October 2006

Accolades

Dear Karl and Natalie!

Every time you go to one of these Swim Meets, you lower your times by many seconds, which leaves me in a rather awkward position: I need to find every time some suitable words to express our surprise over your accomplishments.

The Largo excursion was well described by your father and the video topped all narrative. You both showed some very powerful pulls, showing lots of determination. The lowered scores certainly demonstrated that your daily practices paid off. And you both just joined the Sharks. We all are very impressed by your stamina and look forward to a local demonstration in the near future.

Opa, Oma & Thomas

Quick Pic follow-up to the swim meet

I finally got around to processing the pictures from the meet (680 shots, 180 "keepers"), and these two of Karl and Natalie stood out. They are representative of the effort both put into their respective swims...

Natalie during the 100yd Butterfly

Karl in the 100yd Breaststroke

West Florida Lightning Aquatics "Halloween Open"; Results, and commentary!

Largo: The annual WFLA "Halloween Open" has ended after 3 grueling days, and both Karl and Natalie had outstanding swims! The meet featured 27 teams from around Florida, including a large contingent from Brandon Sports & Aquatics, Clearwater Aquatics Team (CAT), TBA (Tampa Bay Aquatics), Gator Swim from Gainesville and a powerful team from Orlando-lake Brantley (Highlands Hurricanes). The biggest squad was our own Sarasota Y Sharks (SYS), with 1015 individual and relay entries In all, there were over 825 swimmers competing in 2 separate courses at the same time; one 6 lane for boys and one 10 lane for girls, both morning and afternoon sessions. To say the meet was "hectic" is an understatement!

Now for the results. Natalie swam several "firsts;" the 100 and 200yd Free, 100 Fly, and 200 IM. Her results in the 200 Free indicate more endurance conditioning is needed, but she was only 4 seconds from a Junior Olympic (JO) in the 200 IM, finishing in 2:59.36. She "flew" through the first 50 of the 100yd Fly, but faded a bit on the back 50 to close in 1:32.25. On a brighter note, she dropped 1.23 in the 50 Free (33.29) and placed 33rd/118! In the ever-competitive 9-10 yo girls, there were 4 nationally-ranked swimmers making life miserable for Natalie...and everyone else! Nevertheless, she again swam well in the breaststroke events, finishing 18th/95 in the 50 (43.02) and 17th/58 in the 100 (1:35.01). All told, Natalie has moved up the pecking order on the team, as demonstrated by Coach placing her on the "C" freestyle relay team and "B" Medley relay team. You can see her efforts in the 50yd breast HERE!

Karl picked up where he left off from the Daytona Meet, dropping time in every event! He first had to overcome a disappointing Friday night: a DQ in the 200 IM followed by his first distance event; the 500yd Free. His time of 7:17.81 placed him 29th/31, not what he wanted, to say the least. He will undoubtedly improve on that swim the next time, as he will learn pacing and split progression. Things got much better on Saturday and Sunday, when he busted out in the 50yd Breast, finishing in 40.17 (-3.84 from previous) and good for 9th/50! Other results are: 50 Free; 31.48 (-1.25) 30/66, 100 Free; 1:13.58 (-4.32) 39/61, 50 Back; 36.89 (-2.66) 12th/49, and 50 Fly; 37.14 (-4.02) 26th/57. The best race was the 100 Breaststroke on Sunday, when Karl swam a 1:26.19, knocking off 4.74 seconds to place 10th/45. Overall, he finished in 23rd place out of 72 in the 11-12 yo boys. You can see his efforts in the 50 yd Free and Breast HERE!

There are only a few meets left this year (SYS "Turkey" meet in November and the "Jingle Bell" Invitational in Clearwater) and we will be looking forward to a nice 5 day break during the holidays. Things will get very serious come January, as the team will be training hard for Winter Junior Olympics in February. Hopefully, Karl will join Natalie in making a "cut" so both can attend. Our fingers are crossed!

Oh, and we DID celebrate Natalie's birthday poolside, with Halloween Cookies for all her teammates (sugar-high be damned!).

THE SITUATION ROOM, SIESTA KEY

Due to our inability to marvel about young people and their trials and accomplishments, I will nevertheless contribute to the Hegwein Blog to bring some entertainment to the attention of all users. First, I will enlighten you about the world-famous Munich Oktoberfest, 18 days long and ending next week.

The current event is # 173 and naturally the largest. The large meadow, the Wies'n, 31 hectares in area is occupied by 14 large tents, provided by mostly breweries with seating capacities raging from a few thousand to 8400. There are over 100,000 seats for all those meandering through the tents and 235 amusement centers, among them an old-fashioned carousel and toboggan. The city fathers expect in excess of 6 million visitors who are in all probability consuming some 6 million Mass beer. Visitors are from the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and of course most European countries. The Arab countries are unable to participate, preparing some sort of onslaught after the Idomenea incident in Berlin most recently. One liter beer ranges from 6.90 to 7.50 Euros. To pass the beer in effortless fashion, 964 toilet seats and 878 toilet stands are available, located in strategic places. I felt you always wanted to know some peculiarities about the art of drinking beer. The Oktoberfest started with a 7 kilometer long procession of old German and particularly Bavarian national costumes. They were joined by large groups of equally picturesque groups from nearby countries, like Italy, France, Slovakia, Montenegro and Czechoslovakia.

Those not in the mood of stemming a (heavy) Mass beer can visit their favorite restaurant of which there are some 75! One needs to be young to stay several hours in this very, very noisy environment. 60% of the visitors are 30 and younger. When dating, it is the ideal occasion to test the partner in a large assortment of "tests." Of the visitors 72% are (naturally) Bavarians. In 1985, some 7.1 million people waddled through the area! Organizers of the yearly event (since 1810) employ some 12,000 people during the two weeks of "fun." Since a Dachshund is the favorite dog in Munich and seen everywhere, actually a real fashion dog, he has become, since 2000, the official mascot, called appropriately "Wies'n Wast'l."

Our little Wies'n Wast'l

Noteworthy:

While in a seated position after many days executing my gardening duties, let me congratulate Karl and Natalie about their dedication to the silent sport of swimming. Much willpower is certainly needed to participate in such a program. In a few years, your effort will be rewarded. Good Luck for the next meet.

Stay Tuned!

Confidential sources revealed most recently that HUNTER was twice bitten by a co-visitor at the local hospital maternity ward while he was gazing in amazement at a new arrival: a girl the color of a Sudanese. We were assured that HUNTER will retaliate in swift fashion the next time the attacker advances!

Auf Wiedersehen!

Opa