Pool Rules Updated

Updated: Rules,  Added printable documents: PDF, Word.

Coaches Message

OMPA Finals Podium Pictures Retake

The OMPA apologizes for a computer glitch which occurred today when swimmers did not correctly hit their touchpads at the end of their races. This resulted in erroneous results being sent to the Awards Podium. Unfortunately, this was a first year learning curve problem resulting in some disappointed swimmers! Tomorrow starting at 1:30 pm (immediately following preliminaries), Fog Dog will retake photos for the following finals events (places 1 through 8):

In approximately 1 - 2 weeks, you will be notified by email that all of the Awards Podium photos are available on-line for purchase. Each photo will include a caption of the OMPA Championship Swim Meet and the specific event. These will truly be keepsake items.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. We have worked the problem out and should operate smoothly for the backstroke and butterfly.

Also: Fog Dog still has some individual photo spots available for races tomorrow. Make sure you stop by their booth.

Thanks for your patience. Swim fast! Score Update as of Saturday Evening:

Want an Extra Keepsake Program or an OMPA Hat Tomorrow we will be selling the OMPA Programs and OMPA Hats for $5 while quantities last. This is a great opportunity to buy extra programs for a keepsake.

OMPA Guidelines and Schedules

(Arrr...Your Final Clues to the OMPA Treasure)

NO PRACTICE FRIDAY. Shave down starts at 10:30 at the pool that day. Come with your permission slip! (no slip, no shave)

July 26, 2006 - Meet Summary - Rancho Colorados

The heat wave broke on Wednesday July 26, 2006, turning the A/B meet at Rancho Colorados in Lafayette into a pleasant evening during which many Campo swimmers popped. Some parents had become so acclimatized to sweltering heat that they were heard mumbling about how chilly it was, and were promptly pounced upon by others clearly basking in the relative coolness.

The off the scale success story was the 15-18 girls medley relay, which posted an Olympic record breaking time of 17.63. No, that is not a typo, each swimmer averaged just over 4 seconds for her 50 yard lap. The stroke and turn judges must have been asleep at the switch or they would have DQ'd the girls for some sort of transgression. Of course, they do need to see the DQable act to call it.

The big disappointment was 15-18 boy Tristan Kaiser who posted the biggest reverse pop of the year with a sluggish backstroke time of 38.16 that was 42% slower than his best yard pool time of 26.91. Witnesses testify that they did see Tristan win by a wide margin and that there must be some sort of timing error, but Tristan insists that they are confused, that in fact he did the 100 yard backstroke, which is why his time was 38.16. Olympic scouts are not flying out to Moraga to check out this remarkable phenomenon because the time remains listed as a 50 yard backstroke time.

There were obviously some timing problems with the electronic system used by Rancho, but these seem to have been limited to the 15-18 yard events.

Triple pops were achieved by three swimmers, double pops by 13 swimmers, and single pops by 30 swimmers, an overall good meet for Campo swimmers. The swim of the meet was Chase Abbott's IM time of 1:58.56 (converted to meters) which popped his old time by 7.84 seconds and put him into second place for the 7-8 boys just 3 seconds behind Sam Larson's best IM time.

The biggest pop achiever of the meet was 11-12 girl Madison Hossfeld, who dropped 2.21 seconds in freestyle, 2.58 in backstroke, and 3.37 in fly. 7-8 girl Sophia Settle was also a big triple pop achiever, popping in freestyle, breaststroke, and 5.89 seconds in fly. 9-10 boy Joey Labarile was the other triple popper, dropping in freestyle, backstroke and a big 6.45 seconds in fly.

The under 6 gang made some big strides, with Claire Ahearn dropping 6.69 seconds to 39.34 in breaststroke, Will Grubbs dropping 2.17 in freestyle, Travis Hartman 3.12 in freestyle, Annie Midthun with a huge 4.19 drop to 25.16 in freestyle that puts her in second place right behind Mia Lineweaver, Olivia Morris with a 0.83 drop in freestyle to third place right behind Annie, and Kate Molloy with a 4.19 second drop in freestyle. The pop of the meet was by Siena Marchiano, who dropped 30.5 seconds for a new time of 55.9 for backstroke. Going into OMPA the most improved under 6 girl is Annie Midthun with an average improvement of 36.7%, and the most improved boy is Ethan Sauerberg with 57.8%. They are also the most improved overall swimmers in the 8 and under group. Olivia Morris is the pop leader for 6 and under girls with 14 while Ethan is the pop leader for boys with 10 pops.

Among the 7-8 swimmers Grady Eglin closed the gap with the rest of the boys by dropping 6.94 seconds in freestyle for a new time of 30.9. No doubt he will be gunning for a 20 something time at OMPA. Cameron Kaiser locked up first place in backstroke with a 1.35 second drop to 23.3. Nathaniel Sauerberg dropped 2.26 in fly. Among the 7-8 girls Iman Sigman had a big day with a 10.73 second drop in IM and a 1.61 second drop in breaststroke. Maria Sanderson dropped 1.53 in freestyle, Haley Seyranian 4.65 in fly, and Christina Hunter 0.64 in freestyle. Jenna Shafer popped in both freestyle and fly. The most improved 7-8 girl is Sophia Settle with 34.8%, and the most improved boy is Grady Eglin at 30.3%. Iman Sigman is the pop leader at 18 pops, while Chase Abbott is the 7-8 boy pop leader with 16 pops. Sam Larson and Margaret Hunger have qualified for County.

Among the 9-10 swimmers double pops were achieved by Amberlie Kaiser in backstroke and fly, Ramin Nazeri in freestyle and backstroke, Steven Wescott in breaststroke and IM, and Perri Williams in backstroke and breaststroke. Miranda Smith is the most improved 9-10 girl with 24.5% and Jacob Molloy is the most improved boy with 21.5%. They are also the most improved girl and boy for the 9 and up group. The pop leader is Perri Williams with 17 pops, and the boy pop leader is Steven Wescott with 19 pops. Steven is also the overall boys pop leader. Scott Singh, Hannah Grubbs and Tyler Bartis have qualified for County.

Among the 11-12 boys and girls we've already mentioned Madison Hossfeld as a triple popper with big drops. Rory Baker double popped in freestyle and breaststroke, dropping 4.74 seconds in breaststroke. Andy Grubbs popped in freestyle and fly, Alanna McCauley in freestyle and fly, Sara Settle in freestyle and backstroke, and Sarah Berglund popped in freestyle and fly. Her sister Emily dropped 5.15 seconds in fly. Madeline Larson had a big drop of 4.29 seconds in IM for a time of 1:27.09 that puts her into third place. Emily McPhee, who has already qualified for County in backstroke, fly and IM, squeaked ahead in freestyle with a time of 32.46 that is just short of the county time of 32.16. The most improved 11-12 girl is Arianna Hunter with 18.9% and the most improved boy is Sam Tanner with 16.3%. Arianna is also the pop leader with 19 pops, which also puts her in overall first place. Sam is also the 11-12 boys pop leader with 14 pops.

Among the 13-14 swimmers Tessa Whitley popped in fly and IM, Katie Shaffer inched ahead in backstroke, Amy Burrell in freestyle, and Michael Hoffman, who has qualified for county in freestyle, dropped 1.82 in IM. Sara Kaiser and Rachel Cleak have also qualified for County. The most improved 13-14 girl is Sara Kaiser with 12.0% and the most improved boy is Kevin Malley with 14.3%. The girl pop leader is Tessa Whitley with 17 pops and the boy pop leader is Ben Tanner with 15 pops.

Among the 15-18 swimmers Delaney Barsamian dropped 4.76 in fly. The most improved 15-18 girl is Julie Oberman with 11.2%, and the most improved boy is Matt DeTrane with 4.0%. The girls pop leader is Delaney Barsamian with 7 pops, and the boys pop leader is Ben Marshall with 13 pops. Dana Foster, Eric Johnson, Tristan Kaiser, Sean Malley, Nick Wood and Lindsay Schonborn have all qualified for County.

Parents should make sure they get hold of an OMPA program so that they can track their kids' pops. The seed times in the program will be the best time converted into yards, and because Soda is a yard pool, a swimmer time on the scoreboard that beats the seed time is a pop. OMPA is a fast pool and the kids will be primed to do well, especially after the strenuous workouts of Survivor Week and the tapering workouts of Spirit Week. All swims at OMPA count as double pops, including the finals.

Also keep an eye out for possible new team yard records. Lindsay Schonborn is close to a 1981 record of 1:03.7 in 15-18 girls IM, Sam Larson is close to a 1976 record of 14.36 in 7-8 boys freestyle, Tyler Bartis is close to a 1981 record of 28.14 in 9-10 boys freestyle and a 1988 record of 37.84 in breaststroke, Dana Foster is close to a 1983 record of 22.09 in 15-18 boys freestyle, Tristan Kaiser is close to a 1983 record of 25.86 in backstroke and a 1988 record of 24.16 in fly, and Nick Wood is close to a 1985 record of 28.06 in breaststroke. And Rachel Cleak, who already broke the 13-14 girls team yard record for fly this year with a time of 27.85, is within striking distance of the OMPA record of 27.07 first set in 1996 and matched last year. Good luck everybody!

CCC COUNTDOWN TO OMPA's 50^TH ANNIVERSARY!

Arrr, our own fine swimmers' golden moments in the sun are about to unfold at the 50^th Anniversary of the OMPA Championship Swim Meet in less than one week! The biggest area swim meet of the summer is coming this Friday, Aug. 4; Saturday, Aug. 5; and Sunday, Aug. 6, at the Soda Aquatic Center (Campolindo High School). Whether this is your first OMPA or your 10th, find everything you need to know in the Campo Cabana Club OMPA Treasure Map/Survival Guide, and in your family folder.

It's gonna be a great three days for CCC.

C-, C-A-, C-A-M-P-O, Oh! Go, Marlins!

ALSO NOW IN FOLDERS: General meet information (PDF). Coming Soon: job information plus what food and beverage items everyone needs to bring for swimmers.

PLEASE NOTE: as usual, some of the jobs and job times have changed. We have no control over this and only are able to give your our best estimate when we do April job sign-ups. We appreciate your flexibility and patience.

VERY IMPORTANT: Make sure you AND your swimmers know the timing of events to ensure they're in the right place at the right time. We'd hate for anyone to miss a race - and we get charged for every entry, regardless of who shows up. Coaches can give you this info, it will be in the meet program, and we'll be sending out more info in the next day or so.

Still can't find what you want to know? Check our coaches or send an email to Cathy Morley Foster, OMPA Meet Director for CCC, cthyfoster@aol.com, or call 284-8077.

More info coming this week!

Get Campo Spirit!

Cathy Morley Foster

OMPA Meet Director

July 23, 2006 - Meet Summary - Sleepy Hollow B

The Sleepy Hollow B Invitational, held annually at the Sleepy Hollow pool in Orinda, took place on Sunday July 23, 2006, another hot day in the California heat wave of 2006. As the name of the meet suggests, it is intended for "B" swimmers, a somewhat mysterious category that presumably does not include "A" swimmers. But it is not as simple as being somebody who never gets to swim in the "A" heat of a dual meet, the first heat swum in any event whose participants are the only ones who can score points for their teams.

The "A" heat lineup is usually made up of the fastest three swimmers, though sometimes slower swimmers make it into the "A" heat if faster swimmers have signed out or have been assigned to other events. In closely matched meets where Campo has a chance of winning in terms of total points the head coach may craft lineups designed to score points. Swimmers and parents are advised not to bother figuring out the logic behind what appear to be strange lineup decisions.

No swimmer who has achieved a "gold" time during the past or present year is allowed to participate at the Sleepy Hollow B meet. You are a "gold" swimmer if you qualified for the Contra Costa County meet last year or this year. It does not matter whether or not you swam at county. The county qualification times are posted at the gocampo.com web site. We have also added a link in the swimmer data section to a page that lists all County Qualifiers.

If you "made county" last year or this year in any stroke, you cannot swim at Sleepy Hollow B. But even if you have not made county, you may still not be eligible to swim all the strokes at Sleepy Hollow B. Your best time must not be better than the "NT2B" cutoff time for your age and gender group in that stroke. What does "NT2B" stand for? Everybody's best guess is "no time", which makes no sense at all. And if you are wondering how the county time standards are determined each year, that is another mysterious process about whose nature anybody you ask will give you a different explanation.

Speaking of secrets and mysteries, all Campo dads absolutely must show up at the pool on Tuesday evening at 7:30 for a rehearsal of the top secret dads' Pasta Feed performance. Surveillance of the initial rehearsal Sunday at the Cunnane house confirms that this is not a setup for humiliation, though counter-intelligence efforts by the moms were observed, and risk analysis suggests that the moms are plotting to expose the Marlin dads as paragons of enfeeblement by notching up their own performance several decibels. This shock and awe strategy must be countered by the presence of lots of dads!

Returning to the mysteries of Sleepy Hollow B, here is an example of how the Sleepy Hollow B qualification works. The "gold" yard time for 7-8 boys freestyle is 16.00 seconds, and the NT2B time is 19.00 seconds. Why Sleepy Hollow uses yard time standards for its meter pool is another unsolved mystery. Sam Larson, Cameron Kaiser, Grant Bartis, Tucker Clark, Nathaniel Sauerberg, Dylan Thomas and Chase Abbott all have yard freestyle times faster than 19.00 seconds, and would not be eligible to swim freestyle at Sleepy Hollow B. Of these boys Grant Bartis made county as a 6 and under last year, and would be ineligible to go to Sleepy Hollow B this year. None of the 7-8 boys had made county in any stroke prior to July 23, but during the July 26 Rancho Colorados meet Sam Larson's freestyle time did make county. So next year Sam is banned from Sleepy Hollow B, even though he will be adapting to 50 meter swims and flip turns. Most of these boys also are faster than the NT2B time for fly, breast and back, and might be eligible to swim at most one stroke.

As you can tell Sleepy Hollow B qualification is complicated for the faster swimmers, which is why if they swim regularly in the "A" heat or the first "B" heat they don't bother thinking about Sleepy Hollow B. This meet is intended for slower swimmers who do not get to swim in typical A+1 or A+2 meets. The swimmers end up matched very well and typically pop their times. Sleepy Hollow B is thus a wonderful opportunity to shine in the spotlight. Furthermore, because the pops count as double pops for Campolindo's pop system, swimmers who have been working hard in the shadows can rack up big pop counts.

Shine in the spotlight is exactly what 13-14 girl Ginnie Johnson did by scoring the highest points in her age and gender group. She also popped in all three strokes: freestyle, breaststroke and fly, and her new pop count of 14 puts her in the rafters with the other girl pop leaders. But shooting right to the very top with a total of 19 pops was 11-12 girl Arianna Hunter who popped in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. Cheyenne Ziermann delivered a pop in backstroke and Megan Arth popped in both freestyle and breaststroke.

Popping in two strokes were 9-10 boy Ian Crandall, who popped 2.64 seconds in backstroke and a whopping 10.78 seconds in fly. That puts him at 18 pops, right behind overall boy pop leader Steven Wescott, another 9-10 swimmer, whose pops at Sleepy Hollow B in backstroke and fly give him a total of 19 pops. Cole Whitley popped in freestyle for a 37.89 time that puts him into third place just behind Scott Singh who scored his best freestyle time when Sleepy Hollow swam at Campolindo.

7-8 girl Sophia Settle popped in freestyle and backstroke, 7-8 boy Taariq Saffouri popped in freestyle and fly. Chase Abbott and Dylan Honda managed pops in fly. And, Kiera Crandall, opting for size instead of quantity, dropped 8.58 seconds in breaststroke. Dylan Thomas, who was ineligible to swim freestyle because he was too fast, popped in backstroke and fly.

6 and under girls Olivia Morris and Raquel Wescott both popped in breaststroke, putting Olivia at 14 pops and Raquel right behind at 12 pops.

July 22, 2006 - Meet Summary - Moraga Valley Pool

The A/B meet at Moraga Valley Pool on Saturday July 22, 2006 may very well have been the hottest meet ever swum by Campolindo. Temperatures soared into the 100-110 degree range while air quality was rated poor during what turned out to be the longest heat wave in California history to which more than 100 deaths have been attributed.

One MVP swimmer suffered an asthma attack after swimming a 100 yard event. An unconfirmed report suggests that another MVP swimmer suffered heatstroke. Campo coaches reported seeing a number of younger swimmers throwing up, a sign of heat exhaustion caused by dehydration. Parents spent the morning thrusting water bottles on their kids, some of whom insisted that they were not thirsty. As a rule, if it is hot and you have not been drinking water, and do not feel thirsty, it is a danger sign that tells smart kids to drink some water even if they do not feel like it.

It was so hot that at around 11 pm MVP declared a cooling off jump fest for swimmers and parents, normally a pool manager's nightmare. The kids were the quickest to pile into the water, somehow managing not to decapitate themselves on lane ropes. Grownups were a little slower as they struggled to shed cell phones, digital cameras, watches, wallets and car door openers, but into the water most went. Thankfully free relays were canceled for this long meet which ended about 12:30.

Despite the heat five swimmers managed to pop in all three of their individual events. 15-18 boy Ben Marshall popped in the 100 yard freestyle, 50 yard breaststroke and in IM. 11-12 girl Alanna McCauley popped in freestyle, backstroke, and fly. 9-10 boy Ramin Nazeri had a big day, dropping 4.21 seconds in freestyle, 4.81 seconds in backstroke, and 1.84 seconds in breaststroke. 11-12 girl Courtney Seyranian also had a big day, popping in freestyle and breaststroke, and dropping 4.85 seconds in backstroke. And 13-14 boy Phillip Smith popped in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke.

In our 3 second plus popper club 7-8 boy Tucker Clark, swimming backstroke for the first time since Time Trials, popped 7.19 seconds to 25.4. Cameron Kaiser popped 4.75 seconds in fly for a time of 25.41, while Sam Larson, smelling the competition from his peers, put himself comfortably in the lead by popping 2.44 seconds in fly for a new time of 20.96, his best since the July 1 Oakwood meet. Jio Chang popped only 0.98 seconds, but that was an important pop because her new time of 18.86 for freestyle puts her in first place for the 7-8 girls. Christina Hunter also had a good day with pops in the 2-3 second range for breaststroke and fly.

The 6 and under kids had a big day with Mia Lineweaver swimming fly for the first time this season and posting a stunning time of 31.66 that puts her in first place well ahead of the next best time of 38.66. Mia also popped 0.53 seconds to stay at the head of the pack in freestyle. Swimming her first meet ever, mini-marlin Molly Midthun, who just turned 4 in mid July, posted a 43.73 time for freestyle. Raquel Wescott boosted herself into the top four with a 6.19 second pop in freestyle for a new time of 26.64. And 6 & under boy Aidan Young, another recent graduate from mini-marlins, dropped 12.29 seconds in freestyle.

In the 9-10 boys and girls we have already mentioned Ramin Nazeri popping big in three strokes. Amberlie Kaiser mustered an 8.26 second pop in IM that brought her time below 2 minutes.

11-12 boy Edward Healy had a big day, popping 8.45 seconds in backstroke and 7.53 seconds in IM, while 11-12 girl Madison Hossfeld popped 4.38 seconds in IM. Samantha Clark managed 2 pops, including 2.65 seconds in fly. As already mentioned, Alanna McCauley and Courtney Seyranian had triple pops that included significant drops.

 

July 19, 2006 - Meet Summary - Orinda Park Pool

Campo swimmers popped nicely at Orinda Park Pool on Wednesday evening July 19, 2006 during what proved to be a warm evening rather than the foggy cold for which OPP is renowned. The Orinda Park Pool has just completed a major renovation that preserved the old lagoon shape of the pool while incorporating a wave overflow and recirculation system that makes OPP a fast pool. Anybody who looked closely would have noticed that the waves from the swimmers washed over a low edge into a drain at the edge of the pool. This drains from the pool the extra energy created by the swimmers which in slow pools translates into chop that educes the swimmer's efficiency. OPP now also has an electronic timing system which improves the accuracy of swimmer times.

Campo veterans who have learned through painful experience to never ever voluntarily sign up for a recorder or timer job at OPP may have noticed that the new pool design has enough room for chairs for everybody. Standing in the cold at OPP with wet feet for 3-4 hours will no longer be the initiation rite for new Campo swim team members. To this day Eric's mother does not know if it was evil or Alzheimer's that prompted TJ's mother to sign up both mothers for timer jobs at OPP a couple years ago.

OPP is the former home turf of Campo head coach Trevor Rose, whose name continues to occupy a good chunk of the OPP Pool Record board. Trevor's 1992 records in backstroke (18:06) and fly (15:15) as a 7-8 boy still stand, as do his 13-14 records in 1998 for breaststroke (30.58) and IM (59.45), and his 15-18 record of 56.50 in 2000 for IM. Who says your worst stroke as a kid will always be your worst stroke? On Saturday July 29 Trevor will be attending OPP's Alumni Party where we understand that the hotshots of the past will try to demonstrate that masters swimming has made them faster than ever.

OPP managed to complete its renovation during the July 4 week after heavy rain this spring delayed construction. The lagoon shaped yard pool has its origins in the 1920's when a real estate developer created a cement-lined catch basin to supply water for his houses.

Campo's Rachel Cleak added her name to the OPP pool record board with a time of 27.85 for fly that broke a 1990 record time of 28.70 by another OPP legend called Betsy Gherini whose name like Trevor's dominates the OPP pool record board. Rachel's OPP yard time also breaks the Campo team yard record of 27.96 set by Carrie Evans in 1984, thus removing all controversy over her record Bottoms Up time of 27.62 which MVP has decided to accept as a new 13-14 girls fly record for their Bottoms Up event. Congratulations Rachel!

Five Campo swimmers managed to pop in all three of their individual swims. 13-14 girl Amy Burrell popped in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke, dropping a big 3.73 seconds in breast. 11-12 girl Arianna Hunter popped in freestyle, backstroke, and fly, dropping 3 seconds in back and 3.37 seconds in fly. 15-18 girl Jennifer Oberman popped in the 100 meter freestyle, where she dropped 6.02 seconds, in fly, and in IM. 13-14 girl Leanne Woehleke popped in freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. 15-18 boy Nick Wood popped in freestyle, breaststroke, and fly.

In our 3 second plus popper club we find 7-8 girl Kiera Crandall with a 6.42 second drop in backstroke, and 7-8 boy Dylan Honda with a 6.09 second drop in backstroke. 7-8 girl Margaret Hunger dropped 4.58 seconds in IM, while 7-8 girl Maria Sanderson dropped 3.56 seconds in breaststroke. Taariq Saffouri charged ahead with a 1.27 second drop in fly to 27.25 and a 2.23 second drop in backstroke to 26.2.

Among the 6 and under boys and girls Will Grubbs dropped 3.39 seconds in fly and 2.06 seconds in freestyle, while his 11-12 brother Andy managed pops of 2.07 in backstroke and 2.93 seconds in fly in effort to keep his little brother at a respectful distance. Our monster popper at OPP was Hannah McDonnell who dropped 32 seconds in breast for a new time of 52.71. She also dropped 2.91 seconds in freestyle. Olivia Morris popped 2.78 seconds in backstroke with a time of 31.85 that puts her hot on the heels of Mia Lineweaver whose top 6 and under girls backstroke time is 30.63. Madison Cole popped 2.86 seconds in fly. Raquel Wescott dropped 17.96 seconds in back for a new time of 37.2.

In the 11-12 boys and girls Edward Healy dropped 8.31 seconds in IM, Jennifer Kuckuk dropped 6.47 seconds in fly, and Tabitha Langman dropped 3.42 seconds in fly. Emily McPhee dropped 2.49 seconds in IM for a fast time of 119.35.Merinda Zywicz had a big day with a 4.13 second drop in breast amd a 10.25 second drop in fly.

In the 9-10 girls Amberlie Kaiser dropped 5.01 seconds in fly and Perri Williams dropped 3.75 seconds in freestyle.

Among the 13-14 boys and girls Michael Hoffman dropped 2.21 seconds in IM to 1:22.00 while Sara Kaiser dropped 3.15 to 118.77. Jaime Walton, just to show that only Rachel is better than the best of the 13-14 boys, dropped 0.78 seconds in IM for the top boys time of 118.45.

Among the 15-18 teens Dana Foster inched closer to the impossible 1983 yard team record of Cliff Hoskins of 22.09 with a new yard time of 22.45 seconds.
 

Dear Marlin Families,

The preliminary line ups for the OMPA Championship Meet will be posted tomorrow down at the pool. Please check the events your swimmer(s) is/are entered in and let us know tomorrow or Thursday morning at the latest if you have any problems or concerns. (email me at larson.laura@comcast.net; also let Trevor & Mike know down at the pool)

This is CRUCIAL because the entries are finalized and due this Friday, July 28 to OMPA and there can be no swimmers added and/or changes made this year. Be sure to check carefully--we want everyone swimming, excited and successful for our biggest meet of the year!

Thank you in advance for your help,

Best Regards,

Laura Larson

Coach Liaison

Directions to Tonight's Meet

Swim-A-Thon Monday, 7/24

Volunteers needed; see details in today's e-mail blast.

Line Ups Posted: CCC at MVP (07/22)

Away meet Saturday--meet starts at 9am.  (Away meet warm up time: 8:15 am.)

Line Ups Posted:   CCC at OPP (07/19)

Away meet Wednesday--warm up time: 4:45pm, meet starts at 5:30pm.

Photo Gallery updated

July 12, 2006 - Meet Summary - Sleepy Hollow

Results for the July 12 Sleepy Hollow meet are now posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm.

The A+2 meet against Sleepy Hollow at Campolindo on July 12, 2006 proved to be a big one for pops. An astonishing 58 out of 96 Campo swimmers managed at least 1 pop. Popping in all three individual swims were 8 year olds Chad Abbott, Jio Chang, Iman Sigman and Megan Zywicz, 9 year old Marty Cunnane, 11 year old Arianna Hunter, and 17 year old Nick Wood.

6 year old Mia Lineweaver popped in the two strokes she swam, posting a giant 6 second drop in freestyle for a time of 24.83 that puts her way out front for the 6 & under girls freestyle. Congratulations Mia!

Special mention goes to 6 year old mini-marlin boy Aidan Young who swam his first meet, posting a time of 1:12.87 in freestyle. Aidan is the grandson of Catherine and John McGhee. Is Aidan perhaps related to the legendary Steve McGhee, whose meter team and pool record of 26.91 for 15-18 boys fly set in 1998 still stands today?

One novice parent working as a timer remembers watching with astonishment as Steve swam the fly in a freestyle race at OMPA when it was still held at Acalanes. Not only did he win the race, but he was not DQ'd for swimming fly instead of freestyle. That was when somebody explained that although everybody swims a version of the "crawl" in freestyle, "freestyle" means that you can use any method to get yourself across the pool which does not involve pulling on the lane ropes or walking on the pool bottom. Stroke & turn officials "love" freestyle because apart from false starting or flip turning without touching the wall, there is not anything to watch out for.

Buy why fly, the hardest of all the strokes, when old-fashioned crawl will do? Fly is indeed a horribly inefficient stroke if you do not know how to do it. But watch the more experienced swimmers who have mastered fly. They undulate through the water as effortlessly as dolphins. Rather than hauling themselves through the water by brute force, they use the resistance of water to pull themselves up and then glide down the other side almost like skiers exploiting gravity and the curved surface of moguls. If you see a swimmer's butt break the surface and submerge repeatedly, you know he or she is getting the knack of the most beautiful of all the strokes, the butterfly.

We should also mention than another 6 year old mini marlin boy, Travis Hartman, swam his first race at the Oakwood meet where he posted a time of 46.73 in freestyle. Campo can now field a 6 & under boys freestyle relay, with the hot 32-33 second times of Will Grubbs and Ethan Sauerberg providing good balance for those of the mini marlin graduates. Watch for Travis and Aidan to shave off more seconds between now and OMPA.

Speaking of fly, 6 & under girl Kelly Murphy of Sleepy Hollow broke an ancient pool record of 24.22 set in 1981 by Campo swimmer Summer Cooper with a new record of 23.63 seconds. Sleepy Hollow's 6 & under boys team (C Meckfessel, J Ehrenberger, R Rowell, M Ferreira) also set a new pool record for medley relay with a time of 1:51.8, obliterating the old record of 2:08.3 set by Meadow in 2004. Congratulations Sleepy Hollow!

Campolindo swimmers also set some new team meter records. Rachel Cleak, who has just turned 14, set a new meter team record in IM (individual medley - fly, back, breast, free) with a time of 1:14.45, breaking the old record of 1:15.9 set by Holly Farlin in 1998. You may notice that Rachel's Bottoms Up times (converted to meters) have now been added to our database, and will be counted for pops (she popped in freestyle, fly and IM), though because the times are "complimentary" they cannot count as new records. None of this is Rachel's fault, so we applaud the fact that Rachel's fly swim at Bottoms Up broke a 20 year Bottoms Up record even though it will not go on record as such. Rachel is now tied with Iman Sigman for first place in total pops by girls with a count of 15. They are followed by Tessa Whitley with 14 pops, and by Sara Kaiser and Jennifer Kuckuk with 13 pops each.

The 13-14 girls freestyle relay team of Sara Kaiser, Alyssa Hess, Ginnie Johnson and Rachel Cleak squeaked past a 1998 meter team record of 2:08 set by Holly Farlin, Devon Foster, "Wesselmann" and "Hansen" with a new time of 2:07.53. Way to go! Somehow we missed it, but this falls slightly short of the record set in the Meadow meet by Sara, Ginnie, Rachel and Tessa Whitley which was 2:07.33.

The 15-18 boys improved the team meter medley relay record they broke earlier this season with a new record time of 1:58.28. But more importantly, they set a new pool and team meter freestyle record with a time of 1:45.1 that squeaks past the 1:45.6 pool record set last year by MTSC's Price, the Saljoughian brothers, and Vevoda. Tristan Kaiser, Nick Wood, Eric Johnson and Dana Foster made the new medley record, and Kaiser, Johnson, Foster plus Sean Malley set the new freestyle 15-18 boys meter team and pool record. That wraps up the record breaking season for meter and pool records, but the boys still have some team yard records to break which they will be aiming to do at OMPA. There is last year's freestyle relay record set at OMPA, but the big challenge will be a 200 yard medley record time of 1:42.3 set in 1985 by Young, Arth, Alamillo, and Johnston. Yes, Joseph and Megan Arth, that is your uncle's old relay team!

Enough of the record breaking, let's see who dropped big time against Sleepy Hollow!

Among the 7-8 boys Chase Abbott dropped 6.6 seconds in freestyle for a new time of 20.3 that puts him into fifth place, Grady Eglin dropped 3.9 seconds in breaststroke for a time of 36.14, Dylan Honda dropped 5.5 seconds in fly for a time of 41.81, Adam Shafer dropped 3.8 seconds in back for a time of 30.3, Sam Larson dropped 3.7 seconds in IM for a time of 156.56, and, hot on Sam's heels, Grant Bartis dropped 3.1 seconds in IM for a time of 1:59.41. The 7-8 boys free relay consisting of Tucker Clark, Grant Bartis and Sam Larson took first place with a new best time of 1:17.6. The medley relay with Bathaniel Sauerberg in place of Cameron also achieved a new best time of 1:33.35.

Among the 7-8 girls, not quite popping 3 seconds, but smoking their male peers in IM were Margaret Hunger dropping 2.23 seconds for a time of 1:52.41, and Jio Chang dropping 1.95 seconds for a time of 1:55.3. Sophia Settle plunked herself into the middle of the pack by dropping a whopping 19.4 seconds in fly for a new time of 36.71. Megan Zywicz, not to be outdone by her older sister Merinda's big pops against Oakwood, dropped 8.01 seconds in fly for a time of 44.25 and 6.73 seconds in breast for a time of 33.59.

Among the 6 & under girls we've already mentioned Mia Lineweaver's big achievement in freestyle, and we should also point out that her pop in backstroke makes her our fastest 6 & under girl backstroker. Olivia Morris is our new top breaststroke swimmer after a pop of 2.37 seconds. Raquel Wescott dropped 5.2seconds in breast for a new time of 44.09, and her 0.65 second pop in fly for a new time of 38.66 puts her very close to fly leader Annie Midthun, who dropped 5.97 seconds in back for a new time of 34.6. The freestyle relay team consisting of Mia, Olivia, Annie, and Mackenzie Vick set a new best time at 1:59.03, and the medley relay consisting of Mia, Annie, Mackenzie and Raquel Westcott made a new best time at 2:17.3.

Among the 9-10 boys Joey Labarile dropped 3.1 seconds in fly, Will Moran dropped 4.25 seconds in IM, Roman Wright dropped 2.96 seconds in back, and Scott Singh pushed into second place behind Tyler Bartis in freestyle through a 2.15 second pop.

The 9-10 girls were absolutely not in a poppy mood, but Amberlie Kaiser did muster a pop in fly that put her into third place behind Hannah Grubbs and Jennifer Walton. Among the 13-14 boys Jaime Walton popped just under a second in back and IM to preserve his lead in IM and backstroke.

Line Ups Posted: Sleepy Hollow at CCC (7/12)

Home meet Wednesday--warm up time: 4:15pm, meet starts at 5:30pm.

July 8, 2006 - Meet Summary - Bottoms Up

Results for the July 8 Bottoms Up Invitational meet are now posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm.

Bottoms Up is an Invitational Meet sponsored by Moraga Valley Pool which is open to swimmers in the "bottom" of their age group. For example, only swimmers aged 9 as of June 15 in the 9-10 age group are eligible to swim at Bottoms Up. In the case of 6 and under this would be any swimmer aged 5 or younger, and in the case of the 15-18 group it would only include 15 year olds.

All members of the OMPA are invited to Bottoms Up, which is an all day event that has traditionally taken place at Moraga Valley Pool. The OMPA, however, has grown in recent years, and last year Bottoms Up was moved to Miramonte High School after it became apparent that participation would exceed the fire marshal's capacity limit for Moraga Valley Pool.

Only 21 Campolindo swimmers out of an eligible 71 "bottom" swimmers participated in Bottoms Up 2006, a meet that pitted them against peers in a fast pool. Perhaps to blame was the Saturday timing at the end of the Fourth of July week, a week during which no regular dual meets were scheduled and which many families chose to spend on vacation. The swimmers that participated scored "double pops" whenever they popped their best time.

Jennifer Kuckuk and Sara Settle, both 11 year old girls, popped in all three of their events. Also popping all three events were 9 year old Perri Williams, 13 year old Tessa Whitley, and 15 year old Edward Schwartz.

Dropping more than 3 seconds were Jennifer Kuckuk with 4 seconds in freestyle and 4.3 seconds in backstroke, Sara settle with 3.7 seconds in breaststroke, Perri Williams with 3 seconds in freestyle and 5.2 seconds in backstroke, and 9 year old boy Kevin Shaffer with 3.2 seconds in backstroke.

Popping in two events were 9 year olds Tyler Bartis, Katie Coates, and Kevin Shaffer, 4 year old Madison Cole, 13 year olds Katie Shaffer and Ben Tanner, 11 year olds Rachel Duncan and Sam Tanner, and 15 year old Sean Malley. Managing at least 1 pop were 7 year old Adam Shafer and 9 year Zachary Cole.

The double pops boosted 4 Bottoms Up swimmers into top place. Tessa Whitley leads girls with 14 pops, followed by Jennifer Kuckuk and Perri Williams with each at 13 pops, and Rachel Duncan with 12 pops that she shares with Sara Kaiser and Iman Sigman, neither of which were "bottoms". Tyler Bartis now leads the boys with 13 pops, followed by Ben Tanner with 12 pops.

The unfortunate story for Bottoms Up was 13 year old Rachel Cleak, who showed up after canceling an earlier waterpolo commitment only to discover she was not on Campolindo's Bottoms Up roster due to a confusion involving the signup procedure. She was allowed to swim "complimentary", which means she was assigned to outer lanes and her times were not official. For this reason her times do not show up in the meet results. Nevertheless, Rachel apparently swam excellent times and would have scored points for Campolindo. In fact, her 50 yard fly time apparently beat the 25.37 second team yard record set September 4, 1984 by Carrie Evans. Unfortunately, an unofficial time cannot count for the record books, but Rachel Cleak has at least one more chance to break the yard record when she swims at OMPA, another fast yard pool.

Parents are reminded that invitational meets such as Bottoms Up, Sleepy Hollow B and OMPA are optional meets for which you must physically sign up before the deadline. This is the opposite of dual meets, for which you are signed up unless you physically sign out.

Miramonte High School pool, like the Soda Center in Campolindo's backyard, is regarded as a "fast" pool, meaning that swimmers tend to pop their best times. There are two key reasons a pool is "fast". The more important reason is the deepness of the pool, or, better said, the largeness of the pool.

When swimmers dive into the water and thrash their way across the pool they create waves sort of like the wake of a boat. These waves loaded with energy travel through the water towards the sides and the bottom where they are reflected. The chop you see on the surface of the pool is evidence that a lot of energy from the displacement of water created by the swimmers is trapped in the water.

The local resistance created by the chop should average out to make no difference over the entire swim, but the chop slows down a swimmer by throwing off his or her timing. Breathing is crucial to a fast swim, and chop will disrupt a swimmer's rhythm.

The chop is worst at the sides of the pool where successive waves collide with each other as they bounce off the walls. This handicaps swimmers seeded to swim in lanes 1 and 6 of a regular pool. "Seeding" is your rank against all other swimmers entered in a meet for a particular stroke such as freestyle. For example, to be seeded tenth in freestyle is to be the tenth fastest swimmer in your age and gender group. In the case of "dual" meets such as the upcoming Campolindo-Sleepy Hollow meet, the best seed times of the two teams are paired off. That is why the top swimmers of Campolindo and Sleepy Hollow have lanes 3 and 4, even though the third best Campolindo swimmer stuck in Lane 1 might be faster than Sleepy Hollow's top swimmer.

In an invitational meet such as OMPA or Bottoms Up the lane assignments are based on absolute seeding. Each race is a heat. In a dual meet the heats with the fastest swimmers are run first, finishing with the "slowest" heat. In an invitational meet the slowest heat is run first and the fastest heat last in the "preliminaries". In a preliminary the swimmers who end up in the finals are those with the top eight times from all heats.

At invitational meets such as OMPA each heat has ten lanes. You might think that the seventh to tenth best swimmers get a bad deal by being stuck in the outside lanes. But if you look carefully at the program you will notice that the seventh to tenth best swimmers swim in the middle lanes of the second to last heat while slower swimmers swim the outside lanes of the final heats. It does not seem fair that slower swimmers get stuck in the "slower" lanes, but it is not as bad as it seems, because swimmers tend to swim faster when their competition is strong.

The seeding for an invitational meet is done by a computer program that depends on a complete roster with valid seed times. The better your seed time, the better you will be matched with competing swimmers. If you ever notice that your best time in a stroke is faster than you know you are, alert the meet director right away. Chances are that the recorder made a mistake, or the recorded time was input incorrectly, both of which can be corrected. Being seeded in a heat where you are seriously outmatched is not good. Having much faster swimmers pull ahead of you as you try your hardest can actually enfeeble you so that you do swim slower. Plus it is no fun to come in last by a very wide margin with spectators wondering if you are sick or ate a cheeseburger ten minutes before your race.

A pool like Miramonte or Soda is "fast" because it holds a lot of water, both because it is deep and because it is very wide. Soda Center is twice as long as it is wide. The OMPA meet races are swum across the short 25 yard width of the pool at the west end of the pool. The waves created by the swimmers travel deeper before they bounce off the bottom and travel far before they bounce of the far end of the pool. The energy gets dispersed through the large volume of water the wave travels through. As a result there is less chop from waves bouncing back and forth and colliding with each other. The more water a pool holds the faster it will be.

The other reason a pool can be fast is the timing system. OMPA and Bottoms Up both use touch pads to record a swimmer's time. Swimmers do not always touch the touch pad hard enough to send a signal that records the time. There is also the risk that the touch pad system may fail. For these reasons manual timers also record the swimmer's time. There are always three timers, with the middle time counting as the definitive time.

OMPA goers may have noticed that the scoreboard at OMPA sometimes changes a swimmer's time and placement. The touch pads record the time instantly. At OMPA the timers click on a button which is electronically wired. The computer collects the three manual times, extracts the middle time, and compares it with the touch pad time. If the middle manual time is faster than the touch pad time, which can happen if the swimmer touched the wall but missed the touch pad, the computer swaps out the touch pad time in favor of the manual time. At meets like OMPA it is always wise to hold your breath until you are sure the scoreboard times are final.

Electronic timing systems give all swimmers the same starting time. In typical dual meets where timing is manual some timers start when they see the flash, some when they hear the buzzer. Some stop the watch too quickly, some too slowly. Because most timers are conscientious, not wanting to start late, and wanting to be sure the swimmer has touched the wall, manual times will have a slight bias toward longer times. A pool that is large and deep, and has an electronic timing system, will yield much faster swims. That is why many swimmers pop in the big OMPA meet at the end of the season.

Line Ups Posted: Bottoms Up (Miramonte, 7/8)

Away meet Saturday--meet starts at 9am.  (Away meet warm up time: 8:15 am.)

July 1, 2006 - Meet Summary - Oakwood

 Results for the July 1 swim meet against Oakwood are now posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm.

Campolindo's meet with Oakwood on Saturday July 1, 2006 was a tame affair compared to recent meets against MCC, Meadow and OCC, three of the strongest teams in the OMPA. Oakwood is not a member of the OMPA and normally swims against Lafayette teams. Because the pool at the Oakwood Athletic Club in Lafayette is not regulation size and not deep enough for safe diving from blocks, Oakwood does not swim any home meets. Its team membership is skewed toward younger swimmers who tend to migrate to more competitive teams as they get older. As such Campolindo meets with Oakwood are of a friendly nature and are timed for the Fourth of July week when many families are off on vacations.

Oakwood was an A/B meet, which means that most swimmers got to swim their maximum three individual events. Surprisingly, nobody popped in three events. But we did have a number who popped in two events. 7-8 boy Grant Bartis popped in freestyle and IM. 11-12 girl Emily Berglund popped in freestyle and backstroke. 7-8 girl Jio Chang had a fantastic day popping in fly and IM, dropping a big 7 seconds in IM. Tatiana Gessling of the 11-12 girls popped in freestyle and backstroke, while 11-12 boy Andy Grubbs popped in backstroke and fly.

Alyssa Hess of the 13-14 girls, who has swum only two meets so far, popped in freestyle and breaststroke. Her 40.74 time in breaststroke puts her in first place among the girls. Miranda Smith of the 9-10 girls popped in backstroke and breaststroke, dropping 18 seconds in her backstroke. And Merinda Zywicz of the 11-12 girls popped in freestyle and fly.

We saw some swimmers drop their times significantly. Among the 11-12 girls Sarah Berglund dropped 6 seconds in backstroke, Rachel Duncan dropped 8 seconds in backstroke, and Merinda Zywicz dropped 4 seconds in fly.

At times it seemed half the Campolindo team was huddled around an ancient and tiny black and white TV set watching Portugal play England in World Cup Soccer. The players were shadows in a sea of snow which every newcomer sought to fix by twiddling with the antenna, only to make it worse. Finally parent Kevin Healy, who admitted owning a beloved black and white for many more years than it should have taken him to complete college, ordered some aluminum foil from concessions and rigged the antenna to deliver a reasonably clear picture just in time for the penalty shoot-offs. England's loss caused much sorrow for Kathryn Morris which her 6 and under daughter Olivia tried to soothe with a monster pop of 27.5 seconds, bringing her breaststroke time to 43.72. Olivia is now the most improved girl, with an average improvement of 28.5% in two strokes.

Good things were happening with the 7-8 boys. Dylan Thomas dropped 10.5 seconds in breaststroke to a time of 34.14 seconds. Adam Shafer dropped almost 3 seconds in backstroke to bring his time down to 34. And Sam Larson popped himself into first place with a 5 second drop that put his fly time at 23.4.

The 7-8 boys medley relay team consisting of Grant Bartis, Nathaniel Sauerberg, Tucker Clark and Sam Larson delivered the best time at 1:37.69 since the Meadow meet. The 11-12 boys medley relay team consisting of Curtis Black, Ryan Hoffman, Andy Grubbs and Edward Healy delivered the best time since the June 10 MTSC meet with a time of 2:43.57.

This was the last day at Campolindo for the Black family, which is moving back east as a result of a work related transfer. We will miss Curtis, Mitchell and their parents Mary Kay and Campbell. Curtis Black leaves behind a 9-10 boys 50 meter team record in backstroke at 39.95 set July 27, 2005.

Line Ups Posted: Oakwood at CCC (7/1)

Home meet Saturday--warm up time: 7:45am, meet starts at 9am.

June 28, 2006 - Meet Summary - Moraga Country Club

Results for the June 28 swim meet against Moraga Country Club are now posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm.

Records came crashing down during Wednesday's warm evening A+2 meet against Moraga Country Club. A hot MCC 9-10 boys team redecorated Campolindo's Pool Record Board which lucky for our engraver hangs only in the virtual world of our GoCampo web site. MCC's 11-12 boy Robbie Ashby swiped Dana Foster's 2002 back stroke pool record with a time of 34.51. A longstanding 9-10 free relay pool record set in 1981 by Campolindo (Toman, Toman, Lotz and Swoboda) was broken by just under 3 seconds by MCC's 9-10 boys, who also tossed out the medley relay record set by Orinda Park in 1994. MCC's Gabe Ostler also broke the freestyle record while Jonathan Ratchford insisted on wrecking both the back and fly pool records for 9-10 boys. Campolindo's Scott Swoboda may have lost his 1981 fly record, but his IM record did survive unscathed.

It has been brought to our attention that Tyler Bartis scooped the 9-10 boys breaststroke record during Saturday's Meadow meet with a time of 42.65 that broke Jon Feldhammer's (Campolindo) 1988 record by just under 2 seconds. Tyler still has a way to go to take back the new fly and back records from MCC, but he is only 3 seconds off the new freestyle record. Furthermore, he is in the "bottom" of the 9-10 group, which is the toughest year because the swimmer must now swim 50 meters or yards rather than 25. Not only must a 9 year old swim twice as far, but he or she must master the flip turn. Any grownup who doesn't understand what the big deal is about a flip turn should arrange to give everybody a demonstration. If you are fretting that your 9 year old is not the speedster of last year, just relax, and watch those pops pile up in the final stretch of the season.

MCC was not alone in breaking Campolindo pool records. Rachel Cleak's 31.75 time for 13-14 girls fly broke Holly Farlin's 1998 pool and team meter record. And Dana Foster broke a 15-18 boys freestyle team record he set earlier this year with a new time of 25.28 that is just 0.14 seconds away from the pool record MTSC's Miles Price set last year when he swam as an 18 year old. Given that Dana is only 16 and at least as tall as Miles, a snowball in hell would seem to have a better survival chance than Miles' record. There are only two home meets left this season, with Sleepy Hollow on Wednesday July 12 bringing the level of competition needed to drive new records. Mark Sleepy Hollow on your calendar, for the 15-18 boys are gunning to break things.

We are hitting that stretch when swimmers pop as they show the benefits of workouts and the experience of meets. Six swimmers popped in all three of their events. 15-18 girl Delaney Barsamian popped in freestyle, back and fly. Zachary Cole, who must have been at pole vaulting camp during the past couple weeks, popped more than 6 seconds in each of back, breast and fly to plunk himself into the middle of the 9-10 boys. This is a good example of the sort of progress a 9 year old can make during that tough bottom of 9-10 season.

Kiera Crandall, a 7-8 girl, also had a big day popping in freestyle, back and breast with monster pops of 12.7 and 8.1 seconds in back and breaststroke. Rachel Duncan popped 3 times in 11-12 girls freestyle, back and breast, with sizable pops in back and breast.

Scott Singh, who seems to show up at the pool wearing a baseball uniform as often as a swimsuit, is getting into the swim of the season with 3 pops in 9-10 freestyle, back and fly. Campolindo's star breaststroke swimmer Nick Wood collected 3 pops in freestyle, fly and breaststroke. His 34.16 breaststroke time is moving in on Stephen Lucchese's 1997 pool and team record of 32.84 seconds.

In our club of 3 second or better poppers Chad Abbott edged aside his brother with a 7.15 second pop in 7-8 boys breaststroke, putting him in second place with a time of 27.35. First place goes to Nathanial Sauerberg who popped more than 3 seconds in both breast and fly. His under 6 brother Ethan popped 9.7 seconds in freestyle for a time of 32.51, and 6.7 seconds in breast for a time of 47.95. In our under 6 girls Madison Cole popped 7.6 seconds in freestyle, Siena Marchiano 4.3 seconds in breaststroke, and, because Mackenzie Vick is already among the fastest freestylers, her pop of 2 seconds to 31.33 has to be mentioned.

In our 7-8 boys Dylan Honda continues to be on a roll, popping twice and improving his fly by 8.8 seconds. Justin Marchiano popped 3 seconds to 28.14 in fly. Among our 7-8 girls Emma McDonnell popped 7.6 seconds in backstroke to 33.3, Christina Hunter 4.9 seconds in breaststroke, Haley Seyranian 12.3 seconds in fly, and Maria Sanderson peeled off 25.7 seconds in backstroke to bring her time to 53.9. And we have to mention Margaret Hunger who is so good she will never score 3 second pops, but creeps relentlessly towards ancient records such as Vivian Tsai's 1984 fly record of 18.38, towards which she popped 0.7 seconds on Wednesday, bringing her fly time to 20.8 seconds.

Among 11-12 boys Rory Baker popped 3.8 seconds in IM, Andy Grubbs 4.6 seconds in IM, and Sam Tanner popped an amazing 13.8 seconds in backstroke. Among the girls Tessa Whitley popped 3 seconds in IM.

Other notable swims include 13-14 boy Stephen Beebe who popped more than 2 seconds in freestyle and breaststroke, 13-14 boy Mitchell Black who dropped 2.9 seconds in IM, 9-10 boy Roman Wright who dropped 2 plus seconds in freestyle and breaststroke, and 15-18 boy David Yuen who dropped his backstroke by 2.6 seconds to 40.0.

Assistant coach Tristan Kaiser has asked us to let everybody know that he is collecting video footage and digital stills of Campolindo Cabana Club action that he and the gang plan to weave into a team video. He suggests that large files be burned onto a CD and placed in the Kaiser family folder.

Line Ups Posted: MCC at CCC (6/28)

Home meet Wednesday--warm up time: 4:15pm, meet starts at 5:30pm.

June 24, 2006 - Meet Summary - Meadow

Results for the June 24 swim meet against Meadow are now posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm.

Campolindo came very close to beating Meadow during Saturday's A+3 home meet, falling short by just 25 points. Campo coming close to beating Meadow, let alone actually beating Meadow, is so unheard of that victory failed to bring even the quiver of a smile to Meadow's chief straw hat man.

But it sure was exciting towards the end when Campo parents thundered their support for Campo swimmers as they did their best in the final legs of tight free relay races. Although parents inured by years of experience might disagree, Campo coaches insist that the swimmers not just hear those screams from the sidelines, but are actually inspired by them to outdo themselves. It certainly is hard to argue with the coaches in light of Sam Larson's spectacular streak from behind in the final leg of the 7-8 boys free relay to out-touch the Meadow swimmer.

So parents, even when a race looks lost, exercise those lungs, for every one of those kids has untapped potential he or she WILL drag forth if they sense urgency. And it does not matter if victory is the result, for it is the swimmer's thrill of realizing that one CAN respond beyond one's expectations when it matters that counts.

Keep in mind that Campo swimmers are not always the dark horses; when you see another swimmer sneaking up from behind, make sure our swimmer realizes the race is not won until it is over. And use the swimmer's name if you know it!

Although the A+3 nature of the Meadow allowed most swimmers to swim three individual strokes, the maximum allowed (not counting relays), only four swimmers managed to pop in all three swims: Chase Abbott, Sarah Berglund, Cole Whitley and Roman Wright. Congratulations on fine overall efforts!

Incidentally, "A+3" means that there will be a maximum of four heats for each stroke in a gender age group. The A heat in a regular season meet is always the first heat, and consists of the top seeded swimmers. There is only one "A" heat, and the rest are called "B" heats. Only the A heat scores points. The number "3" in "A+3" means there will be an A heat plus 3 B heats for a total of 4 heats.

While the coaches determine the lineup in terms of which swimmer swims what stroke, a computer program figures out which swimmer ends up in what heat and what lane based on the best times. Each heat will match 3 swimmers from each team until one runs out. The middle lanes are always assigned to the fastest swimmers from both teams.

A+3 means that 12 swimmers in a gender-age group such as 9-11 girls will get to swim freestyle. In an A/B meet all swimmers who did not sign out get to swim their maximum 3 strokes no matter how many heats it takes.

The type of the meet is negotiated in the fall between the OMPA teams. Campo's Swim Team Board tries to balance two goals. The primary goal is to get the maximum swims for all our swimmers. The secondary goal is to avoid mismatches where one team has substantially more swimmers than the other. For example, Orinda Country Club has more than 250 swimmers compared to Campo's 132 Marlin swimmers. All of Campolindo's swimmers would have swum by heat 3, after which there would be 2-3 additional heats consisting only of OCC swimmers.

Wednesday's OCC meet was set at A+2 so that our swimmers got to swim 2-3 strokes and the meet did not drag on forever. Wednesday meets tend to be smaller because some pools have 9:00 PM noise curfews. Free relays during Wednesday meets depend on how late the meet is running. This is all explained in the Swim Team Handbook, but who actually reads that?

CCC is a recreational swim team, which means that while winning meets and placing well during OMPA is important, more important is the self-improvement achieved by each swimmer. Pops reveal how regularly swimmers improve their times, but CCC also tracks the percentage improvement achieved by each swimmer. Needless to say, our best swimmers NEVERr win the "overall improved" awards because their gains are tiny fractions. They also never win the Top Pops award because they plateau easily and pop their best times only through rigorous workouts such as Survivor Week followed by tapering. We'll talk about "tapering" later in the season.

What makes pop and improvement tallies exciting is that they not just give us a glimpse of who might be tomorrow's stars, but they also show us which swimmers have the courage and conviction to work at bettering themselves. Are they pushing themselves during workouts? Are they paying attention to stroke, dive and turn instruction? Nothing is more satisfying than seeing one's effort pay off.

The Meadow meet was remarkable in that quite a few swimmers posted big drops of more than 3 seconds from their best times.

While Chase Abbott dropped 2-3 seconds in three strokes, his twin brother Chad opted for quantity by dropping 7.6 seconds in the 25 metre fly for 7-8 boys.

Sarah Berglund, who popped in all three 11-12 girls strokes, dropped 6.3 seconds in breast and 5.6 seconds in back stroke.

Tucker Clark dropped 5 seconds in 7-8 boys IM. Dylan Honda had a huge day in 7-8 boys freestyle, dropping 9.6 seconds to a time of 25.81. Cameron Kaiser, a 7-8 boy seeded in a B heat, dropped 2.6 seconds in freestyle to a time of 19.10. That isn't quite 3 seconds, but the impressive way he shot ahead of fellow heat swimmers prompted one gang of Meadow poolside pundits to pause and wonder: "WHO is THAT?"

Kevin Malley swimming backstroke for 13-14 boys dropped 5.9 seconds. Miranda Smith swimming breakstroke for 9-10 girls dropped 3.2 seconds. Sam Tanner, who popped in 2 strokes, dropped 6.3 seconds in fly for 11-12 boys. Maddy Vick swimming for 7-8 girls achieved a major breakthrough with a stunning 10.4 second drop in backstroke, a stroke she had already swum three times. Raquel Wescott swimming for 6 & under girls dropped 4.8 second in freestyle.

Cole Whitley, who stood out with 3 pops, dropped 3.4 seconds in 9-10 boys backstroke. Hard on Cole's heels was Chris Wilson, who dropped 3.8 seconds in 9-10 boys backstroke.

The biggest drop was achieved by Roman Wright, a 9-10 boy who not only popped in all three swims, but dropped a massive 11.93 seconds in his fly.

The girl pop leaders now stand at a four-way tie with 10 pops for each of Sara Kaiser, Iman Sigman, Gianna Labarile and Michelle Singh. In the boys Curtis Black stands alone with 11 pops, followed by a large pack of 8 pop holders too numerous to mention.

The current most improved swimmer with an average improvement of 44.4% is 6 & under boy Ethan Sauerberg, and the most improved girl is 6 & under Annie Midthun with a 26% average improvement.

Dylan Honda, Chase Abbott, Will Grubbs, Iman Sigman, Raquel Wescott and Jacob Molloy have each improved an average of 20% or better.

2006 County Meet Qualifying Times Updated

Meadow at CCC (6/24)

Results Posted: see Swimmer Data (By Name, By Event)

6/22 CCC Email Blast - Corrections to Schedule

The first one is the Meadow Mini Meet that is on the schedule for July 16th (we traditionally don't do this meet).

The second one is the date (2006 Swim Team Registration Packet) of the County Swim Meet. It should read Aug. 19- 20 (NOT Aug.12-13).

See you at the pool!

Lori Bartis

(Navigation links include revised schedule)

Line Ups Posted: Meadow at CCC (6/24)

Home meet Saturday--warm up time: 7:45am, meet starts at 9am.

Photo Gallery updated

June 21, 2006 - Meet Summary - OCC

Results for the June 21 swim meet against Orinda Country Club are now posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm, a web page containing links to various reports.

The Wednesday night A+2 meet at CCC against Orinda Country Club on June 21 was long and hot as one might expect for the first day of summer. But records did fall and congratulations are in order for the boys 15-18 medley relay which set new team and pool records with their time of 1:58.6.

Sean Malley, Tristan Kaiser, Dana Foster and Eric Johnson broke the pool record of 1:59.6 set last year by MTSC, and the team meter record of 2:00.0 set by Verrips, Feldhammer, McGhee and Lucchese on August 10, 1996.

Dana Foster, who popped in all three of his individual swims, set a new 50 meter freestyle team record for boys 15-18 with a time of 25.43 that struck down the 25.58 team record set by Scott Swoboda on June 18, 1988. Congratulations Dana in toppling a long standing record!

Also popping in three individual swims were Curtis Black, Sam Larson, Kevin Malley, and Ben Marshall among the boys, and Sara Kaiser, Gianna Labarile, Iman Sigman and Jennifer Walton among the girls.

And because not every swimmer gets to swim three events in an A+2 meet, special mention goes to Delaney Barsamian, Sarah Berglund and Perri Williams for popping both of the events they swam.

The current pop leader among the girls is Hannah Grubbs with 9 pops and among the boys it is Curtis Black with 10 pops. Sharing second place for the girls with 8 pops are Iman Sigman, Megan Arth, Sara Kaiser, Gianna Labarile and Michelle Singh. Sharing second place for the boys with 8 pops are Ben Marshall, JD McPhee and Ian Crandall.

For those people unfamiliar with "pops", a pop is recorded when a swimmer swims a faster time in a meet than his or her previous best meet time in that stroke. A pop during an invitational meet such as Bottoms Up, Sleepy Hollow B and OMPA counts as a double pop.

Your pop count reflects how much you have improved during the swim team season. A pop leader need not be an A swimmer who scores points for the team by winning first, second or third place. Anybody can be a pop leader. Your pop count shows how much your workout effort in building stamina and stroke technique is paying off in personal improvement. Consistent improvement scores the most pops.

To pop consistently it pays to be well rested, participate in the warmup, avoid soda and other sweets that crank you up and down at the wrong time, and avoid heavy foods such as muffins and hamburgers during the meet that will bog you down.

Pop reports in the form of pdf files are posted at www.gocampo.com/swimmer_data.htm by John Kaiser once he has received and processed the meet results file. This may take a few days for away meets.

Once our Awards director Laura Woodman has the latest pop reports she will adjust the fish on the fish board and dole out Marlin Money to the poppers.

Swimmers and parents should be aware that pops and improvement are calculated on the basis of times converted to meters. Campolindo's home pool is a meter pool, so if you beat your old time at a home meet, you know that you have popped. But because conversion of a yard pool time to a meter time is done by the swim team software using a complicated formula, you will not know for sure that you popped at a yard pool meet until you see the pop report.

Also, team records are maintained separately for meter and yard swims. To break a yard team record you have to beat it in a yard pool.
 

OCC at CCC (06/21)

Results Posted: see Swimmer Data (By Name, By Event)

Line Ups Posted:   OCC at CCC (06/21)

Home meet Wednesday--warm up time: 4:15pm, meet starts at 5:30pm.

CCC at Miramonte (06/17)

Results Posted: see Swimmer Data (By Name, By Event)

The chili-cook-off is on June 24th. 

All money is due by the 19th to Sharon Wilson.  $25.00 per person, adults only.

Line Ups Posted:   CCC at Miramonte (06/17)

CCC at MRSC (06/14)

Results Posted: see Swimmer Data (By Name, By Event)

Tristan Kaiser set a pool record at MRSC (Male 15-18, 50 yd back) in a time of 26.91

Line Ups Posted:   CCC at MRSC (06/14)

CCC at MTSC (06/10)

Results Posted: see Swimmer Data (By Name, By Event)

also Photos

2006 Time Trials (06/04)

Results Posted: see Swimmer Data (By Name, By Event)

2006 Job Sign-Ups Schedule online

Find your time slot for Sunday, April 30th.

2006 Team Parka Order Form online

Parka orders take 6-8 weeks so turn order into Jane McPhee ASAP.

2006 Apparel Order Form online

Orders accepted until May 8th and may be dropped off at Jane McPhee's house, 211 Paseo del Rio.  Please call Jane at 283-2901 or send an e-mail for questions. 

Note: new form--the color changed for Beefy-Tee's from White to "Light Steele."

(If you cannot display the PDF form, try upgrading your browser to use a newer Adobe Reader: )

2006 Registration Info and Schedule now available

For older 2005 News Flashes, see the News Archive...