​After a long time of not swimming in any meets, Abby participated in the Harvest Festival swim meet with her club team at PPA. She swam in the 100 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. It was so nice to be able to be inside the building watching the swim meet this time instead of standing outside watching from the outer windows. Most of the girls in Abby’s heat for the breaststroke missed their heat as it was not announced correctly. Luckily, they were able to jump into the following heat. After feeling a little flustered, Abby still swam as hard as she could and finished her 100 breaststroke in 1:57.04. Breaststroke is not her favorite stroke, but she did her best and for that I am really proud of her. Abby later swam in the 100 freestyle event and finished in 1:20.42 which is a PR by 4 seconds. I loved being able to watch Abby swim again. I can’t wait for more swim meets in her future!

Peter has been in full swing into his off-season swim training with the PPA swim club. He swam in his first swim meet since his swim season before COVID hit. With COVID restrictions still in effect, we weren’t able to watch the meet from inside the building but stood outside and watched through the glass windows. The weather was cold, and it was snowing but we stood outside for each race and then warmed in the car. Peter swam in the 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, and 500 freestyle. His times were definitely better than a year ago and that made him really happy. He swam the 100 butterfly in his best time ever finishing in 1:04.97. He swam the 100 freestyle in 58.17 and the 500 freestyle in 5:50.96. It was very exciting watching Peter swim again. 
​

​Abby’s second meet with PPA occurred over the weekend. On Friday night she swam the 100 freestyle and did great. I was able to watch her swim from the outside window on Friday evening. She had a really great start, and she was in the top 3 in her heat until the last 25 where she lost a bit of steam. Abby is a really strong freestyler and would be more competitive if she improved her starts and turns. 
 
On Saturday, Mike went and watched Abby swim in her other events. Abby was confident and swam well in the 100 IM, 50 breaststroke and 50 freestyle. She had a strong stroke in the water and only seemed to lose time on her turns. What was interesting to watch was how the other parents acted. Mike was so disappointed to hear such crazy rambling from some parents who were swearing outside the windows at their kids who were swimming. We are so glad that Abby loves to swim and that she has a good attitude about it. She always tries hard and that is good enough for us. We don’t care if she is the fastest in the water. The only thing that matters to us is that she does her best. At the end of the day, parents who go so far as to swear at their children because they aren’t swimming fast enough are missing out on truly supporting their kids who are working hard. 

It was so fun to watch Abby in her swim meet with her new swim club, Pikes Peak Athletics. Due to the new restrictions with COVID we weren't able to watch from inside the building but rather watched from the windows on the side of the building. Abby has had such a good experience swimming with Group 3 at PPA, partially because her friends are in that group but mostly because she has been challenged and had to swim up a little bit. She comes home from practice exhausted but so happy. Abby loves to swim and although she isn't the fastest swimmer, she has pretty good form and is a hard worker. At this meet she swam in the 200 IM, 50Y Butterfly (52.79) and the 50 Backstroke (47.67). I missed her 200 IM but was able to see both of her other events and was so proud of her for pushing hard even when she wasn't having the best swim day. Abby's best event is definitely freestyle, but those events were only being held on Sunday. Hopefully next meet she will be able to swim in the freestyle events.

Andrew finally had a season where he got to swim all of his favorite and best events all season long. With 7 different events that he swam in, all of them revolved around the breaststroke or freestyle strokes. Both strokes were his favorite to swim. Andrew’s goal this season was to make it to State in the 100 breastroke. Although he wasn’t seriously injured, he did face some trouble with cramping in his back again this season. He found himself either not being able to finish some of the workouts or having to skip them altogether. Despite this small hurdle, Andrew still worked extremely hard and had a really successful season, coming so close to his goal of a state time in the breaststroke. He missed it in his very last race by .87 seconds. His final and best time in the 100 breaststroke was 1:09.87. During his season he cut 8 seconds off his breastroke time, maintained a sub 1 min time in the 100 freestyle, swam the 50 freestyle in the low 25’s, and showed that despite an imperfect body to work with, he could still do amazing things. Andrew was a great leader this season as he had the role as one of the team captains. He helped to lead their team to another League Championship title, the second one he was a part of during his high school swim career.  

​50 Freestyle
26.45 5th out of 10 vs Palmer
25.97 2nd out of 7 at Widefield
25.66 37th out of 143 at Indian Invite (CMHS)
25.91 7th out of 15 vs Rampart
25.99 97th out of 240 at Mustang Invite
26.27 6th out of 10 at Coronado
25.35 14th out of 26 at CSML Prelims
25.20 14th out of 16 at CSML Finals
 
100 Freestyle
58.95 6th out of 14 vs Air Academy
58.94 4th out of 9 at Liberty
 
100 Breastroke
1:17.16 3rd out of 5 vs Palmer
1:15.58 2nd out of 6 at Widefield
1:14.58 24th out of 56 at Indian Invite (CMHS)
1:18.91 7th out of 8 vs Rampart
1:12.68 51st out of 117 at Mustang Invite
1:28.15 5th out of 6 at Liberty
1:16.55 6th out of 7 at Coronado
1:11.09 12th out of 20 at CSML Prelims
1:09.87 9th out of 15 at CSML Finals
 
200 Freestyle
2:15.90 6th out of 6 vs Air Academy

500 Freestyle
6:35.00 3rd out of 8 vs FFC
 
200 Freestyle Relay
26.31 split time vs Palmer
Total time 1:47.61 at Widefield 
26.37 split time vs Air Academy
25.34 split time at Indian Invite (CMHS)
25.58 split time vs Rampart
25.15 split time at Mustang Invite
27.20 split time at Liberty
25.13 split time at Coronado
26.54 split time vs FFC
 
200 Medley Relay
Breaststroke split time NR vs Palmer (team time 1:56.82)
Freestyle split time NR at Widefield (team time 2:12.53)
Freestyle split time 25.25 at Coronado
Butterfly split time NR vs FFC (team time 2:07.46)

​Peter had an amazing swim season this year, swimming in 9 different events. Of those events, he swam the most in the 200 and 500 freestyle. I think it’s pretty safe to say that Peter is a long-distance swimmer. Peter cut time almost every meet in the 200 and 500 freestyle, taking off a total of 30 seconds from the beginning to the end of the season in the 500 freestyle. He worked so hard to try and get a state time in the 500 free but missed it by only 10 seconds at the final meet. Peter participated in many of the relay events and even did a few events he does not normally swim. Peter’s work ethic is like nothing I have ever seen. This year Peter shifted to the faster side of the pool and was seen swimming in practice with some of the faster guys. There was even a little healthy competition between him and Andrew during practice. He worked extremely hard in and out of the pool to make sure he was ready to swim hard during the meets. 
 
50 Freestyle
28.36 7th out of 10 at Doherty
 
100 Freestyle
1:02.87 7th out of 10 at Doherty
1:04.74 3rd out of 13 vs FFC
 
100 Fly
1:15.07 6th out of 6 vs Air Academy
 
200 Freestyle
2:23.48 5th out of 5 vs Palmer
2:17.98 3rd out of 7 at Widefield
2:16.22 29th out of 48 at Indian Invite (CMHS)
2:14.43 56th out of 78 at Mustang Invite
2:13.90 5th out of 6 at Liberty
2:14.94 4th out of 9 at Coronado
2:15.19 1st out of 7 vs FFC
 
500 Freestyle
6:14.56 3rd out of 4 vs Palmer 
6:00.92 1st out of 4 at Widefield
5:55.44 18th out of 18 at Indian Invite (CMHS)
5:58.42 6th out of 8 vs Rampart
5:49.07 34th out of 46 at Mustang Invite
6.00.63 3rd out of 6 at Liberty
5:52.55 4th out of 7 at Coronado
5:43.82 12th out of 24 at CSML Prelims
5:48.68 12th out of 16 at CSML Finals
 
200 Individual Medley
2:44.16 7th out of 7 vs Rampart
 
200 Freestyle relay
28.01 split time vs Rampart
29.03 split time at Doherty
 
200 Medley Relay 
Butterfly split time NR vs Palmer (team time 2:45.01)
Backstroke split time NR at Widefield (team time 2:12.53)
Butterfly split time 32.69 vs Air Academy
Breastroke split time NR vs FFC (team time 2:02.75)
 
400 Freestyle Relay
Split time 31.49 at Palmer
Split time 35.51 at Palmer
Split time NR at Widefield (team time 4:28.72)
Split time 29.01 vs Air Academy
Split times NR at Mustang Invite (team time 4:22.05)
Split time 30.04 at Liberty
Split time 33.95 at Liberty
Split time 31.68 at Coronado
Split time 34.74 at Coronado
Split time 31.04 vs FFC
Split time 34.33 vs FFC

​Every year during the latter half of the swim season the boys get to play water polo with a greased-up watermelon. They call it the watermelon invite. They always have a great time and they also get a good workout. Mike and I had a blast watching our boys battling it out on opposite teams. Most of the boys walked away unscathed, except for a few scratches and a black eye for Peter. Peter got hit in the eye when someone decided to throw the watermelon in his direction. Ouch! Still, he was pretty much all smiles even though he got hit in the face.   

After a week of three snow days and two canceled meets, the boys were finally ready to compete in their first swim meet against Palmer HS. They knew there wasn't much competition agains Palmer but they were still pumped to swim their hardest. Peter swam in the 200 medley relay (butterfly), 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay. He swam strong in all his events but his 500 freestyle was his best event of the day, landing him a new PR of 6:14.56. This is the event Peter will focus on this season to try and get as close as he can to the state qualifying time.

200 medley relay - no individual time.  Team time of 2:45.01
200 freestyle - 2:23.48
500 freestyle - 6:14.56
400 freestyle relay - 31.49, 35.51

Andrew also had a pretty good meet.  He swam in the 200 medley relay (breaststroke), 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, and the 100 breastroke.  With only 1 sec away from his best time in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 breastroke he did well for his first meet. His 200 freestyle relay team actually got a State qualifying time so that is exciting! After this meet Andrew is even more determined to work hard on breastroke this season so that he can try and get a state qualifying time. 

200 medley relay (breaststroke) - no individual time. Team time of 1:56.82
50 freestyle - 26.45
200 freestyle relay - 26.31
100 breastroke - 1:17.16

Emma, Peter, and Andrew swam in their second meet of the club season at the CMA Valentines meet at Cheyenne Mountain High School.  Since Emma turned 13 last month she was bumped up to swim with the older kids this time.  One of the things about the older kids events are the elimination of many of the smaller 50 yd events.  There weren't too many options in the 100yd events for today and so Emma only swam in the 100 freestyle race.  She was way more confident during this meet than she was during the last meet.  She did well, swimming the first 50 yards extremely well.  Her second 50 yards was a bit slower because she swallowed some water on the second lap.  Still, she was able to knock out a time of 1:35.73.  Way to go Emma!

Peter swam the 100 butterfly and the 100 freestyle.  He went out too fast for the first lap and ended up losing a bit of steam on the second lap.  That's usually how it goes with the butterfly.  It's just a tough event.  His time was 1:15.31.  He did really well, however, on his 100 freestyle.  He got a new PR with a time of 1:05.21.  It was so fun to see Peter PR in the freestyle and to also try the butterfly event.  Most kids don't volunteer to swim in that event. 

Andrew swam the 100 freestyle and the 200 breaststroke.  He wasn't feeling well at all today and his back was bothering him. His times were still decent though.  He swam the 100 freestyle in 58.81 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:54.83.  I'm so proud of Andrew for pushing through it.

The kids have all been swimming with the Rapids Swim Club since the early fall and this was the first meet that I was able to sign them up to participate in.  The girls were a little nervous as this was their first real big swim meet.  The boys were anxious to see what they could swim at this point in their pre-season to their HS swim team season.  I was so incredibly impressed with how well everyone did today and how they cheered for and encouraged each other in their individual events.  

​Andrew's times were already so much better than the last two seasons of HS swim.  He swam in the 50 freestyle, 100 breast, and the 100 freestyle events. He PR'd in 100 breaststroke and swam it in 1:16.17.  His previous best time was his sophomore year at 1:18.42 since he didn't swim it his junior year.  His 50 free time was outstanding for the pre-season at 26.00.  His fastest time was during the Eagle Invite his sophomore year at 25.29.  Last year he swam a 25.60 during State and that was after a season of an injured hand.  Andrew's 100 free time today was 58.00 which was his best solo 100 freestyle not in a relay.  His previous 100 free style record was 1:00.73 last season.  His overall best 100 freestyle distance was 56.12 in the 400 freestyle relay his sophomore year.  After such a successful meet for Andrew he and I both realized his potential.  He hasn't been making it to all the club practices and still swam a great meet which only means that with a lot of hard work from here until the HS season starts and through the season, he could potentially make State with an individual event this year.  It will be fun to see how far he can come this year by working hard and swimming the events he is strongest in.  

Peter PR'd in every event he swam today. He swam in the 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and the 100 freestyle events.  Peter's 500 freestyle time was 6:28.00 which was 12 seconds faster than last year's best time of 6:42.98.  Peter's 200 freestyle time today was 2:27.00 which was one second faster than last year's best time and his 100 freestyle was 1:05.00 which knocked his previous best tie of 1:11.89 out of the park.  Unlike Andrew, Peter has been more diligent about going to practice and his hard work is already starting to show.  He is so competitive with Andrew and I know that with some more hard work Peter will get the times that he is working towards this year.  So proud of this kid.

Emma swam in two events today.  She swam in the 50 breaststroke and 50 freestyle events.  As she was getting ready for her 50 breaststroke she accidentally missed her heat.  She got confused because some other kid was on her block.  There were a few tears since this was her favorite event.  Coach Brody stepped in and got her in the next heat which was awesome.  That is the nice thing about the 12&under competition...they are a little bit more lenient.  Needless to say, she swam well being a little frazzled.  Still, according to Emma, this was not her best time and didn't glide as much as she should have but she was happy to be able to swim in the event.  She swam the 50 breaststroke in 43.00.  Emma's next event was the 50 freestyle and she swan that in 41.47.  Again, not her best time from practice but still a great starting time for her.  I was so proud of her for pushing herself even when she was nervous and frazzled.  This was a great experience for her.

Abby was a little unsure about swimming in such a big meet but she put on her brave face and went with the flow today.  She swam in both the 50 butterfly and 100 freestyle events.  She swam her 50 butterfly which was the very first event in 1:03.99 and was 4th in her heat.  She was so happy with that.  Then she waited until the end of the meet to swim in the 100 freestyle.  She was so nervous about doing flip turns and being disqualified.  Ramon and I tried to encourage her to just try them but in the end she just touched the wall.  Still, with her nerves I was just so proud of her for getting up on that swim block and racing.  She did the 100 freestyle in 2:06.00.  I couldn't have been more pleased with her efforts.  

The girls had their 2nd swim meet with the Falfins today.  It was another in house meet so they swam against the other kids in the Falfins summer swim team. Both girls improved significantly since the first meet.  Emma used the diving block this time and showed us how strong she is in the breaststroke.  She swam in the 50 breaststroke, 100 breaststroke, and the 50 freestyle.  Abby did well this time around too.  She swam in the 100 freestyle, 100IM, and the 50 backstroke.  By far Abby's favorite event is the 100 IM.  She loves to swim all the strokes.  Abby improved this time by swimming all her events without stopping.  I couldn't be prouder of these two girls in giving it all they had during their events.  At the end of the meet each one of them got pictures with their coaches.  Being a part of this summer swim team was really good for both Emma and Abby and showed them that they could accomplish great things with hard work.  

Andrew had a great season considering the fact that he got injured early on in the season with a hand injury from a skiing accident.  He didn’t necessarily swim in his strongest events this year like the 50 free or 100 breaststroke but did well considering his circumstances.  We are not sure why he swam in the 100 backstroke so much this season but looked at this season as an opportunity to broaden his scope of events.  Andrew is never one to question his coaches so he swam in the events he was told to swim and supported his team like no one else.  During the league finals one of the other swimmers got injured and so they put Andrew in those events.  Those events were the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly, which are two of his weakest events.  I was super annoyed by his coach’s decision but Andrew didn’t even bat an eye.  That is the kind of kid he is.  He was more concerned about helping the team than himself.  Even with his injured hand he was still able to make it to the State meet swimming with the 400 freestyle relay team.  He knocked out a fast 50 freestyle time in the 200 freestyle relay at the State meet with a time of 25.60.  It was a good way to end a very crazy and frustrating season.  
​
100 Freestyle
1:00.73 4th out of 9 at Widefield
 
100 Backstroke
1:16.30 4th out of 7 at Palmer  
1:12.41 3rd out of 7 vs. Cheyenne Mountain
1:18.66 8th out of 9 vs. Coronado
1:11.27 22nd out of 26 at CSML prelims
 
100 Fly
1:14.02 6th out of 6 vs. Coronado
1:11.50 19th out of 25 at CSML prelims
 
200 Freestyle
2:24.48 5thout of 8 vs. Cheyenne Mountain
 
200 IM
2:32.26 4th out of 7 at Palmer
 
500 Freestyle
6:51.09 2nd out of 8 at Widefield
 
200 Freestyle Relay
26.46 split time vs. Rampart
26.88 split time vs. Coronado
25.60 split time at CHSAA Class 4A State Championships
 
200 Medley Relay
Breaststroke split time 34.85 at Widefield
Breaststroke split time 34.90 vs. Cheyenne Mountain
Fly split time 31.59 vs. Rampart
 
400 Freestyle Relay
28.57 split time vs. Cheyenne Mountain
33.20 split time vs. Cheyenne Mountain
29.60 split time at Widefield
33.26 split time at Widefield
28.68 split time vs. Rampart
31.84 split time vs. Rampart
28.30 split time at CSML prelims
31.84 split time at CSML prelims

This was Peter's first season swimming on the Boys Pine Creek HS swim team.  He originally decided to do swim to give his knees a break from all of his running.  What started out as a way to cross train quickly turned into his love for this sport and his teammates.  Most of the season he was coached by Matt and Romana Gilbert and received lots of support and advice by some of the more experienced swimmers on the team.

Peter really showed some great improvement over the course of his season. He improved in all of his events and even knocked his 500 free time down by 40 seconds. He ended up swimming the 200 and 500 freestyle events the most.  The coaches spent a lot of time working on Peter’s freestyle form after realizing he was developing a little bit of tendonitis in his shoulder due to bad form. It was after he fixed his form that we really saw him improve.  

​50 Freestyle
34.00 7thout of 11 vs. Cheyenne Mountain
32.62 12thout of 16 vs. Rampart
32.18 12thout of 14 vs. Coronado
 
100 Freestyle
 
1:11.89 12thout of 15 vs. Rampart
 
100 Backstroke
1:36.29 9thout of 10 at Fountain Fort Carson
 
100 Fly
1:59.53 7thout of 7 at Widefield
                  
100 Breastroke
1:41.01  8thout of 9  vs. Cheyenne Mountain
1:36.29  9thout of 10 at Fountain Fort Carson
 
200 Freestyle
2:41.40 9thout of 11 at Fountain Fort Carson
2:33.25 8thout of 10 vs. Coronado
2:34.17 9thout of 12 vs. Liberty
2:28.11 6thout of 10   at AA Invite
            
500 Freestyle
7:32.21 7thout of 7 at Palmer
7:41.65 4thout of 8 at Widefield
6:43.02 6thout of 7 vs. Liberty
6:42.52 6thout of 7 at AA Invite 
6:55.91 16thout of 21 at CSML Prelims
6:42.98 15thout of 16 at CSML Finals
 
200 Freestyle relay
34.79 split time vs. Cheyenne Mountain
32.57 split time at Fountain Fort Carson
33.23 split time at Widefield
32.57 split time at Fountain Fort Carson
32.28 split time vs. Coronado
32.23 split time vs. Liberty
33.05 split time at CSML prelims
 
 
200 Medley Relay
Freestyle split time 31.50 vs. Rampart
 
400 Freestyle relay
split time 35.24 at Widefield
split time 39.45 at Widefield
36.29 split time vs. Cheyenne Mountain
39.61 split time vs. Cheyenne Mountain
35.81 split time at Fountain Fort Carson
39.30 split time at Fountain Fort Carson
33.68 split time vs. Rampart
36.80 split time vs. Rampart
34.94 split time vs. Coronado
42.77 split time vs. Coronado
33.96 split time vs. Liberty
36.39 split time vs. Liberty
28.30 split time at CSML Prelims
31.84 split time at CSML Prelims
 

March 13, 2018
 
The boys first swim meet at Palmer High School went well.  Peter swam in the 500 free, 200 free relay, and the 400 free relay. Peter was a little nervous to be swimming in his first swim meet and to be swimming in the longest event.  His start looked decent and his flip turns had drastically improved from the beginning of the season.  He told me after the race that he was so confused with the lap counters and thought he had been disqualified.  It took the boys at the end of the lane cheering him on for him to keep going.  When he was on the final length of the race the lap counter is a big red square.  He thought he had been disqualified again but kept swimming until the end of the race.  He was pretty tired for the 200 free relay which was the very next event but he swam well in both of the relay events.
 
Andrew swam in the 200 IM, 200-medley relay (backstroke), and the 100 backstroke. It was new for him to swim the backstroke in the relay and as a single event but he did well enough.  I loved watching him swim the 200 IM because I could see him swim all the strokes.  His butterfly has really come a long way.  More than anything, I loved watching the boys cheer each other on. It’s so much fun to have them on the same team.
 

​March 20, 2018
 
The boys swam really well against Cheyenne Mountain and beat the pants off of this team. This was the first time they have been able to do this in the last 10 years.  Now that the first meet was out of the way the boys could really get their groove on in this meet.  Andrew swam in the 100 backstroke, 200 freestyle, and the 400 freestyle relay.  Peter swam in the 50 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 freestyle relay, and the 400 freestyle relay.