Allison had a good, if not spectacular, state meet. She was very solid in each of her 8 entries as was her team.

As for the team, they placed 5th in the state out of 27 teams. A very good showing.

Individual Events:

500 Free – 24th in State – seeded 27th (her 500 Free was very solid. She and her coach report that she “took it out” too fast, upsetting her pace. Overall, this may have been her best performance of the weekend).

1000 Free – 17th in State – seeded 18th (the 1000 Free was another good race for her. She had to swim it late in the day on Friday after competing in the 200 back. Overall, the time was good and the improvement was good).

100 Back – 22nd in State – seeded 21st (Allison’s biggest disappointment as this is one of her strongest events. She just didn’t get off to a good start and in 100 yards, there isn’t much time to make up the difference).

200 Back – 16th in State – seeded 16th (Allison had a great preliminary race, returning to the finals as a 12 seed. Unfortunately, her finals were a little off dropping her to 16th. She had just finished swimming anchor in the 400 free relay – read below. But, this was a great opportunity for Allison to score big, but 16th does get team points and is considered placing in swimming).

1650 Free – 11th in State – seeded 13th (If you have never seen someone swim 1650 yards all at once – it is absolutely brutal. This is 66 dizzying laps. I timed for her on this one and me and Coach Mike yelled constantly to her. She showed big improvement in pacing in this race).

Relays:

400 Free Relay – 8th in State (8th place wins a medal and you should have seen this team. Allison swam anchor and they were behind when she hit the water. It was a huge effort, with an unbelievable 100 split time – a best ever. She pulled the team up into 8th place with an amazing effort in the last 50 yards).

400 Medley Relay – 13th in State (Allison swam the 100 back opening segment of this race and had them in very good position).

800 Free Relay – DQ (Yep, they were disqualified in the Free relay – this is one of Allison’s least favorite events. The technicality not only cost them 9th place, but Allison swam unnecessarily which probably cost her a better placement in the 1650).

The meet is a study and lesson in endurance. We are at the pool by 6:45 am each day (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). The morning session completes around 11:00 to 11:30 and we return at 3:45pm for finals that last until about 9:00pm. In between, we eat and Allison sleeps – it is truly a very strenous test for these kids.

Lisa and I are both proud of the amazing progress Allison has made in her swimming. Just 4 years ago, she didn’t qualify to even compete in the state meet. Now, not only is she qualified, but she is competing with the best the state has to offer.

Daniel had his scout trip on one cold and rainy weekend. The weather here was in the 30s and 40s and rained continuously. He reports that everything was muddy and wet – but they had fun. Ah, to be a 13 year old boy again and find fun in cold and wet and sleeping in tents.