Dear Parents and Swimmers,

I hope you all enjoyed the banquet. What a great way to cap a memorable season!

Memorable seasons don’t just happen. Hours of planning and preparation on the part of all who wish to be successful are required.

At BBD, we want to give our athletes all that they need to be outrageously successful in spite of many limitations and we continue to do that.

Soon, you will receive an opportunity to register for our summer program. It has taken us a while to secure pool time, but now we are all set. Beginning June 13th, we will be swimming at Cranbrook on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings (6:45 to 8:45), at Groves on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings (7:00 to 9:00). Our evening practices will be at Cranbrook Monday through Thursday (6:00 to 8:00). We also hope to be able to offer an occasional practice at Oakland University in a long-course pool (for 13+) whenever we have the chance. From May 31st thru June 10th, we will be at Cranbrook during the weekday evenings only from 6:00 to 8:00.

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Morning practices are for swimmers thirteen and up who have national ambitions, evenings provide an opportunity for our thirteen and up swimmers to do two practices a day, and evenings are for our twelve and under swimmers.

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We know many of our swimmers participate in summer club programs which are a great way to be initiated into the sport. The events are sprints and summer coaches (like me) train swimmers for those races. It isn’t enough for older swimmers who hope to compete at the national level in middle- and long-distance races, or for our swimmers who want to qualify for their high-school state meets. Younger swimmers who want more can supplement their summer club training.

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Please register as soon as you have the opportunity so that we can plan well. The list of meets we plan to attend is posted on our website (some have already completed entry), so refer to that doc as well and plan to compete!

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Kevin

P.S. – Full program details will be sent in a separate email in advance of registration. Stay tuned!

Registration is now open!

Wednesday, April 27th

Orchard Lake Country Club

6:00 – Doors Open

6:30 – Buffet Dinner

7:00 – Presentation

7:30 – 9:30 – DJ Entertainment

Pre-Registration Required

Space is Limited

Deadline is April 19th at 11:59 p.m. or when capacity is reached.*

No Charge for BBD Swimmers Ages 9 and Up

Parent Ticket – $36.00 (up to two per family)

Drink Tickets available on-site. Cash Only.

No Denim is permitted on club property.

Please check your email for the registration link or click the link below.

https://www.active.com/orchard-lake-mi/water-sports/swimming-registrations/bbd-9-and-up-banquet-2022
IMPORTANT:

We are running this through our Active registration system, so you will be required to log-in to your BBD Active account. Parent and Swimmer information should be pre-set. Swimmers will be charged $0. Be sure to look for the “Additional Purchases” section to add up to two parents per family for $36 each.

This event is for swimmers who participated in the 2021-2022 season in one of the 9 and Up age groups, You may need to complete a separate registration for

each eligible swimmer in your family. Due to space limitations up to 2 parents per family may attend, and we cannot accommodate siblings, including those who may have participated in our 8 and Under program.

If possible, Please register the parent(s) with your youngest swimmer.

• We will do our best to accommodate as many swimmers as possible,

but we are limited by space at this or any venue.

Thank you for understanding.

https://www.active.com/orchard-lake-mi/water-sports/swimming-registrations/bbd-9-and-up-banquet-2022

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

In Holland, at the Michigan Age-Group Championships, our swimmers finished in second place to Club Wolverine. Our boys were first! On the first day of the meet, Avery Anderson and AJ Farner qualified for the National Meet and while it was too late to participate this year, they are qualified for the next national meet. Avery qualified in the 100 back, AJ in the 400 IM and the 1000 freestyle. Both of AJ’s times were new team records.

BBD was also honored by the coaches attending the meet. It was voted for the best overall team performance. How cool is that?

Our first places came from Charlie McCuiston (13-14 50 free,) the 9-10 girls’ 200 medley relay (Sumaiya Ahmed, Kate Stempien, Lila Solomon, Layla Woerner), the 9-10 boys’ medley relay (Grafton Anderson, Will Michael, John Ruud, Brody McCuiston), Sean Lu (13-14 200 breaststroke), AJ Farner (13-14 500 free), the 9-10 boys’ 200 free relay (John Ruud, Grafton Anderson, Beckham Leith, Brody McCuiston), the boys’ 13-14 free relay (Charlie McCuiston, AJ Farner, Quinn O’ Neill, Turner Worth).

What a terrific way to end the age-group season!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

In Greensboro, our swimmers distinguished themselves in so many ways. We finished 15th in the nation. Our boys were 11th and the girls were 28th. Swimmers come from YMCAs across the country. There were almost 200 teams in attendance. Only 27 teams figured in the combined score.

The highlights…..
…………The opening ceremonies were made even more special when one of our swimmers, Christian Bouchillon, offered a devotion and sang the national anthem.

…………At another finals evening session, another one of our very talented swimmers, Drew Collins sang the anthem.

………..Ethan Schwab was a national champion and re-broke his team record in the 200 breaststroke. Ethan also re-broke his team record in the 100 breaststroke in finishing second.

………..Madison Helmick re-broke her team record in the 1000 freestyle and finished thirteenth.

……….Angus MacDonald re-broke his team record in the 400 IM and finished 4th.

……….Samantha Clifford broke three team records: the 100 fly (55.36,) 200 free (1:49.63 and finished 9th,) and the 500 free (4:55.40 and finished 9th.)

………The boys broke three relay records. The 200 Medley Relay (Christian Bouchillon, Ethan Schwab, Charlie Bruce, Drew Collins (1:31.04, 4th place finish,) the 200 freestyle relay (Drew Collins, Ethan Schwab, Evan Tack, Charlie Bruce (1:23.36 15th place,) and the 400 medley relay (3:19.29, 3rd place finish.)

At both meets the coaches were impressed by our swimmers’ sportsmanship. They were always there to cheer and support their teammates. It is the benefit of being a YMCA program that values more than just fast swims.

See you at the banquet! We have so much to celebrate!

Kevin

P.S. More information on 9 and Up Banquet reservations and Spring Tune Up registration is coming soon! Stay tuned!

Dear Parents and Swimmers,

This week’s practice schedule for MAGS/AA and National Team Swimmers:

Monday – same as last week

Tuesday -same as last week

Wednesday -9-10s 5:30 -7:00 Derby, 11-12s 4:30-6:00 YMCA, 13-14, 15-17 5:45-7:15 Cranbrook

(National Team Dinner follows at the YMCA)

Thursday – 9-10,11-12 COMBINED 5:45-7:15 Cranbrook, 13 and Up 7:00 to 9:00 Cranbrook

Friday-all groups at Cranbrook 5:00-6:30 (This is for the National team and anyone who needs to warm up before they head for Holland if they don’t have a Friday or early Saturday event.)

Saturday – 8:00-9:30 Cranbrook

Great Lakes Zone Meet

Our swimmers rocked the meet in Canton scoring over 3,000 points….the second-place team scored 1447.5. Our nine-ten girls and boys, 11-12 boys and 13-14 boys won their age-groups. We won most of the relays and even had some 1-2 finishes from our younger swimmers.

Spring

Everyone on our team will be finished competing by April 1. I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy a spring break and reflect on a very successful season. We look forward to beginning our spring program on April 25 at Cranbrook 6:00-8:00 Monday through Friday. The spring program ends with Memorial Day weekend.

For swimmers who plan to train with us this summer, the spring training is essential.

Space is limited, so current swimmers who have completed the 2022 season fulfilling all of their obligations to the team by competing in all of the championship meets are given priority. We will accept new swimmers if there is room.

Good luck to our National and AA Swimmers!!! Peter and Kevin will be in Greensboro. Greg, Chris and Mike will lead the swimmers in Holland.

I could not be prouder of our team!!!!

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Kevin

P.S. – Don’t forget to save the evening of Wednesday, April 27th for our 9 and Up Banquet. More information is coming soon. This is for swimmers and their parents only.

Dear Parents and Swimmers,​

If our state meet swimmers perform half as well as our eight and unders did last Sunday we are in for a great meet!

Our eight and unders dominated the YMCA Eight and Under State Meet in spite of the fact that we weren’t at full strength given the change in the schedule.

Reid McCuiston broke two meet records—in the 7 and under 25 free (14.36) and 25 fly (15.59.)

Our swimmers swept the relays and we had first places from…

- Jack Palmer (7 and under 100 IM 1:40.68)

- Elliana Ker (8 and under 100 IM 1:35.09, 25 fly 16.61 and 100 free 1:19.83)

- George Howe (5 and under 25 free 23.19 and 25 back 29.81)

- Emily Bailey (6 and under 25 free 19.65, 25 back 24.55 and 25 breast 32.40)

- Jake Brown (6 and under 25 free 17.66 and 25 back 21.88)

- Reid McCuiston (7 and under 25 free 14.36, 25 fly 15.59 and 25 back 19.18)

- Mary Bailey (8 and under 25 free 15.92 and 25 breast 19.46)

- Jack Lobley (8 and under 25 free 17.06)

- Teddy Howe (7 and under 50 free 36.16)

- Owen Brown (8 and under 25 back 18.34)

- JB Danczak (8 and under 25 breast 23.61)

BBD’ s future is certainly bright! Congratulations to all of our eight and under swimmers!

Good luck to all of this weekend’s swimmers!

The championship season is a wild time! We like our swimmers to end their season with their best meet and carry their enthusiasm into the future. It has been a different season with US changing their line-up of championship meets and the coaching staff is doing their best to make sure our swimmers are happy with their progress and their results.

COVID has been, and continues to be a challenge, for all of us. It has been particularly difficult for our metro YMCAs. If at all possible, if you are able, please consider maintaining your Y membership during the off-season. The Y has a lot to offer—of course BBD is the best thing it brings to you—but consider all that it contributes to the community.

PLEASE NOTE THE UPCOMING PRACTICE SCHEDULE CHANGES:

Friday, 2/25

9/10 and 11/12 COMBINED – 5:00 to 6:15 @ Cranbrook

Saturday, 2/26 and Sunday 2/27

ALL PRACTICES CANCELED DUE TO YMCA STATE MEET

Wednesday, March 2nd

11-12s 4:00-5:30 @ YMCA

13-14s 8:00-9:30 @ YMCA

15 & U – canceled

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Thursday, March 3rd

9-10s – 4:00-5:30 @ YMCA

13/14 – canceled

15&U – 8:00-9:30 @ YMCA

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Be well!!!

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Kevin