What a dude...

Courage Victory Twice as Nice

We ended our season with a bang, coming back from 11th to claim 9th in the team standings. It started with Chip having a solid swim in the 1650, but scoring no points. Then Caleb got up for the 100 Freestyle. He took it out in a 21.18, with a lot of other guys close on his heals, but pulled away in the last 25 yards to claim his second national title and a new school record with a 44.36. We watched Kenyon get first, second, and third in the 200 Breaststroke, just like they did yesterday in the 100 Breaststroke. I looked around at some of the coaches after it happened and did a little lip reading. Here’s some of the things I heard:

> "that's sick"

> "that's amazing"

> "that's nuts"

> "absolutely unimaginable"

>"who does that?"

We went into the last relay in 11th, but knew that as long as we didn’t DQ, we would finish no worse than 9th. A few safe starts later, we had our first top ten finish in forty years and two new All Americans. When we finally got out of the pool, we realized it was too late to go to a movie, so we decided to get some food and head back to the hotel. The Walmart that we stopped at was the sketch-iest store every. It was 11PM and the place was absolutely packed. All of the exits were blocked except one, and there was a police car with two officers parked right out front. We waited in line forever to check out, but finally made it through and set out to get some fast food. Sonic was pretty much the only place open, so we went there and held up the line forever in the drive through. Miraculously, they got our order right on the first try and we finally left for the hotel around midnight. Currently, we’re sitting in Mitch and Gilbert’s room watching Airplane and munching on snacks.

Courage Strikes Again

When it was a do-or-die situation for the Wolverines, we came through in a big way. Caleb set a new school record with a 44.40 in the 100 freestyle, and he will be the top seed in the 100 tonight by more that half a second. But he didn't stop there, he also anchored the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 43.91 seconds, taking us from 15th when he entered the water, to 8th when he finished. This means we have an opportunity for big time points tonight! As long as we can maintain safe starts, Grove City should finish in the top 10 for the first time in nearly 40 years.

GCC in 11th after Friday

It seems as though the impossible happened again tonight, with the Medley Relay disqualifying again. They had finished 6th, but then they joined the ranks of the nine other medley's to DQ on false starts. Coach did a good job picking us up, and we all were there to cheer on Caleb as he moved up to ninth from lane 1 (there must be something special about that lane). The 800 free relay had a good finish, with Chip and Peterman both splitting 1:44's, but we didn't score any points. We now have our backs against the wall as we go into the final day of competition in 11th place overall. Saturday morning swims include Caleb and Timmy in the 100 Freestyle and Timmy, Peter, Chip, and Caleb in the 400 Free Relay. Time to get it done!

Friday Prelims

Mitch and I had the morning off today because we’re swimming the 800 free relay and it’s only swum at night, so we had the chance to just hang out and soak it all in. It was an extraordinarily late night last night after dinner with all the parents, so we were really tired when we went to bed. Timmy, Chip, and I decided to try a different sleep configuration and it seemed to work out pretty well. We were supposed to meet Coach downstairs for breakfast at 8:30, so Timmy and I had Chip get us up at 8:29 to head down. Actually, Caleb was the one who woke us up with lots of yelling and hugging. We rolled downstairs for a breakfast of runny eggs and greasy bacon, but it’s convenient and fast. The biggest prelim race of the meet was the 200 medley relay, and Grove City came through in the clutch. Despite a few major teams DQ-ing on false starts, we still would have been top eight. We ended up in fifth, with extremely fast splits from Gilbert (25.90) and Timmy (19.92). Peterman had a nice swim, but his relay reaction was super slow with a +.47! At least is was a safe start, but he will be way faster tonight. Chip had a good swim in the 400 IM but missed finals, and Caleb maintained a steady pace in his 200 putting him in thirteenth heading into the evening. Gilbert got dead last in the 100 breast, but his first 50 yards looked very solid- which will come in handy tonight during the medley. We’ll probably hit up Wimpy’s for burgers again today since it brought us great luck yesterday in finals. I hear it’s snowy and cold back in Grove City, but no worries here- it’s still sunny and we’re all wearing shorts and t-shirts. There’s pollen everywhere too, making me sneeze.

GCC Roommates Finish 1 and 2 from lanes 1 and 2!!

In a seemingly impossible turn of events, Timmy won the 50 freestyle from lane one with a lifetime best of 20.25 and Caleb can in second right beside him with a 20.32. It seems like something straight out of a storybook, where they both struggled slightly in the morning and got stuck swimming side-by-side in the outside lane. But being right beside each other was exactly what they needed. They seemed loose and carefree all the way up to being called onto the blocks, and I can only assume it was because they were right there together. It was an incredible race with Timmy leading from the start and widening his lead with a beautiful flip turn. That race plus a fourth place finish for our 200 freestyle relay has us sitting in 7^th place through day one. Tomorrow’s 200 medley will probably be the prelim race of the meet… hopefully we’ll end up on the top eight side of it.

Live Results

Today is most definitely our biggest day, and I am so psyched to get in the pool and race. If you want to follow along, click for LIVE RESULTS!

Day 2

Today was sweet frankly. we got up and swam a little, savoring the cool poolness and facilities. It rained so lots of places flooded. After swimming and lunch, we hung out like some laundry and gathered our strength for the first day of competition. Banquet was fun and shorter than last year complete with DJ and a scavenger hunt for all the kids present. I lost in the first round but drew did pretty well. Next was supply trip to target complete with flooded engine and gatorade. We ended tonight with some flying lessons and some shaving to give us the edge tom. Many parents will be coming tom. and we are all stoked to see them. Morale is high with the thought of a fresh kill makes us itchy. the tribe will go on the hunt early in hopes of landing big prey. Chip here sums up the day pretty well

Trip to Target

Tonight we made a trip to Target for supplies like food, razors, shaving cream, and movies. Obviously, it has been raining like crazy all day long so there were a ton of huge puddles along the way. When we pulled into the Target parking lot and were searching for a spot to park, Coach decided to drive through a seemingly harmless puddle. This would prove to be a very big mistake. After getting through the puddle, he hit the gas and nothing happend... well, nothing except the engine stopping. He tried for a few minutes to start it again but it didn't work. So, we pushed it into a spot and did our shopping. About an hour later, we came out to the car and it still wouldn't start. We decided that we had no choice but to keep trying until it finally got going, which eventually happened. All of that gas flowing caused a very thick smoke to come out of the car, which I wanted to get a picture standing beside. Just as I bent over beside the car to have Peter take the picture, Coach pressed the gas and shot a face full of smoke my way.

The real story of Nationals from the Perspective of the Peterman

This may take a while, but it will be better for everyone once you know the real truth about what goes on here.
First, when we went to the airport, I had to lug around this bag that my sister filled with her stuff and made me take so i could give it to my mom in Houston when I saw her at the meet. It's red, and overall a nice bag, but it was huge and heavy before I even started packing it with my stuff (everyone knows that girls accumulate tons of stuff during 4 years of college, so I was helping her get rid of it by taking with me to give to my mom). The thing is, that when we weighed it at check in at the airport, and it was 4 and 1/2 pounds heavy (54.5 lbs), and i had to take out a sweatshirt and pants and stuff them into mitch's bag. This is a fairly common thing to happen whenever Lincoln and I go anywhere with our sisters, but it was definitely kind of wierd doing it with my swimmer buddies. That's not all, it's also kind of broken, and part of the bottom that's plastic came off during the transportation. I was relieved actually, and I'm glad to have known that this particular piece of luggage has seen better times.
Ok, next we had to wait for coach to get us our transportation vehicle, and we were waiting around for our luggage. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was exhausted after sitting around for like 4½ hours doing nothing except for watching “Unleashed” with Caleb, and trying to sleep. My feet hurt, my neck hurt, my eyebrows hurt from both frowning and smiling alternately, and my sweat glands were getting overworked in this 70 degree humid weather after a few months of inactivity in Grove City.
Once we got our party van we started driving around aimlessly. No one knew where we were going, and they didn’t think that asking for directions was manly, so we didn’t, and coach was making all these comments about texan’s driving skills. Then we got on the HOV lane, I think it was Chip’s idea, and we drove for 3 miles down a road with no exits, speeding past traffic in the opposite direction that we wanted to go. It was kind of funny, because since no one knew where we were going, and timmy was supposed to be the navigator (and he didn’t have a clue where we were going either even though he had the map) everyone said “left” or “right” whenever we came to an intersection, and it was chaos. I was complaining the whole time that no one knew where we were, but no one would listen, and when I suggested that we ask for directions, I was shut down, and they stopped listening to me. Well, we did get off the HOV lane eventually, and by some fortunate circumstances were able to find our hotel.
Caleb and I are sharing a room at the hotel, so it’ll be an interesting weekend. I called the bed near the window, and settled in. We finally got to get out of our dress clothes that we had to wear (it was a real pain, especially in a van with 7 other guys), and everyone started wearing shorts and flip-flops or crocs.
Then we tried to find the pool. Caleb and I were fortunate enough to have seen an aerial view of the pool during the descent of the plane into Houston, and a local (in the plane) was able to point out the Houston campus to us. That was about all the directions we had, and it was rough going. Once again, we didn’t find it quickly, and it took a long time before we actually got to swim in the pool. We swam our warm-up practice, and it felt pretty nice. The water felt heavy, but it felt nice to finally swim.
Then we went to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse, and the service was amazing! I felt like I was a king. They gave us what we wanted before we asked for it, and it was super cool. I got this combo platter of 15-layer lasagna (it was really, really good), and manicotti (not so good). Mitch ate too much and was moaning till he threw up, then he said he felt better. Coach said he sounded like a dinosaur. Timmy ate a lot, then laid down on the floor. So yeah it was good. That’s about all I can write about write now, I’ll have more for later.

Rainy Day

So, originally we planned on walking around downtown Houston and seeing what there is to see, but it started raining very very verrrry hard outside so instead we’re stuck inside the hotel taking a nap. The banquet is tonight at 6:30, always a good time.

Rooftop Adventure

We just got back from an awesome adventure. We decided to go to the top floor of the hotel to check out the view, but we were disappointed because we couldn’t get into the restaurant on top of the hotel. We then ran into a hotel employee whose name will not be disclosed who disabled the alarm and took us up onto the roof of the hotel so that we could look around and see all over the city. It was a really cool opportunity… Coach will be so jealous!

Day 1

So there have been a ton of developments today... and it's too late at night for me to touch on them all. We drove South on the HOV lane instead of North, we got lost in downtown Houston... twice, Peter reached his complaining quota for the entire trip, Mitch barfed up his dinner because he ate way too much. I will elaborate more tomorrow. What a crazy trip already! Oh, yeah, and we are going to be soooo fast this weekend.

salutations

Hey all. So far this trip has been a BLAST! Good food, awesome hotel, good company. But that's not what it's all about. We're here on a mission. The pool is great, but my only concern is the fact that both walls are bulk-heads. I'm not a big fan of bulk-heads, but it'll be ok. I felt great in the water: powerful off the walls, powerful off the blocks, powerful in the water. Let's hope it all comes together. Peace and love!!

At the Airport

We're here at the Pittsburgh International Airport, just finished breakfast and ready to board the plain for Chicago in about thirty-five minutes. Peter's neck, shoulders, lips, fingers, and lats are all in terrible pain. Timmy is rubbing out Peter's knots, and Peter is yelling "OUCH!" at the top of his lungs. Chip is drinking his Cappuccino even though he only wanted regular coffee. Mitch, well, no one knows where he is right now- he saw one of his girlfriend's best friends and went to talk with her. See ya in Chicago!

Getting Closer

I can't believe that tomorrow night I will be packing up my clothes, suits, and goggles in preparation for our 8AM departure for Houston. All I have to do is survive 2 quizzes and then my week of school work is already over- after that it's time to focus on swimming and prepare to dominate the NCAA!

Diving Entries Released

One week from now we will be in Houston. Unfortunately, Joe will not be joining us this year. All of his hard work did pay off in getting him the national qualifying score, but this year he fell just a little short and was not selected. We are sure that he will make it next year... and hopefully Kyle will too!

Unofficial Psych Sheet Posted

Today the unofficial psych sheet of all swimmers obtaining A and B cuts was officially released. Grove City is poised to make a huge impact at NCAAs two weeks from now! The 200 Freestyle Relay is ranked 3rd behind Denison and Gustavus. The 200 Medley Relay is 4th, and it will surely be an incredible race at nationals- even just to make the top eight... there are 10 teams (ranked 3rd through 12th) between 1:33.02 and 1:33.83. We are really looking forward to that one! On the individual front, Caleb and Timmy are ranked first and second, respectively, in the 50 freestyle. Caleb is poised to defend his national title in the 100 from a year ago, as he is still the top 100 freestyler in the country to date. Our numbers are thin as we stay at Grove City to practice over spring break- Timmy and Andrew are driving up and down the east coast for New Grace all weekend and Chip is in California with the girls polo team. That leaves just Caleb, Mitch, Peter, and me. I, too, am practicing elsewhere so I can watch my sister swim in WPIALs at Pitt on Thursday and Friday.

Early word is...

So, the rumor on D3-swimming.com is that both Grove City's 400 Freestyle Relay and Westminster's 400 Medley Relay qualified for the NCAA championships. That means a lot for both teams. For us, Chip Cressman officially joins the nationals squad and will be able to contribute to the 800 Free Relay, 400 Free Relay, and swim his B cuts in the 400 IM and 1650 Freestyle. The only person left up in the air is Joe, and divers will not be released until Friday. For Westminster, getting their relay invited is a much bigger deal. Without it, the only guys they would have are Ryan Trunk and Pat Smith. This relay getting invited will get two more guys in the meet and give them a lot more opportunities for scoring points at NCAAs. Two weeks from today we will be in our final preparations for flying to Houston... I can't wait!

Houston Weather

Three weeks from now we hope to be celebrating 2 national championships after one night of competition. But another thing we have to look forward to is the Houston weather. It's hard to imagine a place without snow, but if snow can survive these conditions then God must've turned off physics or something:

Forcast for Friday, February 23:
Areas of dense morning fog. Cloudy skies with a few showers later in the day. High around 70F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

Taper Begins!

While those words bring joy to most, Grove City swimmers know that taper usually begins with more intense workouts than in-season training. Still, the yards are being counted and we will go under 6,000 on Thursday. While the men are still far from the meet, the final top times list for the women's meets was just released today. Freshman Jane Wilson is ranked among the top 15 women in the country in the 50 Freestyle and should be receiving an invite to the meet this Friday when the official selections are released.

Here we go...

So PACs are over and we're now awaiting the results of the selection committee to see which Wolverine swimmers will be invited to the big meet. We have 9 guys and 1 girl eligible to be selected, with next weekend being the last possible opportunity to submit a time. Here's this year's qualifiers, looking to break into the top ten this year with the addition of as many as 5 new guys!