While a quick look at the scores might suggest two lopsided meets, in actuality both meets were quite close with many races being determined in the last 5-10 yards. For many of our swimmers, this weekend served as their breakout meet. Great swims kept coming one after the other - it didn't matter what distance, stroke or class year we kept posting fast times one after the other. Pretty impressive when you consider we are coming off our most demanding training camp in several years.
After our Saturday meet with Middlebury, we headed over to SSW for a banquet with our families. During desert as has become tradition, our seniors spoke of their experiences on our team, their swimming careers and time at Colby. . . we heard about people who have impact their lives, received nutritional advice, were educated on the environment, received insights on being in the distance group and advice on how to get out of the distance group, had analysis on my abbreviations used in practice, etc . . . but most importantly we learned of lasting friendships, the joy of humor, the support of family, and the bonds of classmates.
On Sunday, we swam Norwich and to be honest after our great effort on Saturday I was a little concerned that we would be a bit flat. My concerns were quickly put to rest with great senior leadership and after the 1000 free where every Colby swimmer dropped at least 20 seconds from their previous in season best I knew we were about to have another great day.
On Monday, the team was given the task of voting for the swimmer of the meet. The women selected...
Leigh Carey '11: Over the weekend Leigh swam the 1000 Free in 11:43.11 dropping an amazing 32 seconds from her previous season best. She also cut 12.23 seconds off her 500 time posting a 5:41.29 and another 2.54 seconds off her 200 time finishing with a 2:10.23. Congratulations Leigh!!The men had a split vote, choosing three very deserving individuals:
Peter Williams '11: Peter posted two victories in the Middlebury meet (50 & 100 Fly) posting season best times in each event (24.89 & 55.56). Against Norwich, Peter posted a season best of 51.50 in the 100 Free.
Kevin Smith '10: Kevin started off the weekend with a lifetime best in the 400 IM (4:26.35) and then proceeded to drop a 4:50.40 in the 500 which is his best unshaved and just over a second off his best time. Against Norwich, Kevin posted a 10:04.62 which is just 4 seconds over his school record set last year.Andrew Peterson '08: Andrew is off to his best start in any season at Colby. Over the weekend he posted 4 swims which were his fastest unshaved times ever: the 200 IM (2:06.55), the 200 Breast (2:23.69), the 100 Breast (1:03.26) and the 50 Breast (28.71). As Andrew has proven to be a true taper swimmer over his time at Colby, this really bodes well for the end of the year.
Congratulations gentlemen on some great swims!!
Well, now it is on to MIT this weekend. It is a great pool and historically it has been a great meet. Particularly for the women where the meet has come down to the last relay in at least 4 of the last 7 meetings. They it looks this year should be no different!
- CB
