Makos swimmers improving with each meet; many team members drop
time off personal records
Morgan Hill – During a typical swim meet it is not uncommon for the swimmers to swim 3000-5000 yards per day between warming up, competing and cooling down, making conditioning an important aspect of a swimmer’s training. The Morgan Hill Swim Club (Makos) members showcased the caliber of their conditioning by finishing strong at the Happy Holiday Swim Meet last week at the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center.
More than 500 swimmers packed the aquatics center and the weather behaved, helping the event run smoothly. According to Makos coach Mark Scott, there were so many highlights from the weekend he was at a loss as to where to begin.
The Makos team placed first and second in the boys (13-18) 500-yard event and more than half of the Morgan Hill Swim Club’s performances in the event were personal records.
Mike Wu captured first place in the 500, followed closely by second place finisher and teammate Steven Rick. “Mike and Steven raced the entire distance within two feet of each other with Mike holding on to take the win over a hard charging, fast closing effort by Steven the last 50 yards,” said Scott.
Some other impressive results from the 500 came courtesy of Gina Acevedo who posted a new personal best that is almost two minutes faster than her old time. Despite being sick all week, Jordan Leier lopped almost a minute off her old time. Ryan McCombs,10, dropped more than 25 seconds off his time and Adam Pinarbasi, 10, improved his time by 30 seconds.
The younger swimmers also continued to show their improvement. Alyssa Greymont, 8, and Isabella Fernandez, 9, both posted personal best times in all the events they competed.
Caitlin McCombs, 9, recorded personal records in six out of the eight events she participated in, including posting three new “B” times. Ciara Quigley, 9, had personal best times in seven out of her nine events and posted four new “B” times. Andrew Kim, 7, finished 13 seconds faster than usual in the 25-yard freestyle.
“We swam well while tired,” said Scott. “It is evident we are getting into shape.”
In the 1000-yard freestyle Amber Acevedo, 12, improved her time by more than a minute and also dropped more than 10 seconds off her time in the 400-yard medley to earn a new “A” time. Karen McElheney cut almost 20 seconds off her time in the 400-yard medley and Katie Rick knocked more than 10 seconds off her time in the 200-yard butterfly.
Training for competitive swimming picks up a notch during the holiday season according to Scott and the Makos team is well ahead of schedule and looking forward to continue improvement as the season progresses.
The Makos team returned to the pool over the weekend to participate in the Pacific Swimming Short Course Senior Championships in Pacifica.
