Great Success at Gainesville and PNY Meets!

Last Meet of 2008 Brings Incredible Success for Tsunamis!

The weekend of December 5-7, the Tsunamis split the team up into two groups.  One group consisted of some great swimmers who went to Gulf Shores, AL to compete in the Pensacola Navy Youth Holiday Meet.  The other consisted of some of the top Tsunamis on the team at the Gator Swim Club Winter Championship Meet.  I am proud to announce that we swam great at both meets and I have lots of news to present to you! 

Tsunamis Finish VERY High at Gainesville Championships!  There were neary 70 teams competing at this meet with the finest swimmers in Florida.  It gives me great pleasure to announce that PCST finished 21st overall at the very competitive meet!  Wow!

Four Tsunamis and a Relay Finish in Top 8 Championship Final at Ultra Competitive Gainesville Championship Meet! This meet had over 800 of the fastest swimmers in the entire state of Florida ranging from Pensacola all the way to Miami.  Each year it proves to be one of the fastest meets in the Southeastern United States, so finishing Top 8 is a major achievement.  Here are the swimmers who pulled it off for PCST!

Sara Evans (Senior Girls) 200 Breast (2nd), 100 Breast (5th), 400 IM (7th)

Jonathan Ratliff (11-12 Boys) 50 Fly (8th), 100 Back (8th), 100 Fly (7th)

Nicole Gazia (13-14 Girls) 100 Breast (6th), 50 Free (7th), 200 Breast (6th)

Cody Bronnenberg (15-16 Boys) 100 Breast (6th), 100 Back (8th), 200 IM (7th), 200 Back (5th), 200 Breast (6th)

Dylan Gandy, Chad McGuire, Reis Gordon, Conrad vonBlankenburg (10 & Under Boys) 200 Medley Relay (6th)

Sara Evans and Cody Bronneberg Get Sectional Qualifying Times!  The Sectional Championships are a level above the prestigious Southeastern Championships and it is incredibly difficult to qualify for this meet.  Both Sara and Cody have previously achieved qualifying times, but now they have more swims to add to that impressive list.

Sara Evans New Sectional Times: 200 Breast, 400 IM

Cody Bronnenberg New Sectional Times: 200 Back, 200 IM

Three Tsunamis Achieve New Southeastern Time Standards!  We have now moved our list of swimmers qualified for the end of the season championship meet to 23.  Congrats to Dylan Gandy (100 Breast), Reis Gordon (50 Fly) and Nicole Gazia (100 Free) for qualifying in new events for SES Champs!

Final Tsunami Awards for 2008!  The year is drawing to a close, so it is time to announce the final additions to the 2008 Tsunami Awards.  I am incredibly proud of how many swimmers we managed to get in each club and cannot wait to see how we do in 2009!  Here are our final additions/changes to the Tsunami Awards Clubs:

"B" Swimmers: Nathan Hedglin (50 Free, 100 Free)

"BB" Swimmers: Sierra Lesnik (50 Free), Conrad vonBlankenburg (50 Breast)

"A" Swimmers: Reis Gordon (100 Fly), Chad McGuire (50 Breast), Emily Silver (25 Back)

"AAA" Swimmers: Jonathan Ratliff (100 Fly), Victoria Hove (400 IM), Nicole Gazia (100 Free)

Five Swimmers Account for 8 New PCST All-Time Team Records!  Each meet I keep expecting these records to slow down a bit, but here we are again with more and more team records to update!  It's gotta be a great feeling knowing you're the best swimmer in an event in the history of the entire team!  Well, the following swimmers know exactly what that feels like:

Jonathan Ratliff, 11-12 Boys: 50 Fly (29.05), previously Jonathan Ratliff (29.38) from 2008

Jonathan Ratliff, 11-12 Boys: 100 Fly (1:04.99), previously Jonathan Ratliff (1:05.44) from 2008

Nicole Gazia, 13-14 Girls: 50 Free (25.72), previously Nicole Gazia (25.80) from 2008

Nicole Gazia, 13-14 Girls: 200 Breast (2:34.91), previously Victoria Hove (2:35.07) from 2008

Victoria Hove, 15-16 Girls: 200 Back (2:16.99), previously Andrea Erben (2:17.24) from 2000

Cody Bronnenberg, 15-16 Boys: 200 Back (1:59.55), previously Cody Bronnenberg (2:00.76) from 2008

Sara Evans, Senior Girls 200 Breast: (2:29.14), previously Marisa Sweetser (2:30.30) from 2001

Sara Evans, Senior Girls 400 IM: (4:36.78), previously Shanna Halsell (4:43.10) from 2002

Four Swimmers Achieve All-Time Top Ten Times!  Take a good look at these names because they are quite literally some of the best swimmers Bay County has ever seen!  In fact, Sara Evans is now the fastest female 400 IM'er ever to touch the water for PCST!

Nicole Gazia: 50 Free 4th (25.72), 100 Free 7th (56.99), 50 Breast 4th (33.74), 100 Breast 5th (1:11.97), 200 Breast 4th (2:34.91)

Sara Evans: 100 Back 5th (1:04.12), 200 Breast 2nd (2:29.14), 100 Fly 3rd (1:03.07), 400 IM 1st (4:36.78)

Cody Bronnenberg: 200 Back 2nd (1:59.55), 50 Breast 3rd (29.54), 100 Breast 4th (1:03.45), 200 Breast 3rd (2:19.39), 50 Fly 7th (26.03), 200 IM 3rd (1:59.76), 400 IM 5th (4:30.23)

Michael Perdomo: 200 Fly 4th (2:09.73)

Lots of New All-Time Top 10 Age Group Rankings!  This is a new list I have started that took a TON of hours to put together while researching into the wee hours of the night.  It lists the top swimmers in each age group in the history of the Panama City Swim Team, and it's quite an impressive list to find yourself on.

8 & Under Girls: Emily Silver 50 Back 7th (48.23), 50 Fly 9th (59.23)

10 & Under Girls: Michaela Ashley 50 Breast 10th (43.39)

10 & Under Boys: Reis Gordon 100 Free 9th (1:14.72), 50 Breast 9th (45.09), 50 Fly 6th (38.51), 100 Fly 3rd (1:23.11), Chad McGuire 50 Breast 5th (41.76), 100 Breast 6th (1:33.96), Dylan Gandy 50 Breast 7th (43.71), 100 Breast 8th (1:35.92), 200 IM 5th (3:06.11)

11-12 Boys: Jonathan Ratliff 50 Free 7th (28.38), 100 Back 3rd (1:09.44), 50 Fly 1st (29.05), 100 Fly 1st (1:04.99)

13-14 Girls: Nicole Gazia 50 Free 1st (25.72), 100 Free 2nd (56.99), 100 Breast 3rd (1:11.97), 200 Breast 1st (2:34.91)

13-14 Boys: Shane Young 50 Free 7th (25.14), Michael Whitehead 100 Back 8th (1:03.70)

15-16 Girls: Laura Kearns 500 Free 4th (5:31.14), 200 Back 8th (2:26.67), Victoria Hove 500 Free 6th (5:40.04), 100 Back 6th (1:06.04), 200 Back 1st (2:16.99), 100 Breast 9th (1:17.30), 200 Breast 5th (2:44.54), 100 Fly 7th (1:05.06), 400 IM 2nd (4:47.36)

15-16 Boys: Cody Bronnenberg 200 Back 1st (1:59.55), 100 Breast 3rd (1:03.45), 200 Breast 3rd (2:19.39), 200 IM 2nd (1:59.76), 400 IM 2nd (4:30.23), Troy vonBlankenburg 400 IM 3rd (4:43.54)

Senior Girls: Sara Evans 100 Back 3rd (1:04.12), 200 Breast 1st (2:29.14), 400 IM 1st (4:36.78), 100 Fly 3rd (1:03.07)

I wish I could have been at the PNY to see all the great swims, but Coach Sarah gave me some great updates that I was thrilled to hear.  At the Gainesville Meet (which was my favorite meet growing up as a swimmer by the way), we absolutely swam great, finishing 21st overall out of nearly 70 teams in the meet.  It was a great accomplishment and I cannot tell you how happy I was at that meet seeing all of those spectatular times.  I can't wait to do it again in 2009 but with even better results!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan