Bronnenberg Shines at Speedo Junior Nationals!

Cody Bronnenberg Represents Tsunamis Well at Junior Nationals in Atlanta!

While our "National Team" is growing rapidly (3 individual members and 2 relay only swimmers), we are still being represented at the highest Junior National levels by a team of one.  Thankfully for the Tsunamis, that team of one is ONE HECK OF A "ONE"!  Senior Cody Bronnenberg has been paving the way for our upcoming senior swimmers for over a year now as he contiues to reach new heights, helping bring new swimmers to the National Team.  It was not that long ago that Cody first qualified for the Winter Speedo Junior Nationals in Atlanta.  In fact, it was only in late March.  Since then he has progressed so well that he quite literally has made himself one of the top breaststrokers in the entire country!

In just half a year he has gone from hoping to simply qualify for the meet to choosing to forego Nationals with expectations of making finals in multiple events at Juniors.  Heck, even over the summer at Junior Nationals he had AMAZING swims and still finished ranked in the 50's at the highest.  Cody has come a long way and we are all incredibly proud of him.  But we are not the only ones recognizing him.  It took us quite a while to actually get out of the pool area that last night at the meet because so many college coaches wanted to chat with him.  Guess what guys??  Novice, Age Groupers, Seniors...............if you keep working hard and coming consistently, this will be you one day!

Winning Teams at Junior Nationals
*First Colony Swim Team (in Texas) won the women's division
*Bolles (in Jacksonville) won the men's division
*Dynamo (from Atlanta) won the overall combined division (Bolles finished 2nd overall)

Cody Makes Finals In Both Breaststroke Events!
Coming back after an exciting an highly charged high school season to get ready for another big championship meet is not an easy thing to do.  Often many swimmers have a hard time reaching that same level of excitement in their high school events at their next meet, even if it is Junior Nationals.  We got to see that first hand as even the best Florida swimmers struggled in their high school events.  Cody's 100 Breast may have not been his best in Atlanta, but it was still incredible enough to make it back for finals that second night we were there.  Some people would be on top of the world just for that opportunity, but not Cody.  He was proud but he also wanted more and he got it with a second finals swim the next night in the 200 Breast.

Cody's Swims at Junior Nationals
200 IM (92nd) 1:55.18
100 Back (Time Trial) 51.56 (Best time!!)
400 IM (78th) 4:06.76 (Best time!!)
100 Breast (29th) 57.77 in prelims; 58.13 in finals
200 Breast (25th) 2:05.78 in prelims; 2:05.16 in finals (Both best times!!)

4 New Team Records Fall Including Final Paul Erben Record!
There was a time not long ago when the name "Paul Erben" was splattered all over the team record board.  If you have never met Paul, he is an outstanding individual and was a terrific swimmer for the Tsunamis as well as my alma mater, Florida State.  I actually had the pleasure of coaching Paul at FSU his freshman year.  I bring this up because thanks to the hard work of your Tsunamis over the past 4.5 years, Paul has officially lost his last team record for PCST.  It was a heck of a record and stood a long time, but the fact that his records are gone is a testament to the dedication you all have put into your swimming over the years!  And Chet Seaman..........I hope you enjoyed your 400 IM record for a week.  Feel free to take it back whenever you like!

Cody Bronnenberg Senior Boys 200 Breast (2:05.78) breaks Paul Erben (2:08.08) from 2003
Cody Bronnenberg Senior Boys 200 Breast (2:05.16) breaks Cody Bronnenberg (2:05.78) from 2010
Cody Bronnenberg Senior Boys 50 Back (24.81) breaks Cody Bronnenberg (25.18) from 2010
Cody Bronnenberg Senior Boys 400 IM (4:06.75) breaks Chet Seaman (4:08.15) from 2010

New Junior National Cuts Achieved Too!
I remember (1 year ago) when we were on top of the world because Cody got his first NCSA Junior National cut. Let that be a lesson to you Tsunamis............a year goes by fast, but great dedication can take you SO SO FAR in that time!  Now here I am typing about new Junior Nationals cuts and higher Junior Nationals cuts in multiple events for Cody as just a small blurb of the news article.  That's good progress. :)

New Cuts for Cody
400 IM (NCSA Junior Nationals and Winter Junior Nationals Bonus)
100 Back (Winter Junior Nationals)
200 Breast (Winter Junior Nationals; Summer Junior Nationals and Summer Nationals Bonus) 

Now Among The Best!!
There is a reason why some of the top colleges in the country are recruiting Cody.............okay, so there are lots of reasons (incredible grades, terrific hardworking kid, amazing swims, wonderful teammate).  However, one thing that brings him into the spotlight is that he is standing out among the best in the entire country.  In the state of Florida, Cody's 56.64 in the 100 Breast at the State Championships ranked him as the 2nd fastest breaststroker in the entire state!  The one swimmer he lost to (Sergio Lujan-Rivera from Bolles) WON JUNIOR NATIONALS!  If you're going to lose to someone, you might as well lose the the best! 

In fact, between the Junior National meet and the 18 & younger swimmers competing at the National meet the week before, there were only 11 swimmers between the ages of 17-18 still in high school that swam faster than Cody's 56.64 (and many of them were only hundreths and tenths faster).  And some of the are probably juniors right now too.  That means swimmers in the 56.64 range for breast are slim pickens for college coaches and are very hard to find!  And your teammate is one of them. :)

ATAC Swimmers Rock Too!
I also would like to point out that our great friends in Tallahassee were incredible at the meet!  They had 1 boy and 5 girls there who swam out of their minds in many events.  The ATAC girls actually finished 11th place OVERALL as a team and were only 1 point out of a top ten finish.  Their relays were consistently scoring amazing points and the best part is that their girls were 2 freshman, 2 sophomores and a junior, while their boy was a sophomore.  Look out next year!  They just keep raising the bar for us, so we just have to keep jumping higher!  Cody and I got to spend great time with them on the deck and at a team dinner at the end of the meet.  Maybe next time we can have our own big team full of Tsunamis there!  Anyone interested???  Congratulations to our ATAC friends on your incredible swims!

Best Part About the Meet
Having the opportunity to pay out the wazoo for just about everything in downtown Atlanta was so much fun!!  Okay, so I'm being just a little sarcastic there.  Actually, the hotel was fantastic, very close to the pool and SUPER tall.  We went to the 47th floor at the top and looked down since it was all indoors and I had white knuckles clinging to the railing as I looked over.  I don't know about you but I feel like I'm being pulled over the edge when I look down like that, haha!  The best part about the meet really though, was getting to talk with Cody afterwards and reflect on it and the season. 

He's a determined swimmer who knows what he wants and is willing to work as hard as it takes to get there.  While he had many best times at the meet, he left the meet (as I did) excited about training for February and Southeasterns.  He was one of the VERY few swimmers at the meet who left a little bit disappointed even after going many best times.  Rather than being bothered by it though, he used that energy to put into his training and is ready to swim faster than ever in Nashville in February! 

I hope every Tsunami on the team can take something away from that whether you're  a Senior swimmer, Age Grouper or Novice swimmer.  The best part about swimming is that it's not all perfect and you don't always get what you want.  That sounds weird to say but it's true.  If it was perfect all the time, the perfect swims wouldn't be as exhilirating for you.  If you put your best effort into it every practice though, good things will happen!  Getting those goals after putting the work into it is like getting to open up your favorite birthday or holiday gift for the first time!  Nothing beats it.  :)

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan