Hegwein Family Blog

Morgan Stanley Invitational Swim Meet

It was a long weekend for Natalie's first away meet in Fort Myers, but a very successful and rewarding one. We started early on Friday, driving down with 4 girls (all daughters of Natalie's coach, Renee), cooler, portable canopy, various swim bags, and my camera/video equipment. Cindy had to work, so it was just me as chaperone!

The meet venue was the Aquatic Center of the Gulf Coast University, albeit a less than stellar facility. There were no bleachers or overhangs to protect us from the intense sun (it was over 94 degrees), hence the portable canopy. Once situated, Natalie dressed into her racing suit and began a 1/2 hour warmup (500yards; a mix of all 4 strokes, turns and starts) with all her teammates (over 160). Her first event was the 100M backstroke, which she had not raced before. She struggled to maintain pace and stay centered in the lane, but did execute a nice turn. She finished in 1:51.74, good for 17th place (out of 27). Her best event, the 50M breaststroke, came next, and was she excited! Seeded 13th out of 28 entrants, she swam in heat 4, lane 2. She swam very well, hitting the wall in 54.25, besting her previous time of 55.95, and making the finals as the 8th seed!

After her last swim, we got together with Coach Renee and some of the other swimmers and grabbed a bite to eat at Cracker Barrel. Finals were to begin at 6:00PM, but a thunder/lightning storm delayed the start for almost 1 hour. Natalie at last swam her 50M breaststroke final at 9:20PM, and from lane 8, bested her afternoon swim, touching the wall in 53.45, and finishing in 7th place! Her coach was quite pleased, and Natalie even got a "good job" wink from Coach Watts, the master age-group instructor and the next step up for Natalie. We drove home, "Noodle" sleeping in the back seat, and pulling into the driveway at 11PM. Wheeeewww!

The next day, ALL of us went down for the remaining 4 events; Girls 10-under 200 Medley relay, 50M freestyle, 100M breaststroke, and 50M butterfly. Coach Watts made the decision to place Natalie on the "SYS-C" relay team, breaststroke leg, based on her performance Friday night. The "A" and "B" squads, however, were untouchable, showing all what 2-3 years of 5day/week training can do. In the 50M free, Natalie swam strong, out-touching Payton Davis of SWIM-FL in 40.78, a nice improvement in time from 42.55, and good for 17th place/45! The next event, the 100M breaststroke was another possible chance at making the finals. Natalie had perhaps her best start and pullout, and was leading her heat (2) by nearly a body-length, but began to tire after the turn home, finishing in 1:58.67, bettering her previous of 1:59.50 and good for 14th place/32.

Above is a picture of Natalie and the 50M fly! She hates this stroke, but in reality, might be her second best event. She swam in heat 3/6, lane 5, and again out-touched Peyton Davis of SWIM-FL to win the heat in 51.60, a big drop in time from the 55.52 she swam 2 weeks ago.

All-in-all, this was a very fun meet. Cindy, Karl and I got to meet many new parents and swimmers, and with Karl racing next week, we are bound to repeat the excitement!!