NVSL News

The NVSL season was brought to a close with a bang this past Saturday at Broyhill Crest. For those who missed out, here are our Top 10 Swims of the meet (in no particular order).

This year’s All-Stars welcomed a few new records…

Sean Fletcher – Boys 15-18 IM (NVSL RECORD). Less than 10 swimmers have ever broken a minute in the IM, and only 2 swimmers have broken a 59. Going a 57.40 in the 100 IM is unprecedented and raises the bar to a new level in this event (just as Sean did by going a 24 in the 50 fly earlier this season).

Sinead Eksteen – Girls 8 & Under Backstroke (NVSL RECORD). Sinead dropped 4/10 of a second off her best time to best Janet Hu’s record of 18.47 by 3/10 of a second. Just for comparison, her time of 18.18 would have placed her 10th in the freestyle.

Amanda Kendall – Girls 15-18 Freestyle (NVSL RECORD). Amanda had never broken a 27 before Saturday. She picked a great place to do it, flying well under the 27 second barrier on her way to a 26.42. In doing so, she slipped just 0.03 under Katie Radloff’s previous record of 26.45. Icing on the cake: She was seeded to get second.

A great swimmer excels and takes advantage of whatever situation they may be put in…

Blake Sundel – Boys 15-18 Freestyle. It is a rare occurance that an alternate at All-Stars finds himself or herself with the opportunity to swim in their respective event. Blake Sundel found himself in this position when two of the 15-18 Boys dropped from the event. Not only did Blake go on to win his heat, but he jumped from his original 21st seed to finish in the top 10.

Michaela Morrison – Girls 9-10 Breaststroke. Lane 1 is not exactly the lane you’re hoping for coming into a meet like All-Stars. But then again, it gives you the opportunity to label yourself as the infamous “outside smoke” if you are ready to step up to the challenge. Michaela Morrison didn’t let lane 1 phase her for a minute, as she dropped over two seconds from the dreaded lane 1 and swam her way to the silver.

Larry Dow – Boys 15-18 Backstroke. Some may call it an off swim, some may call it strategy. Regardless, Larry Dow found himself in heat 2 as opposed to heat 3 at this year’s meet. Larry took full advantage of his clean water as he rocketed his way to 2nd place overall from heat 2, only missing 1st by 0.01.

Connor Cason – Boys 11-12 Butterfly. After Michaela Morrison warmed up lane 1 earlier in the meet, Connor Cason decided he wanted some outside smoke action. Connor dropped four places and nearly two seconds as he swam his way to the gold from lane 1.

Paying our last respects to some graduating seniors…

Patrick Sullivan – Boys 15-18 Freestyle. When Patrick’s name was announced as he stepped up to the edge of the pool for his final NVSL race, he stuck the pose of a Greek God. The pose was fitting. Sullivan won, finishing more than 3/10 faster than the second place finisher in the event.

Hilary Fritz – Girls 15-18 Backstroke. Hilary Fritz showed her dominance in the water as she dropped over half a second from her seed time to win the event after being seeded fourth. Fritz will be back coaching Mclean next summer to pass on her expertise.

Ashley Danner – Girls 15-18 I.M. As Ashley Danner raced towards the wall on the last leg of her I.M., several 15-18 boys nervously watched the clock to see if Danner’s time would beat their own. Danner’s time of 1:04.15 crushed the competition, winning the event by over 2 seconds and cementing her as the best Girls 15-18 I.M. swimmer the NVSL has ever seen.