Boys High School Swimming

Another swimming season is over. Joe High School acquitted himself well, I thought, achieving a personal best in the 100 back and 200 free. However, not quite good enough to go to state. And he is very disappointed that he didn't do better. Maybe next year. Maybe he'll take the coach's observation that input equals output to heart. Or maybe not.

Swim Time

Here it is again. Minnesota Boys High School Swimming. For the next three months, Joe High School will be the long distance guy for Minneapolis South High. The first meet is Wednesday--stay tuned. Today there was no practice. Rather, there was a chewing out by the coaches. Apparently some of the swimmers are getting out of the pool before the end of practice to avail themselves of the YMCA sauna.

Being a high school athlete is tough. Joe had wanted to take a class at MCTC, the local community college, but it will be hard to get there during the school day and still have time for swim practice. We'll see. But he is remarkably determined to take calculus before he graduates from high school. The only way he can do it is to take pre-calculus outside of the normal school day or year. Summer school, anyone?

The end of the high school swimming season....sigh

Joe High School acquitted himself amazingly well at the sectional swim meet for the Twin Cities. He took four seconds off his 500 yard frestyle, coming in 5th for the region. While not enough to get him to the state tournament, he's determined to get there next year. College scouts, take note!

Swimming upstream

What a choice. I can talk about Current Occupant and his deer-in-the-headlights look last night as he tried to look presidential. Or I can tell you that Joe High School broke the pool record at a swim meet at the Buffalo Middle School, population 15,000. He was 10 seconds off his usual time, due to a nasty cold. But they probably don't get too many 500 freestyle swimmers at the Buffalo Middle School. Joe's name will be listed on the side of the pool until another record-breaker comes along.

And speaking of record breaking, Current Occupant only came alive during the tugging-at-the-heartstrings portion of his State of the Union speech. Otherwise he was completely wooden and totally inarticulate--for example, his explanation of the tax savings that his health insurance scheme would provide was incomprehensible. He must have skipped a sentence on the teleprompter. You almost feel sorry for the guy. And that's what's record-breaking. But remember, I did say almost....

Minneapolis Swimming-True Team Sectionals

I just can't write about the Current Occupant and his gang any more. In fact, their present approach is so depressing I haven't written anything for two weeks. Why convene the Iraq Study Group if you're going to resolutely ignore every single recommendation it makes? Pretty remarkable.

So, let's talk about high school swimming instead. Specifically, let's talk about the True Team Boys Sectionals, held today at Minneapolis's Southwest High School, the only high school pool in the city. Joe High School did very well. He's chipping time off his 500 freestyle, getting within spitting distance of being a state qualifier. His backstroke is respectable. And the coach had him swim the fly in one relay. South High would have done much better overall if they had had a diver--this is, after all, High School Swimming and Diving. But they don't.

Parents at swim meets are usually OK, if a little intense. I've been going to swim meets for so long that I'm in the intense category. But I do not time the splits--I let OLGS do that. He was the announcer for the meet, so he had a ringside seat. And Joe High School got three medals for his efforts. All in all a good day.

South High Boys Swimming

It's starting again. The Minnesota high school boys swimming season is upon us. Joe High School, king of the 500 free, has turned into a monster, and goes to every practice. He is energized by the appearance of new swimmers, some of whom are quite good.

Swimming Sectionals

Joe High School is off to the second round of Twin Cities section swim meet, the purpose of which is to identify the swimmers who will proceed to the state meet. Joe will not make it to state--there are several powerhouse swimmers from Cretin-Durham Hall, a few from St. Paul Sibley, and a couple from Southwest. But he acquitted himself well--coming in 5th in the 500 yard freestyle, and 9th in the 200 yard freestyle, placement that qualifies him for the second round. And in both, he swam his personal best--at 5:26:83 in the 500 free, and a 2:02:xx in the 200.

I never thought that I would become one of these obsessive parents who cares about 100ths of a second. But he is pleased, although, as always, he said, "I could have gone faster." I no longer ask him why he didn't--it adds nothing.

Minneapolis South High Swimming

Another swim meet. It's now the boys high school season, and after two weeks two meets have already taken place. It's going to be a rough season. All Minneapolis meets take place at Southwest High School, the only high school in Minneapolis with a pool. I try not to think of the facilities available to students in Minnetonka or Edina, or even Bloomington. The Southwest scoreboard and timers never work. There is no team bus to return to South after the meet, forcing students to beg rides. The team booster club provides the suits, pays for additional coaching and pool time, and generally supplies basics that are available freely to swimmers in richer communities.

There is something wrong with this picture. Parents in Edina and Minnetonka are presumably better able to supplement the swim teams' expenses, and probably don't need to do so (just guessing here, so correct me if I'm wrong). In contrast, Minneapolis parents generally are less likely to have extra money to support athletics, and need to do so if the programs are to continue. This is just one of the glaring inequalities caused by education funding in Minnesota. And while I am glad to support the swimmers, I would feel even better about it if I didn't have to.

South High lost the swim meet. Joe High School swam well, but there was some stiff, and unexpected, competition from one of the Southwest swimmers. And South lost a couple of its best swimmers from last year to graduation. But there's always next time.