THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408100105
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 33 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
IN THE FINALE of the summer swimming season, 379 of the elite swimmers in South Hampton Roads converged at the Great Bridge Swim & Racquet Club last Saturday, setting personal best times and breaking four records at the 17th Virginia Beach Swim League All-Star meet.
Races kicked off at 8:30 a.m., and it didn't take long for the records to start falling. In the third event of the competition, the College Park Aquatic Club (Amanda Cole, Anne Norton, Ryan Seltzer and Tim Norton) shaved a full second off the existing mixed 10-under 100 freestyle relay with a mark of 1:03.85. Cole, 10, came back a little more than 30 minutes later and set an individual record in the 50 free with a time of 32.93, outtouching Morgan Gerek by .08 seconds.
``I was just swimming as hard as I could, and taking as few breaths as possible,'' said Cole, who was recovering from a middle ear infection.
When asked if she was worried about Gerek being so close behind her, Cole said that she ``didn't even think to look around. If you look to see where someone else is, you lose time, and you can lose the race by a few hundredths of a second.''
Cole dominated her age group for the rest of the day, winning the 25 breaststroke and 25 butterfly events with ease. Norton had equal mastery of the boys 10-under events, placing first in the 25 backstroke, 25 fly and 50 free.
The 2,500 swimmers in the VBSL could qualify for All-Stars by placing in the top three of an event at the divisional championships. Those times were used to seed the swimmers for All-Stars. No team results were kept Saturday because, according to league president Tim Finein, All-Stars are ``primarily for the individual kids. They develop their love for swimming in the summer leagues, and this acts as a reward.''
Emily Winslow, 15, treated the All-Stars as her own personal stomping grounds. Swimming for the Norfolk Yacht & Country Club, Winslow notched her first win of the day by becoming the first person to officially clock a sub-29 second time in the girls 14-under 50 free. Winslow, a rising sophomore at Norfolk Academy, touched the wall with a time of 28.88. She topped that feat by shattering the 100 IM record by nearly two seconds, then capped her day with a win in the 50 fly.
``I was worried about being seeded first, because some of my friends were swimming beside me and I didn't want to lose,'' said Winslow.
The big winner for the host Great Bridge Pirhanas was Jay Stull, a rising sophomore at Catholic High School. Stull, 14, easily won the 100 IM, 50 back, and 50 fly events in the 14-under age group, turning in personal best times in all three.
``I was nervous this morning, but I felt pretty fast,'' he said. Although competing in All-Stars can be a lot of pressure, Stull tried to stay focused. ``All I say to myself is that I have to get the best time I can; I can't worry about the place, because that's not up to me. I know I'm competitive with my times, but I try not to worry about others.''
In the girls 18-unders, 11 different swimmers took home medals in the five races, but the boys 18-unders was a completely different story. Green Run's Adam Chissler, Broad Bay's Joe McClelland, and Alanton's Chris Lyon took turns placing in the top three of each event. In the 50 back, it went Chissler-McClelland-Lyon. In the 100 IM, it was McClelland-Chissler-Lyon. Chissler also won the 50 fly (with McClelland third), and Lyon placed first in the 50 free.
McClelland had to come from behind to win the 100 IM, using a better turn off the third leg (breaststroke) to surge ahead of Chissler. He picked up the pace on the freestyle leg and won by a margin of 2.5 seconds.
``I kept thinking that if I kept up during the first two (legs), I had a good shot,'' said McClelland, 15. ``Luckily I didn't have any real big 18-year-olds swimming beside me.''
Though the All-Stars is a competition, most of the swimmers just wanted to have a good time.
``It's been a lot more fun than dual meets, because you know everyone you're swimming against is really good,'' said Winslow.
Without fail, after each race was over, swimmers turned to the lanes on either side and shook hands with their competitors.
``You want to swim a good race yourself,'' said Cole. ``But you wish everyone good luck and hope they do well too.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Despite unusualy chilly August weather, the swim meet drew a crowd
estimated at 1,200.
ABOVE: Michael Eiban, 9, of Great Bridge gets a consolation hug from
his dad Conrad. LEFT: 379 swimmers competed in 69 different events -
54 individual and 15 relays.
by CNB