
Getting into these fancy racing suits is no easy feat. It takes a swimmer, a friend or two, and at least one coach to get it all assembled. I don't know how they swim in those things! Matt and Stevie getting suited up for the 100 Backstroke this evening.
After the letdown this morning in the 100 Backstroke, Matt went back tonight with a renewed commitment to get a new best time in that swim. He did it! He went in at 1:01.63, and tonight he clocked 1:00.63, a whole second faster than his seed time and a new best time for him, about a half second off that elusive Junior National cut in that swim, but we have a couple months to try and get there.

(Photos are shots of Matt's 100 back tonight...he is the one leading down the return stretch in the first photo and then he is shown hitting the pad for a first place in that heat.)
He ended up finishing 17th for the meet, but in actual time, he was 9th overall. I will try to explain this: when you swim pre-liminaries, you swim for a time to swim in one of the finals heats. There is a top finals heat (8 swimmers), a consolation finals heat (8 more swimmers), and a bonus finals heat (8 more swimmers), for a total of 24 swimmers. Then there are two alternates in place in case someone scratches or gets ill.
Once you qualify in pre-lims and you are placed in one of those three heats for finals, you cannot move up in placings between the groups. Only the top heat can place for podium and medals. The next two heats can only place in their respective heats.
What this means, is that you cannot "jump" into another heat if you swim a better time than someone in that heat in finals. You can only place in your heat. So, while Matt's morning swim was not his best, he did make the bonus heat and he could only place in the bonus heat this evening.
That said, he swam very well this evening and his time was the 9th best for the day. So, while he finished 17th for the meet, his time was a 9th place finish. And, once you get a new best time, it's YOURS, you get to keep it until you get another new best time.
Photo at right is a bit of fun while they were warming up for the relay swim...warming up or goofing off, sometimes it is hard to tell! Tylor, Stevie, John, Matt, and JJ.
They swam the 400 Medley Relay tonight and Matt swam in the B relay...you swim 100 meters of one of the four major strokes, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle...and you are placed on a relay depending on what stroke you swim best. Matt's strokes are the freestyle and the backstroke. JJ got the backstroke for the A relay and Stevie got the freestyle for the A relay as they both had better times than Matt in those two swims, so he swam the anchor (freestyle) for the B relay.
Matt (blue cap red C) on the block ready to swim anchor for the relay.
The photo shows the pool as Matt is leading the way back toward the finish. And, the accompanying photo shows Matt touching the pad and their relay winning the heat. It is very exciting when your swimmer gets to swim the anchor leg of a relay and brings it home.
The best part is that he did his "leg" in a :53 something and that is the fastest he has ever gone in a 100 freestyle, so he is hoping tomorrow in the 100 free he can get close to that. An exciting evening after all!
So, Aunt Karen, are you feeling the excitement, breathing the chlorine, aware of just how much you have been sitting on bleachers, etc. all weekend so far?? Do you feel like you are there? (Aunt Karen likes these scrapbook posts as she says since she can't be there, it makes her feel like she was there just seeing it all.)
And after this, I am heading to bed because we have one more day of swimming...the 100 Freestyle tomorrow. And after that...a two week break!!!