The Senior group headed up to New Haven Connecticut for the 2011 Hutchinson Classic.  It was great to be back at this meet again watching so many of our swimmers earn second swims by qualifying for finals.
The meet started out with a bang on Friday night with the distance events.  Ryan V swam a personal best in his mile by more than 10 seconds to earn a second place finish.  Bridget took home 3rd place with an excellent swim.  Aileen and Ryan B. both completed their first miles on Friday night and both earned 500 point swims in the event.  Ryan’s swim was very exciting as he stayed focused on his turns and used them to his advantage in a very close race.  It was a great example for the team to see how important turns really are!
In the 400 IM Natasha placed 3rd with a season best time.  Brendan and John were impressive, each swimming personal best times.  LIAC had 26 athletes compete in the 500 freestyle, the last event of the evening.  15 swimmers completed the race in their personal bests and another 4 raced the 500 for the very first time  From the Senior Group Finola, Alyssa, Allegra, Brooke, Rachel, Julia,Catherine, Sarah, Pedro, Jackson, Pierce, and Manu all swam best times!  It was especially exciting to watch Pedro smoke his heat with a 51 second drop!
Saturday morning LIAC swimmers were up on the blocks early and ready to race right away.  8 girls and 7 boys qualified for finals at night and 13 personal records were broken.  TJ had a great race in the morning, finally smashing through the 2 minute barrier with his 1.58!  Finola competed in a swim off for 8th place at the end of the morning session.  The rush of adrenaline and the cheers of her teammates must have really helped her as she swam 3 seconds under her preliminary time to win the swim off! 
In the 100 fly Bridget used her speedy kick to propel herself to a personal best by more than two and half seconds.  Justin swam his first of what would become many night swims and dropped under his personal best as well.  Brendan, TJ, and Ryan represented LIAC well in the 15 and over category with their trio of best times and sub minute flys!
In the 100 back LIAC was represented well as a slew of personal records dropped.  Finola, Aileen, Allegra, Brooke and Erika along with Pedro, and Manu all qualified for finals with their best times in the event.  Catherine and TJ also beat their own personal records in the morning.
The 50 free was highlighted by lots of fast racing.  In finals Alyssa and Finola took 2nd and 4th place respectively.  Pedro and Jackson took 5th, 6th and 8th each swimming a personal best time.  Erika, Giulianna, and Sean all finished among the top 16 with new personal bests in the event.
In the final event of the day, the 200 breaststroke LIAC swimmers did very well.  We saw some very aggressive and impressive swims.  Sarah had a great race as she swam her best by over 3 seconds.  For the 13-14’s the finals heats were crowded with LIAC swimmers as Olivia, Amanda, Allegra, Julia, Catherine and Brooke all swam personal best times and finished in 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 10th place!  It was no different for the boys as Ryan, Michael, Ruben and Nicholas took 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th.  Both Dina and Michael were on fire in the morning.  They both swam more than 12 seconds faster than where they started the season!
Day 3 was another strong one for LIAC, with even more swimmers earning best times and second swims.  Olivia, Finola, Alyssa, Allegra, and Aileen all qualified for finals at night and swam faster than their morning swims!  Nicolette and Sarah G. fought hard for their well deserved best times in the morning.  For the boys Ryan B., Pedro, Ruben, Matt, Justin, Manu, and Nicholas all swam personal bests and earned second swims!
The 100 breaststroke on day 3 proved to be just as exciting as the 200 breaststrokes were on day one.  LIAC swimmers took 3rd -6th place for the girls (Allegra, Julia, Catherine, and Amanda).  Michael, Ruben, and Ryan B. swam great races earning 3rd, 4th, and 6th for the boys.  Dina and Natasha raced hard for the older girls earning 2nd and 4th place respectively. 
In the 200 backstroke LIAC saw many outstanding races.  Finola, Aileen, Brooke, Rachel, Erika, Sarah G, Giulianna, and Sarah M. all swam personal bests for the girls, with Brooke and Sarah G. both swimming more than 4 seconds under their previous best times.  For the boys Jackson had a great swim in the morning as did Pedro, Pierce, John and Manu who all swam their personal best times.
The next event, the 100 freestyle, was full of tough racing by LIAC swimmers.  Brooke, Rachel, Amanda, Nicolette, and Dina along with Pedro, Nicholas and Pierce all swam their personal best in the event.  LIAC qualified 15 swimmers for second swims!
The meet concluded with one of the most difficult events, the 200 butterfly.  LIAC swimmers did their coaches proud with fantastic season bests, personal bests, and a few really outstanding swims.  Genna swam a very smart race, finishing strong in her best time this season by more than 4 seconds.  Bridget took almost 2 seconds off of her personal best, and finished the meet with another 3rd place swim.  John ended a great weekend with a 13th place finish and a personal best by more than 8 seconds.  TJ and Brendan both swam fantastic races ending their meets with personal bests by more than 2 and 6 seconds respectively.
Congratulations to the Swimmers of the Meet Brooke, Finola, Ruben, and Brendan.  Your hard work and dedication in practice paid off tremendously this weekend.  Your work ethic and attitude both in practice and at meets sets an example that motivates those around you to do their best too.  Keep up the great work!
On the whole LIAC swimmers were extremely impressive this weekend.  They raced well, swam fast, and had a lot of fun representing their team in Connecticut.  Now its back to the pool to train hard for the rest of the season!

Seniors Throwdown Thrilling Swims at Thanksgiving
On the heels of a great weekend at Viking, the senior group threw down some fantastic times at the Thanksgiving meet.  It was a long day but the swimmers arrived ready to accept the challenge of swimming 6 different events.    Alyssa, Nate, Finola, Nicholas, Catherine, Sean, Rachel, Joleen, Justin, John, Allegra, and Veronica were all either perfect, or almost perfect with at least 5 out of 6 best times each.  Making their challenging day even tougher, 9 athletes swam the 400 IM for the first time this year.  Congratulations to Brooke, Sean, Julia P., John, Conor, Whitney, and Aileen on your best times in the event.
Congratulations to our swimmers of the meet: Allegra, Sean and Justin.  These athletes all share a common thread, consistency.   Allegra, Sean, and Justin have been hard at work in the pool since September.  They push themselves to new limits in practice on a daily basis and rise to the occasion when it comes to meets.  Allegra, Sean, and Justin have been consistently dropping time in a variety of events this year and are reaching towards new goals as they attempt to qualify for the next level of competition.  Congratulations on being terrific leaders in our group and on your fantastic achievements!

35 Senior athletes are now scoring points for LIAC in the USA Swimming Virtual Club Championships. LIAC is currently in 11th place this season. Check online to see if your name is on the list and to see what you need to do to help LIAC get into the top 10!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Viking Classic
The Viking classic was a tremendous success.   Many senior swimmers raced their way to best times and top 3 finishes.  Swimmers with perfect meets included Rachel, Katrina, Ruben, and Justin.  Dina took home her first gold medal of the season in the 100 breaststroke and Katrina took home a gold in the 400 IM!  Katrina also earned a silver medal with her performance in the 200 IM.  Sean earned a bronze with his best time in the 100 freestyle, and Jasmine finished with a silver medal in the 100 backstroke.  Brendan also had an outstanding meet.  His consistent effort in practice paid off and led him to best times in 6 of his events this weekend.
LIAC’s relays were also a dominating force.  The Girls relays took home gold in both the 200 freestyle (Sarah, Dina, Julia, and Jasmine) and 200 Medley (Katrina, Dina, Jasmine, Sarah) relays.  The boys relays (freestyle: Pedro, Ryan, Phillip, Sean;  Medley: Sean, Ryan, Brendan, Phillip) took home two bronze medals both in dramatic finishes.
Congratulations to the Swimmers of the Meet, Julia P., TJ, and Michael.  Coming off of a very successful high school season, Julia got right back up on the blocks and proved that she is ready to race all year long.  She dropped more than 19 seconds across 7 events!  TJ was awesome at Viking.  He had a perfect meet swimming all best times, and passed some major time milestones in his 100 fly and 500 freestyle.  Michael also had a terrific weekend.  His perfect meet included taking off more than 40 seconds across 7 events.  Mike’s 500 freestyle, was a personal best by 21 seconds and his 100 fly was a best by more than 9 seconds.  Way to go seniors!
I was so impressed with how all of LIAC’s athletes performed this weekend.  Every athlete stepped up ready to race with their A game.  Congratulations on a job well done!

10th Annual Chappy’s Big Race a success for Senior swimmers!
Congratulations to all of the athletes who swam so well in our first meet of the season. 
On the boy’s side Ruben, Pedro, Justin, Nicholas I, and Nicky J all had perfect meets, with 100% best times.  Michael, John, Pierce, and Conor were almost perfect with best times in 5 out of 6 events.  Highlights included Ruben’s 8 second drop in both the 200 breaststroke and 200 freestyle,  Michael’s 9 second drop in the 200 breaststroke, and Nicholas dropping 33 seconds from his 200 freestyle from a year ago.  Also outstanding swims to watch were Nicky’s 200 freestyle and John’s 200 IM.  Sean re-qualified for the new, more challenging, Senior Met meet.  He showed that he can not only swim fast in practice but in meets too!  Conor’s 100 fly was a great race as were Matthew and Peirce’s 200 backstrokes and Justin’s 200 freestyle. 
The Swimmer of the Meet for the boy’s was a clear winner.  Pedro took home the honors in his first short course meet with the Senior group.  Pedro dropped a total of 68 seconds over the course of 6 events!  His 200 freestyle was most impressive, as he swam to a personal best by 12 seconds.  He also achieved his first 500 point swim in the 50 freestyle!  Great job Pedro!
On the girl’s side there were 2 perfect meets.  Catherine and Dana were the only girls to swim 100% best times.  Catherine’s best race was her 200 IM, an improvement of over 6 seconds!   Aileen, Finola, Rachel, and Allegra were almost perfect, with best times in all but one event each.   All 4 swimmers had outstanding 200 freestyle swims.  In the 1000 Aileen represented the Senior group well taking off almost 50 seconds from last year.  Other highlights were Finola’s 200 backstroke, Rachel’s200 IM, and Allegra’s100 freestyle. 
For the girls Dana earned Swimmer of the Meet honors.  Since last September Dana has picked up her effort in practice and has a renewed drive for the sport.  Her efforts proved successful this weekend as very consistently dropped an average of 2.5 seconds in every event she swam.  Her 50 free was a fantastic swim as she led the heat and finished in a best time well ahead of the field.  Congratulations Dana!
There were a lot of inspiring swims at Chappy’s… congratulations to those of you who improved so much.  There is also a lot of work to be done this year.  The cut times for Silvers, Jo’s and Senior Mets are more challenging than ever and I look forward to watching as you all work harder to achieve your goals.  3 weeks until Viking! 

LIAC Seniors Excel in North Carolina
July 29th – August 1st a select group of 19 swimmers from the Senior group travelled to the Tar Heel State  - West meet in High Point North Carolina.  The outdoor meet provided our athletes with a new experience and a fantastic opportunity to race new competition.   LIAC swimmers and parents were treated with Southern Hospitality by the host team and were complemented on being some of the most polite and well mannered athletes on the deck!
The weekend started out with a bang on Friday with the 200 freestyle.  Aileen, Veronica, Jackson, Bridget, and Erika all qualified for a second swim placing 5th, 7th, 8th, 12th and 7th respectively.  Aileen’s time at night was a personal best by more than 2 seconds.  Ruben, Pierce, Ryan, and TJ also had outstanding swims in the morning finishing in personal best times.
LIAC moved on to show off our breaststroke abilities with 6 best times in the 100 breast stroke, and 5 swimmers qualifying for finals.  Julia, Alec, Ruben, Michael, and Natasha all earned second swims.  One of the best races to watch that night was Alec, Ruben, and Michael all competing in the final heat.  Alec left with his first first place finish of the weekend, Ruben walked away with third, and Michael took 6th.
With fewer swimmers entered in the 100 fly LIAC flyers stepped up big in the next event, the 100 butterfly.  Veronica finished 6th at night, swimming her best time by over 5 seconds.  Bridget, Nicolette, and Meaghan each swam personal bests, and Bridget surprised even herself qualifying for finals in the event.   On the men’s side Jackson took home 7th place and Ruben, Ryan and Brendan each continued their streaks of improvement dropping more than 10 seconds between the three of them!
The 400 IM was the last individual event of the day.  Natasha, Nicolette, TJ, and Brendan all had fantastic swims each taking off time from their personal bests.  Erika was seeded into the final heat at night and raced to a 3rd place finish, swimming 18 seconds faster than she had all summer!
The swimmers wrapped up the first day of competition with the 200 Medley relay.  The 13-14 relay teams of Brooke, Julia, Veronica, and Aileen, and Jackson, Ruben, Michael, and Alec took home 3rd place finishes.

The second day of the meet not only heated up the thermometer (105 degrees!) but also heated up the competition.  LIAC swimmers fought hard and earned another 12 evening swims to match Friday’s accomplishments.
In the 200 fly LIAC was represented by just two swimmers, who did us proud, finishing in 6th and 8th place respectively were Nicolette and Bridget.  Nicolette’s time was a personal best by more than a second over the time she achieved just one weekend earlier at Senior Mets! 
The 50 freestyle was an outstanding event for LIAC swimmers.  Veronica and Jackson each took home 5th place finishes and Alec brought home another blue ribbon with his first place finish.  Also racing to personal best times were Aileen, Julia, Brooke, Caroline, Michael, Erika, Meaghan, Brendan, Ryan, and TJ!  Phew… go LIAC sprinters!
The 200 breaststroke brought out more tough racing from LIAC swimmers as Ruben, Michael, Natasha, and Alec all finished in the top 8.  Natasha’s heat was extremely close and she managed to out touch the swimmers around her to finish in a personal best by more than 5 seconds taking home 5th place honors.  Ruben, Michael, and Alec all duked it out again in the finals with Ruben and Michael finishing in personal best times for 3rd and 6th place respectively.  Alec dominated the heat on the final hundred and took home his 3rd first place finish of the weekend!
The first backstroke event of the weekend proved to be a learning experience for our athletes who rarely race outside but Brooke and TJ stepped up to the challenge racing their way to personal best times.  Aileen, Erika, and Tim took home 7th, 12th and 13th place honors.
The final event of the day was the 400 freestyle, where LIAC was of course represented very well.  Aileen, Veronica, Jackson, Pierce, Nicolette, and Ryan each swam their personal best times at the end of a long hot morning.  Veronica and Ryan’s swims were especially outstanding as they each dropped more than 12 seconds from their personal best times set earlier this summer.  Finishing in the top 8 in the event were Aileen (3rd), Veronica (5th), Bridget (7th), and Ryan (8th). 

The final day of the meet finished without finals, due to a major thunderstorm, but the swimmers got the job done in the morning to finish the meet strong.  Aileen, Brooke, Julia, Jackson, Michael, Ruben, Erika, Bridget, Natasha, Ryan and Brendan all swam to personal bests in the 100 freestyle.  Alec and Jackson went 1-2 in the 13-14 event as Veronica, Aileen, and Erika took home 5th, 11th, and 9th respectively earning points for LIAC.
In the 800 Bridget represented LIAC’s distance contingent with a great race just out touching the swimmer next to her for 3rd place.  Ryan finished the event in 5th.
The 200 backstroke was highlighted by a best time and 1st place finish from Aileen! 
In the last individual event of the day Brendan swam a personal best by more than a second and Michael finished more than 18 seconds ahead of his previous best time… what a way to end the meet!
The final event of the weekend was the 200 freestyle relay.  The 13-14 boys (Jackson, Ruben, Michael, and Alec) and 15-18 girls (Nicolette, Meaghan, Bridget, and Erika) relays each took home second place finishes serving as an incredible finish to a fantastic weekend.

Congratulations to all of the athletes who competed in North Carolina.  We are so proud of you and your accomplishments and we can’t wait to go back next year!

LIAC’s Senior Groups had a fantastic summer season.  There were more than 395 best times between the three groups in the senior program!  We are so proud of all of the hard work you put into the pool each day and your commitment to training and improving. 

True to LIAC style, the seniors swam some stupendous freestyle races this summer.  In the 50 Ryan B., Ruben, Brooke, Sean, Pedro, Richard, Rachel, Sarah M, Dana, Julia P., Karan, Emma, and Jackson each swam personal bests by more than 1 second and truly sprinted to get their hands to the wall!  In the 100 freestyle we saw incredible swims by Alyssa, Erjin, Alec, Conor S., Veronica, Ryan V., and Fallon throughout the summer.  Moving into the middle distance freestyles there were a lot of amazing swims in everyone’s favorite event, the 200 freestyle!  Katrina, Greg, Ruben, Brendan, Philip, Allison G., Julia H., Nicky, Rachel, Diane, Celine, Jeffrey, Bridget, Amelia, Joleen, John, Pierce, Fallon, and Will all dropped a significant amount of time and had some terrific swims.  In the 400 we saw personal bests by Vance (42 seconds), Claire (27 seconds), Dana (38 seconds), Sarah M (36 seconds), Rachel  (23 seconds), Brooke (62 seconds), Delaney (10 seconds), Aileen (13 seconds), Philip (14 seconds), and Alyssa (16 seconds).  All of these improvements came in just one race!  The 800 and 1500 swimmers did a great job with some of our sports’ most grueling events.  Nicolette, Ryan, Bridget, Erika, Aileen, and Natasha all improved in their distance events this summer.

The Senior backstrokers also did their groups proud with some phenomenal swims this summer.  Katrina, Greg, Alyssa, Emily, Caroline, Michael, Nicky, Catherine, Bridget, Julia P., John, Jackson, Whitney, Veronica, and Erika all packed a 1-2 punch and took off time in both backstroke events. The breaststroke events were where LIAC’s seniors really shined!  Nate, Ryan B, Ruben, Michael G., Sarah G, Joey, Delaney, Alec, Nicky, Catherine, Sean, Natasha, Karan, Conor, and Whitney all dropped a lot of time.  9 of these swimmers achieved JO times with Nate, Delaney, Ryan B, and Natasha all qualifying for Senior Mets.  Delaney’s times earned him a spot on LIAC’s Super Sectional team.  Go LIAC breaststroke!

The butterfly events demonstrated how hard work and attention to detail in practice can lead to success.   We saw a tremendous amount of improvement in the Senior butterfly events this summer.  Notable swims came from Vance, Fallon, Will, Claire, Whitney, Jackson, Pierce, Amelia, Julia, Bridget, Richard, Rachel, Sean, Brooke, Julia H, Delaney, Nicolette, Tim, Philip, Erjin, Alyssa, Brendan, and Ruben. The Individual Medley events saw so many great swims from so many athletes.  Seeing the results in these challenging events proves just how well rounded our swimmers are.