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Message from Coach Kevin- March 16th

Posted by Birmingham Blue Dolphins at Mar 16, 2023 7:46AM PDT

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

This weekend was the boys’ high school meet and our boys at their different schools certainly made us proud! Will Farner joined our National Team! Here are their finishes in individual events…..they rocked the relays as well.

In Division 1 Josh Harrison (Troy,) was 13th in the 100 breast and Ben Bricker (Troy,) Brendan Kanary (Bloomfield Hills) also competed.

In Division 2 Groves (274) and UD (267) duked it out for the championship and we are well represented in both teams. Jordan Bouchillon (UD) finished 10th in the 200 free and 5th in the 100 back. Luke Deighan (Seaholm) finished 12th in the 200 free, Ian Duncan (Groves) was 1st in the 200 free and 3rd in the 500, Matt Garza (UD) took 11th in the 500, Scott Hassett (Seaholm) was 9th in the 200 and 5th in the 500, Emmett Knudsen (Seaholm) finished 7th in the 100 fly and 8th in the 100 back, Angus MacDonald (Groves) was 2nd in the 200 IM and was the state champ in 100 breast, Patrick MacKillop (UD) took 8th in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 100 breast. Connor Pietsch (Rice) was 16th in the 50, Evan Tack (UD) was 2nd in the 200 free and 3rd in the 100,

Charlie Christenson (UD,) Michael Drelles (Seaholm,) George Marsh (Seaholm) and Turner Worth (Rice) also qualified for the D2 meet.

At the D3 Meet Cranbrook was the champ! Will Farner (Cranbrook) finished 4th in the 200 Free and 8th in the 100 fly, AJ Farner (Cranbrook) took 5th in the 200 IM and 3rd in the 500 free. Sam Fisk (Cranbrook) took 13th in the 100 breast. Jack Higgins (Country Day) was 5th in the 50 and 4th in the 100 free. Miles Kohn (Country Day) took 13th in the 500. Mayer Krieger (Country Day) was 5th in the 200 IM and 4th in the 100 fly. Sean Lu (Cranbrook) took 9th in the 200 IM and 14th in the 100 fly. Calvin Meeker (Cranbrook) finished 13th in the 100 fly and 11th in the 100 back, Ethan Schwab (Cranbrook) was a double state champion winning the 200 IM and 100 breast. He was also the D3 Swimmer of the Meet because he broke two meet records. Joseph Wiater (Cranbrook) was 10th in the 50 and 3rd in the 100 breast.

Austin Henry (Cranbrook). Blake Schwab (Cranbrook) also competed.

Nicely done, gentlemen.

At the NCAA Division ll meet BBD alum, Megan Clifford, finished seventh in the women’s 200 butterfly! She continues to shine.

At the “Day-After Meet” our parents led by head official Bill Clifford once again showed true BBD spirit when they not only ran a great meet but had to completely set up the Seaholm pool moving starting blocks, the bulkhead and the lane markers. Thanks to our parents and swimmers who got the pool ready.

The Eight and Unders State Champs enjoyed an open swim and an ice cream social. Thank you, Coach Jeannie, for the paper-plate awards. Thank you to the Iaccos and the Bassetts for chairing the event.

There are so many moving parts during the championship season! We are looking forward to Zones, MAGS and our National Team is ready to rock!

Kevin​

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

What a terrific weekend!

First of all, a huge thank you to Michelle Schwab, Dennis Jackson, Liz Solomon, Bill Clifford, Lisa Helmick and all of our parents who stepped up to help.

Michelle collected the entries from all of the participating teams and assembled the meet even though for most of the time leading up to the meet she had no power at home. Then, when we were forced to cancel the Saturday morning session, she put together a time trial session, again with no power. Dennis and Liz spent the entire weekend ensuring that the meet came off without a hitch. Bill Clifford organized the officials and timers and worked all of the sessions. Lisa Helmick had collected all of our entries and then helped with communications to make sure everyone had an opportunity to time trial if they needed it to move on to Zones. Needless to say, it wouldn’t happen without everyone lending a hand.

My colleagues at the various Y teams were very complimentary of the entire meet and really appreciated the hospitality! Congratulations on pulling off an extremely difficult feat and thank you! I think our swimmers rose to the occasion and I know they appreciate all we do—they often express their gratitude to me even though it is meant for all of you.

Our new state champions!
Jack McCuiston (11-12 200 IM,100 breast, 50 fly, 100 free, 200 breast, 50 free) Brody McCuiston (10 and under 100 IM,50 back, 200 free, 100 back, 50 free) Will Quarrier (10 and under 100 breast, 50 breast) Mary Bailey (10 and under 100 breast,) Beckham Leith (10 and under 50 fly, 200 IM) Catherine Howe (11-12 50 fly,100 IM) Malin Murphey (11-12 400 IM, 200 back) Nolan Knudsen (11-12 100 fly,) Michael Bailey (11-12 50 breast,) Natalie Batey (11-12 50 breast,) Claire Tomasek (50 breast, 50 free) and Winston Lu (10 and under 500 free.) Quinn Norlander (13-14 400 IM,) Charlie McCuiston (13-14 100 free, 500 free) Charlie Michael (13-14 200 IM,) Demetra Bicos (15-18 500,) and Samantha Memmer (13-14 500 free).

We also had a new state meet record from Malin Murphey in 11-12 200 back!!

Of course, it is our depth that ruled the day with the final score having us with 3674.5 points to runner-up Flint 1242.5. Benton Harbor-St. Joe won the small team competition.

We had a lot of very happy and proud swimmers, and very deservedly so. We had four eight and unders (Jack Palmer, Leyre Bonel-Muras, Teddy Howe and Reid McCuiston) qualify for the meet (and they all scored!) As we move through our championship season it is gratifying to watch our swimmers evolve. Good swimmers become great swimmers, great swimmers become stars and our swimmers never look at themselves the same way again. It was particularly touching to have so many swimmers tell me that they achieved their goals (or surpassed them) and that they did exactly the race they had visualized.

For some of our swimmers this was their last meet of the season. It was a great culmination. For many we head on now to Great Lakes Zones, MAGS, and Nationals. Soldier on!!

This weekend we have the “Day-After” Meet. The principal purpose of this meet is to give our high school boys a chance to swim their longer events the day after their high school meet while they are in full taper. Have swimmers check with Chris, Peter, Greg or me if they think it would be beneficial for them to swim.
Because we are running that meet on Sunday we will not have any other practices.

Kevin

Good morning,

The afternoon session of the YMCA 9 and Up State Meet will run this afternoon with the following timeline:

12:00 noon – Doors Open
12:15 – 1:15 – Warm-Up
1:15 to 4:45 – Meet
4:45 – Time Trial for 13&Up only (see separate email sent yesterday for entry information)

BBD Volunteers should report as follows:
11:45 – Admissions, Volunteer Check-In, Safety Marshalls, Hospitality
12:30 – All Other Volunteers

Please be safe on the roads and plan extra time for travel. Safety first!

Thank you!

BBD Board and Coaches

Good evening -

Thank you for your patience as we have worked through the details of our plan for tomorrow. Again, we will make a final decision regarding the afternoon session in the morning. At this time it is our intention to run the rest of the meet as planned.

Please note the following timeline change for Saturday afternoon’s session and details for the Time Trials.
Saturday PM Session – REVISED 3/3
12:00 noon – Doors Open
12:15 – 1:15 – Warm-Up
12:15 – Coaches Meeting
1:15 – 4:45 – Session

Time Trials
We are happy to announce that we have worked things out with SVSU so that we will be able to offer a limited time trial session tomorrow evening FOR QUALIFIED 13&UP SWIMMERS ONLY!.

1. Duration and start time. Based on our current timeline, we expect to have approximately one (1) hour for time trials as we have a hard stop at 6 pm. While the Time Trial session is estimated to begin at 4:45 pm, this is only an estimate. It may be earlier or later depending on the timing of the PM session.

2. Entry Procedure.
Time trial entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the one hour time limit is met, with priority for those swimmers for whom this would be their last meet/swimmers who are extremely close to a Zone/National cut.

*Email bbdentries@gmail.com with your swimmer’s name and their one time trial event (qualified event ONLY, bonus events are not eligible) if they plan to be present and want to swim*

3. Entry limits.
Swimmers are permitted one (1) time trial entry and it must be in an event in which the swimmer has already achieved the YMCA State Qualifying Time (i.e., no “bonus” swims).

4. Events. Time trial events are limited to the following:
50 freestyle
200 freestyle
100 backstroke
200 breaststroke
200 butterfly

5. All events will be run as mixed events. Events will be combined where appropriate.

6. Timers. We will be in need of timers for the time trial session. Be expected to time if your child is swimming time trials

7. Warm-ups. There will NOT be a separate warmup session for the time trial session. Swimmers should plan to warm up in the warmup pool prior to their event

8. PLEASE email your child’s time trial event BY 8AM on Saturday, 3/4/23!!!

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

We have continued to monitor the weather forecasts throughout the state and in the local Saginaw area. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for much of the state and most areas are expecting rapid accumulations of heavy snow and strong winds beginning later today and throughout the night with hazardous road conditions. We have discussed the matter internally and in consultation with other YMCA coaches. Out of an abundance of caution we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Saturday morning session of the YMCA 9 and Up State Meet. The safety of our swimmers, families and coaches must be our top priority. At this time we still plan to run the Saturday afternoon session, but will assess the situation in the early morning hours and provide any necessary updates at that time. We will move forward with as much of the meet as possible.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

BBD Board and Coaches