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RECORD-BREAKERS TOP 16 CONSIDERATION
by Barry Silver, Meet Director and Photographer
Four days, five Connecticut records, twenty-six National Top 16 consideration times, dozens of close races, hundreds of best times and thousands of empty water bottles later and the 2003 Short Course Connecticut State Swimming Championship is part of swimming history. One of our favorite announcers, Bill Loftus, described the meet as “the center of the swimming universe.” Who am I to argue with that?
The competition was spirited, the cheering deafening, and the sportsmanship first rate. Congratulations to all our swimmers!
One of the more rewarding aspects of my very rewarding role as Meet Director is to be part of an extraordinary work force of volunteer parents and friends. By my rough calculation we filled upwards of 550 session-jobs over the course of the weekend. No kidding! Your kids may not fully appreciate the work, time and energy you put into their swim meet, but I certainly do. If USA Swimming had a national competition for volunteers based on dedication, enthusiasm and good humor, my money would be on the Connecticut team!
A few stars shone particularly brightly. All the votes for this year’s MVP award go to Fermin Aupi. Working with his wife Sandra, Linda Prus and our other good friends from Cougar Aquatic, he made sure a huge and disproportionate share of the meet management burden was borne with skill, speed, and relentless good cheer. And speaking of good cheer, the happiest place at Wesleyan from beginning to end was the Team Room where the outstanding crew from the Cheshire Water Devils kept the hordes of coaches and officials well fed and watered. And a first place medal goes to our awards chair Jane Moore and her fellow Charter Oak parents for miraculously producing 45 bags of sorted awards the minute the meet ended.
I can’t say enough about the professionalism and dedication of our corps of officials, led skillfully by Referee Carol Feeney. It was Carol’s first State Championship as Meet Ref; we all hope it will not be her last. And on deck from beginning to end we were lucky to have Mike Huffman as Administrative Referee. Carol, Mike and all the Ref’s, Starters and Turn Judges did a fantastic job, sometimes under pressure but always applying the rules fairly in the best interests of the swimmers and the competition.
Any swim meet this big is always a flirtation with organizational disaster. Preventing the disaster was a group of skilled and experienced computer operators, many of whom were working feverishly long after everyone else had left the building. Applause please for: Debbie Barriss, Marie Blackwood, Laura Costigan, Terri Cozzi, Nancy Kingman, Rick LaFrenierre, Kim Mangan, Joanne McKeown and Helena Vitagliano. And a little something extra for Ginger McCurdy and Mark Johnston, upon whom I leaned particularly heavily. And we got a little closer to the brink than I like when a cable failed – special thanks to Peter Boucher for stepping in to work the timing system and save the day.
You may think it’s easy being an announcer, but only because Bill Loftus and Bill Heyde make it look easy.
We are so lucky in Connecticut to have the coaches we do – quality, skill, dedication, enthusiasm, and always a few useful tips for me on how to improve the swim meet. Thanks, guys! And special thanks go to the Wesleyan staff (especially Casey, Patrick and Molly who worked very hard on our behalf) and of course to swim meet genius Kevin Carneiro. And I never get tired of saying it: Nan Cooper is the unsung hero of virtually everything Connecticut Swimming does.
Our All-Star Team looks very strong. Swim fast and have fun at Zones!!! Bonnie Fisher, we love you and all you do for our kids!
This Long Course season will bring with it some changes that have been working their way through the various CSI committees. Please take some time to get informed and put your two cents’ in. See you around the 50 meter race course!
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