Sunday, August 3, 2014
Sunday, February 28, 2010
NESCAC 2010 Woman's Swimming Championship
Report on 2010 NESCAC Women’s Swim Championship or
Why Gentlemen Johnny Burgoyne could not compete in the NESCAC
While driving up to Middlebury College in Vermont to watch our daughter Kelly compete in the 2010 NESCAC Woman’s swim championship we passed through historic Saratoga. I remarked to Eileen and our 14 year old Stephanie that the British surrender at Saratoga by British General “Gentleman” Johnny Burgoyne was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. After the surrender France entered the war on our side and the tide turned our way. Delighted to hear this tidbit, Eileen started chatting with the GPS system as if it were Morgan Freeman narrating a documentary and Stephanie kindly informed me know she was wearing headphones. But you, my dear readers have encouraged your faithful correspondent me to take this theme further and I hope to tempt you to continue on by pledging that my 2010 NESCAC Championship Meet Report shall be complete with its connections to the Titanic, PT Barnum , Jack Sheppard of LOST! , And the French and Indian War!
I realized we were headed to a competition where the head coaches took a decidedly different approach to their contest than that which the British “Head Coach” Burgoyne chose. Readers may recall a missive last year in which a baseball game at Gettysburg demonstrated some parallels with the historical events in the three day battle the summer of 1863 (http://fightingdiplomats2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/team-of-destiny-2009-battle-at.html) and I began to ponder the preparation of the head coaches and swimmers of the respective teams with Burgoyne’s preparation for his battle. But first a little background for the readers who have not been attending swim meets for years.
The Competition
The NESCAC is the New England Small College Athletic Association comprised of these schools:
Institution Location Team Name Founded Enrollment
Amherst College
Amherst, Massachusetts
Lord Jeffs 1821 1,697
Bates College
Lewiston, Maine
Bobcats 1855 1,776
Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine
Polar Bears 1794 1,773
Colby College
Waterville, Maine
White Mules 1813 1,846
Connecticut College
New London, Connecticut
Camels 1911 1,910
Hamilton College
Clinton, New York
Continentals 1793 1,780
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont
Panthers 1800 2,406
Trinity College
Hartford, Connecticut
Bantams 1823 2,188
Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts
Jumbos 1852 5,016
Wesleyan University
Middletown, Connecticut
Cardinals 1831 2,766
Williams College
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Ephs 1793 2,137
Longtime readers know I enjoy school nicknames and I will take this occasion to share how Tufts came to be known as the “Jumbos”
PT Barnum, a Tufts graduate, bought the famous African Elephant “Jumbo” in 1882 and brought him to America as a touring exhibit. Jumbo was huge drawing card for three years of exhibitions but in 1885 Jumbo was killed after being hit by an oncoming locomotive in a train yard in St Thomas, Ontario in Canada.
Jumbo was mounted by taxidermists and traveled with Barnum for several years. In 1889, Jumbo was displayed at Tufts in the Barnum Museum. He was featured prominently for many years until 1975 when he was destroyed in a fire, coincidentally a fate that befell many of Barnum’s exhibits during his lifetime. Jumbo became the university’s mascot and remains so to this day.
My grandfather, Michael A. Landers was a student at Tufts graduating with the Class of 1912. I can imagine him now in the spring of 1912 during the middle of April. The Titanic just sank in the early hours of Monday April 15, 1912 and the Red Sox were planning to have their first game in their new stadium Fenway Park. After two rain delays Fenway finally hosted its first professional game on April 20, 1912 (beating the New York Highlanders (later known as the Yankees) 7-6 in 11 innings and I can only hope he was in attendance.
What I do imagine is that Jumbo was a big attraction to the Tufts students who might drop by to have a word now and then. As I am genetically connected to the man I can imagine he would visit Jumbo during that week in April of 1912 and have a chat like this:
Dave’s Grandfather: “Hey Big Guy, did you hear about the Titanic? Unsinkable they said ….. Well they thought you were indestructible too…”
Jumbo:
Dave’s Grandfather: But hey, our Sox open up soon and I love our chances this year
Jumbo: (Smiling)
And yes, the Red Sox were World Series champs in 1912 and here are the players my grandfather watched play:
===============================================================
Here is Jumbo in a better moment…....
And here is the aftermath of the train crash where we lost Jumbo …..
The Tufts Jumbos swimmers prepare before every meet with a chant that is intended to stir up the competitive juices: Here is what it looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6uepyBFPA
So we have come to love the Jumbos as the Tufts nickname. There are, however, some schools which I think merit a name change; foremost among them the Messiah College Falcons. They ought to be the Messiah Complex—every player will think they can win the event singlehandedly!
The Facility
We arrive in Vermont to see a beautiful athletic complex and the simply gorgeous Middlebury College Natatorium pictured here:
.
But as I gaze upon this pool, I realize this beautiful site will soon be a graveyard for unfulfilled dreams and simultaneously a temple of triumph after years of grueling efforts. After the National Anthem – I shout “Play Ball!” - Let the meet begin!
In comparing the Battle of Saratoga with the 2010 Championship meet it seemed appropriate to examine the meet and the battle within three distinct classifications:
The Preparation
The Engagement
The Aftermath
When understanding the impact of a head coach or general we need to understand the value of the intangibles:
Does the leader create an environment in which every can compete at peak capacity? Does he bring a comfort level to the “team” and help maintain confidence and morale? Does he understand the opponents and his own personal?
Does he motivate?
Does he teach?
Does he treat everyone fairly and with respect?
Does he command respect?
Does he surround himself with good coaches?
How does he handle the outside participants?
It all plays a part.
The British “Head Coach” Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne
Preparation:
Burgoyne was in charge of his team in the summer of 1777 as it lumbered down from Canada crossing rivers and mountains and dense forests. His supplies lines became stretched but he was so overconfident he did not care. Burgoyne was vain man and did not allow his military duties to distract him from enjoying food, drink and debauchery. Burgoyne brought along his mistress for company and marched with 40 tons of personal baggage carried by men and horses who did not have enough to eat. The American rebels ahead of Burgoyne drove off cattle and burned crops to prevent the British from getting fresh supplies. Burgoyne decided to abandon Fort George, Fort Edward, Fort Anne, Lake George and Skenesborough to go for the one battle approach. But the British had no idea that while they were running low on supplies, the Continental army had been reinforced with 10,000 soldiers and were well armed for the first time thanks to the delivery of supplies from the French. French King Louis XVI did not want to anger the British by openly arming the Americans in direct violation of the treaty of the Seven Years War. Americans refer to that conflict as the French and Indian war)
(France lost the Conference championship in 1763 to the Brits and gave up draft picks and other penalties which left France unprepared to risk another war with the reigning Conference champ). Wanting to weaken the Brits without direct confrontation, King Sweet Lou directed Caron de Beaumarchais to found a secret commercial enterprise to supply the American rebels with munitions weapons, clothes and provisions (which we still have not paid for). Beaumarchais lived quite a colorful life and is also known as a playwright having written The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. His supplies changed the playing field by giving the rebels arm and provisions to go along with fighting spirit and a sense of determination.
In August of 1777, Burgoyne committed a tactical blunder sending 1000 men to Bennington, Vt. with the idea of capturing horses and other supplies (rather than abandon some of his excess baggage). But the rebels were well armed and killed almost all of Burgoyne’s men and captured tons of British supplies.
By October Burgoyne’s army was down to about 6,000 men most of whom were German mercenaries. Burgoyne began to hope for reinforcements from Rhode Island under the command of General Henry Clinton. But Clinton did not believe Burgoyne needed help and sent only a few men up the Hudson and they never made it out of the shallows of the Hudson.
The British Army and the American Army began to from battle lines outside of Saratoga.
The Engagement
General Gates, the leader of the rebel army had a history of difficulties with fellow American General Benedict Arnold (who was still on our side at this point). Gates was a defensive fighter without a lot of imagination while Arnold was an aggressive risk taker. They had previous quarrels and on the eve of the battle out of vanity and jealousy Gates dismissed Arnold. This error might have been enough to shift the balance back to the British and were it not for Arnold’s audacious behavior we might be eating steak and kidney pie today. After Gates whacked Arnold nearly all the general officers signed a petition asking Arnold to stay- so Arnold stayed -even though he had been dismissed. On the morning of October 7th as the British began to attack, Gates was eating breakfast while Arnold asked for permission to advance. Rebuked by Gates, Arnold raced to the front line shouting at the men to follow him. Gates was not happy with this action and ordered him back. Arnold ignored the order and drove the men right through Burgoyne’s line. The British began a hasty retreat but Arnold would not quit (remember Lee not pursuing the Union after day 1 in Gettysburg?). He charged forward and only stopped when both he and his horse were shot and the horse collapsed on him breaking his leg. But by then the British forces were surrounded and the battle was over.
The Aftermath
Burgoyne and 6000 troops were captured and the revolutionary war ended in the Northern States. The surrender is depicted below:
Without the armaments from France this victory never would have happened. After the rebel win at Saratoga, France shortly entered the war on our side.
In an event that would not out of place in today’s society; after hearing of the victory at Saratoga ,Beaumarchais rushed to Paris in his two- horse carriage with the intent of shorting British bonds on the Paris Stock exchange before the British defeat became widely known. But in his haste, the carriage hit a rock and overturned nearly killing Beaumarchais and confining him to bed for several days.
Burgoyne eventually became a popular comic playwright in London matching Beaumarchais’s literary success. Burgoyne was buried in Westminster Abbey. Sir Laurence Olivier portrayed Burgoyne in the movie the Devils’ Disciples in 1959 and subsequently Olivier was buried in Westminster Abbey as well.
NESCAC 2010 Woman’s Championship Meet
Preparation:
Entering the 2010 Championship competition, Williams has won 9 straight NESCAC women’s swim titles which makes them a pre meet favorite on a level that Burgoyne was favored over the America rebels. But Williams coach Steve Kuster prepares his team much differently than Burgoyne did his. Rather than relax and take for granted his teams past successes Kuster ratchets up his recruiting. He brings in 5 terrific swimmers to help his teams quest for another championship all of who should garner All Conference honors based on their times. He commences his season with rigorous training to have his swimmers reach for higher peaks looking ahead to the Division 3 championships as the goal of many of his tribe.
He clearly motivates, teaches and commands respect. In the pack at Middlebury’s pool with 300 swimmers, parents and fans there is no question in anyone’s mind that Williams is the alpha dog.
But other NESCAC coaches such as Amherst coach Nick Nichols and Tufts coach Nancy Bigelow come to compete. Nichols arrives at the meet armed with junior Kendra Stern, a freestyler who earned the Swimmer of the Meet at the 2009 championship and a handful of freshman expected to compete for all conference honors (which is earned by top three finishers in each event). Faced with the challenge of Williams’ swimming, Nancy is constantly sharpening her swimmers performance and helping them achieve their best results in the pool. Despite overwhelming odds they take each race and give their swimmers the best chance for their personal success.
As part of the preparation many swimmers have been tapering their workouts to be in peak condition for this meet. Some swimmers have shaved their legs and even arms to get the best results and minimize drag. These races are sometimes determined by the time it takes an eye to blink. Swimmers swim against a relentless clock where anything can add time. They don’t call in Greenwich MEAN time for nothing.
The Engagement:
The meet lasts for three days with preliminary heats in each morning to determine who qualifies to swim in the finals events that evening.
The ritual for the Final heat is interesting. The 8 swimmers with the best qualifying time from the prelims are marched out to the pool with music in the background. They have all worked hard all year for this moment. Hours of practice and effort to grind out lap after lap and it comes down to this one race. I think back to a scene in LOST! where Hurley wants to persuade Jack to follow him in an adventure, Jack shows no interest until Hurley tells Jack that Jacob says Jack ought to go because “You have what it takes”. Jack lights up upon hearing this ready to take his journey. I wonder what the swimmers are pondering as they stride to the block to get ready to swim for the conference championship in their event.
Do they know they have what it takes? Do they have doubts?
Are they excited? Are they thinking about how much work they put in to get to this moment?
Watching from above the pool we can’t know the answers to these questions. But we can interpret body language and some walk with an assurance and self confidence that is remarkable. A rare few walk with what seems vulnerability as they have found themselves climbing up the pyramid to a very fast crowd and may hope they have what it takes.
But I think most of them are simply preparing themselves up to go as fast as they can.
Kelly is a backstroker and will compete in the 50 back on the meet’s first day. The Tufts record coming into today for this event is 28.72 and Kelly believes she is in shape to test it. Kelly has been lifting weights focusing on her starts and turns and refining her stroke. She is ready to surpass her previous efforts and can feel she “has what it takes”.
In her heat Kelly gets a great start and turns for the last 25 with a confidence and determination and breaks the Tufts record in 28.67
You can see that race here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asXDHitc-y4
This effort breaks the Tufts record and puts Kelly in first place in Tufts history for this event! My grandfather would be proud. However, the record would be fleeting as teammate KJ Kroetch would break it with a 28.38 in the next heat. My grandfather would still be proud and so am I.
Williams as expected is dominating the meet so far and heading into day 2 we have the 100 backstroke to watch. In 2009 at the conference championships Kelly swam her best time in this event at 1:03. But we see an assurance in her stride and gear up our hopes for her. She jumps into the pool for the start looking strong and confident. Kelly proceeds to swim a 100:91 which annihilates her previous best and placed her 4th All-Time at Tufts. In the finals she swims a 101:44 which can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgHBYESge2o&feature=related
The 800 free relay provided the crowd with some thrills. An engaging race which Williams led early but Middlebury with three freshman swimmers hung with the Ephs through 200. After 400 yards the swimmers drew even and went stroke for stroke for the next two hundred while pulling away from the crowd but Middlebury took a short lead of perhaps 1 second. By 600 yards the crowd was clearly rooting for Middlebury and both teams had freshman swimming the final leg. Audrey Tolbert gave all she could for Middlebury and barely hung on for the win vaulting Middlebury to third place in the tourney behind Williams and Amherst and just ahead of Tufts.
Day three was more Williams successes as the ultimately Williams swimmers would win 8 events and all the relays but the 800 free. Kelly swam the 200 back in a personal best of 2:13 which places her 6th all time at Tufts.
Aftermath:
Williams wins its 10th consecutive title and there is buzz that Kuster is being mentioned as the prospective coach at Yale. Many of the Williams swimmers have qualified for the D3 championship and will head to that in a couple weeks.
The rest will prepare for next season-as red Sox fans know - there is always next year!
Why Gentlemen Johnny Burgoyne could not compete in the NESCAC
While driving up to Middlebury College in Vermont to watch our daughter Kelly compete in the 2010 NESCAC Woman’s swim championship we passed through historic Saratoga. I remarked to Eileen and our 14 year old Stephanie that the British surrender at Saratoga by British General “Gentleman” Johnny Burgoyne was the turning point of the Revolutionary War. After the surrender France entered the war on our side and the tide turned our way. Delighted to hear this tidbit, Eileen started chatting with the GPS system as if it were Morgan Freeman narrating a documentary and Stephanie kindly informed me know she was wearing headphones. But you, my dear readers have encouraged your faithful correspondent me to take this theme further and I hope to tempt you to continue on by pledging that my 2010 NESCAC Championship Meet Report shall be complete with its connections to the Titanic, PT Barnum , Jack Sheppard of LOST! , And the French and Indian War!
I realized we were headed to a competition where the head coaches took a decidedly different approach to their contest than that which the British “Head Coach” Burgoyne chose. Readers may recall a missive last year in which a baseball game at Gettysburg demonstrated some parallels with the historical events in the three day battle the summer of 1863 (http://fightingdiplomats2009.blogspot.com/2009/04/team-of-destiny-2009-battle-at.html) and I began to ponder the preparation of the head coaches and swimmers of the respective teams with Burgoyne’s preparation for his battle. But first a little background for the readers who have not been attending swim meets for years.
The Competition
The NESCAC is the New England Small College Athletic Association comprised of these schools:
Institution Location Team Name Founded Enrollment
Amherst College
Amherst, Massachusetts
Lord Jeffs 1821 1,697
Bates College
Lewiston, Maine
Bobcats 1855 1,776
Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine
Polar Bears 1794 1,773
Colby College
Waterville, Maine
White Mules 1813 1,846
Connecticut College
New London, Connecticut
Camels 1911 1,910
Hamilton College
Clinton, New York
Continentals 1793 1,780
Middlebury College
Middlebury, Vermont
Panthers 1800 2,406
Trinity College
Hartford, Connecticut
Bantams 1823 2,188
Tufts University
Medford, Massachusetts
Jumbos 1852 5,016
Wesleyan University
Middletown, Connecticut
Cardinals 1831 2,766
Williams College
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Ephs 1793 2,137
Longtime readers know I enjoy school nicknames and I will take this occasion to share how Tufts came to be known as the “Jumbos”
PT Barnum, a Tufts graduate, bought the famous African Elephant “Jumbo” in 1882 and brought him to America as a touring exhibit. Jumbo was huge drawing card for three years of exhibitions but in 1885 Jumbo was killed after being hit by an oncoming locomotive in a train yard in St Thomas, Ontario in Canada.
Jumbo was mounted by taxidermists and traveled with Barnum for several years. In 1889, Jumbo was displayed at Tufts in the Barnum Museum. He was featured prominently for many years until 1975 when he was destroyed in a fire, coincidentally a fate that befell many of Barnum’s exhibits during his lifetime. Jumbo became the university’s mascot and remains so to this day.
My grandfather, Michael A. Landers was a student at Tufts graduating with the Class of 1912. I can imagine him now in the spring of 1912 during the middle of April. The Titanic just sank in the early hours of Monday April 15, 1912 and the Red Sox were planning to have their first game in their new stadium Fenway Park. After two rain delays Fenway finally hosted its first professional game on April 20, 1912 (beating the New York Highlanders (later known as the Yankees) 7-6 in 11 innings and I can only hope he was in attendance.
What I do imagine is that Jumbo was a big attraction to the Tufts students who might drop by to have a word now and then. As I am genetically connected to the man I can imagine he would visit Jumbo during that week in April of 1912 and have a chat like this:
Dave’s Grandfather: “Hey Big Guy, did you hear about the Titanic? Unsinkable they said ….. Well they thought you were indestructible too…”
Jumbo:
Dave’s Grandfather: But hey, our Sox open up soon and I love our chances this year
Jumbo: (Smiling)
And yes, the Red Sox were World Series champs in 1912 and here are the players my grandfather watched play:
===============================================================
Here is Jumbo in a better moment…....
And here is the aftermath of the train crash where we lost Jumbo …..
The Tufts Jumbos swimmers prepare before every meet with a chant that is intended to stir up the competitive juices: Here is what it looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6uepyBFPA
So we have come to love the Jumbos as the Tufts nickname. There are, however, some schools which I think merit a name change; foremost among them the Messiah College Falcons. They ought to be the Messiah Complex—every player will think they can win the event singlehandedly!
The Facility
We arrive in Vermont to see a beautiful athletic complex and the simply gorgeous Middlebury College Natatorium pictured here:
.
But as I gaze upon this pool, I realize this beautiful site will soon be a graveyard for unfulfilled dreams and simultaneously a temple of triumph after years of grueling efforts. After the National Anthem – I shout “Play Ball!” - Let the meet begin!
In comparing the Battle of Saratoga with the 2010 Championship meet it seemed appropriate to examine the meet and the battle within three distinct classifications:
The Preparation
The Engagement
The Aftermath
When understanding the impact of a head coach or general we need to understand the value of the intangibles:
Does the leader create an environment in which every can compete at peak capacity? Does he bring a comfort level to the “team” and help maintain confidence and morale? Does he understand the opponents and his own personal?
Does he motivate?
Does he teach?
Does he treat everyone fairly and with respect?
Does he command respect?
Does he surround himself with good coaches?
How does he handle the outside participants?
It all plays a part.
The British “Head Coach” Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne
Preparation:
Burgoyne was in charge of his team in the summer of 1777 as it lumbered down from Canada crossing rivers and mountains and dense forests. His supplies lines became stretched but he was so overconfident he did not care. Burgoyne was vain man and did not allow his military duties to distract him from enjoying food, drink and debauchery. Burgoyne brought along his mistress for company and marched with 40 tons of personal baggage carried by men and horses who did not have enough to eat. The American rebels ahead of Burgoyne drove off cattle and burned crops to prevent the British from getting fresh supplies. Burgoyne decided to abandon Fort George, Fort Edward, Fort Anne, Lake George and Skenesborough to go for the one battle approach. But the British had no idea that while they were running low on supplies, the Continental army had been reinforced with 10,000 soldiers and were well armed for the first time thanks to the delivery of supplies from the French. French King Louis XVI did not want to anger the British by openly arming the Americans in direct violation of the treaty of the Seven Years War. Americans refer to that conflict as the French and Indian war)
(France lost the Conference championship in 1763 to the Brits and gave up draft picks and other penalties which left France unprepared to risk another war with the reigning Conference champ). Wanting to weaken the Brits without direct confrontation, King Sweet Lou directed Caron de Beaumarchais to found a secret commercial enterprise to supply the American rebels with munitions weapons, clothes and provisions (which we still have not paid for). Beaumarchais lived quite a colorful life and is also known as a playwright having written The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro. His supplies changed the playing field by giving the rebels arm and provisions to go along with fighting spirit and a sense of determination.
In August of 1777, Burgoyne committed a tactical blunder sending 1000 men to Bennington, Vt. with the idea of capturing horses and other supplies (rather than abandon some of his excess baggage). But the rebels were well armed and killed almost all of Burgoyne’s men and captured tons of British supplies.
By October Burgoyne’s army was down to about 6,000 men most of whom were German mercenaries. Burgoyne began to hope for reinforcements from Rhode Island under the command of General Henry Clinton. But Clinton did not believe Burgoyne needed help and sent only a few men up the Hudson and they never made it out of the shallows of the Hudson.
The British Army and the American Army began to from battle lines outside of Saratoga.
The Engagement
General Gates, the leader of the rebel army had a history of difficulties with fellow American General Benedict Arnold (who was still on our side at this point). Gates was a defensive fighter without a lot of imagination while Arnold was an aggressive risk taker. They had previous quarrels and on the eve of the battle out of vanity and jealousy Gates dismissed Arnold. This error might have been enough to shift the balance back to the British and were it not for Arnold’s audacious behavior we might be eating steak and kidney pie today. After Gates whacked Arnold nearly all the general officers signed a petition asking Arnold to stay- so Arnold stayed -even though he had been dismissed. On the morning of October 7th as the British began to attack, Gates was eating breakfast while Arnold asked for permission to advance. Rebuked by Gates, Arnold raced to the front line shouting at the men to follow him. Gates was not happy with this action and ordered him back. Arnold ignored the order and drove the men right through Burgoyne’s line. The British began a hasty retreat but Arnold would not quit (remember Lee not pursuing the Union after day 1 in Gettysburg?). He charged forward and only stopped when both he and his horse were shot and the horse collapsed on him breaking his leg. But by then the British forces were surrounded and the battle was over.
The Aftermath
Burgoyne and 6000 troops were captured and the revolutionary war ended in the Northern States. The surrender is depicted below:
Without the armaments from France this victory never would have happened. After the rebel win at Saratoga, France shortly entered the war on our side.
In an event that would not out of place in today’s society; after hearing of the victory at Saratoga ,Beaumarchais rushed to Paris in his two- horse carriage with the intent of shorting British bonds on the Paris Stock exchange before the British defeat became widely known. But in his haste, the carriage hit a rock and overturned nearly killing Beaumarchais and confining him to bed for several days.
Burgoyne eventually became a popular comic playwright in London matching Beaumarchais’s literary success. Burgoyne was buried in Westminster Abbey. Sir Laurence Olivier portrayed Burgoyne in the movie the Devils’ Disciples in 1959 and subsequently Olivier was buried in Westminster Abbey as well.
NESCAC 2010 Woman’s Championship Meet
Preparation:
Entering the 2010 Championship competition, Williams has won 9 straight NESCAC women’s swim titles which makes them a pre meet favorite on a level that Burgoyne was favored over the America rebels. But Williams coach Steve Kuster prepares his team much differently than Burgoyne did his. Rather than relax and take for granted his teams past successes Kuster ratchets up his recruiting. He brings in 5 terrific swimmers to help his teams quest for another championship all of who should garner All Conference honors based on their times. He commences his season with rigorous training to have his swimmers reach for higher peaks looking ahead to the Division 3 championships as the goal of many of his tribe.
He clearly motivates, teaches and commands respect. In the pack at Middlebury’s pool with 300 swimmers, parents and fans there is no question in anyone’s mind that Williams is the alpha dog.
But other NESCAC coaches such as Amherst coach Nick Nichols and Tufts coach Nancy Bigelow come to compete. Nichols arrives at the meet armed with junior Kendra Stern, a freestyler who earned the Swimmer of the Meet at the 2009 championship and a handful of freshman expected to compete for all conference honors (which is earned by top three finishers in each event). Faced with the challenge of Williams’ swimming, Nancy is constantly sharpening her swimmers performance and helping them achieve their best results in the pool. Despite overwhelming odds they take each race and give their swimmers the best chance for their personal success.
As part of the preparation many swimmers have been tapering their workouts to be in peak condition for this meet. Some swimmers have shaved their legs and even arms to get the best results and minimize drag. These races are sometimes determined by the time it takes an eye to blink. Swimmers swim against a relentless clock where anything can add time. They don’t call in Greenwich MEAN time for nothing.
The Engagement:
The meet lasts for three days with preliminary heats in each morning to determine who qualifies to swim in the finals events that evening.
The ritual for the Final heat is interesting. The 8 swimmers with the best qualifying time from the prelims are marched out to the pool with music in the background. They have all worked hard all year for this moment. Hours of practice and effort to grind out lap after lap and it comes down to this one race. I think back to a scene in LOST! where Hurley wants to persuade Jack to follow him in an adventure, Jack shows no interest until Hurley tells Jack that Jacob says Jack ought to go because “You have what it takes”. Jack lights up upon hearing this ready to take his journey. I wonder what the swimmers are pondering as they stride to the block to get ready to swim for the conference championship in their event.
Do they know they have what it takes? Do they have doubts?
Are they excited? Are they thinking about how much work they put in to get to this moment?
Watching from above the pool we can’t know the answers to these questions. But we can interpret body language and some walk with an assurance and self confidence that is remarkable. A rare few walk with what seems vulnerability as they have found themselves climbing up the pyramid to a very fast crowd and may hope they have what it takes.
But I think most of them are simply preparing themselves up to go as fast as they can.
Kelly is a backstroker and will compete in the 50 back on the meet’s first day. The Tufts record coming into today for this event is 28.72 and Kelly believes she is in shape to test it. Kelly has been lifting weights focusing on her starts and turns and refining her stroke. She is ready to surpass her previous efforts and can feel she “has what it takes”.
In her heat Kelly gets a great start and turns for the last 25 with a confidence and determination and breaks the Tufts record in 28.67
You can see that race here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asXDHitc-y4
This effort breaks the Tufts record and puts Kelly in first place in Tufts history for this event! My grandfather would be proud. However, the record would be fleeting as teammate KJ Kroetch would break it with a 28.38 in the next heat. My grandfather would still be proud and so am I.
Williams as expected is dominating the meet so far and heading into day 2 we have the 100 backstroke to watch. In 2009 at the conference championships Kelly swam her best time in this event at 1:03. But we see an assurance in her stride and gear up our hopes for her. She jumps into the pool for the start looking strong and confident. Kelly proceeds to swim a 100:91 which annihilates her previous best and placed her 4th All-Time at Tufts. In the finals she swims a 101:44 which can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgHBYESge2o&feature=related
The 800 free relay provided the crowd with some thrills. An engaging race which Williams led early but Middlebury with three freshman swimmers hung with the Ephs through 200. After 400 yards the swimmers drew even and went stroke for stroke for the next two hundred while pulling away from the crowd but Middlebury took a short lead of perhaps 1 second. By 600 yards the crowd was clearly rooting for Middlebury and both teams had freshman swimming the final leg. Audrey Tolbert gave all she could for Middlebury and barely hung on for the win vaulting Middlebury to third place in the tourney behind Williams and Amherst and just ahead of Tufts.
Day three was more Williams successes as the ultimately Williams swimmers would win 8 events and all the relays but the 800 free. Kelly swam the 200 back in a personal best of 2:13 which places her 6th all time at Tufts.
Aftermath:
Williams wins its 10th consecutive title and there is buzz that Kuster is being mentioned as the prospective coach at Yale. Many of the Williams swimmers have qualified for the D3 championship and will head to that in a couple weeks.
The rest will prepare for next season-as red Sox fans know - there is always next year!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Saturday, January 16, 2010
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