MEET RECAP -- 2ND ANNUAL CLUB TRIBE MASTERS CLASSIC (3.18.17)

Club Tribe and W&M Swimming hosted the 2nd annual Club Tribe Classic meet at W&M on Saturday, and it was a complete success.  Many, many thanks to each of you who participated in, promoted, sponsored and/or helped run the meet.

In particular, big ups to: Katie Grier and her crew for handling hospitality; Sara Shaner for serving as our Towel Cheer Liaison and Relay Wrangler; Lindsay Lovett for making another killer music mix and deploying her considerable Social Chair powers all weekend; Shannon Sullivan for running the 1,000 Free/Deck Entry/Relay Table; Sidney Glass for expert emergency medical services; and Jim Griffin for his incredibly generous offer to make a donation to W&M Swimming that matches Club Tribe’s donation from meet profits.

1.  We had four swimmers make their Club Tribe debuts after long (and in some cases, very long) hiatuses — Ruth Anne Thomas, Leslie Nelson, Lauren Lieberman and Luke Robbins.  Each of them impressed all day — it’s never easy to get up on those blocks again, and they did it in style.  We’re looking forward to more debuts at Zones and beyond.

2.  Seven Virginia LMSC records were set in individual events:  Miriam Tuovila (TMAS), 90-94 W 100 Breast (3:16.01);  Kristen Harris (1693), 40-44 W 50 Breast (32.65) and 100 Breast (1:11.18); Marina Falcone (1693), 25-29 W 200 Free (1:54.67); Randolph Wise (VMST), 75-79 M 50 Fly (35.38) and 100 IM (1:26.84); and Sidney Glass (1693), 25-29 M 50 Back (23.74).

3. Our Women’s 35+ 200 Free Relay (Kristen Harris, Michele Choe, Courtney Hurtubise, and Katie Grier) lowered the Virginia LMSC record by nearly 5 seconds to 1:44.79.  Unless we top it at Zones, that relay will almost certainly go Top 3 nationally this season.  They were pushed all the way by our 25+ relay of Shannon Greene, Suzy Sleman, Marina Falcone and Gabby Mizerak (1:45.59), which will also likely go Top 6.

4. We split the Men’s 200 Free Relay and got a tight race.  Luke Robbins, Rich Williams, Doug Slater and Kevin Gallagher swam a sharp 1:32.73, holding off Matt Nilson, Keith Driscoll, Michael Lovett and Sidney Glass (1:33.58), despite a 21.01 anchor from Sid.  I thought I had those two relays perfectly split, but I wasn’t quite counting on Luke rolling in with a 22.69 leadoff at the end of his first meet(!).

5. The Men’s 100 Medley Relay was a barn-burner, with both Club Tribe teams taking more than 2 seconds off the old meet record. Sidney Glass, Doug Slater, Keith Driscoll and Kevin Gallagher (49.45) edged out Scott Hensley, Rich Williams, John Rockwell and Michael Lovett (49.71).  In the Women’s 100 Medley Relay, the team of Gabby Mizerak, Leslie Nelson, Marina Falcone and Michele Choe won in 54.50, pulling clear of two other strong Club Tribe relays.  Three of our four Mixed 100 Medley Relays broke the meet record, with the team of John Rockwell, Courtney Hurtubise, Kevin Gallagher and Marina Falcone winning in 51.24.

6.  There were too many other highlights to capture here, but I just wanted to note a few teammates who’ve been working very hard and are seeing some break-throughs as a result:

— Michele Choe had a great meet across the board, getting down to 27.20 in the 50 Free (and a 26.73spl).

— Lindsay Lovett – whose swimming is way better than any of our soccer – had a sizable drop in the 50 Back (41.35).

— Shannon Greene swam a tough program, and went 1:05.79 in the 100 Fly after hitting 1:06 a bunch of times in a row.

— Dan Earle had big drops in the 200 Free (2:05.94) and 100 Back (1:04.75).

— And last, but by absolutely no means least, we have Coach Rich.  In addition to devoting so much effort and care to provide our team with the best race-pace virtual coaching in U.S. Masters Swimming, Rich works exceptionally hard in the pool and weight room.  Rich has always had huge taper-and-shave time drops because he’s made of concrete, he’s disturbingly hairy, and he doesn’t ever let up in training.  That can be a frustrating experience, but on Saturday he swam an un-tapered best in the 100 Breast (1:07.75) and fired off a 23.86 50 Free split on the relay.  I …  I believe ….  I believe that …..  I believe that we’re going to see a 1:02 and a 22 this season!

Click here for complete results.