Greatest Southeasterns Ever!

Tsunamis Finish Summer With Highest Point Total Ever At Southeastern Championships!

I could go on and on forever about how great everybody swam this summer and at the Southeastern Championships!  However, I’ll do my best not to brag on too long and let the results speak for themselves.  PCST improved in nearly every possible statistical category except for one at the Southeastern Championships in Nashville this July.  Who would have thought that we would improve as much as we did and actually finish one place lower (22nd overall out of 41 teams) as a team than last year?    The truth is that it does not really matter because our team point total was about 50% higher than it has ever been and we have no control over how the other teams do at the meet.  (Besides, if you add in our "unattached" points scored from our new swimmers then we actually scored enough points to finish 17th overall!)  I truly could not be prouder of our performances at Southeasterns and am definitely counting down the days until we race there again in February!

New PCST Records in Nashville at SES Championships
Most Swimmers Qualified for the Meet: 34 (previous long course best 29)
Most Swimmers Participating in the Meet: 31 (previous long course best 20)
Most Relays Participating in the Meet: 12 (previous long course best 4)
Most Individual Swimmers in Finals: 6 (previous long course best 3)
Most Points Ever Scored: 218.5 (**Not including 69 points from the Evan & Astrid Escobar; previous best was 142!)
Highest Relay Finish Ever: 3rd Place (10 & Under Boys Medley Relay)
Highest Individual Finishes Since 2002: 2nd Place (Chad McGuire 10 & Under Boys 50 Breast), 2nd Place (Evan Escobar 13-14 Boys 800 Free)
Individual Team Records Broken at the Meet: 28
Relay Records Broken at the Meet: 7
Total Team Records Broken This Summer: 49

13 Swimmers and 6 Relays Finish in Top 16 Overall
I don’t believe we have ever had so many swimmers finish in the Top 16 in individual events.  Two years ago we hardly even had 13 swimmers at the long course championship meet!  Of the 13 swimmers who finished in the Top 16, nearly half of those finished in the Top 8 and 10 of them scored points for the Tsunamis.  Next year we’ll get even more in finals!

Mary McDermott (Senior Girls) 1500 Free (9th)
Evan Escobar (13-14 Boys) 800 Free (2nd), 400 Free (4th), 200 Free (6th), 1500 Free (8th), 50 Free (10th), 100 Free (14th)
Cody Bronnenberg (Senior Boys) 800 Free (11th), 200 Breast (12th), 100 Breast (15th)
Sara Evans (Senior Girls) 100 Breast (6th), 200 Breast (12th), 400 IM (15th)
Astrid Escobar (Senior Girls) 200 Breast (10th), 100 Breast (11th)
Michael Whitehead (13-14 Boys) 100 Back (13th), 200 Back (13th)
JD Clutch (13-14 Boys) 200 Back (15th), 100 Back (16th)
Kari Troia (10 & Under Girls) 50 Breast (5th), 100 Breast (6th), 200 IM (15th)
Michaela Ashley (10 & Under Girls) 100 Breast (14th), 50 Breast (16th)
Chad McGuire (10 & Under Boys) 50 Breast (2nd), 100 Breast (6th), 200 IM (15th)
Dylan Gandy (10 & Under Boys) 50 Breast (11th), 400 Free (12th)
Alex Phlegar (10 & Under Boys) 50 Back (8th), 50 Free (11th), 100 Back (12th), 200 IM (14th)
Reis Gordon (10 & Under Boys) 400 Free (8th), 200 IM (11th)

10 & Under Boys Medley Relay (Alex P., Chad M., Reis G., Dylan G. finished 3rd)
10 & Under Boys Free Relay (Alex P., Chad M., Reis G., Dylan G. finished 5th)
13-14 Boys Free Relay (Michael W., JD C., Dylan M., Michael C. finished 5th)
13-14 Boys Medley Relay (Michael W., Dylan M., Jonathan R., Michael C. finished 9th)
Senior Girls Free Relay (Nicole G., Kyle O., Mary M., Sara E. finished 13th)
Senior Girls Medley Relay (Victoria H., Sara E., Mary M., Nicole G. finished 16th)

11 Different Tsunami Swimmers Break PCST Individual Team Records!
Sometimes when a team has a bunch of team records broken, many of them tend to come from the same individual over and over.  This summer in Nashville though, we showed just how bright the future is for the Tsunamis by having 11 different swimmers break team records from all sorts of age groups!  When I say this was the "Greatest Southeasterns Ever", you can see why!  Some names are ones you’ve seen often and it’s no surprise that they broke a team record or two.  Others though, are new to the record breaking scene and plan to be there for many years to come! 

**It is also important to note that we had about 10-12 other races where swimmers were less than 1 second off of breaking the team record but just missed it by mere tenths of a second!

10 & Under Girls New Team Records
Kari Troia 400 Free (6:16.80), previously Kari Troia (6:22.63) from 2009
Kari Troia 50 Breast (42.32), previously Kari Troia (43.79) from 2009
Kari Troia 100 Breast (1:35.46), previously Kari Troia (1:37.55) from 2009

10 & Under Boys New Team Records
Alex Phlegar 50 Free (34.19), previously Jonathan Ratliff (34.56) from 2007
Alex Phlegar 50 Back (40.11), previously Richard Greer (40.45) from 2000
Reis Gordon 400 Free (5:47.55), previously Reis Gordon (6:05.87) from 2009
Reis Gordon 100 Fly (1:33.56), previously Reis Gordon (1:38.20) from 2009
Chad McGuire 50 Breast (43.48), previously Chad McGuire (45.53) from 2009
Chad McGuire 100 Breast (1:42.68), previously Chad McGuire (1:42.68) from 2009

13-14 Boys New Team Records
Evan Escobar 200 Free (2:05.28), previously Kevin Faulhaber (2:10.55) from 2006
Evan Escobar 400 Free (4:25.77), previously Evan Escobar (4:26.76) from 2009
Evan Escobar 800 Free (9:09.76), previously Evan Escobar (9:24.46) from 2009
Michael Whitehead 200 Back (2:28.70), previously Joey Darnell (2:29.01) from 1994
Michael Whitehead 400 IM (5:23.44), previously Cody Bronnenberg (5:28.78) from 2007
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Fly (2:32.28), previously Greg Greer (2:32.43) from 2002

15-16 Girls New Team Records
Victoria Hove 200 Back (2:38.86), previously Victoria Hove (2:29.90) from 2009
Victoria Hove 200 IM (2:33.40), previously Victoria Hove (2:34.21) from 2009
Victoria Hove 400 IM (5:31.84), previously Marisa Sweetser (5:32.26) from 2000

15-16 Boys New Team Records
Cody Bronnenberg 400 Free (4:29.37), previously Cody Bronnenberg (4:31.36) from 2009
Cody Bronnenberg 800 Free (9:12.71), previously Cody Bronnenberg (9:16.80) from 2009
Cody Bronnenberg 200 Back (2:20.41), previously Cody Bronnenberg (2:21.03) from 2008
Cody Bronnenberg 100 Breast (1:10.69), previously Paul Erben (1:10.72) from 2001
Cody Bronnenberg 200 Breast (2:34.26), previously Paul Erben (2:36.86) from 2001
Cody Bronnenberg 400 IM (5:03.34), previously Cody Bronnenberg (5:04.25) from 2009

Senior Girls New Team Records
Sara Evans 100 Breast (1:17.91), previously Astrid Escobar (1:19.23) from 2009
Sara Evans 200 IM (2:31.60), previously Sara Evans (2:35.43) from 2009
Astrid Escobar 100 Breast (1:17.80), previously Sara Evans (1:17.91) from 2009
Astrid Escobar 200 Breast (2:47.19), previously Astrid Escobar (2:46.78) from 2009

Team Relay Record Book Was Re-Written Left and Right!
One of the greatest signs of improvement as a team is when you break relay records.  Not only did we have far more relays participate at the championship meet than ever, we also had 7 of those 12 relays break all-time team records!  I am also proud to say that we had our first ever 10 & Under Girls Relays at Southeasterns (much thanks to Heidi Retherford and her terrific efforts as the only 8 year old PCST swimmer at the meet), as well as our first ever 13-14 Boys relays!  Those boys shocked a lot of great relay teams that "should" have been better than us in that 400 Free Relay.  Clearly our hard work made us better than most teams in SES.  It sure was exciting watching that last heat after their race to see what place they would end up overall!  Remember that boys??

10 & Under New Relay Records
Girls 200 Medley Relay (3:04.97) Michaela Ashley, Kari Troia, Amelia Talkington, Heidi Retherford
Previously (3:08.70) Amelia Talkington, Michaela Ashley, Kari Troia, Brooke Sterrett from 2009
Boys 200 Free Relay (2:24.74) Alex Phlegar, Chad McGuire, Reis Gordon, Dylan Gandy
Previously (2:34.62) Chad McGuire, Alex Phlegar, Reis Gordon, Dylan Gandy from 2009
Boys 200 Medley Relay (2:45.51) Alex Phlegar, Chad McGuire, Reis Gordon, Dylan Gandy
Previously (2:53.82) Alex Phlegar, Chad McGuire, Reis Gordon, Dylan Gandy from 2009

13-14 New Relay Records
Boys 400 Free Relay (4:05.86) Michael Whitehead, JD Clutch, Dylan Mock, Michael Commins
Previously (4:20.61) Michael Commins, JD Clutch, Michael Whitehead, Dylan Mock from 2009
Boys 400 Medley Relay (4:45.46) Michael Whitehead, Dylan Mock, Jonathan Ratliff, Michael Commins
Previously (4:55.81) Michael Whitehead, Dylan Mock, JD Clutch, Michael Commins from 2009

Senior New Relay Records
Girls 400 Free Relay (4:16.32) Nicole Gazia, Kyle Olstad, Mary McDermott, Sara Evans
Previously (4:20.69) Sara Evans, Mary McDermott, Nicole Gazia, Victoria Hove from 2009
Girls 400 Medley Relay (4:50.32) Victoria Hove, Sara Evans, Mary McDermott, Nicole Gazia
Previously (4:58.32) Victoria Hove, Kyle Olstad, Sara Evans, Nicole Gazia from 2009

New Tsunami Awards!!
This is the last time you are going to see the Tsunami Awards in this format.  The "A" times, "AA" times, etc. are terrific benchmarks to use as goals as you progress through the events, but we are about to improve on that.  It’s not often we have a swimmer reach the "AAAA" level (usually about 1 each year so far), so big congratulations to Evan Escobar for achieving that in 3 different events!  From here on out though, we will be using the new "Tsunami Awards" incentive program created by Coach Brian.  His time standards for each age group helps give swimmers goals to reach all the way up from swimming a race for the first time to becoming the best in Southeastern Swimming!

"A" Times: Phoenix Rine (100 Breast, 200 Breast), Amelia Talkington (50 Free)
"AA" Times: Alex Phlegar (50 Free, 50 Back, 100 Back), Dylan Mock (100 Free), Reis Gordon (400 Free), Hannah Retherford (50 Free), Carlee McDonald (50 Free, 100 Free)
"AAA" Times: Chad McGuire (50 Breast), Michael Commins (50 Free, 100 Free), Michael Whitehead (200 Free), JD Clutch (50 Free), Chet Seaman (200 Breast), Sara Evans (100 Breast, 200 IM)
"AAAA" Times: Evan Escobar (200 Free, 400 Free, 800 Free)
"Sectionals" Times: Sara Evans (100 Breast, 200 IM), Cody Bronnenberg (100 Breast, 200 Breast)

New All-Time Top 10 Times!
We sure do have a ton of new swims to update on the all-time top 10 list!  Keep in mind that these are the fastest 10 times in the history of the team regardless of age group.  Normally, I would also type out the new Top 10 Times by Age Group, but we had so many that I probably would end up with carpal tunel syndrome in my fingers after typing it all!  So, instead, enjoy seeing the new rankings of many of the greatest swims in PCST history.  However...........don’t get comfortable............we plan on re-writing most of these times next long course season with even better swims!

New All-Time Top 10 Girls
50 Free: Nicole Gazia 5th (29.23)
100 Free: Nicole Gazia 4th (1:03.70)
200 Free: Nicole Gazia 4th (2:18.40)
400 Free: Nicole Gazia 4th (4:53.46)
800 Free: Mary McDermott 3rd (9:58.12)
50 Back: Hannah Retherford 9th (38.20)
100 Back: Carlee McDonald 3rd (1:14.37)
50 Breast: Astrid Escobar 1st (36.61), Sara Evans 2nd (36.77), Nicole Gazia 5th (39.55), Victoria Hove 7th (39.79), Kari Troia 10th (42.32)
100 Breast: Astrid Escobar 1st (1:17.80), Sara Evans 2nd (1:17.91), Victoria Hove 5th (1:23.01), Nicole Gazia 6th (1:23.07), Allison Troia 7th (1:24.33)
200 Breast: Astrid Escobar 1st (2:47.19), Sara Evans 3rd (2:51.78), Nicole Gazia 4th (2:57.43)
50 Fly: Sara Evans 2nd (32.49), Mary McDermott 4th (33.49), Jamie McDonald 5th (34.08), Victoria Hove 7th (34.24)
100 Fly: Jamie McDonald 6th (1:13.35)
200 IM: Sara Evans 1st (2:31.60), Victoria Hove 2nd (2:33.40)
400 IM: Victoria Hove 2nd (5:31.84)

New All-Time Top 10 Boys 
100 Free: Michael Perdomo 9th (58.45)
200 Free: Evan Escobar 3rd (2:05.28), Michael Perdomo 4th (2:06.02), Cody Bronnenberg 7th (2:08.92), Michael Whitehead 10th (2:11.07)
400 Free: Evan Escobar 2nd (4:25.77), Cody Bronnenberg 3rd (4:29.37), Michael Whitehead 7th (4:38.93)
800 Free: Evan Escobar 1st (9:09.76), Cody Bronneberg 2nd (9:12.71)
50 Back: Michael Whitehead 5th (33.33), JD Clutch 6th (33.35), Josh Perdomo 9th (34.07)
100 Back: Michael Whitehead 8th (1:08.58), JD Clutch 10th (1:09.03)
200 Back: Cody Bronnenberg 2nd (2:20.41), Michael Whitehead 6th (2:28.70), JD Clutch 8th (2:29.54)
50 Breast: Cody Bronnenberg 1st (33.03), Chet Seaman 4th (35.02), Sammy Reyes 6th (36.17), Phoenix Rine 7th (36.39)
100 Breast: Cody Bronnenberg 2nd (1:10.69), Chet Seaman 6th (1:13.94), Phoenix Rine 9th (1:16.45), Sammy Reyes 10th (1:16.46)
200 Breast: Cody Bronnenberg 2nd (2:34.26), Chet Seaman 5th (2:39.60), Sammy Reyes 7th (2:48.38), Phoenix Rine 10th (2:49.82)
50 Fly: Cody Bronnenberg 4th (29.86)
100 Fly: Michael Perdomo 7th (1:05.53)
200 Fly: Michael Perdomo 4th (2:28.37), Jonathan Ratliff 5th (2:32.28)
200 IM: Cody Bronneberg 2nd (2:20.73), Chet Seaman 10th (2:27.58)
400 IM: Cody Bronnenberg 1st (5:03.34), Michael Whitehead 8th (5:23.44)

What’s Next?  Now that we have started the short course season, I encourage all swimmers to think about the meets they are going to race in so that we can achieve all of our goals and beyond this year.  I would like to start with our "MISSION 100" campaign!  In October, let’s get over 100 PCST swimmers entered into our home meet!  Our previous best is 92 swimmers in a home meet and we currently have over 160 swimmers on the team, so it's very achievable.  (You can sign up today!)  Let’s use that meet as a catalyst to really get us excited about our best short course season ever!  Then, in February, I hope to have an even longer news article than this one to type out in order to cover all of the great accomplishments from Southeasterns!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan