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Magical Moments for the National Development Group at Youth Cup and Baltimore Xmas Classic

December 2008

In life there are many very small signs on the road that tend to go unnoticed in our hectic daily lives. It's not that we have our eyes shut and miss the obvious. It is more a matter of not using our analytical eyes and pausing to take in the details.

The National Development Group has been working extremely hard everyday in practice since September and this total dedication and commitment paid immense dividends at the NYAC Youth Cup on December 4-7 with the swimmers performing at levels well beyond their own personal goals and expectations. It is not always the best swimmer who wins the race but the best swimmer in the race who wins. The important question is, how can I insure that I am the best swimmer in the race? The National Development swimmers committed themselves to the daily challenges in practice believing that if they could handle these challenges, they could perform at their best at Youth Cup. Their commitment was rewarded with absolutely brilliant results.

Adversity is a part of every swimmer's career, and the way a swimmer handles adversity helps to define them. An excited and exhausted National Development Group boarded the bus for Baltimore 4 days after Youth Cup to compete at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club's Xmas Classic - the home of Michael Phelps. The swimmers proved that they can handle adversity and dig down and compete at their best when faced with the toughest environment. They simply defined themselves as real achievers and fierce competitors.

Here are some standout performances from both meets….

Youth Cup

Medal winners included Alex Mierzynski in the 50 thru 1500 free, 100 and 200 back, 200 and 400 IM. (Special mention that he was the high point winner among 13 year old boys), and Nathaniel Hu in the 200 fly and 400 IM and Alex Hamilton in the 400 and 1500 free.

Top 8 finishers included Jeffrey Turnock in the 1500 free, Mack Smith in the 100 and 200 back and 200 IM, and Jonathan Brodie in the 100 and 200 fly.

Top 16 finishers included Lev Oumanksi in the 50 and 100 free, and William Lim in the 50 and 100 free.

Some great swims on the Thursday morning session from our "D" gals to "get the ball rolling" which included Jacki Kicksee, Jocelyn Langballe, Maggie Runnalls and Stephanie Farkas in both the 800 and 1500 free.

Patrick Malihan in the 200 back, Yaakov Oumanski in the 200 free, Sarah Spitz in the 100 fly and Kelvin Lui in the 200 breast, all took some big steps in the morning sessions swimming tough and inching closer to their provincial cuts.

North Baltimore Christmas Classic

Top 8 finishers included Alex Mierzynski in the 50 and 100 free (medal winner in both) and 200 IM, Jonathan Brodie in both the 50 and 100 fly, Nathaniel Hu in the 200 fly, Mack Smith in the 200 breast and Alex Hamilton in the 400 IM.

Our 13-14 boys placing third in the 400 free relay (Alex Mierzynski, Nathaniel Hu and Alex Hamilton).

Top 16 swims included both Jeffrey Turnock and Kelvin Lui in the 200 breast.

Some standout relay swims included Clement Cheng swimming fly in both medley relays, and William Lim swimming the freestyle.

Both our senior boys' relays helping our relay teams score points in the finals.