Seaman Leads Tsunamis To Record Weekend at Sectional Champs!

Chet Seaman Helps Tsunamis Break 18 Team Records and Finish 31st at Sectional Championships! (Great Last Chance Meet in Gulf Breeze Too!)

Yes, I'm getting closer and closer to catching up on our team news articles this very busy summer.  This particular weekend was July 9-11 and we had 3 different meets going on at the same time.  We sent 9 swimmers to Gainesville at the University of Florida to become our largest Sectional Championship Team ever!  The largest team we've ever sent to Sectionals before this was 3 in 2008.  We also sent a terrific batch of swimmers to Gulf Breeze for the Last Chance qualifier meet with Coach Brian and had some great swims there.  :)

Tsunamis Finish Higher Than Ever at Sectional Championships
Until now, we had never before scored a single point at a Sectional Championship meet.  At this meet, not only did we get 4 out of our 9 swimmers into finals, we also scored 29 total team points to finish 31st overall at a meet that certainly had about 70-80 teams in it.  Many many teams did not even score a single point, just like us in the past.  But now, times are changing and the Tsunamis are going to higher level championship meets to score, not just to participate!  I'm loving it!

-Girls team scored 10 points to finish 30th overall
-Boys team scored 19 points to finish 26th overall
-PCST finished with 29 total points to finish 31st overall!

Astrid Escobar Leads 4 Tsunamis To Finals Appearances at Sectionals!
We had more swimmers getting repeat finals appearances than we had ever even had at the meet before this weekend!  For having a batch of swimmers who had never been to a meet at such a high level, we sure were relaxed and confident as if we were a team of experienced veterans.  Can't wait to see how great we do soon at these meets now that we are actually become experienced veterans of the higher levels. :)  Congrats to Astrid Escobar for having our highest individual finish in the 200 Breast.

Astrid Escobar 200 Breast (13th)
Cody Bronnenberg 200 Breast (16th); 100 Breast (17th), 400 IM (24th)
Chet Seaman 200 Breast (20th); 100 Breast (23rd)
Kyle Olstad 100 Breast (24th)

19 Total Team Records Between GPAC Last Chance and Sectional Champs Meets
Can you believe that 18 of these team records were broken by a small group of only 9 swimmers at Sectionals?  And Dylan Mock wanted in on the action too just to make sure nobody forgot how great we swam at Gulf Breeze.  Even at very fast championship meets with modest numbers of swimmers, we're still breaking LARGE amount of records!  Did I mention that we also broke the oldest male and female relay records left on the books from 1989 and 1991??  And yes, Chet Seaman broke 4/4 records on individual swims and 3/5 records on relay swims for a total of 7 records for himself!

13-14 Boys
Dylan Mock 50 Fly (32.32); previously Michael Whitehead (32.36) in 2010

15-16 Girls
Victoria Hove 100 Back (1:12.29); previously Victoria Hove (1:12.76) in 2009

15-16 Boys
Evan Escobar 400 Free (4:23.71); previously Michael Whitehead (4:28.40) in 2010
Chet Seaman 100 Breast (1:10.45); previously Cody Bronnenberg (1:10.69) in 2009
Chet Seaman 200 Breast (2:33.51); previously Cody Bronnenberg (2:34.26) in 2009
Chet Seaman 200 IM (2:18.09); previously Kevin Faulhaber (2:18.80) in 2008
Chet Seaman 400 IM (4:54.02); previously Chet Seaman (4:57.39) in 2009
Michael Whitehead 50 Back (30.76); previously Cody Bronnenberg (31.15) in 2008

Senior Girls
Astrid Escobar 200 Breast (2:46.68); previously Astrid Escobar (2:47.19) in 2009

Senior Boys
Cody Bronnenberg 800 Free (9:16.40); previously Cody Bronnenberg (9:16.43) in 2010
Cody Bronnenberg 1500 Free (17:35.93); previously Beau Brothers (18:15.54) in 2008
Cody Bronnenberg 400 IM (4:46.24); previously Cody Bronnenberg (4:55.41) in 2010

Girls Relays
Senior 200 Free Relay (1:59.71) Kyle Olstad, Victoria Hove, Carlee McDonald, Nicole Gazia
previously (2:00.45) Carlee McDonald, Mary McDermott, Kyle Olstad, Nicole Gazia in 2009
Senior 200 Medley Relay (2:13.09) Victoria Hove, Astrid Escobar, Carlee McDonald, Nicole Gazia
previously (2:13.70) Carlee McDonald, Kyle Olstad, Elvira Chiccarelli, Mary McDermott in 2008
Senior 400 Medley Relay (4:48.05) Carlee McDonald, Astrid Escobar, Victoria Hove, Nicole Gazia
previously (4:50.32) Victoria Hove, Sara Evans, Mary McDermott, Nicole Gazia in 2009
Senior 800 Free Relay (9:35.96) Carlee McDonald, Victoria Hove, Nicole Gazia, Kyle Olstad
previously (10:16.51) Heather McCormick, Jessica Sweetser, Amy Guyne, Erin Sturgi in 1991

Boys Relays
Senior 200 Free Relay (1:45.71) Evan Escobar, Cody Bronnenberg, Chet Seaman, Michael Whitehead
previously (1:46.43) Richard O'Donnell, Michael Perdomo, Chris Miner, Kevin Faulhaber in 2008
Senior 200 Medley Relay (1:57.89) Michael Whitehead, Cody Bronnenberg, Chet Seaman, Evan Escobar
TIED with (1:57.89) Cody Bronnenberg, Chet Seaman, Max White, Michael Duderstadt in 2010
Senior 800 Free Relay (8:15.58) Chet Seaman, Cody Bronnenberg, Evan Escobar, Michael Whitehead
previously (9:13.59) Tim Bean, George Hanner, Mickey Burnett, Spencer Gibson in 1989
**This breaks the oldest relay left in team history!!!

Largest Sectional Team in PCST History Rewrites Loads of All-Time Top 10 With Help from GPAC Swimmers!
This is just a tiny preview into the MASSIVE rewriting of the all-time top ten list regardless of age.  Just wait until you read about Southeasterns!

Girls
100 Back Victoria Hove 1st (1:12.29)
50 Breast Victoria Hove 5th (39.17)
100 Breast Kyle Olstad 3rd (1:19.78)
200 Breast Astrid Escobar 1st (2:46.68); Kyle Olstad 6th (2:58.34)
50 Fly Nicole Gazia 8th (34.04)
100 Fly Kristen Ratliff 9th (1:13.91)

Boys
50 Free Evan Escobar 6th (26.08)
200 Free Chet Seaman 5th (2:05.39)
400 Free Evan Escobar 2nd (4:23.71)
800 Free Dylan Mock 10th (9:58.09)
1500 Free Michael Whitehead 3rd (17:44.93)
100 Back Michael Whitehead 3rd (1:04.19)
200 Back Michael Whitehead 3rd (2:21.28)
50 Breast Chet Seaman 2nd (33.14), Michael Whitehead 7th (35.73)
100 Breast Chet Seaman 3rd (1:10.45)
200 Breast Chet Seaman 3rd (2:33.51)
200 IM Chet Seaman 2nd (2:18.09)
400 IM Cody Bronnenberg 1st (4:46.24), Chet Seaman 2nd (4:54.02)

Swimmers From GPAC Meet and Sectionals Contribute To New Age Group All-Time Top 10 Swims
We hit every single age group on this one.  This just means that we continue to have some of the fastest swimmers in the history of the team in every single age group!  This also means some pretty great things and probably many more team records are in store for the Tsunamis in the future.

8 & Under Girls: Marisa Ashley 100 Ba (7th), 100 Fl (4th)
8 & Under Boys: Tristan Gandy 50 Fr (10th), 100 Fr (8th), 50 Ba (2nd), 100 Ba (5th), 50 Br (3rd), 100 Br (2nd)
9-10 Girls:  Molly Grace Bradford 50 Ba (10th), 100 Ba (9th)
9-10 Boys: Dylan Gandy 100 Br (3rd)
11-12 Girls: Michaela Ashley 50 Br (10th)
11-12 Boys: Chad McGuire 100 Br (3rd)
13-14 Boys: Dylan Mock 800 Fr (3rd), 50 Ba (5th), 100 Ba (9th), 50 Br (3rd), 100 Br (9th), 200 Br (8th), 50 Fl (1st); Denver Dangerfield 50 Ba (8th), 50 Br (10th), 50 Fl (9th)
15-16 Girls: Victoria Hove 100 Ba (1st), 50 Br (3rd), Nicole Gazia 50 Fl (3rd), Kristen Ratliff 50 Fl (6th), 100 Fl (6th), Devin McGrew 50 Ba (10th), 50 Br (3rd)
15-16 Boys: Evan Escobar 50 Fr (3rd), 400 Fr (1st), Michael Whitehead 50 Fr (10th), 800 Fr (2nd), 1500 Fr (2nd), 50 Ba (1st), 50 Br (6th), 100 Ba (3rd), 200 Ba (2nd), 100 Br (8th), Chet Seaman 100 Fr (7th), 200 Fr (3rd), 50 Br (2nd), 100 Br (1st), 200 Br (1st), 200 IM (1st), 400 IM (1st)
Senior Girls: Kyle Olstad 100 Br (3rd), 200 Br (4th), 50 Fr (7th), 100 Fr (8th), 50 Br (3rd), Astrid Escobar 200 Br (1st), Carlee McDonald 50 Fr (9th), 200 Fr (8th), 100 Ba (2nd)
Senior Boys: Cody Bronnenberg 800 Fr (1st), 1500 Fr (1st), 400 IM (1st)

Some Interesting Developments and Improvements in the Long Course Tsunami Award Team Rankings
I really enjoy watching our swimmers jump over the top of each other after each meet.  I strongly encourage each and every swimmer to learn what it takes to earn points with Tsunami Awards and what it means to be the leader (or in the top 5) of your age group on the team.  It means you are likely to be one of the fastest, most talented and well-rounded swimmers we have on the team for that age group for an entire year!

10 & Under Girls: Heidi Retherford improves 3rd place (36 points)
10 & Under Boys: Dylan Gandy moves into 4th place (52 points)
11-12 Boys: Chad McGuire moves into 2nd place (52 points)
13-14 Boys: Dylan Mock improves 2nd place (91 points), Andrew Krist improves 4th place (54 points), Denver Dangerfield improves 5th place (34 points)
15-16 Girls: Victoria Hove improves 1st place (114 points)
15-16 Boys: Chet Seaman improves 1st place (119 points), Michael Whitehead improves 2nd place (110 points), Evan Escobar improves 4th place (87 points)
Senior Girls: Kyle Olstad moves into 1st place (70 points), Astrid Escobar improves 3rd place (51 points), Carlee McDonald moves into 4th place (38 points)

Soon I will have news articles up for our terrific showing at the Dothan Meet, our unbelievable week in Knoxville at Southeasterns as well as exciting news about our highest level qualifier, Cody Bronnenberg, for the Junior National Championships next week in Irvine, California!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan