorrow. We are headed in around 9am and hoping to get some quality time in the "big" pool.
We had a superb dinner at Ruby Tuesday ... more or less spending a day's per diem, but it was totally worth it.
We had a nice pasta lunch around 1pm and proceeded to make a Wal Mart run. Followed by nap time for Amanda and tred mill time for myself. We are headed to the pool around 5:15 to get in a swim.
The pool was/is as advertised...phenomenal. Easily one of the best I have ever been in (rivaling the Swim Center at University of Texas). It was a little crowded this evening, so Amanda spent warm up time in the diving well...which is fine b/c tonight's swim was mainly just getting the "travel" out and get ready for a decent warm up tomorrow. We are headed in around 9am and hoping to get some quality time in the "big" pool.
We had a superb dinner at Ruby Tuesday ... more or less spending a day's per diem, but it was totally worth it.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Day 1 ~ Travel Day
Quality time in the airports...turned into quality time in a very small Kia driving 144 miles from Kansas City to Columbia. Arrival time 3:33amish.
I find it to be fitting that one of my all time favorite movies is Planes, Trains and Automobiles...Amanda and I lived the movie (minus the trains part). There were multiple hilarious moments throughout the entire adventure.
Hilarious moment #1 ~ The Delta Airline check in "guy" in Harrisburg telling us that we'd be "SOL."
Hilarious moment #2 ~ The fact that everything, literally everything, closes in the Cincy airport at 9pm. I finished calling the hotel, my boss, Hertz car rental, US Air, Mama Waeger among others at about 9:02pm, only to find I had no choice for dinner but a ham and cheese Lunchable and a Twix bar. (it should be noted that Amanda found this to be way more hilarious then I did...she enjoyed a delicious looking subway sandwich).
Hilarious moment #3 ~ Kansas City has a shuttle bus that all the car rental companies use to take customers to the rental 'offices' and lots. We were the last ones, of about 30 or 40, to board the shuttle...I envisioned everyone on the bus running to the Hertz desk ahead of me...so when we arrived, I told Amanda to meet me up there b/c I was bookin' it up to the rental desk (very much in the fashion of Black Friday shoppers rushing into a store, trying to get a bargain on the newest flat screen tv or tickle me elmo doll). I made it up there in no time flat and ended up 2nd in line b/c the guy with a southern accent cut me off. Only to find we were the only 2 people going to Hertz.
Hilarious moment #4 ~ Rental car number 1 was a tiny Kia. Again, this should be noted as way more hilarious to Amanda then myself. (fortunately we are now in a pretty sweet mazada)
Hilarious moment #5 ~ Graceland University is in Kansas City...not Tennessee.
I find it to be fitting that one of my all time favorite movies is Planes, Trains and Automobiles...Amanda and I lived the movie (minus the trains part). There were multiple hilarious moments throughout the entire adventure.
Hilarious moment #1 ~ The Delta Airline check in "guy" in Harrisburg telling us that we'd be "SOL."
Hilarious moment #2 ~ The fact that everything, literally everything, closes in the Cincy airport at 9pm. I finished calling the hotel, my boss, Hertz car rental, US Air, Mama Waeger among others at about 9:02pm, only to find I had no choice for dinner but a ham and cheese Lunchable and a Twix bar. (it should be noted that Amanda found this to be way more hilarious then I did...she enjoyed a delicious looking subway sandwich).
Hilarious moment #3 ~ Kansas City has a shuttle bus that all the car rental companies use to take customers to the rental 'offices' and lots. We were the last ones, of about 30 or 40, to board the shuttle...I envisioned everyone on the bus running to the Hertz desk ahead of me...so when we arrived, I told Amanda to meet me up there b/c I was bookin' it up to the rental desk (very much in the fashion of Black Friday shoppers rushing into a store, trying to get a bargain on the newest flat screen tv or tickle me elmo doll). I made it up there in no time flat and ended up 2nd in line b/c the guy with a southern accent cut me off. Only to find we were the only 2 people going to Hertz.
Hilarious moment #4 ~ Rental car number 1 was a tiny Kia. Again, this should be noted as way more hilarious to Amanda then myself. (fortunately we are now in a pretty sweet mazada)
Hilarious moment #5 ~ Graceland University is in Kansas City...not Tennessee.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
NCAA Division 2 National Championships Preview
2008 Men's & Women's Swimming & Diving Championships
Hosted by the University of Missouri - Columbia
“live timing” can be found at
http://www.mizzourec.com/
(look under “recent news”)
AND/OR
click the official championship link over to the right.
Amanda will be wearing the brand new TYR suit at NCAA's...check it out!!! www.TYR.com ~ The Tracer Light. It's amazing!
On the official final listing of top times (pre-psych sheet) Amanda is ranked 53rd in the 50 free, 11th in the 100 back, 52nd in the 100 free, and 8th in the 200 back.
The official psych sheet rankings (before scratches) are as follows:
50 freestyle ~ 46th
****finished T-24th
100 backstroke ~ 10th
****finished 6th
100 freestyle ~ 44th
****scratched
200 backstroke ~ 8th
****finished 3rd
Hosted by the University of Missouri - Columbia
“live timing” can be found at
http://www.mizzourec.com/
(look under “recent news”)
AND/OR
click the official championship link over to the right.
Amanda will be wearing the brand new TYR suit at NCAA's...check it out!!! www.TYR.com ~ The Tracer Light. It's amazing!
On the official final listing of top times (pre-psych sheet) Amanda is ranked 53rd in the 50 free, 11th in the 100 back, 52nd in the 100 free, and 8th in the 200 back.
The official psych sheet rankings (before scratches) are as follows:
50 freestyle ~ 46th
****finished T-24th
100 backstroke ~ 10th
****finished 6th
100 freestyle ~ 44th
****scratched
200 backstroke ~ 8th
****finished 3rd
Set of the Week (last practice!)
Today is the last workout of the season (in Lock Haven anyways). We will be swimming "warmups" in Missouri on Monday & Tuesday.
5 x 50 @ 1:00 descend (minus 1.5) ~ backstroke
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :50 descend (minus 1.5) ~ freestyle
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :40 #1 for time, ‘hold on’ ~ backstroke
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :35 #1 for time, ‘hold on’ ~ freestyle
250 pull
50 AO free dive (< / = 25.75)
Short rest
25 AO backstroke (< / = 14.99)
**we are doing "#1 for time" to work on going out fast early ... Amanda is a great finisher, but needs to work taking her races out faster.
5 x 50 @ 1:00 descend (minus 1.5) ~ backstroke
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :50 descend (minus 1.5) ~ freestyle
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :40 #1 for time, ‘hold on’ ~ backstroke
250 pull
5 x 50 @ :35 #1 for time, ‘hold on’ ~ freestyle
250 pull
50 AO free dive (< / = 25.75)
Short rest
25 AO backstroke (< / = 14.99)
**we are doing "#1 for time" to work on going out fast early ... Amanda is a great finisher, but needs to work taking her races out faster.
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