Day 5 News, Friday  (PM) 7/30/04

Looking at the score board, the girls were only leading in the team standings by 14 points.......could we hold off a fast approaching Orlando Team???? First event of the evening was the 1500 (mile).  Leah was seeded 1st with a time of 17:13.63.  We knew we had some tough competition with the same swimmer we competed with in the 400 free, and 800 free.  Both girls were out at the 200 very fast (2:13.40).  This battle kept going until there was about 400 meters to go, and that is when Leah started to make her move.........she had some nice kicking, and great streamlines.  Leah won the race with a lifetime best time of 17:06.67 (US National Qualifying time).  Up next was the 200 free relay.  Tricia led off with a 27.97, Ashlyn swam a 27.73, Leah was up next and swam a 27.69, and Allison Luttermoser anchored with a 26.63 (fastest split in the field).  We ended with a time of 1:50.02, placing 2nd to Team Orlando (1:49.28).  Now it was back to the men's team, with Josh Barr swimming in his very last National Final (by the way.......Josh san the National anthem to open tonight's finals........and impressed the entire natatorium).  Josh swam a very respectable 1:10.91 (16th place) and scored more points for our men.    Before I go any further I want to thank Josh for his leadership this trip.  Josh was our only senior to make the commitment to attend the national meet this summer, and I really appreciate his leadership on the trip........Thanks Josh.  The final event of the meet was the girls 400 medley relay.  We were seeded in first going into the event, but the girls knew there would be some tough competition.  Tricia led off going 1:02.74 (just off her National Record she set earlier in the week), Alie (swimming in just her 2nd nationals finals) went 1:17.72, Allison swam the fly in a very impressive 1:05.89, and Leah was ready to end with a victory going 58.91 in the freestyle leg.  The girls not only won the event BUT SET THE 5TH NATIONAL RECORD BY WSY SWIMMERS.  the final time was 4:25.26 (also a USA National Qualifying time).........Another great evening by the WSY swimmers.  After the meet we had our traditional Team dinner.  Thanks to all of the parents for their great support and coordination of events during the week.  Thanks also to Coach Kim and Derek for their support during the week.  Thanks to all swimmers and parents back home for all of the emails.....it really helped the swimmers.........April, 2005 will be here before you know it, and the WSY National Team will be ready!!!!

Day 5 News, Friday  (AM) 7/30/04

The final day was here.  We were ready to continue our great swimming at the 2004 YMCA Nationals.  Today, we swam a relay first, which was the 200 free relay for the girls.  The team of Ashlyn Stumpf, Tricia Weaner, Leah Gingrich, and Allison Luttermoser, swam a prelim time of 1:52.16 to place 3rd going into tonight's finals.  We had several other great swims in the 200 fly (Lauren McCleaf), and 100 breastroke (Gene Noone, Alie Zelenky, Sam Goldsmith).  Joshua Barr did qualify for an evening swim going 1:20.26.  We also had several great times in the 50 backstroke as well, however none qualified for evening swims.  The men and the ladies both swam a 400 medley relay.  The ladies had some very good competition from our instate rivals from Boyertown.  The girls (Weaner, Zelenky, Luttermoser, and Gingrich) went 4:28.45 fast enough to be seeded 1st for tonight's finals session.  Leah also would be swimming the 1500 as well tonight, but as she was seeded in the top 8, she would only swim it at night.  Drew Soisson represented the men's team in the mile, swimming a much improved 17:21.09 (18th place)

Day 4 News, Thursday  (PM) 7/29/04

First event of the evening was Leah's 400 IM.  Leah had a great prelim swim going 5:09.61, and knew she was in a very fast heat.  Leah had already swum the 400 free, 800 free, and all relays to this point.  Leah swam a good 400 IM, and finished 6th place with a time of 5:08.81.  Leah was a bit exhausted after this race, but knew she had some very hard competition in the mile tomorrow, plus she still had the 800 free relay later tonight.  Next up was Allison Luttermoser's 100 free.  Allison has be really looking forward to going under a minute, and went 1:00.13 in prelims, and felt great going into finals.  Allison was out very fast at the 50 (28.66), and had a great swim, with a final time of 1:00.05 (5th place) and is still hungry to go under a minute, however this was her lifetime best time.  Tricia was up next in her 200 back.  In the prelims session there was a DQ of the 2nd seated swimmer, however Tricia knew some of her other competition was fast as well.  Both Tricia and a competitor were out very fast at the 100 (1:06.30), and another WSY National record was on the line here.  Both swimmers went 34.7 on the 3rd 50, so it was coming down to the final 50........Tricia won the event (going 34.15 on the final 50) with a winning time of 2:15.38 breaking her own National record she set last year (2:16.09).  Allison Luttermoser swam the 50 fly as our next event, going 29.61 (first time under 30), and getting 12th place.  The final event of the evening was the 800 free relay.  In prelims we swam the team of Emily Weaner(2:17.64), Leah Gingrich (2:08.76), Tricia Weaner 2:11.11), and Allison Luttermoser (2:13.36).  Our prelim time was 8:50.87.  In finals we switched Emily and Kim Jerzerick.  Fatigue was setting in for all of the WSY swimmers by this point.  We ended up going 8:49.64, placing 5th.......back to the hotel for some much needed rest.  The swimmers were in bed by 9:45pm, however I was locked out of my room (long story) and no one at the hotel could let me in the door (they ended up drilling through my door), so I was finally in my room by 2am in the morning.....looking forward to the 5am wake-up call.....We are still in first place for the girls, and 5th place as a team......

Day 3 News, Wednesday  (PM) 7/28/04

After a great warm-up, the evening session was about to begin.  Leah was up first in the 800 free.  We knew from the beginning it was going to be a battle.  Leah had the same competition in the 400 free the evening before.  After the start was sounded these two girls were never more than .50 apart at any time.  Leah and her competitor were 4:26.94 (Leah) and 4:27.20 at the 400.  The final 400 is on, and those of you that know Leah........you know she likes to race, and I was only hoping it was going to get into an all out sprint with 100 meters to go, and let me tell you it was.  Normally for distance events, the crowd is almost quiet........not this time, as the NATIONAL RECORD WAS ON THE LINE........stroke for stroke they came into the final 50........15 meters to go, and WOW Leah turned on the kick......final ending times were 8:56.48 (Leah) and 8:56.55 (2nd place), first place, and National record for Leah (WSY's 2nd National record of the meet).  Josh Barr was up next for his 200 breastroke.  He swam a very controlled race, and was in 1st place most of the race.  In the final 50 Josh was really trying to win his consol heat......Josh ended up 12th going 2:35.06 with another lifetime best time.  Tricia was up next to swim the 200 free.  Her competitor had just competed in the 800 with Leah, so we knew Tricia had an advantage as she (Tricia) had fresh legs.  The girls were within a second of each other at the 100, but in the end, Tricia got 2nd, but swam a lifetime best time of 2:07.88.  We rushed Tricia into the warm down pool, and had Emily (her sister) ready to receive Tricia's silver medal in the awards ceremony, as we needed to be sure Tricia was well rested for the fly, which would be swum in less that 25 minutes.  Tricia knew her competitor had just set the National Record earlier in the morning.  They were off.......Tricia was out the first 50 very fast (29.96), and had some strong legs the 2nd 50.  It was a very close finish.......we looked up at the score board, and Tricia got her hands to the wall first, AND set ANOTHER NEW NATIONAL RECORD (WSY's 3rd of the meet) with a time of 1:03.22.......Next up was the women's 400 free relay.  We knew the girls were going to have a tight race with a fast approaching Aquatic Center team from Orlando.  Tricia led off with a fast 59.41, Kim Jezerick did her part going 1:02.21, then Allison Luttermoser was ready to take off, and she swam a 1:00.51, Leh dove in the water about 1 second behind, and did very well, going 58.65 on the end, and had a great finish. but we came in 2nd (4:00.78 to Orlando's 4:00.35)......this ended another evening of fast swimming by your WSY National Team

Day 3 News, Wednesday  (AM) 7/28/04

Well, I know I am a day late, but yesterday was so long, BUT very exciting.  I can not think of too many days at Nationals that had as much excitement as today.  The kids woke up on time, however it was raining like crazy in the morning.  We loaded the vans and drove to the pool.  The wake up swim got very crazy as another team jumped in our lane and were getting agressive, never fear, your WSY team mates stuck to their warm-up and finished with good swimming.  The first event of the morning was the 200 breastroke, where Josh Barr swam a very controlled 2:34 and got an evening swim.  Next up was Tricia who had a "tough double" today swimming the 200 free and 100 fly back to back.  In prelims, Tricia swam a lifetime best 2:09.42 to get another swim in finals later in the evening.  Tricia then had about 45 minutes to get ready for the 100 fly.  Tricia swam the event in a lifetime best time of 1:04.03, and was seeded 2nd to s young lady who broke the previous National record of 1:03.32, going 1:03.26.  Next up was the 400 free relay for the girls and guys.  The guys team of St. John Schwartz, Matt Hershey, Gene Noone, and Drew Soisson swam a very respectable time of 3:54.14, not getting a night swim, but a major time improvement.  The girls team of Tricia Weaner, Allison Luttermoser, Kim Jerzerick, and Leah Gingrich captured the first place seed in the evening going 4:03.54.  Leah also had the 800 free, however she was first seed, so she swam in later in the evening.  We had a great AM session, and now it was back for Lunch at the Hotrel

Day 2 News, Tuesday 7/27/04

I am really not sure where to begin today, as it was so eventful.  Everything started off when Adrienne and Sam set their alarm clock at 4:30am (we leave the hotel at 5:30am) and found it only takes 10 minutes to get ready, so at 4:50, they were ready to go, but fell back to sleep......swim bags in hand, well 5:30am came around and no Adri or Sam......POUND POUND on the door, and out they came.....Then it was off to the pool to face the 60 swimmer per lane warm-ups........you learn real quick to be aggressive.  We had a great "wake up swim" and went to the campus dining hall for breakfast......We had a great prelim session with many lessons learned, such as being patient.......seems there was a small problem with the 50 free (girls) where one heat went off, and the electronic timing did not start......well it took over 30 minutes for a committee to figure out what was going on.  Tricia did break her own 100 back Y National record from last year (she went 1:03.22 in prelims), Leah cam back to finals 2nd in the 400 free (4:24.43), Allison Luttermoser made it back in the 200 IM (she went a very fast 2:26.91), and Joshua Barr held down the men's side by getting a night swim in the 50 breastroke (31.91 in prelims).  The girls swam their 200 medley, and some official (actually 2 of 3) saw what they thought was a false start.......so the girls again had to deal with being patient, understanding, and yes these things happen.  All is well, but the girls will find a way to make up those points......

At night, we saw some great swims  (did I tell you your WSY team mates were the color guard for the opening ceremonies.......they looked great....see the pictures below).  Leah led things off, and got into a battle right away with a 17 year old from Ohio.  Leah battled right down to the last 25 meters, but in the end got 2nd in the 400 with a very respectable 4:22.40.  Tricia was up next, and it was a re match of Spring Nationals where Tricia went stroke for stroke with another 15 year old from Montclair, New Jersey.  Both girls were out very fast at the 50 mark (30.4), and with 10 meters to go, they were stroke for stroke.....there was no way Tricia was going to let this girl beat her again.......and I was right.....Tricia finally went under the 1:03 mark going 1:02.73 (top 40 in the world time).  Now it was back to Josh Barr.....he got to swim the 50 breastroke one last time.  Josh moved up in place and swam a very respectable 31.85.  Allison had her 200 IM next.  She had already gone a lifetime best in the AM, but wanted to swim faster (and knew she could).  She was out fast in the fly and back.......in the end, she went 2:25.72, another lifetime best.

When we got back to the hotel, everyone went directly to bed.......must have been a long day.  Tomorrow will be another big day with some big swims.........Will Leah get in the same battle in the 800 free, Tricia has a tough double going back to back 100 fly/200 free, Drew has the 800 free as well, Allison Luttermoser has the fastest yard time in the 100 fly.....how will that hold up.......the guys 400 free relay, the girls are seeded 2nd in the 400 free, and are looking to get 1st........Josh Barr will be looking for an evening swim in his 200 breastroke........stay tuned, and keep sending the emails......I deliver them to the kids at night

Day 1 News, Monday 7/26/04

Well, things are going well so far with the entire team ready to swim tomorrow.  We will be practicing twice today, and going over the plans for the week.  These trips are always, fun and it is a great experience for the new swimmers.  It will be sad to see Josh Barr swim in his last Y Nationals, as it seems like yesterday that Josh was 9 years old at the West Shore YMCA.  Josh will sing the National anthem, on Friday evening finals.....something he does every year.  Four WSY swimmers will serve as color guard tomorrow.  We have a full day tomorrow with many swims.  I will keep everyone updated twice each day with pictures, and news.  Most times I will make updates at about 2pm, and 10pm.   Alex Kinsey (Steph's brother) is assisting me in the pictures, so between he and I we hope to give everyone a great perspective of this meet.  Feel free to email me notes for the kids.......I will print them out and post them on our team bulletin board here.  As always.........Thanks for following, and go WSY!!!!