Club Tribe Places 7th at Spring Nationals
We did it AGAIN!
For the second time in our history, Club Tribe took home a top ten team finish at USMS Spring Nationals! Our team’s 7th place finish at Greensboro in 2016 put Club Tribe on the national map, and this year’s 7th place finish proves that we’re here to stay. With a substantial travel commitment, a healthy mix of Club Tribe veterans and new faces, and heavy hearts thinking of team inspiration Katie Grier, we brought plenty of Club Tribe character and Mick Tingstrom’s super-handy-1-page Psych sheet to San Antonio for great times and fast swimming.
With 20 swimmers, Club Tribe placed 7th in the Local Club division and 10th overall if you include Regional Clubs (“Local Clubs” are all clubs other than Regional Clubs, and Regional Clubs are LMSC-wide conglomerates that assemble only for championship meets). We were far fewer in number than the teams finishing above us, and our points scored per swimmer was the second-highest of any team larger than 5 people. Clearly, we punched above our weight.
Click here for complete results.
As Dan Earle likes to say, statistics do not tell a story, but we had some awesome performances in the pool and the stats back that up.
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS – LOCAL CLUB DIVISION
COMBINED MEN AND WOMEN
1. Lone Star Masters (1,944)
2. New York Athletic Club (1,281)
3. Swim Fort Lauderdale (1,231)
4. The Olympic Club (1,032)
5. Palm Beach Masters (962)
6. Masters of South Texas (837)
7. Club Tribe (667)
8. Sarasota Sharks (586)
9. New Albany Aquatics (559.5)
10. St. Pete Masters (538)
INSIDE CLUB TRIBE’S TEAM NUMBERS
Women placed 8th for Local Clubs, 13th Overall
Men placed 9th for Local Clubs, 12th Overall
11 National Championships in individual events
3 National Championships in relays
68 top ten individual finishes
15 top ten relay finishes
15 Virginia LMSC records in individual events
4 Virginia LMSC records in relays
DAY 1 - THURSDAY
The meet began on Thursday with two brave 1,000 Freestyle swims. Vince Romano (75-79) came to San Antonio facing plenty of headwinds, but had a clear race plan and executed it to near perfection, dropping over 5 seconds from his time at 2021 Nationals and placing 5th in his age group, scoring our first points of the meet. After a multi-day journey from Hanes, Alaska, Sydney Wray (30-34) made her Club Tribe swimming debut (many will recall her incredible feats of dryland competition prowess). Sydney dropped 28 seconds off her seed time and finished in 8th to add to the points tally.
Next up were the Mixed 400 Free Relays, where the 35+ team of Paul Klepchick (Club Tribe debut), Dave Bell, Shannon Greene, and Susan Williams finished in an impressive 2nd place, and the 25+ team of Coach Rich, Cliff Harbourt (Club Tribe debut), Sydney Wray and Michele Choe also scored points in 10th place. We scored points in all four day 1 races.
Thursday evening also marked the first in a series of ‘you would be sad you missed it if you knew how much fun we had’ events planned by Club Tribe Deputy Social Chair Michele “Pecori” Choe. Dinner was at LaFonda on Main (no connection to LaFawnDuh, wife of Kip Dynamite - we checked) where we had an awesome outdoor table and were joined by Club Tribe recruit “Dave” Roberts from Santa Cruz.
DAY 2 – FRIDAY
Friday morning started with 400 IM, where on the women’s side Shannon Greene (35-39) turned in a terrific 2ndplace finish. Club Tribe’s men 400 IMers were in the 45-49 age group, with Paul Klepchick placing 4th and John Rockwell 9th. Without a doubt, the hug from Kraig Gass after that race felt better than the last 50 free.
Next up was the 50 Breast, where Krista Gass pulled down points with a 9th place finish. For the men, Coach Rich finished in 6th in a super tight race, while Paul Klepchick was 8th.
With the 100 Fly we finally got to witness the first of many great swims from the Tribe Juniors, or Baby Tribe, depending on who you ask. Bonnie Zhang and Helen Geddes were 2nd and 5th for the 18-24 women, respectively, and Peter Brukx was 3rd for the 18-24 men. Fall Willeboordse earned the first Club Tribe national title of the meet, winning the Women’s 50-54 championship in a Virginia LMSC record time of 1:04.84.
In the 200 Free Bonnie (1:52.85) and Peter (1:45.64) swam to a pair of national titles in 18-24 age group - Bonnie in a Virginia LMSC record time. Meanwhile, Vince Romano finished 9th among the 75-79 men.
The last individual event of the day was 100 Back, with a bunch of Club Tribe entries. For the women, Bonnie capped off a great day with a 2nd place finish, Shannon Greene was 7th for 35-39, and Fall Willeboordse and Susan Williams went 1st and 3rd in 55-59, with Fall breaking the Virginia LMSC record in 1:04.48. For the men, Sam Kettlewell-Sites placed 2nd in 18-24, with Dave Bell 9th and John Rockwell 10th in 45-49.
Next up were the Men’s and Women’s 200 Medley Relays, where our women’s 18+ team of Bonnie, Helen, Shannon, and Sydney came in 7th, and our 35+ team of Susan, Fall, Michele, and Krista came in 5th. Our men’s 18+ team of Sam, Paul, Peter and Matthew Healey placed 2nd, and the 45+ team of Dave, Coach Rich, Brent Holsten (Club Tribe debut) and Cliff was 3rd, breaking the Virginia LMSC record in 1:43.01.
In the Mixed 200 Free Relays our 35+ team of Paul, Dave, Michele and Krista came away 8th, and the 45+ relay of Brent, Rich, Fall and Susan dominated the field by over 5 seconds to finish as national champions and take down the Virginia LMSC record in 1:37.43. Not to be outdone and in the last race of an amazing day, our mixed Baby Tribe 18+ 200 Free Relay of Matthew, Sam, Helen, and Bonnie came away national champions in a great race as Bonnie ran down the NYAC anchor leg. Their blistering time of 1:29.91 was less than a second off the Baby Tribe 1.0 relay back in 2016.
On Friday night, a large group headed across the highway to Luce, an Italian restaurant Michele had picked out for us. She had worked her magic schmoozing the owner and got us a private room which was a perfect setting. Coach Rich set the tone with some history and philosophy of Club Tribe, and we proceeded to carb load and talk about fast swimming.
DAY 3 - SATURDAY
No one swam the 500 Free Saturday morning, which gave us time to sleep in before heading to the pool.
The 100 IM is a super popular event, and our women were up to the challenge with Bonnie (3rd, 18-24), Shannon (8th, 35-39), Fall (2nd, 55-59) and Susan (3rd, 55-59) earning major points. On the men’s side we had four point-scorers: Sam (4th, 18-24), Dave (10th, 45-49) and Brent (2nd, 50-54, lane 10) with some sizzling outside smoke and a new Virginia record of 56.08.
Next up was the 200 Back – no Club Tribe women chose to join the fun, while Dave (4th) and John (5th) placed in 45-49. The women also sat out the 100 Breast before Paul (9th) and Coach Rich (10th) added more points in 45-49.
The 50 Free was a big event for us, as Bonnie (23.63) and Helen placed 1st and 5th in 18-24, Michele crushed a Master’s best(!) 26.36 for 9th in 40-44, and Fall and Susan finished 2nd and 3rd, separated by only 0.04, in 55-59. Adding to the medal haul was Brent Holsten in 50-54, winning the national title where just one-tenth separated the top 3, establishing a new the Virginia LMSC record of 22.20. The Baby Tribe men had an awesome 1-2-4 finish with Matt (20.80) out-touching Sam for the national title.
We don’t always have 200 butterfly swimmers, but when we do, they crush it. There were points for the taking (think ahead to Richmond, people!), with Shannon (3rd, 35-39), John (3rd, 45-49) and Cliff (7th, 45-49) raking them in.
Day 3 ended with the Mixed 200 Medley Relays, and first up was our 45+ team of Dave, Coach Rich, Susan and Fall coming away with a national title and a new Virginia LMSC record of 1:47.71. The 35+ relay of Brent, Paul, Michele and Krista took 9th, and the 18+ Baby Tribe team of Bonnie, Sam, Peter and Helen was 3rd.
Saturday night we made our way to the famous Riverwalk for dinner at Iron Cactus (sometimes referred to as the Cactus Taco). Thanks to Michele “Pecori” Choe and her hard work before the trip (with an assist to amazing, if prickly, hostess Cheyenne) we bypassed a line of grumpy-looking tourists waiting for tables. Coach Rich informed us that we were in strong position for a top 10 finish in both the Local Club division and the overall standings, so all swims on Sunday were important. Sydney made friends with the waiter and Mick gave us an education on Cryptocurrency (sorry if anyone took a haircut in the crypto crash last week).
DAY 4 - SUNDAY
Sunday morning we had no entries in the Men’s 500 Free, which gave us extra time to prep for the Men’s and Women’s 200 Free Relays, where we scored a ton of points with three impressive podium finishes. The women’s 35+ relay of Fall, Krista, Michele and Susan placed 2nd, the men’s 45+ team of Coach Rich, Paul, Dave and Brent was 3rd, and the 18+ team of Peter, Matthew, Cliff, and Sam took 2nd.
Next was the 50 Fly, where Susan and Fall placed 2nd and 3rd in 55-59, Krista was 9th in 40-44, Shannon was 5th in 35-39, and Helen was 4th in 18-24. For the men, Brent took the national title in 50-54 and broke the Virginia LMSC record in 23.62, while Matt was 6th and Peter 3rd in 18-24.
In the 200 IM, Shannon took 5th in women’s 35-39, while Paul took 7th in 45-49 for the men.
In the 50 Back, Susan took 2nd in 55-59, while Michele brought home a medal in 40-44, placing 10th. For the men, Brent took his 2nd national title of the day in 50-54 and broke another Virginia LMSC record (25.19), while Dave Bell took 3rd and Coach Rich 10th in 45-49.
In the Women’s 100 Free, Fall brought home another national title and Virginia LMSC record in 55-59 (56.27), and Helen took 5th in 18-24. For the men, Brent finished 3rd in 50-54 and broke another Virginia LMSC record (49.93).
Baby Tribe then gave us one of the most memorable fast swimming moments of the meet when Sam (national champion in 46.07), Matt and Peter swept their heat (and finished an amazing 1-2-4) while Club Tribe teammates hollered and jumped around like crazy.
To end the meet, in the 200 Breast, Coach Rich was 9th and Paul 6th in a Virginia Record time of 2:20.67.
CLUB TRIBE HIGH POINT SCORERS
1. Falll Willeboordse (59)
2. Brent Holsten (50)
3. Bonnie Zhang (48)
4. Susan Williams (42)
5. Peter Brukx (41)
6t. Shannon Greene (36)
6t. Sam Kettlewell-Sites (36)
8t. Matt Healey (25)
8t. Helen Geddes (25)
10. Paul Klepchick (21)
COMPLETE LIST OF NEW VIRGINIA LMSC RECORDS
Brent Holsten (50-54) – 50 Free 22.20; 100 Free 49.93; 50 Back 25.19; 50 Fly 23.62; 100 IM 56.08
Paul Klepchick (45-49) – 200 Breast 2:20.67
Fall Willleboordse (55-59) – 50 Free 25.61 Relay lead leg; 100 Free 56.27; 100 Back 1:04.48; 100 Fly 1:04.84; 100 IM 1:03.98
Susan Williams (55-59) – 50 Back 29.52 Relay lead leg; 50 Fly 27.44
Bonnie Zhang (18-24) – 50 Free 23.63; 200 Free 1:52.85
Men's 45+ 200 Free Relay (Rich Williams, Brent Holsten, Paul Klepchick, Dave Bell) 1:31.67
Men’s 45+ 200 Medley Relay (Dave Bell, Rich Williams, Brent Holsten, Cliff Harbourt) 1:43.01
Mixed 45+ 200 Free Relay (Brent Holsten, Rich Williams, Fall Willleboordse, Susan Williams) 1:43.01
Mixed 45+ 200 Medley Relay (Dave Bell, Rich Williams, Susan Williams, Fall Willleboordse) 1:43.01
OUR TEAM
As is the case at every meet we enter, Spring Nationals 2022 showcased the closeness of our team and our love for fast swimming. Kraig Gass was everywhere taking video and cheering for seemingly every race. Mick Tingstrom’s yell drowns out the announcer on most Club Tribe race videos. Fall, Susan, Brent and Bonnie just kept breaking records. Dave Bell’s encyclopedic swimming knowledge was put to the test by Susan, Brent (who admitted he was humbled by the experience), Sam, and Peter. Finally, anyone who has never celebrated fast swimming with Matt Healey needs to put that on their bucket list.
Swimmers from other teams gravitated to our energy, and it is almost certain we added new recruits as a result. With personal cheering sections for every swim, a team area that was lively and fun, amazing dinners each night, and a raucous post-meet celebration complete with a Mariachi serenade, beer margaritas, and cornhole, it was another major success for the Club Tribe history book.
- John Rockwell