THREE VILLAGE SWIM CLUB 2009 Metropolitan Open Water Championships July 12, 2009 - Huntington Bay

A record 53 TVSC athletes signed up either voluntary or not and reported at Huntington Head of the Bay club Sunday morning early for their voluntary or not Open Water race Satellite map of Huntington Bay. The red line is the 500 yard course along the shore for the 1,000, 2,000 and 3,000 event swimmers. The green triangle is the 5K or 5,000 meter or 5,458 yard course for open and master events 7:15 AM, Still cloudy and low tide at Huntington Bay Andrew is not real sure why he signed up for this . . . Angela and Alexa checking out the water of the "large" competition pool Ryan, Ray and Zach 11-12 girls at their first Open Water meet: Alison, Destiny and Devin 10 & Unders Erin, Karen, Naomi, Amanda and Katie 11-12 girls at their first Open Water meet: Ali, Destiny and Devin One more: Lara, Ali, Destiny and Devin Rookie and TVSC youngest Open Water swimmers: Cameron (8) (looks real happy to be there), Jack (10), Jacky (9), Alec (not real sure about this open water swimming) (9) and Henry (7) (also not real sure why he is here) and muscle man Ryan (9) in foreground Race time. Under still cloudy skies, the 5K Open age group and master swimmers are getting ready The kayakers getting ready This year's only TVSC 5K swimmers Kristin and Jimmy A look back from the dock towards the Head of the Bay Club and you know where the TVSC age group swimmers are. Many parents brought their lawn chairs and were watching the racing on the hill. Here, Jimmy, number 14, and Kristin are jumping in the water to swim to the starting line Meet director Bea Hartigan boating to starting line to start the 5K swimmers The start of the 5K A group of TVSC boys and, yes, we have lots of boys competing at TVSC and actually more boys than girls competed at this year's Open Water Championships. Fewer boys worry about sharing the water with fish and other sea creatures, than girls. Justin is also thinking why he agreed to sign up for this open water race Pre race briefing for the 14 & Under swimmers Erin, Katie, Amanda and Karen Matt at his first open water race listening to pre race briefing Chris at his first open water race listening to pre race briefing Adam at his first open water race listening to pre race briefing and thinking why did I do this . . . 10 & Unders getting ready for their race OK, it is low tide, let's check how deep it is before we start And right before start, the sun breaks through the clouds Start for 10 & Unders - due to low tide the depth by the dock is about four to five feet, so the swimmers have the choice to dive or jump in Katie is taking the lead already The 11-12s are axiously awaiting their turn Angela not sure about this open water stuff, was one of the ones who did not sign up voluntary . . . (Now we need to get her older sister Rosa going too) Rookie open water swimmers Laurance and Jake The 10 & Unders are almost half-way, close to turning point, where officials are checking if all swimmers are touching dock. The Canadian Geese in foreground are contemplating joining the race. Katie in the lead with the geese The 11-12s are walking up to the start Katie (10) sprinting the last part of her 1,000 yard race Boys 10 & U winner Cade McCormack coming in for the finish Andrew in 2nd place Boys, 3rd and 4th place finishers Ryan and Aidan McCormack Muscle man Ryan (9) finished 3rd for 10 & Under boys 4th place for Aidan McCormack Karen racing to a 2nd place finish for 10 & Under girls and Charles for 5th place boys Erin coming in for 3rd place 5th place finisher Charles Rookie open water swimmer Erin after finishing 3rd is swimming to beach Rookie open water swimmer Karen after finishing 2nd is swimming to beach 11-12s waiting for most of the 10 & Unders to finish before their start 10 & Unders getting out of the water and are being greeted by their parents The last group of 10 & Unders swimming to the finish Take your mark! Some elegant starts of the 11-12s Jack and Cameron finishing their race 11-12s swimming in between the mored boats The last group of 10 & Unders is walking onto the beach Posing for pictures are Erin, Karen, Naomi and Amanda Jacky - please submit a funny caption with this photo “Is that bird (goose/duck) poop on my hand??” by Alexa “Hey!!! Where’d the webbing go? I’m sure I had webbed hands before” by Emily After completing their 1,000 yard race, rookie open water swimmers Charles, Henry (only seven years old and the youngest open water swimmer for TVSC ever and at this meet!) and Justin (her sister Rachael never completed the race a couple of years ago) are posing for pictures. Great job! Rookie Cameron finished the 1,000 yard open water swim and .... he was still not sure about if he liked it or not Another rookie Naomi (9) made it and want to do it again next year 13-14s are getiing ready for their 3,000 yard race Parents on the beach are watching their childs in the 11-12 age group compete Mark will swim the 5K next year . . and so is Chase Kristen and Marie Matt has one more year as an age grouper, but we think he should do the 5K next year Last year's 11-12 boys 2,000 free winner, Ryan, wimped out a little bit swimming with 13-14 boys Sarah at half way point Nancy half-way in her 2,000 yard race 11-12s on their 3rd lap Samantha at the halfway point Dominic at the halfway point Elijah at halfway point of his race Ali at her first open water race and at the halfway point Jake at halfway point in his first open water race Laurance at halfway point, not real excited he has to do two more laps 13-14s watching the 11-12s compete Eric Wong Destiny at the halfway point Lara at halfway point Start of the 13-14s The lead swimmer in the Open 5K, George Martinez 11-12 boys 2,000 yard winner, Brandon Jinn 11-12 boys 2,000 yard 2nd place finisher, Arthur Uszynski Male open 5K winner, George Martinez Ryan coming in for 3rd for 11-12 boys Ryan A group of 11-12s sprinting for the finish Jessica sprinting to the finish for 1st place 11-12 girls Jessica Kaleigh finished 2md 11-12 girls Daniel Nancy Eric finishing his first open water swim Rita Brittany after finishing her first opn water swim Dominic and Devin after completing their races Elijah after completing his first open water race Angela trying to smile and looking into the sun for the camera after her first 2,000 yard open water race Ali after the finish of her first 2,000 tard open water swim Jimmy and a master swimmer coming into finishe after their 5K Jimmy is done! 3rd place for Jimmy in 5K Jimmy's dad and guide Michael finishing his first two laps Phoebe 1/3 done Charlotte 1/3 done Kristin finishing first in 5K open, still able to smile for camera, so it must not have been that bad Kristin and her Kayak guide Chris 1/3 of the way A master swimmer after finishing the 5K A master swimmer after finishing the 5K Charlotte started last 1/3 of race A master swimmer after finishing the 5K Marie finishing first of all 13-14 boys and girls 3,000 yard Champion Marie Lucas for LIE Mark after winning the boy's 3,000 yard 2nd place boys finisher Matt, who led the boys race for 5 1/2 laps, a little frustrated that Mark beat him Kristen finished 2nd for 13-14 girls Chris Penteck of Islip after his first Open Water Championships Third place finisher 13-14 girls Tabitha Barbosa Chase after finishing his 3,000 yard race Ryan Phoebe finishing her 3,000 yard race Candice finishing her 3,000 yard race Charlotte still able to cracj a smile after her first 3,000 yard open water swim Master swimmers after their 5K race (any TVSC parents swimming the 5K next year?) Ray with a fake smile for the camera, but he completed the race swimming a lot of breast stroke Thank you kayakers Charles Shemet and Steve Kaplan Last year was the first time we added Novice swimmers to 10 & Under 1,000 yard event and they did very well. This year is the first time we entered a several Novice swimmers in the 11-12 and 13-14 age groups. All 11-12 Novice swimmers completed the race but Adam was the only 13-year old Novice swimmer of three entered, who completed the difficult 3,000 yard open water race. Great job Adam! Chris and Matt did not finish their races, but it still was a great effort. It is like beginner runners, who enter their first half marathon one or two years after starting training. Matt anf Chris now know what to expect and we know that they will be ready to finish this race next year! Another first this year at the Open Water Championships was that the seven year old Henry compete. Henry has two older sibblings, Nancy (12) and Charles (9), competing this year, so instead of watching the race with mom and dad from the beach, he was also entered in the meet and did just fine. We predict that Henry will medal in this event mext year and will will this event as a 9 and 10 year old. Great swimming, Henry! We made finished it! Katie had quite a successful weekend, with winning events at the Sachem meet, getting her first two Zone cuts and winning the 1,000 open water race by a couple of minutes! Karen and Erin are checking out the awards. The age groupers get only small medals. The trophies are for the real open water swimmers, the ones who swim the 5k in the middle of the bay. Which 13 and 14 year olds will compete in the real event, 5K, next year? We had two this year and Jimmy finished 3rd in the men's open 5K, while Kristin won the women's open 5K. Mark and Chase already committed in doing 5K next year. Who will join them (you don't have to be 15 to compete in the open event)? Now look at Huntington Bay after the clouds broke up. It was so clear, you could see the Connecticut shore on the other side of the Long Island Sound, something that does not happen very often in the summer. 10 & Under girls: Gold Katie, Silver Karen and bronze Erin 10 & Under boys: Brandon Gold , Andrew Silver and Ryan Bronze Kaleigh 11-12 girls: silver Kaleigh, Gold Jessica and Bronze Sam 11-12 boys: Ryan Bronze, Arthur Uszynski Silver and Brandon Jinn Gold 13-14 girls: Gold Marie Lucas, Silver Kristen and Bronze Tabitha Barbosa 13-14 boys: Siver Matt, Bronze Jonathan and Gold Mark Open girls 5K: Gold Kristin, Silver Yauria Haruki and Bronze Karita Haim Opeb boys 5K: Gold George Martinez, Silver Kyle Wilson and Bronze Jimmy Michael is having fun