NYAC National Training Group

Meet Report

February 2009

Our choice to attend the champs in Edmonton in the West instead of in Halifax in the East was an easy one, as it was for many of the other teams in Ontario. Many, including myself, remember the awful snow storm five years ago when the city of Halifax shut down and snow was piling up above our car window.
Hotels were running out of food and swimmers were eating out of vending machines. Finally, the roof caved in at the Dalplex pool and the meet was post poned for two days. Eventually we swam a modified schedule with timed finals only.

The Western Champs were held in the Kinsmen Aquatic Center, which was also the site of the 1982 Commonwealth Games. The two fifty meters pools in an open stadium complex was spectacular compared with the dismal and gloomy pool in Halifax. Over ten national records were set with an added bonus to see Ryan Cochran race and set one of the records in the 800m free. This meet was the main national level venue before the Spring Nationals here at University of Toronto in March.

The NYAC swim team was made up of some veterans in addition to some young swimmers that will benefit tremendously from having attended this level of competition. This is a first step for those who are chasing Senior National times.

We arrived a day early and even had a chance to see the massive West Edmonton Mall before we checked in. Renting a van and finding our way around were easy as I have been to Edmonton several times before, not to mention my excellent sense of direction. Olga even brought her GPS which we never really had to use. Everyone was wonderful and we had a great time with some very solid swim performances. We like to thank Olga on behalf of all of us. Traveling with her makes everything easier and we all appreciate it.

Highlights

Day 1

Caitlin Hodge swims the 1500m Free in 17:28:73 which qualified her for Senior Nationals. She improved her time by 39 seconds and this is her first national time. Totally consistent and great pacing made all those distance sets worthwhile - Congratulatons! For our first swimmer to race this well, really have set a positive tone for everyone to follow.

Day 2

Michelle Williams and Kyungsoo Yoon swam their way to bronze medals in the 50m Free. Each swam a best time (26:21) and (22:87) and won our first medals. Katie Martin followed with her best time in the 50m Free (28:29). Kyle Resnick set a blistering pace on the way out in his 400m Free and dropped four seconds in the consols for a time of 4:04.04. His splits were 27.24, 30.55, 30.94, 31.16, 31.10, 31.37, 31.11 and 30.57. Katie swam a best time in the 100m Back (1:07:35) placing top 16 in the Girls 15 and under. Swimming a little tentative in this environment is not unusual for someone gaining experience at this level. Wanting to do everything I'm asking of her with splitting, distance off turns and stroke mechanics are challenging enough, so "well done Katie". I am very happy you and your family made the commitment to attend. Michelle was stellar in the consols of the 100m Back winning in a time of 1:03:97 and another Senior Nationals qualifying time. This was outstanding because just minutes before this event she swam the final of the 50m Fly and won another bronze medal in a personal best time of 27:83. Our girls 4x100m Free relay was lead off by Nathalin Moy in the attempt to break the one minute barrier, she swam 59:51 for the first time and inspired the whole team!

Day 3

Kyle Resnick made the big final in his 200m Fly placing 6th (2:05:36). I was very impressed by his last three 50m splits which should be even: 31.67, 32.87, and 32.71. Nathalin Moy was eager to swim this event and made it into the big final placing 8th. Excited to swim a best time and trying for her National time she really went for it. Out a little hard and struggling to bring it home still adds up to great experience. "Keep at it Naty!" Caitlin Hodge also swam a best time in the 200m Fly (2:27:17). Michelle was the big medal winner of the day placing second in the 100m Free final and lowering her personal best to 55:61. Kyungsoo also swam a best time in the 100m Free in consols with a 51:04. Additionally, he showed his versatility winning a bronze medal in the 50m Breast and making Nationals with 29:05. "Wow!"

Day 4

The 200m Free started the day and both Kyle Resnick and Kyungsoo Yoon swam great swims. Both boys dropped their times to the 1:54's. Kyle by over 3 seconds to 1:54:96 with splits 26.40, 29.25, 30.11 and 29.20, almost making finals as first alternate. Kyungsoo made the consol with at time of 1:54:64. His splits were 26.51, 29.12, 29.88 and 29.13. William Lim also responded on the last day in the 200m Free with a best time of 2:12:18. Nathalin Moy's 200m Free was also a best with 2:10:89, just missing her Provincial qualifying time. Caitlin Hodge swam the 800m Free in a best time of 9:14:11 again swimming at an even pace and consistently to finish 12th. In the 100m Fly, Kyle swam another best time of 59:64 to finish off the meet. Michelle and Kyungsoo finished off their meet in the finals of the 100m Fly both swimming best times of 1:03.53 and 57.82 respectively.