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Sunday, December 10, 2006
2006 Florida West "B" Championships Results
Clearwater: The results are in from the 2006 Florida West "B" Championships, and both Natalie and Karl did very well. In fact, Karl WON his first event ever, the 50yd Fly in a new personal best time of 33.61! He followed that with a 2nd-place finish in the 50yd Breaststroke, dropping his time to 39.16. In the 50 Free, he just missed his previous best by 2/10ths; apparently the cold water had a negative effect! He placed 7th.
Not to be outdone, Natalie dropped time in all three of her events and in the process, notched another Junior Olympic qualifying time; a 31.61 in the 50yd Freestyle, good for 2nd place! She also placed second in the 50yd Breaststroke (42.46) and a 3rd-place finish in the 50yd Backstroke (37.45){Edit: she made the JO cut for the 50yd Backstroke too}. Her coach was very pleased with her performance, in light of the meltdown at the Sharks "Turkey" Meet.
We finish the 2006 swimming year this weekend at the "Jingle Bell" Meet," again, in Clearwater. It is a large indoor venue with an expansive upper-deck for spectators, but the air inside is somewhat humid and carries a moderate Chlorine smell. It is a 3-day meet with over 800 swimmers expected to compete. This will be the 2nd to last chance for Karl to get a JO cut and join Natalie at the Junior Olympics in February in Gainesville. Wish him luck!