2017 COLONIES ZONES -- MEET RECAP
Club Tribe had a spectacular meet this past weekend at Colonies Zones, finishing 4th in the combined scoring among 67 teams, winning 37 individual event championships and 14 relay championships. Club Tribe swimmers broke 12 Virginia LMSC records in individual events (7 in Zone Meet Record time) and 8 VA Records in relays (4 in Zone Meet Record time). Team 1693 established two new NATIONAL relay records: W 25+ 400 Medley Relay, 4:00.63 (Alex Czaplicki, Kristen Harris, Marina Falcone, Katie Grier); and MX 25+ 800 Free Relay, 7:20.49 (Marina Falcone, Katie Grier, Luke Robbins, Kevin Gallagher).
As is always the case with this team, the numbers don’t adequately capture what happened over the course of the weekend: we had a great time on deck, injected a ton of spirit and energy into the meet, had an old-school team pasta party at a swimmer’s Mom’s house (Lindsay is the best Social Chair in U.S. Masters Swimming), and capped it all off with a dominating performance at Sunday Funday in Clarendon.
We had 6 teammates make their Club Tribe debuts (Alex Czaplicki, Holli Finneren, Erik Lesnewsky, Ellen Minzenmayer, Lavelle Perry and Lisa Wimberly), and all of them were great and fit right in. Team 1693 continues to attract a truly awesome group of people, and it’s such a thrill to see everyone make fast friends and coalesce as a team. On the blocks, every single swimmer contributed to the effort – particularly on the relays, where our roster pulled together and formed an astonishing relay armada.
We excelled in so many areas across our entire lineup that a full recap would run several pages. The following is a summary of our individual and relay event championships:
WOMEN
Individually, Club Tribe Women won 16 events, setting 8 VA Records and 6 Zone Records. Kristen Harris, Katie Grier and Marina Falcone led the way with 3 individual victories each. All three of Kristen’s wins were VA and Zone Records (50 BR, 31.34; 100 BR, 1:09.86, 200 BR, 2:32.09). Katie established a new VA and Zone Record in the 50 Fly (26.26), a new Zone record in the 50 FR (24.11) and a new VA Record in the 50 BK (27.81 – relay leadoff). Marina set new VA and Zone Records in the 100 FR (52.00), and new VA Records in the 50 Fly (26.00) and 200 FR (1:52.76 – relay leadoff). Ruth Anne Thomas won two individual events (100 IM, 100 BR), while five other ladies each won an event: Liz Baugher (1,650 FR), Shannon Greene (200 Fly), Sara Shaner (50 BR), Alex Czaplicki (100 BK) and Lisa Wimberly (50 Fly).
In addition to the National, VA and Zone Record 400 Medley Relay, Club Tribe women established a new VA and Zone Record in the 400 Free Relay (3:38.21 – Katie Grier, Shannon Greene, Marina Falcone, Sara Shaner), and – while absolutely exhausted – set a new VA record in the 200 Medley Relay (1:53.15 – Katie Grier, Kristen Harris, Marina Falcone, Sara Shaner).
MEN
Individually, Club Tribe Men won 21 events, setting 4 VA Records and 1 Zone Record. Kevin Gallagher, Rich Williams, and Michael Lovett led the way with 3 individual wins each. Kevin tied the Zone Record and broke the VA Record in the 100 FR (45.53), and won the 50 FR (20.56) and 50 Fly (22.99) with new VA Records. Rich broke the VA Record in the 50 BR with a 28.43, and also won the 100 BR and 200 BR. Michael won the 50 Fly, 50 FR and 100 IM, while four swimmers won two individual events each (Matt Nilson (100 Fly, 200 Fly), Scott Hensley (100 BK, 200 BK), Luke Robbins (500 FR, 100 Fly), and Dan Earle (500 FR, 1,000 FR)). Four other men each won an event: Kyle Loughran (1,000 FR), Erik Lesnewsky (50 BK), John Rockwell (200 IM) and Kyle Ahlgren (1,000 FR).
For the first time at a Colonies Zones meet, the Club Tribe Men matched the Women’s dominance in the relays. The Men of Team 1693 won 5 relays, establishing three new VA Records and two new Zone Records. The 35+ 400 Medley Relay (John Rockwell, Rich Williams, Matt Nilson, Michael Lovett) set a new VA and Zone Record in 3:45.77. Both 400 Free Relays set new VA Records, with our 25+ team at 3:21.37 (Kevin Gallagher, Carter Head, Scott Hensley, Luke Robbins) and our 35+ team at 3:29.37 (Rich Williams, Dan Earle, Matt Nilson, Michael Lovett). The 25+ 200 Free Relay of Kyle Loughran, Scott Hensley, Luke Robbins and Kevin Gallagher set a new Zone Record in 1:26.34. The meet closed with a thrilling, gutsy come-from-behind victory in the 200 Medley Relay from a very tired 25+ team of John Rockwell, Carter Head, Erik Lesnewsky and Kevin Gallagher.
MIXED RELAYS
If the Mixed Relays are the best measure of a complete swim team, then we stack up against any team in the nation. Club Tribe won 6 Mixed Relays, setting one National Record and two VA/Zone Records.
In addition to the awesome 800 Free Relay, Club Tribe set a VA/Zone Record in the 25+ 400 Free Relay (3:19.84 – Marina Falcone, Kyle Loughran, Sara Shaner, Kevin Gallagher) and won the 18+ 400 Medley Relay (Scott Hensley, Carter Head, Shannon Greene, Sara Shaner) and three 35+ relays: 200 Free Relay (Rich Williams, Michael Lovett, Kristen Harris, Katie Grier); 200 Medley Relay (Katie Grier, Rich Williams, Lisa Wimberly, Michael Lovett); and 400 Medley Relay (John Rockwell, Ruth Anne Thomas, Matt Nilson, Julia Davidson).
The recap above is unlikely to be entirely error-free – I apologize if I’ve left anything out.
THE PATH FORWARD
We’ll have more to say in the coming days about the path forward for Club Tribe, but 2018 Spring Nationals will be held in Indianapolis, and if we decide to make a big push for that meet as a team, we could do absolutely incredible things together. In the meantime, we have five teammates getting ready for this year’s Spring Nationals in Riverside, CA later this month: Rich Williams, Katie Grier, Jim Griffin, Shannon Greene and Michael Lovett.
We also have some great near-term opportunities that bear a quick mention here. A few of us are already registered for the Jim McDonnell Lake Swims in Reston, VA May 27/28, and there seems to be a lot of interest in other open water events in Charlottesville, Richmond and VA Beach this Summer. Also, mark your calendars for the weekend of June 17, as TIDE will be hosting an outdoor LCM meet in their new top-notch facility on Saturday, and our friend Tom Gill is hosting an ocean swim on Sunday. Again, more to say on all of this soon, but if you are interested in the May 27/28 open water event in Reston, you should sign up ASAP, as this event is approaching its cap. Here’s the link: https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1107&smid=8381
Great job this weekend, everyone!
Click here for complete results.
ONE TRIBE !!