THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 12, 1994 TAG: 9408100185
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 34 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Julie Goodrich
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
INTO THE FUTURE: For the first time, the Virginia Beach Swim League All-Star meet had the benefit of an electronic timing system. Touch pads, valued at $1,000 each, were hanging at the end of every lane, and a computer system was set up near the pool to record results.
The entire system was rented for around $100, and meet director Janet Law attributed the swift pace of the competition to the electronics.
``It's made the day much more efficient in terms of time-frame and human error,'' she said. ``It's also a much fairer system to the swimmers, since the computer starts everyone at exactly the same time.''
Even with the leap into the future, the old standbys - people with stopwatches - were used as a backup.
THEN AND NOW: Chris Lyon, who won the boys 18-under 50 freestyle for Alanton, won the same event for the same team 13 years ago in the 6-under division.
BY THE NUMBERS: Swimmers competed in 69 different events (54 individual and 15 relays). The host, Great Bridge Pirhanas, were the most heavily represented team with 34 swimmers qualifying. The Little Neck Tidal Waves were a close second with 33.
At the other end of the spectrum fell the Salem Woods Sharks. Their lone entrant, Amanda Davis, finished 10th in the girls 10-under 50 breaststroke.
THE PARENT TRAP: With her daughter, Amanda, swimming in the girls 10-under 50 freestyle, Nancy Cole was a bundle of nerves on the sidelines. Earlier in the day, Amanda and her College Park Aquatic Club teammates set a league record in the mixed 100 free relay.
As Amanda outdueled Morgan Gerek of Carolanne Farms to the finish, Nancy Cole twisted her hands and waited for the official time. She jumped straight up and let out a jubilant ``Yes!'' when she heard that Amanda had recorded a time of 32.93, a league record.
Cole turned to embrace Diane Seltzer, another CPAC mom, then ran into a little trouble with her celebrating. ``I went to give her a high five and accidentally hit her in the face,'' Cole said. The two recovered and gave Amanda a group hug when she got out of the pool.
THIS IS AUGUST?!?: After week upon week of scorching heat left people addicted to air conditioning, swimmers woke up Saturday morning to find the skies gray and temperatures chilly.
Swimmers bolted from the pool after their races, frantically searching for something warm to put on. Sweatshirts were the fashion of the day. Many people resorted to hugging themselves, and occasionally others, to make the best use of their body heat.
A COACHING LEGEND: After 18 years of coaching Alanton-Baycliff, Kim McCanna has seen swimmers, and most other coaches, come and go. She's also witnessed first hand the changes the league has gone through.
``It's grown a lot. We started with just six teams, and now it's ballooned to 24,'' she said. ``What's nice now is that we've got a lot of new coaches and swimmers in the league, and they've picked up the spirit and made it fun to swim.''
McCanna started off as a swimmer for Alanton, one of the Original Six, and became an assistant coach on her summers home from college. Eventually, she took over control of the team and hasn't looked back. Coaching, however, is only a summer job for McCanna, whose ``real'' job is teaching health and physical education at the Center for Effective Learning.
OUCH: In the past, Broad Bay's Joe McClelland has concentrated on the butterfly and backstroke. But after being diagnosed with Osgood-Schlatters disease, he took up the individual medley to put less stress on his knees. ``(The disease) makes my kneecaps off center . . . too much backstroke and my kneecaps might pop out.''
AN INNOVATOR: Emily Winslow unveiled a new type of breaststroke in her record-setting 100 IM performance. ``Basically, I bring my hands out over the water . . . it's a lot faster for me because I'm a butterflyer,'' she said.
Winslow only learned the stroke three weeks ago and was a bit worried that the variation might get her disqualified. ``I didn't know if the judges would allow it, since it's a bit different. But there are a few other people who have tried it and it's been OK, so I didn't worry too much.''
ODDS & ENDS: VBSL president Tim Finein estimated the attendance at 1,200 and added that 50 volunteers from every team in the league, working as timers, runners, and lane judges, helped pull off the event successfully. . . . Local USS swim clubs set up booths at the entrance of the Great Bridge Swim & Racquet Club, hoping to lure swimmers to their programs. Some, including the TIDE swim team, gave away complimentary partial memberships. . . . During the intermission, trophies were awarded to the winners of last week's divisional meets: Seven Springs Golf & Country Club (Tarpon division), Norfolk Yacht & Country Club (Porpoise), Broad Bay Country Club (Marlin), and the Little Neck Tidal Waves (Dolphin). ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
Sweatshirts were the fashion of the day for the spectators, but many
of the competitors, like Kristin Mayer (above) of Norfolk's Mallory
Country Club, and Carl Price (right) of Pembroke Meadows, just had
to hug themselves and think warm thoughts.
by CNB