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Tuesday, January 30, 2007
2007 IMX Challenge
Well, the first swim meet of 2007 was, to say the least, outstanding! Both Karl and Natalie were 100% personal best times for all 8 events entered, and there were two notables; Karl made his 1st JO cut, and Natalie won her first event!
The venue was the Lake Brantley High School Aquatics Center in Altamonte Springs, Florida, just north of Orlando. The weather was cool but pleasant; the kids needed their long parkas to stay warm in between swims. Natalie got things started with a 1:08.60 in the 100yd freestyle, dropping 2.68 seconds, good for 9th place. Karl was next on the blocks to swim the 50yd fly; he swam a fantastic race, winning his heat in 31.80, and surpassing the JO standard of 32.39! He placed 7th.
Natalie then entered the water for the start of the Girls 10 & Under 50yd backstroke. She was seeded 6th at 36.03, but there was a rumor among the coaches she was about to explode, and EXPLODE SHE DID! She swam a near perfect race, out-touching the top-seeded teammate, Grace DiMeo by 14/100 to take 1st place in 34.20! This time is near the AAAA standard and has placed Natalie among the top-10 in the State! Immediately, the parents of the other 10 & U girls began to talk; "were the Hegwein's secretly training their kids?" More on this later.
The rest of Saturday went pretty much the same way. Natalie made additional JO cuts in the 100IM, and 100 free. Karl dropped serious time in the 100 free, 50 back and 100 breast.
On Sunday, even with the weather a bit cooler, the kids picked up where they left off! Natalie dropped time in the 50 free, 100 fly (-5.67 sec), 50 breast (new JO), and 200IM (new JO). Karl had another killer swim, clocking in at 1:17.24 (-6.15) in the 100 fly to place 9th. He followed that with a 1:18.52 in the 100 back (-5.13), and then notched his SECOND JO cut, swimming a 37.17 in the 50 breast and placing 4th! He ended the day by dropping 5.47 seconds from his 200IM to finish in 2:43.10, good for 11th place.
In a relatively short span of 9 months, both Karl and Natalie have caught up to or surpassed many of their peers on the team. Unfortunately, this has fueled a vicious rumor that we are "coaching" our kids on the side at some other pool. I was asked this by the coach at the meet on Sunday. Another coach I trust informed me of where this rumor started and how to deal with it. Simply, "welcome to the world of competitive swimming!"
Karl in the 50yd Butterfly
Natalie in the 50yd Backstroke