Talkington Drives PCST Forward in Auburn!

Amelia Talkington Breaks Two Team Records and Leads Tsunamis In First Auburn Meet Since 2006!

The last time the Tsunamis went to the Auburn Meet was June 2006.  I had been the head coach of the team for about 5 days at the time and had only even met about 5 of my own 11 swimmers competing at the meet going into that weekend.  Back then, PCST had about 65 total swimmers on the team.  Needless to say, times have changed.  Now that we range between 175-190 swimmers monthly, we returned to Auburn with a very different attitude and confidence.  That meet is often dominated by a unique combination of the finest swimmers in Alabama, one of the top teams in the entire country (Swim Atlanta), and a mixture of incredible Auburn swimmers and post-grad Auburn professionals.

While we did not go to the meet in full force, our presence is certainly much more noticed than when we last stepped foot on that pool deck.  And if you don't believe me, just ask the 10 & Under girls at the meet!  Most of our Tsunami swam very well, but Amelia Talkington was the driving force behind a very successful Auburn meet.  She made sure everybody from Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana knew that we're on our way to some special things down here with PCST!

Two Very Fast Team Records Were Set!
If you think about the incredible swimmers we have had come through this program, it's hard to believe that any record can stand for 10 years these days.  Well, thanks to Amelia Talkington, records that old are starting over with new fresher and faster times.  One of these team records was set back around the same time Amelia was born!  That's pretty crazy to think. :)  Congratulations Amelia, on some very exciting races in Auburn.

Amelia Talkington 10 & Under Girls 100 Free (1:00.51) breaks Amelia Talkington (1:01.06) from 2010
Amelia Talkington 10 & Under Girls 200 Free (2:12.40) breaks Jessica Chandlee (2:15.77) from 2001

Four Seniors Place New Times Into All-Time Top 10 List
Mid January is always a tough time of the year to race for our seniors.  The winter break usually involves a few days off here and there, filled with major conditioning and strength building practices for weeks leading up to mid January.  This makes for some VERY tired swimmers.  However, the way I see it, I would not be doing my job properly if we were fresh coming into the Auburn meet.  Nonetheless though, in spite of how "beat down" these seniors were going into the meet, four of them still managed to go best times in some races that placed them in the Top 10 All-Time for the history of the team.  I take that as a sign of great things to come. :)

Victoria Hove 100 Fly 5th (1:02.63); 200 Fly 5th (2:20.13)
Evan Escobar 200 Free 9th (1:49.35)
Chet Seaman 200 Fly 8th (2:06.99)
Michael Duderstadt 200 Fly 10th (2:07.93)

New Age Group All-Time Top 10 Times In Nearly Every Single Age Group
By now you are probably starting to recognize a lot of the same names over and over that keep placing higher in the Age Group All-Time Top 10 list each meet.  One exciting friendly competition we have going is the 11-12 boys group.  Both Alex Phlegar and Chad McGuire have been pushing each other in practice and are maneuvering themselves into a position to be two of the most promising boys we have coming up through the team!  Congratulations to all of the swimmers below who are among the best we've ever had and keep working hard so that you can set the standards even higher for those coming up behind you.

10 & Under Girls: Amelia Talkington 50 Free (2nd), 100 Free (1st), 200 Free (1st), 500 Free (2nd), 50 Back (2nd)
11-12 Boys: Alex Phlegar 50 Free (9th), 100 Free (10th), 50 Breast (5th), 50 Fly (8th); Chad McGuire 50 Breast (4th), 100 Fly (10th)
13-14 Boys: Jonathan Ratliff 100 Free (3rd), 200 Back (9th), 50 Breast (4th)
15-16 Girls: Nicole Gazia 200 IM (10th)
15-16 Boys: Michael Whitehead 100 Free (7th), 200 Back (6th) Evan Escoabar 200 Free (5th), 100 Fly (6th) Michael Duderstadt 200 Fly (4th)
Senior Girls: Victoria Hove 100 Fly (4th), 200 Fly (4th)
Senior Boys: Chet Seaman 500 Free (7th), 200 Fly (5th)

Ashton Martinez Swims First Ever PCST Meet (Gurganus and Wilder Make Long Awaited Return)
Since joining the team in November 2010, Ashton Martinez has been one of the most consistent, happiest, bubbliest, hard working swimmers we have had.  After the high school team, she and a small group of awesome swimmers from Mosely and Arnold joined the Tsunamis in hopes of making great accomplishments and wonderful friends along the way.  By coming very consistently and working hard, Ashton has done both!  Two of her fellow Mosely teammates, Lindsey Gurganus and Taylor Wilder, also returned to the competition side of PCST at the Auburn meet after a few years off and really shined for many of the same reasons Ashton's doing so well.  It's a pleasure to coach you girls, so keep up the great work!

Six Tsunamis Finish in the Top 8 in Individual Events at a Very Competitive Auburn Meet
As I mentioned before, the competition at this meet is super strong, especially for a mid-January meet.  That is the main reason we decided to go to Auburn this year.  We were hoping to give our Tsunamis the opportunity to race some new competition that they have either never competed against before, or would only see at Southeasterns twice a year.  Congratulations to the following swimmers who finished in the Top 8 in their individual races.  A special congrats goes out to Amelia Talkington for holding off a very talented Swim Atlanta girl in the 50 and 100 Free.  That swimmer hadn't seen great competition like Amellia in a long while, so her coach was loving every second of those great races (as were we!).

Amelia Talkington (10 & Under Girls): 50 Free (1st), 100 Free (1st), 200 Free (2nd), 50 Back (4th), 100 Back (4th)
Michael Duderstadt (Senior Boys): 100 Free (6th)
Chet Seaman (Senior Boys): 100 Breast (6th)
Chad McGuire (11-12 Boys): 100 Breast (7th), 50 Breast (8th)
Nicole Gazia (Senior Girls): 100 Free (8th)
Jonathan Ratliff (13-14 Boys): 200 IM (8th)

Multiple Team Records Broken in PCST's Tsunami Awards Standings
Most meets you get the pleasure of hearing about swimmers breaking team records in individual events.  Over the next few years you're going to be hearing more and more about swimmers breaking our "Tsunami Awards" records.  This is a combination of all of the fastest swims in the most events for a swimmer during the entire year of swimming (Aug 2010-Aug 2011).  Three swimmers this weekend set new team records for the most total points awarded ever.  In order to achieve this, you must be incredibly well-rounded and not just good at one or two races.  Also, congratulations to Cameron Fitzgerald and Nicole Gazia who made jumps in their point standings to improve their overall position on the team.

10 & Under Girls: Amelia Talkington 1st (122 points; Breaks Kari Troia's Team Record!), Heidi Retherford 2nd (48 points), Molly Grace Bradford 3rd (42 points)
11-12 Boys: Alex Phlegar 1st (82 points), Chad McGuire 2nd (71 points)
13-14 Boys: Jonathan Ratliff 1st (126 points), Cameron Fitzgerald moves into 4th (57 points)
15-16 Girls: Nicole Gazia moves into 2nd (65 points)
15-16 Boys: Michael Whitehead moves into 1st (116 points; Breaks his own Team Record!), Michael Duderstadt 2nd (110 points)
Senior Girls: Victoria Hove 1st (99 points; Breaks her own Team Record!)
Senior Boys: Chet Seaman 2nd (100 points)

Bousquet Puts On A Show With a 19.00 in the 50 Freestyle!
In 2005, Fred Bousquet became the first swimmer in history to break 19 seconds in the 50 yard free.  The previous record (19.05 Tom Jager; which was set in the Nashville pool by the way) had been held for 20 years or so.  Fred went 18.90 in prelims and then 18.74 in finals of NCA Championships in 2005 in what was then the top of the line suit (before the technical suits came out that increased bouyancy).  The Frechmen and Auburn Tiger swimmer (who finished 2nd at the Olympics in 2008) put on a show for the crowd on Saturday night at the Aubun meet with an unbelievable 19.00 in the 50 free.  To put it in perspective...........Fred was unshaved, wearing a simple jammer suit down to the knees (tech suits were banned in 2009).  He did not have a good break-out and had a loooooong finish...............and still went 19.00!  It was the fastest swim I have ever seen in person in spite of his mistakes.  Coming out of his turn, he looked like a rocket exploded him off of a trampoline!  It was amazing!  Those of you who were lucky enough to be there should keep that race stored in your memory bank because it was something very special.

Auburn Coaches Treat PCST Swimmers to A Private Tour of Their Strength Conditioning Practice
It's 1998 and a young skinny Seminole swimmer is training his heart out as a young up and coming Florida State coach is encouraging him to go harder.........."Come on Kaplan!  You got this!".  Thirteen years later, that young swimmer (yours truly) is standing in front of the Auburn weight room with 10 of his own swimmers as that same young up and coming coach (Frank Bradley; Associate Head Coach of Auburn) is narrating the Tsunamis through the Auburn practice.  Boy how times have changed!  Frank, along with the nationally recognized Auburn Strength and Conditioning Coach both took time out of their morning to talk with our Tsunamis about what they do at Auburn and how they have won so many national championships.  Thank you to the Auburn staff for their hospitality!

PCST Swimmers Get a Treat Monday Morning at Breakfast
As our group of swimmers were eating breakfast at "Blue Bagel" in Auburn the Monday after the meet, Olympic Champion Mark Gangloff, strolled in to have his own breakfast.  Needless to say our swimmers were star struck and not a single of the them went up to talk to him, haha!  Although Nicole Gazia definitely made sure he knew we were there.........didn't you Nicole?  Haha!  Just another fun story from another fun meet. :)

Next up for the Tsunamis is coming in a few days!  We have a record number 79 swimmers competing at an away meet in a single weekend.  There are 46 Tsunamis going to the ATAC meet in Tallahassee as well as 33 going to the ECS meet in Ft. Walton Beach.  Should be a great weekend!  Good luck Tsunamis and have a great time!

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan