ronlrigg
December 21st, 2005, 08:11 PM
10/04/05
Dear Parents & Swimmers:
I am attaching the Campbell results from last Saturday. I haven't had time to analyze them for you but I will tell you the coaches got thrown in the pool after the meet!! For all "newbies" to the Stingrays, throwing the coaches in the pool is a ritual after the Stingrays are victorious!!
More good news from the USA meet being held in Shelbyville, Kentucky. The USA Stingrays are competing in the SUSS Harvest Classic. This meet is for 14 & Unders, only.
First off for the Stingrays was Russell Rigg, who swam the 400 Yard Individual Medley (for the 1st time) and the 1000Yard Freestyle!!! Russ finished a very good 3rd place in the 400 IM with his first time in the event of 5:56.62. He then rested a while and decided to swim the 1000 Yard Freestyle and all he did was WIN it in a good time of 13:33.49!!! That was 10 seconds off his best time but not too bad after swimming the 400 Y IM. Russell loves the long races and it shows. He is literally like the proverbial "Eveready bunny" and just keeps going & going & going &..................................!!!!!
Swimming for the Stingrays tomorrow morning, early, are Elizabeth Moss and Maggie Ford. This is Elizabeth's first season swimming USA and I am 100% sure her times will improve drastically during this fall/winter swim season.
Maggie Ford is a USA veteran swimmer and also one of the best in the 8 & Under Girls division in the state of Kentucky and moving up fast nationally. Maggie is one of the favorites to win the YMCA State Championship next March. If I was a gambling man I would for sure put my $$$$ on Maggie to do just that!!
I have said it before and I will say it again. There are many Stingrays READY to swim USA. Parents, it is just swimming. Racing! Your kids are already racing. USA is the next step but it is still just racing. All of the USA parents are willing to help your swimmers in any way possible if they want to give it a try. We can take the kids and bring them home right to your doorstep. Please think about it and give it a shot.
Tomorrow afternoon there is a large contingent of USA Stingray 14 & Unders. This group features Kelsey Dillon, another favorite to take home the Girls 10 & Under 1st place medal. I would be very surprised if she did not. Kelsey will for sure dominate the girls 10 & Under this year and will definitely win the whole shebang next MARCH. No way around it. She's the fastest 10 year old in Kentucky and, for those who don't believe it, just watch. She has won the overall in some BIG meets, both USA and YMCA, and I can't see anyone beating her come March.
Caitlyn Ross is swimming USA again this year and is another veteran who is ready to make a big splash this season. The "Little Cat" is like Russell Rigg in that she is up and down but, when she is up, she always scores points for the Stingrays. These kids are in tip-top physical condition and many times it is a matter of them being "there" on the day of the meet. I look for Cat to be there this season. If she wants to win bad enough, she will. She has done it before and knows how to win and will win.
Moving up fast in the 10 & Under girls and also now a veteran is Alex Perry. No swimmer has worked harder at improving and it shows. Alex is in the last and fast heat in 2 of her 4 aces tomorrow and is in the next to last heat in the other two, just barely out of that top heat. For all who don't know that is the goal of all the Stingrays---work their way up to that heat sheet "ladder" to the top heat. All who are there are there for a reason. They are the fastest!! I can't wait to see just how much Alex closes the gap on the top 10 & Under girls this year. She is right on their tail and will get it done before March.
Speaking of top heats and perusing the heat sheets there is Billie Jo Ross! This time last year that was impossible. But look what hard work and a good attitude have done for BJ. She just keeps showing up at practice, works hard, and the results are starting to show. BJ is very strong and, if she wants it bad enough, she will be right there with all the top 10 & Under Girls come March. She is oh...............so close right now and will improve this year as much as she has in the last year. BJ is a very good example of what swimming USA can do for a Stingray. The first USA meet she competed she was very nervous, wondering if she belonged there. But it didn't take her long to see that she had done the right thing. Parents’, overcoming their fears is a crucial component for all kids in everyday life as well as swimming. Facing that fear as BJ and all the rest of the newer USA swimmers have done has made them step a little higher and walk a little taller knowing they are a special breed of swimmer. A swimmer who is ready, willing, and able to get up on those blocks and face their fear of failure, master it, and then start climbing up that heat sheet ladder. It has happened for EVERY ONE of our Stingray USA kids and will happen to all the other Stingrays when they decide to step up on those USA blocks and blast off!
Morgan Cyrus is swimming USA this year and is another newer USA Stingray. Her brother, Clay Cyrus, is also. I must admit I know much more about Clay than I do Morgan. I know more about Clay because I watch all the boys that put it on Russell! I think it was two, maybe three, summers ago that I first noticed Clay when he beat Russ in a 25 Breast at the Bluegrass League Summer Championships. Of course he was just a little bigger than Russ then. But, WOW.....................EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Take a look at Clay now! He is built like the proverbial brick ".............." and is fast!! I could be wrong but it appears to me Clay is making big strides to be a tremendous sprinter and follow in Colin Faris' footprints. He is already fast and has about climbed the heat sheet ladder to the top. Give Clay another year or two and I think we are seeing a State Champion developing.
Looking over Morgan's seed times it is very obvious she has been quietly moving up. She is in the top heat or next to top in her races and, Morgan, I promise I will make a special effort to watch you race. Now that you are swimming USA I will have more chances to watch your progress.
I hope I didn't leave anybody out but, if I did, I promise them I will make it up to them in the future. I'm old and fat and getting sleepy! I think I covered everybody swimming USA this weekend. I will let you know how it all comes out. Seems to me that Kelsey and Maggie, if swimming in enough races, have an excellent chance of winning overall. And Russell also has a good shot at it, just below those two. Then there is always Caitlyn hanging around and who has the experience & talent to compete with any of them. Alex and BJ are coming on strong. Aggie and Morgan have good chances to medal or get a ribbon.
Coach D wants to have a parent's meeting I think next Tuesday at 5:15, kind of in between the little kids and big kids practices. It is very important all the parents come and participate. There is ALWAYS something that a parent wants to know and ask but is bashful about it. DON'T BE!! You are paying a lot of money for your kids to be a part of something special, our swim team, and there are NO questions you should be bashful about asking.
Later, RRigg
P.S. Please excuse any typos. Aggie proofread about half of this and then conked out on me and I wouldn't catch them now anyway!
10/18/2005
Dear Parents & Swimmers:
The USA Stingrays swam their first meet of this fall/winter season, and, as usual, they did our team proud.
The big news is that AMAMDA MILLER is now RANKED 32nd in the 13/14 Girls Division of USA Swimming!!!! 32nd-of all the 13/14 Girls in USA Swimming!!!! Sit back and think about that!! Once again I will reiterate that AMANDA has done it the old fashioned way. She works her tail off in the water. AMANDA is all business in the water and it shows. You don't see AMANDA stopping in the middle of sets or clowning around. She is ALL BUSINESS!! Amanda knows there is a time for work and a time for play. I suspect she gets a lot of that hard working all business attitude from her father, Mark, as he is the same. Everyone congratulate AMANDA MILLER-32nd in the country of all USA swimmers in the 50 Breast!!!
Here is the rank which I took from the USA website:
Amanda Miller
Rank Stroke Course Time Alt Adj Time Power Points Standard Meet Meet Date
32 50 BR SCY 32.48 32.48 154 2005 KY Jack Thompson 10/14/2005
Now a few other highlights from the meet.
Kelsey Dillon led the point parade in this meet. That should surprise no one. Kelsey swam 8 races and her worst finish was 6th!!!! She had a 2nd in the 100 Fly, was 3rd in the 200 IM and the 50 Fly and 4th in the 50 Free and 100 Breast. This was a super first meet and there is no doubt in my mind Kelsey will win her age division come tournament time.
Amanda Miller had three 2nds, a 4th and a 5th.
Colin Faris, who is just now swimming, having played soccer, had a sub par meet for him, but, does anyone doubt he will be there in the end. I sure don't. As I have said before he is a killer on those blocks once he gets going.
Maggie Ford had a 5th and a 6th. Maggie had a breathing problem during one of her races but came back and swam after that!! That's one tough little 8 year-old girl who also will win big before this season is over. No way around it.
Russell Rigg had two 11th place finishes. He is just now back in the water after finishing up a very successful golf summer. Russ has won before and has a chance this season but there are some super fast boys in that 11/12 Division. He has to work harder in practice to catch them.
Other highlights were Alex Perry's time drops! Like a 36+ drop in the 200 Free!!! A 23+ drop in the 100 Breast plus more. You can look at in the attached results.
Elizabeth Moss dropped almost 6 seconds in the 50 Free. B.J. Ross dropped over 4 seconds in the 50 Back. This was Elizabeth and BJ's first USA meet and they both did super!!
Caitlyn Ross had a 18+ second drop in the 200 Free!
Please look at the attached Meet Results for all the swimmer's times.
RRigg
STINGRAY NEWSLETTER
2nd Edition
SHELBYVILLE SHARKS
USA SWIM MEET
Saturday 11/05/2005
WOW!!!! Once again our little Stingray team has come up big against the big, in numbers, teams. It is truly impressive how our kids, although small in numbers, always shows up and kicks the butts of much larger teams. I have been thinking about how to do something a little different with this Newsletter and I came up with the idea that I will go right through the races themselves, tell you which Stingray or Rays swam in it and how they finished.
This meet was structured so the 8 & Unders and the 13/14 swimmers swam in the early AM and the 9/10’s and 11/12’s swam in the afternoon. Using that format our team was led off early this AM by one of our strongest swimmers—MAGGIE FORD. Joining Maggie in the early morn was one of our newest Stingrays, ELIZABETH MOSS. This may have been Elizabeth’s first USA meet and she did, well, I am getting ahead of myself. Back to Maggie. It is my understanding that Maggie has not had much pool time so far this season. I have no first hand knowledge about that but, if so, once again it shows that Maggie is one of the top swimmers in her age group anywhere because, according to these results, she did just fine. If Maggie wasn’t at the top of her game and still finished the way she did today the other swimmers had better get her now because they will not get her later. Maggie's first race today was the 50 Y Freestyle. All Maggie did was jump in there, in a big USA meet, with not many laps under her belt, and come in 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!! Her time was 37.68, which was a second slower than her seed time. But, my oh my, for Maggie to show up and nail a 2nd place in her first USA meet this season certainly sends a message to the other swimmers that they will be battling for 2nd place at the Y State Championships and the Kentucky Swimming’s State Championships next March.
Now to Elizabeth. First I have something to say about Elizabeth. Her father, Steve Moss, who is a Maysville Police Officer, is also in the National Guard and is now deployed in Iraq. Some of you may remember that my brother, Bart, Haley and Zach Rigg’s father, was deployed in Afghanistan for a year and also remember how I praised all the men and women who have been ordered to battle-scarred countries thousands of miles away from home to fight for our country. It seems most of us are against all this nonsense but one thing’s for da….n sure. Soldiers like Steve and my brother will do what they are ordered and they will do it better than any other countries soldiers. Our fighting forces have proven, time and time again in our history, if the politicians will get out of their way, they will annihilate any army foolish enough to oppose them. No brag, just fact.
Anyway, back to Elizabeth’s 50 Y Free. She swam a very fine 46.50 for 13th place. Not too shabby and, without a doubt, she will get much faster with more pool time. A good way to see how the kids are progressing is to keep an eye on what times they are swimming right now and compare these times to their end of season times next March.
Next race for our two 8 & Under girls was the 25 Y Breaststroke. Breaststroke for some of the kids is just really hard to swim. Sometime it takes a couple or three years to get it. Well our two swimmers are already way ahead on that accord because Maggie was 5th with a time of 25.43, a little slower than her best time, and Elizabeth was 10th with a 3 second drop and a personal record of 28.89!!! How’bout them apples? Breaking that 30 second barrier had to be exciting as we all know it is hard to break through into the next lower plateau sometime. 5th and 10th! Real good.
Maggie and Elizabeth swam the 25 Y Backstroke and, once again, they excelled. Maggie was 3rd with a time of 21.01 and Elizabeth was 9th (!) with a nine-tenths time drop and a time of 23.94! These girls were having fun!! Top 10 after top 10! You can bet the other swimmers were saying just how do these Stingrays do it? We have 60 to 70 or more swimmers here and they have 10!
That was their last race this morning and I think we can all be proud and give a big hand to Maggie & Elizabeth and for sure they will both get much faster in the coming months.
Now to the 9/10s and 11/12s Stingrays swimming this afternoon. In the 9/10’s we had 5 girls competing---Kelsey Dillon, Alex Perry, Caitlyn Ross, Morgan Cyrus and Aggie Rigg. Every one of these Stingrays had a good day. Every one set new personal records so let’s get started. I am going to go thru the 5 girls results and then get to the Lone Ranger, Russell Rigg, who had a good day.
Their first race was the 100 Y Freestyle, one of the “glamour” events in every swim meet everywhere! How’d they do? Great!! Kelsey came in 3rd with a time of 1:13.20, a little slower than her best time but a real fast time in its own right. Morgan was 8th with a time of 1:18.96 and, get this, a 10 (!!!!!!!!!) second time drop!!! Obviously Morgan has been putting in the laps in the Morehead pool, probably chasing big brother Clay, to improve like that. Morgan, that swim was super, and you will just keep lowering it if you keep working hard. Alex Perry came in 10th with a time of 1:20.64. That’s a couple of ticks slower than he best but still a real good time and finish and no one is working harder at practice.
Caitlyn Ross was 19th with a time of 1:30.68, which is 4 seconds slower than her best but, parents and swimmers, there is just no rhyme or reason for swims like that. EVERY swimmer goes through hard times, especially when having growth spurts and sometimes for no discernable reason whatsoever. My son, Russell, went almost a whole YEAR once and lowered his times by a measly 4 hundreths! So don’t let your kids get discouraged and, even harder, and I know because I have been there, done that. Don’t you parents get discouraged!!! If your kids are showing up at all the practices and working hard they WILL get faster.
Aggie was 23rd but with an excellent time drop and personal best of 1:34.78. Aggie is not the most enthusiastic Stingray but she is hanging in there and is starting to understand the concepts behind the different strokes and will get much better when and if she ever decides she wants to.
The 9/10 girls swam the 100Y IM next and did well with Kelsey coming in 3rd with a time of 1:21.38; Alex had a fine swim and finished 11th with a personal best of 1:34.09, a phenomenal drop of 12 seconds!!!!! Obviously she is working hard at practice. Caitlyn and Morgan were 15 and 16th respectively with Cat dropping a second for a new best and, once again, there’s Morgan with an OUTSTANDING drop of 21 seconds!!! WHEW!!!
Aggie was 25th with a nice drop of 2 seconds.
I’m getting tired and am going to shorten this section but I have to tell you’ all about Kelsey. After she got warmed up she WON the 25 Y Breaststroke with a time of 20.37, an unreal 4 second time drop. To drop 4 seconds in a 25 yard race is darn near impossible but nothing is impossible in the water for Kelsey. Morgan, Alex, Caitlyn and Aggie were 5th, 7th, 9th, and 17th, respectively in a real good result for our girls.
So what does Kelsey do next? WINS the 50 Y Fly in 35.03. Not her best but good enough to win. Caitlyn, Alex, and Aggie were 13th, 17th and 22nd, Aggie with a 4 second time drop!
Caitlyn, Alex, Morgan and Aggie were 8th, 9th, 15th and 23rd in the 50 Y Backstroke, Caitlyn and Aggie setting new personal bests.
Now I have to tell you about the 9/10 Girls 200 Y Freestyle Relay! Caitlyn, Alex, Morgan and Kelsey came in 2nd with a fine time of 2:26.44!!
That’s it for the 9/10 Girls today and, as I said, the big teams knew we were there.
Now to Russell. He had been trying for years to break 1:10 in the 100 Y Free. Well, today was the day!!!! Russ finally got that monkey off his back, swimming a very fine personal best of 1:08.01, a drop of over two seconds, and good enough for 2nd place!! Man I am glad that’s over. He swam the 100 Y IM next and set another best with a time of 1:18.24, breaking another barrier as he had been on 1:20+ for a year or so. That time was good enough for 3rd place. Russ swam the 50 Breast next and was slow, swimming it in 43.23, a second slower than his best. Next was the 50 Y Backstroke which he swam in 37.00 flat, a tiny personal best by .05, coming in 4th, just out of the medals, and then he swam the 500 Y Freestyle, which he loves to swim and WON it with another personal best of 6:31.20, which was important because he had been struggling to get faster in the 500.
That’s it. Kelsey has won 2 races! Russell has won 2 races! All the Stingrays set new personal bests. All the other teams knew we were back and stronger than ever.
Please excuse any typos! I’ll fill you in on Sunday’s results. Don’t forget and PLEASE come to the parent’s meeting Tuesday around 5:00 PM.
RRigg
Dear Parents & Swimmers:
I am attaching the Campbell results from last Saturday. I haven't had time to analyze them for you but I will tell you the coaches got thrown in the pool after the meet!! For all "newbies" to the Stingrays, throwing the coaches in the pool is a ritual after the Stingrays are victorious!!
More good news from the USA meet being held in Shelbyville, Kentucky. The USA Stingrays are competing in the SUSS Harvest Classic. This meet is for 14 & Unders, only.
First off for the Stingrays was Russell Rigg, who swam the 400 Yard Individual Medley (for the 1st time) and the 1000Yard Freestyle!!! Russ finished a very good 3rd place in the 400 IM with his first time in the event of 5:56.62. He then rested a while and decided to swim the 1000 Yard Freestyle and all he did was WIN it in a good time of 13:33.49!!! That was 10 seconds off his best time but not too bad after swimming the 400 Y IM. Russell loves the long races and it shows. He is literally like the proverbial "Eveready bunny" and just keeps going & going & going &..................................!!!!!
Swimming for the Stingrays tomorrow morning, early, are Elizabeth Moss and Maggie Ford. This is Elizabeth's first season swimming USA and I am 100% sure her times will improve drastically during this fall/winter swim season.
Maggie Ford is a USA veteran swimmer and also one of the best in the 8 & Under Girls division in the state of Kentucky and moving up fast nationally. Maggie is one of the favorites to win the YMCA State Championship next March. If I was a gambling man I would for sure put my $$$$ on Maggie to do just that!!
I have said it before and I will say it again. There are many Stingrays READY to swim USA. Parents, it is just swimming. Racing! Your kids are already racing. USA is the next step but it is still just racing. All of the USA parents are willing to help your swimmers in any way possible if they want to give it a try. We can take the kids and bring them home right to your doorstep. Please think about it and give it a shot.
Tomorrow afternoon there is a large contingent of USA Stingray 14 & Unders. This group features Kelsey Dillon, another favorite to take home the Girls 10 & Under 1st place medal. I would be very surprised if she did not. Kelsey will for sure dominate the girls 10 & Under this year and will definitely win the whole shebang next MARCH. No way around it. She's the fastest 10 year old in Kentucky and, for those who don't believe it, just watch. She has won the overall in some BIG meets, both USA and YMCA, and I can't see anyone beating her come March.
Caitlyn Ross is swimming USA again this year and is another veteran who is ready to make a big splash this season. The "Little Cat" is like Russell Rigg in that she is up and down but, when she is up, she always scores points for the Stingrays. These kids are in tip-top physical condition and many times it is a matter of them being "there" on the day of the meet. I look for Cat to be there this season. If she wants to win bad enough, she will. She has done it before and knows how to win and will win.
Moving up fast in the 10 & Under girls and also now a veteran is Alex Perry. No swimmer has worked harder at improving and it shows. Alex is in the last and fast heat in 2 of her 4 aces tomorrow and is in the next to last heat in the other two, just barely out of that top heat. For all who don't know that is the goal of all the Stingrays---work their way up to that heat sheet "ladder" to the top heat. All who are there are there for a reason. They are the fastest!! I can't wait to see just how much Alex closes the gap on the top 10 & Under girls this year. She is right on their tail and will get it done before March.
Speaking of top heats and perusing the heat sheets there is Billie Jo Ross! This time last year that was impossible. But look what hard work and a good attitude have done for BJ. She just keeps showing up at practice, works hard, and the results are starting to show. BJ is very strong and, if she wants it bad enough, she will be right there with all the top 10 & Under Girls come March. She is oh...............so close right now and will improve this year as much as she has in the last year. BJ is a very good example of what swimming USA can do for a Stingray. The first USA meet she competed she was very nervous, wondering if she belonged there. But it didn't take her long to see that she had done the right thing. Parents’, overcoming their fears is a crucial component for all kids in everyday life as well as swimming. Facing that fear as BJ and all the rest of the newer USA swimmers have done has made them step a little higher and walk a little taller knowing they are a special breed of swimmer. A swimmer who is ready, willing, and able to get up on those blocks and face their fear of failure, master it, and then start climbing up that heat sheet ladder. It has happened for EVERY ONE of our Stingray USA kids and will happen to all the other Stingrays when they decide to step up on those USA blocks and blast off!
Morgan Cyrus is swimming USA this year and is another newer USA Stingray. Her brother, Clay Cyrus, is also. I must admit I know much more about Clay than I do Morgan. I know more about Clay because I watch all the boys that put it on Russell! I think it was two, maybe three, summers ago that I first noticed Clay when he beat Russ in a 25 Breast at the Bluegrass League Summer Championships. Of course he was just a little bigger than Russ then. But, WOW.....................EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Take a look at Clay now! He is built like the proverbial brick ".............." and is fast!! I could be wrong but it appears to me Clay is making big strides to be a tremendous sprinter and follow in Colin Faris' footprints. He is already fast and has about climbed the heat sheet ladder to the top. Give Clay another year or two and I think we are seeing a State Champion developing.
Looking over Morgan's seed times it is very obvious she has been quietly moving up. She is in the top heat or next to top in her races and, Morgan, I promise I will make a special effort to watch you race. Now that you are swimming USA I will have more chances to watch your progress.
I hope I didn't leave anybody out but, if I did, I promise them I will make it up to them in the future. I'm old and fat and getting sleepy! I think I covered everybody swimming USA this weekend. I will let you know how it all comes out. Seems to me that Kelsey and Maggie, if swimming in enough races, have an excellent chance of winning overall. And Russell also has a good shot at it, just below those two. Then there is always Caitlyn hanging around and who has the experience & talent to compete with any of them. Alex and BJ are coming on strong. Aggie and Morgan have good chances to medal or get a ribbon.
Coach D wants to have a parent's meeting I think next Tuesday at 5:15, kind of in between the little kids and big kids practices. It is very important all the parents come and participate. There is ALWAYS something that a parent wants to know and ask but is bashful about it. DON'T BE!! You are paying a lot of money for your kids to be a part of something special, our swim team, and there are NO questions you should be bashful about asking.
Later, RRigg
P.S. Please excuse any typos. Aggie proofread about half of this and then conked out on me and I wouldn't catch them now anyway!
10/18/2005
Dear Parents & Swimmers:
The USA Stingrays swam their first meet of this fall/winter season, and, as usual, they did our team proud.
The big news is that AMAMDA MILLER is now RANKED 32nd in the 13/14 Girls Division of USA Swimming!!!! 32nd-of all the 13/14 Girls in USA Swimming!!!! Sit back and think about that!! Once again I will reiterate that AMANDA has done it the old fashioned way. She works her tail off in the water. AMANDA is all business in the water and it shows. You don't see AMANDA stopping in the middle of sets or clowning around. She is ALL BUSINESS!! Amanda knows there is a time for work and a time for play. I suspect she gets a lot of that hard working all business attitude from her father, Mark, as he is the same. Everyone congratulate AMANDA MILLER-32nd in the country of all USA swimmers in the 50 Breast!!!
Here is the rank which I took from the USA website:
Amanda Miller
Rank Stroke Course Time Alt Adj Time Power Points Standard Meet Meet Date
32 50 BR SCY 32.48 32.48 154 2005 KY Jack Thompson 10/14/2005
Now a few other highlights from the meet.
Kelsey Dillon led the point parade in this meet. That should surprise no one. Kelsey swam 8 races and her worst finish was 6th!!!! She had a 2nd in the 100 Fly, was 3rd in the 200 IM and the 50 Fly and 4th in the 50 Free and 100 Breast. This was a super first meet and there is no doubt in my mind Kelsey will win her age division come tournament time.
Amanda Miller had three 2nds, a 4th and a 5th.
Colin Faris, who is just now swimming, having played soccer, had a sub par meet for him, but, does anyone doubt he will be there in the end. I sure don't. As I have said before he is a killer on those blocks once he gets going.
Maggie Ford had a 5th and a 6th. Maggie had a breathing problem during one of her races but came back and swam after that!! That's one tough little 8 year-old girl who also will win big before this season is over. No way around it.
Russell Rigg had two 11th place finishes. He is just now back in the water after finishing up a very successful golf summer. Russ has won before and has a chance this season but there are some super fast boys in that 11/12 Division. He has to work harder in practice to catch them.
Other highlights were Alex Perry's time drops! Like a 36+ drop in the 200 Free!!! A 23+ drop in the 100 Breast plus more. You can look at in the attached results.
Elizabeth Moss dropped almost 6 seconds in the 50 Free. B.J. Ross dropped over 4 seconds in the 50 Back. This was Elizabeth and BJ's first USA meet and they both did super!!
Caitlyn Ross had a 18+ second drop in the 200 Free!
Please look at the attached Meet Results for all the swimmer's times.
RRigg
STINGRAY NEWSLETTER
2nd Edition
SHELBYVILLE SHARKS
USA SWIM MEET
Saturday 11/05/2005
WOW!!!! Once again our little Stingray team has come up big against the big, in numbers, teams. It is truly impressive how our kids, although small in numbers, always shows up and kicks the butts of much larger teams. I have been thinking about how to do something a little different with this Newsletter and I came up with the idea that I will go right through the races themselves, tell you which Stingray or Rays swam in it and how they finished.
This meet was structured so the 8 & Unders and the 13/14 swimmers swam in the early AM and the 9/10’s and 11/12’s swam in the afternoon. Using that format our team was led off early this AM by one of our strongest swimmers—MAGGIE FORD. Joining Maggie in the early morn was one of our newest Stingrays, ELIZABETH MOSS. This may have been Elizabeth’s first USA meet and she did, well, I am getting ahead of myself. Back to Maggie. It is my understanding that Maggie has not had much pool time so far this season. I have no first hand knowledge about that but, if so, once again it shows that Maggie is one of the top swimmers in her age group anywhere because, according to these results, she did just fine. If Maggie wasn’t at the top of her game and still finished the way she did today the other swimmers had better get her now because they will not get her later. Maggie's first race today was the 50 Y Freestyle. All Maggie did was jump in there, in a big USA meet, with not many laps under her belt, and come in 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!! Her time was 37.68, which was a second slower than her seed time. But, my oh my, for Maggie to show up and nail a 2nd place in her first USA meet this season certainly sends a message to the other swimmers that they will be battling for 2nd place at the Y State Championships and the Kentucky Swimming’s State Championships next March.
Now to Elizabeth. First I have something to say about Elizabeth. Her father, Steve Moss, who is a Maysville Police Officer, is also in the National Guard and is now deployed in Iraq. Some of you may remember that my brother, Bart, Haley and Zach Rigg’s father, was deployed in Afghanistan for a year and also remember how I praised all the men and women who have been ordered to battle-scarred countries thousands of miles away from home to fight for our country. It seems most of us are against all this nonsense but one thing’s for da….n sure. Soldiers like Steve and my brother will do what they are ordered and they will do it better than any other countries soldiers. Our fighting forces have proven, time and time again in our history, if the politicians will get out of their way, they will annihilate any army foolish enough to oppose them. No brag, just fact.
Anyway, back to Elizabeth’s 50 Y Free. She swam a very fine 46.50 for 13th place. Not too shabby and, without a doubt, she will get much faster with more pool time. A good way to see how the kids are progressing is to keep an eye on what times they are swimming right now and compare these times to their end of season times next March.
Next race for our two 8 & Under girls was the 25 Y Breaststroke. Breaststroke for some of the kids is just really hard to swim. Sometime it takes a couple or three years to get it. Well our two swimmers are already way ahead on that accord because Maggie was 5th with a time of 25.43, a little slower than her best time, and Elizabeth was 10th with a 3 second drop and a personal record of 28.89!!! How’bout them apples? Breaking that 30 second barrier had to be exciting as we all know it is hard to break through into the next lower plateau sometime. 5th and 10th! Real good.
Maggie and Elizabeth swam the 25 Y Backstroke and, once again, they excelled. Maggie was 3rd with a time of 21.01 and Elizabeth was 9th (!) with a nine-tenths time drop and a time of 23.94! These girls were having fun!! Top 10 after top 10! You can bet the other swimmers were saying just how do these Stingrays do it? We have 60 to 70 or more swimmers here and they have 10!
That was their last race this morning and I think we can all be proud and give a big hand to Maggie & Elizabeth and for sure they will both get much faster in the coming months.
Now to the 9/10s and 11/12s Stingrays swimming this afternoon. In the 9/10’s we had 5 girls competing---Kelsey Dillon, Alex Perry, Caitlyn Ross, Morgan Cyrus and Aggie Rigg. Every one of these Stingrays had a good day. Every one set new personal records so let’s get started. I am going to go thru the 5 girls results and then get to the Lone Ranger, Russell Rigg, who had a good day.
Their first race was the 100 Y Freestyle, one of the “glamour” events in every swim meet everywhere! How’d they do? Great!! Kelsey came in 3rd with a time of 1:13.20, a little slower than her best time but a real fast time in its own right. Morgan was 8th with a time of 1:18.96 and, get this, a 10 (!!!!!!!!!) second time drop!!! Obviously Morgan has been putting in the laps in the Morehead pool, probably chasing big brother Clay, to improve like that. Morgan, that swim was super, and you will just keep lowering it if you keep working hard. Alex Perry came in 10th with a time of 1:20.64. That’s a couple of ticks slower than he best but still a real good time and finish and no one is working harder at practice.
Caitlyn Ross was 19th with a time of 1:30.68, which is 4 seconds slower than her best but, parents and swimmers, there is just no rhyme or reason for swims like that. EVERY swimmer goes through hard times, especially when having growth spurts and sometimes for no discernable reason whatsoever. My son, Russell, went almost a whole YEAR once and lowered his times by a measly 4 hundreths! So don’t let your kids get discouraged and, even harder, and I know because I have been there, done that. Don’t you parents get discouraged!!! If your kids are showing up at all the practices and working hard they WILL get faster.
Aggie was 23rd but with an excellent time drop and personal best of 1:34.78. Aggie is not the most enthusiastic Stingray but she is hanging in there and is starting to understand the concepts behind the different strokes and will get much better when and if she ever decides she wants to.
The 9/10 girls swam the 100Y IM next and did well with Kelsey coming in 3rd with a time of 1:21.38; Alex had a fine swim and finished 11th with a personal best of 1:34.09, a phenomenal drop of 12 seconds!!!!! Obviously she is working hard at practice. Caitlyn and Morgan were 15 and 16th respectively with Cat dropping a second for a new best and, once again, there’s Morgan with an OUTSTANDING drop of 21 seconds!!! WHEW!!!
Aggie was 25th with a nice drop of 2 seconds.
I’m getting tired and am going to shorten this section but I have to tell you’ all about Kelsey. After she got warmed up she WON the 25 Y Breaststroke with a time of 20.37, an unreal 4 second time drop. To drop 4 seconds in a 25 yard race is darn near impossible but nothing is impossible in the water for Kelsey. Morgan, Alex, Caitlyn and Aggie were 5th, 7th, 9th, and 17th, respectively in a real good result for our girls.
So what does Kelsey do next? WINS the 50 Y Fly in 35.03. Not her best but good enough to win. Caitlyn, Alex, and Aggie were 13th, 17th and 22nd, Aggie with a 4 second time drop!
Caitlyn, Alex, Morgan and Aggie were 8th, 9th, 15th and 23rd in the 50 Y Backstroke, Caitlyn and Aggie setting new personal bests.
Now I have to tell you about the 9/10 Girls 200 Y Freestyle Relay! Caitlyn, Alex, Morgan and Kelsey came in 2nd with a fine time of 2:26.44!!
That’s it for the 9/10 Girls today and, as I said, the big teams knew we were there.
Now to Russell. He had been trying for years to break 1:10 in the 100 Y Free. Well, today was the day!!!! Russ finally got that monkey off his back, swimming a very fine personal best of 1:08.01, a drop of over two seconds, and good enough for 2nd place!! Man I am glad that’s over. He swam the 100 Y IM next and set another best with a time of 1:18.24, breaking another barrier as he had been on 1:20+ for a year or so. That time was good enough for 3rd place. Russ swam the 50 Breast next and was slow, swimming it in 43.23, a second slower than his best. Next was the 50 Y Backstroke which he swam in 37.00 flat, a tiny personal best by .05, coming in 4th, just out of the medals, and then he swam the 500 Y Freestyle, which he loves to swim and WON it with another personal best of 6:31.20, which was important because he had been struggling to get faster in the 500.
That’s it. Kelsey has won 2 races! Russell has won 2 races! All the Stingrays set new personal bests. All the other teams knew we were back and stronger than ever.
Please excuse any typos! I’ll fill you in on Sunday’s results. Don’t forget and PLEASE come to the parent’s meeting Tuesday around 5:00 PM.
RRigg