PCST Finishes 3rd in Medium Team at Southeasterns!

Southeastern Championships in Knoxville Bring Loads of Team Records, Championship Swims and New Junior National Times!

Every year since 2006, PCST has kept a streak going that will be very tough to break.  Each summer the Tsunamis have scored more team points than the previous year, making it increasingly difficult to keep it going from one season to the next.  For the first time in five years, our championship team did not score more points than the previous year.  GASP........I know.  :)  We have grown so accustomed to always having the most of this or the highest of that or the best ever for such and such.  However, when you take a look at how many amazing swims we had at the meet, you would have never known that we didn't score the most points ever because the meet was filled with a ton of absolutely spectacular races.

PCST 19th overall and 3rd Place Medium Team Division!
When you take a look at the times it took to make it back to finals this year versus in 2010, you would see that in most age groups (in particular the Senior division), it was considerably faster this time around.  Our Tsunami seniors swam incredibly fast.......much faster than 2010 in fact, but were not able to score as many points due larger to the higher number of college swimmers at the meet.  This is in no way an excuse for not scoring more points, but it is the reality of the situation and that is important to understand because I want everyone to understand that our swimmers had one heck of a meet!  Overall, to finish 19th out of about 70 total teams in Southeastern swimming is not too shabby, especially considering we were the 3rd place team overall in the medium team category (our highest finish ever).  Well done Tsunamis and congratulations!  You deserve a lot of praise and recognition for your hard work and great swims.

An Amazing 25 Team Records Broken!
For those of you who know me personally, you know I LOVE records!  That's why I take the time to type them out for each article because I think it is a huge deal to be the fastest swimmer in the history of the team for your age.  There is a part of me that wishes I kept track of the total number of team records the Tsunamis have broken since 2006 because it would be an outrageous number.  But I can tell you now that we are starting to have some very impressive records that are make me VERY proud to post on our website as the old marks continue to fall.  And for us to break yet another 25 records in a single championship meet still blows my mind.  Congratulations to all of the new record breakers!

8 & Under Girls
Marisa Ashley 200 Free (3:04.37) breaks Marisa Ashley (3:06.89)

11-12 Boys
Chad McGuire 100 Breast (1:24.51) breaks Chad McGuire (1:25.41) from 2011
Chad McGuire 100 Breast (1:24.03) breaks Chad McGuire (1:24.51) from 2011
Alex Phlegar 50 Breast (38.91) breaks Chad McGuire (39.68) from 2011
*Chad McGuire was also under the reacord (39.1)

13-14 Girls
Hannah Retherford 100 Back (1:13.84) breaks Victoria Hove (1:14.79) from 2008

15-16 Boys
Michael Duderstadt 50 Free (25.06) breaks Kevin Faulhaber (25.63) from 2008
Michael Duderstadt 200 IM (2:14.15) breaks Chet Seaman (2:18.09) from 2010
Michael Duderstadt 200 IM (2:13.68) breaks Michael Duderstadt (2:14.15) from 2011
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Free (2:00.45) breaks Evan Escobar (2:00.57) from 2011
Jonathan Ratliff 400 Free (4:16.22) breaks Jonathan Ratliff (4:18.14) from 2011
Jonathan Ratliff 400 Free (4:11.64) breaks Jonathan Ratliff (4:16.22) from 2011
*Evan Escobar was also under the record with 4:12.80
Jonathan Ratliff 400 Free (4:11.34) breaks Jonathan Ratliff (4:11.64) from 2011
Jonathan Ratliff 800 Free (8:39.94) breaks Michael Whitehead (8:52.36) from 2010
Jonathan Ratliff 1500 Free (17:08.63) breaks Jonathan Ratliff (17:16.09) from 2011
Jonathan Ratliff 200 Fly (2:13.73) breaks Michael Duderstadt (2:19.31) from 2011
JD Clutch 100 Back (1:01.25) breaks Joey Darnell (1:02.20) from 1995
JD Clutch 200 Back (2:17.19) breaks Michael Whitehead (2:19.93) from 2010

Senior Girls
Victoria Hove 50 Back (35.48) breaks Carlee McDonald (35.63) from 2010
Victoria Hove 50 Fly (32.03) breaks Sara Evans (32.49) from 2009
Victoria Hove 50 Fly (32.01) breaks Victoria Hove (32.03) from 2011
Victoria Hove 200 IM (2:26.81) breaks Victoria Hove (2:27.84) from 2011
Victoria Hove 400 IM (5:14.38) breaks Victoria Hove (5:20.39) from 2011
Victoria Hove 400 IM (5:11.43) breaks Victoria Hove (5:14.38) from 2011
Astrid Escobar 50 Breast (34.71) breaks Astrid Escobar (36.31) from 2011
Astrid Escobar 100 Breast (1:15.79) breaks Astrid Escobar (1:17.76) from 2010

Top 8 Championship Swims in Knoxville
As I previously mentioned, the Top 8 swims were very tough to come by this year, making the following list that much more special.  In a championship group loaded with lots of talent in the Senior division, it was a fearless age grouper that led the Tsunamis with the highest individual team performance in the 11-12 Boys age group.  Chad McGuire proved once again, as he does each year, that he is one of the best breaststrokers in all of Southeastern Swimming with a terrific 4th place finish in the 100 Breast.  However, as you see from the team records, his teammate, Alex Phlegar, is also knocking on the door as one of the best 11-12 breaststrokers around, making them one of the toughest 11-12 duos out there.

It was Jonathan Ratliff, however, that was the overall leader for the Tsunamis.  Not only did he start the meet off with an unbelievable spring Junior National performance in the 800 Free only 4 weeks after his 15th birthday, he finished in the Top 8 overall in three different events.  Needless to say, Jonathan has no fear of those older college boys and took it straight to them.  Terrific meet Jonathan!  And congratulations to all of you who finished in the Top 8 to receive your championship medals!

Chad McGuire (11-12 Boys) 4th in 100 Breast
Michael Duderstadt (Senior Boys) 6th in 200 IM
Jonathan Ratliff (Senior Boys) 6th in 800 Free, 5th in 400 Freee, 7th in 1500 Free
Astrid Escobar (Senior Girls) 6th in 200 Breast
Fallon Gelsleichter (13-14 Girls) 8th in 1500 Free
Victoria Hove (Senior Girls) 8th in 200 IM
Alex Phlegar (11-12 Boys) 8th in 50 Breast

9th-16th Swims in Knoxville
For the Senior age group, the swimmers who finish in the 9th-16th range contributed very valuable points for the team.  That is the only division in which points are scored for these places, but I think it's important to recognize the awesome swims from many of our Tsunamis that proved they too are among some of the best in all of Southeastern Swimming. 

Astrid Escobar (Senior Girls) 10th in 200 Breast
Chad McGuire (11-12 Boys) 10th in 50 Breast
Alex Phlegar (11-12 Boys) 10th in 100 Breast, 16th in 100 Back
Victoria Hove (Senior Girls) 11th in 400 IM
Kari Troia (11-12 Girls) 11th in 50 Breast and 100 Breast
Senior Boys Medley Relay (Bronnenberg, Seaman, Duderstadt, Escobar) 13th
Senior Boys Free Relay (Escobar, Seaman, Ratliff, Duderstadt) 13th
Chet Seaman (Senior Boys) 13th in 400 IM and 200 Breast, 14th in 100 Breast, 15th in 200 IM
Jonathan Ratliff (Senior Boys) 14th in 200 Fly
Cody Bronnenberg (Senior Boys) 15th in 100 Breast, 200 Breast, 200 Back, 16th in 100 Back
Allison Troia (Senior Girls) 16th in 1500 Free
Evan Escobar (Senior Boys) 16th in 400 Free, 800 Free, 1500 Free

Ratliff and Clutch Join the PCST National Team With Spring NCSA Junior Nationals Swims
As I mentioned earlier, Jonathan Ratliff paced himself to a spectacular 8:39.94 in the 800 Free to make him one of the few 15-16 year old boys in the LSC who have the Spring NCSA Junior National time standard.  Not to be outdone though, JD Clutch took full advantage of the opportunity to lead off our "B" Medley Relay at finals and shocked every (but me) with a smoking fast 1:01.25 in the 100 Back to get his first ever Junior Nationals time.  Both boys were proud to finally get to sign our official PCST National Team Banner.  If you have never seen it..........ask to see it sometime because it's pretty great. :)

New Sectional Qualifying Swims
Michael Duderstadt 100 Fly (Spring), 50 Free, 200 Free, 200 IM (Summer)
Zach Stein 50 Free (Summer)
Evan Escobar 800 Free (Spring)
Jonathan Ratliff 400 IM (Spring), 200 Free, 800 Free, 1500 Free, 200 Fly (Summer)
JD Clutch 100 Back, 200 Back (Summer)

New Junior Nationals Swims
Jonathan Ratliff 800 Free (Spring), 400 Free (Spring Bonus)
JD Clutch 100 Back (Spring)
Victoria Hove 400 IM (Spring Bonus)
Michael Duderstadt 50 Free, 200 IM (Spring Bonus)
Evan Escobar 400 Free (Spring Bonus)
Chet Seaman 100 Breast, 200 Breast (Spring Bonus)

Victoria Hove Qualifies for Zone All-Star Team!
With our historical documents not exactly completely in tact from the 80's and 90's, we are not 100% about this, but I'm pretty darn certain Victoria Hove became the first ever Tsunami to represent Southeastern Swimming at the Southern Zone Age Group All-Star Championships in Raleigh, NC.  She was selected as one of only 8 girls from the 15-18 year old division to represent SES and compete at the prestigious championship meet.  Southeastern Swimming had not defeated Florida Swimming in many many years and I am proud to say that not only did we win (very handily I might add), but Victoria contributed great points for the team! 

She broke a handful of team records, was placed on an "A" relay, which is very tough, and even made the championship finals in two different races (200 IM, 400 IM).  Her top performance came from a smoking fast 2:25.96 in the 200 IM where she finished 4th overall.  The best part about the meet, however, is all of the fun, fantastic, exciting stories that Victoria had to share with me after the meet was long over.  She and her teammates, who are from various teams all over Florida, Alabama and Tennessee, got together at the beach for a few days a couple weeks after winning the championship.  Now THAT'S what swimming is really all about!  Congratulations Victoria..........you continue to find new ways to make all Tsunamis proud.

New Senior Girls Team Records at Zones
Victoria Hove 200 Back (2:29.84) breaks Victoria Hove (2:34.77) from 2011
Victoria Hove 50 Back (35.25) breaks Victoria Hove (35.48) from 2011
Victoria Hove 200 IM (2:25.98) breaks Victoria Hove (2:26.84) from 2011
Victoria Hove 200 IM (2:25.96) breaks Victoria Hove (2:25.98) from 2011

Victoria's Individual and Relay Performances at Zones
200 IM (2:25.96) 4th
400 IM (5:11.56) 7th
200 Breast (2:51.78) 11th
200 Back (2:29.84) 17th
100 Fly (1:08.92) 28th
400 Free (4:48.42) 28th

400 Free Relay (1:02.01 lead off) 4th overall
200 Medley Relay (30.98 fly) exhibition relay
200 Free Relay (29.31) exhibition relay

New Sectional and Junior National Times for Victoria
200 Back (Summer Sectionals); 200 IM (NCSA Spring Juniors)

All in all, the 25 swimmers who went up to Knoxville to represent PCST did so very proudly.  We had a fantastic group of swimmers there, including a handful of new Tsunamis who had never qualified for Southeasterns before.  Nearly every single participant swam the best they have ever swum and you honestly cannot ask for much more than that.  The summer, however, did not end in Knoxville.  Many of our seniors went on to even greater meets in Orlando and Palo Alto, CA as you will soon see.

CATCH THE WAVE!

Coach Jonathan