2009 YMCA Short Course Nationals

2009 Y Nationals Recap added below - 4/12!!

Roster	Photos from the send-off breakfast.
Chris Kramer
Caleb Tuten
Alex Mathews
Brian Strathmeyer
Sada Stewart
Hali Flickinger
Julia Kucherich
Sarah Dotzel
Taylor Brew
Shannon Mulcahy
Aileen McCleaf

YMCA Spring Short Course Nationals  – York YMCA  

2009 RECAP 

We are very pleased to report that our York YMCA Nationals Swimming Team performed extremely well at the YMCA Short Course National Swimming Championships held 4/6 through 4/9/2009 at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Pool in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A good way to show just how well the team did is to compare the last couple of year’s results to this year’s results. This comparison follows: 

[*3 fewer swimmers equates to 12 fewer opportunities for PR’s.] 

Our team competed with 144 other teams from all over the country and achieved the highest overall finish in our history. Our boy’s placed 20^th; our girls finished 5^th; and, combined the York YMCA Team placed 6^th! 

Our individual point scorers were as follows:  

Chris Kramer WON the 1650 free on the final evening of the meet to become the York YMCA’s first YMCA National Champion in my memory! Chris also placed 6^th in the 1000 free and 5^th in the 400 IM. In both of his freestyle events Chris achieved World Championship Trials qualifying times. CONGRATULATIONS CHRIS! 

Sada Stewart also had a very strong showing garnering 2^nd place finishes in the 200 free and 100 fly along with a 3^rd place in the 200 IM and a 4^th place in the 400 IM. Sada’s 100 fly time is her first US Open cut! 

Sarah Dotzel placed 4^th in the 200 fly and 8^th in the 100 fly. Julia Kucherich finished 7^th in the 400 IM, 15^th in the 500 free and 24^th in the 200 IM. Hali Flickinger placed 7^th in both the 1000 free and 1650 free and 11^th in both the 400 IM and 200 back. Caleb Tuten finished 17^th in the 200 breast and 13^th in the 400 IM. 

We also had two point scoring relays: The girls 400 medley relay (Sada Stewart, Taylor Brew, Sarah Dotzel, Julia Kucherich) finished 12^th and the 800 free relay ( Sada Stewart, Hali Flickinger, Sarah Dotzel, Julia Kucherich) placed 4^th! 

Our other members of the YY National Team also swam quite well. As indicated above, Taylor Brew really came through for the team with very fast breast stroke splits on the 200 and 400 medley relays; the latter of which was a full 2 seconds faster than her previous best time. Alex Mathews swam two career best times in the 1000 and 1650 freestyles and led off the boys 400 medley relay which set a team record. Brian Strathmeyer anchored the boy’s team record setting 400 medley relay while Aileen McCleaf produced a personal best by almost 2 seconds in her 100 free. Finally, while battling illness, Shannon Mulcahy swam tough and was close to her best times in all three of her events.  

Clearly, by these quantitative measurements the 2009 York YMCA National Team had a very good meet. Beyond these objective metrics, our kids were once again extremely well behaved and it was a pleasure to have coached them at this meet. The coaches’ thanks goes out to our chaperones Mark and Missy Mulcahy, Cori Strathmeyer and Jolynne Brew who did a great job taking care of the needs of the kids. 

The entire Nationals Team would also like to thank all those who greeted us at the GAC on our return. What a wonderful reception! 

With all of our girls returning plus the others who have already qualified (and who knows who else will step up), our girls team looks very strong heading into next year’s meet. Our boy’s team is losing a lot: Chris, Brian and Alex. Caleb, and the team, will need some folks to work hard and find what it takes to get to FLA!   

Thanks to all, The Coaches