Kirsty "Don't Call Me Kristy" Ferrell represented for the D-I locals ...

I should have also mentioned Courtney Kilkuts for the 200 IM. She won Div3 but has went a 2:02 before. I think there are 5 girls that have a chance to win.

I would put them in this order.
Courtney Kilkuts
Lyndsey DePaul
Stephanie Gabert
Rachel Grant
Samantha Vandenberg.

It should be a very tough race.

There is no defense in swimming so I do not think Wilson losing the O line will hurt their skill players in swimming next year:)

I also saw that Rachel was seeded 2 in the 200 IM but I think the dark horse in this race is Lyndsey DePaul. She was out faster then Rachel and no one to push her on the back half of the race. I think she could go a 2:02 low or 2:01 high. I do not know if Rachel can get her Breastroke fast enough or if Stephanie can get her backstroke fast enough to hit that time. It will be interesting to see.

Also I noticed the girl that beat Rachel in the 100 Back from Palm Springs is not listed in the 100 Back (she was yesterday) but is still listed in the 100 Fly. I am not sure why she would pull out if she did.

The last thing I would like to mention is that next year they shake things up a bit. Walnut remains D2 and Glendora, DBar, St Lucys, Ayala, Damien (Sierra League) drops to D2. They also take the Sea Veiw League (Corona Del Mar, University, Northwood, etc) and move them up to D1 and the Palm Springs teams move down to D3. There are going to be 5 new leagues move into D2 next year and only 2 leagues moving out.

I am not sure what that does as far as overall team champ goes but it seems Damien will do well in D2. What it will do for individual is just make the field deeper with that many more schools sending kids to D2 next year.

I like the Masters. I have no horse in this race but it is fun for someone who does not have kids swimming to get to see what the kids can do against each other.

The internet is great. It lets us pull up all kinds of stats. I was surprised to see Rachel Grant did not swim the 200 Free and 500 Free like she did last year. Her times would have won those events again this year. I looked at the 200 IM and 100 Back from last year and Rachel's times from this year would have won those events last year also even though she finished 2nd in both of those events this year.

The Master meet gives the kids who did not win another chance and the kids who did win in a lower division a chance to race the big kids. I was not at CIF and I won't be at the Masters meet so I cannot speak for the enthusiasm level but as a casual observer I am looking forward to seeing lots of good races.

I would expect the kids to step it up even more and produce some even faster times.

I would like to know what you think of Wilson for next year. THey have some great skill guys but lose almost everyone from the Oline. The schedule is La Puente, @John Glenn, Schurr, @ Montebello, @ South El Monte, Bonita, Diamond Ranch, @ Los Altos, Rowland, @ Charter Oak.

Matt,

I saw the seed sheets and it looks like it's between Rachel and Gabert for the 200 IM crown. I don't see why Rachel can't shave the razor slim margin between them at finals and win. She's got a great chance.
I don't like the concept of Masters, but I am pysched for this.

AT

Our Club coach is the one that pointed it out to me. Many of the parents made the same comment. The CDM coach would not let his kids throw him in the pool or celebrate as they had bigger fish to fry on Tuesday. I think the kids that did not win were dissappointed but many of the kids that did win felt like the just won a qualifying meet or a prelim meet to give them a good seed for Tuesday. The more experienced swimmers knew that they did not reach the top of the mountain yet. I think for a kid who was winning CIF for thier first time their was some excitement. For the kids that had a title or two under their belt it is all about Tuesday.

I heard more complaining then compliments about Tuesday's meet from the kids and parents I talked to.

It just did not seem to have the same excitement as in the past.

Matt,

I totally agree. Not even the crowd was that into it. I asked Thom Simmons from CIF what the deal was and he said he noticed the same thing. The D-I crowd was much better and louder than D-II or D-III (according to Simmons).
You can ask Rachel, this was something I asked her, Andre Utama and Kirsty Ferrell about at their league finals - Does a Masters meet cheapen a CIF division title? All three of them felt it wouldn't, but I don't think they were feeling then how they did at finals.
It's the same analogy as the Bishop Amat girls basketball team. Those girls hardly celebrated when they won CIF the past two seasons becuase they knew the state playoffs start the following week.
You just can't put out a small prize and a big prize and expect an athlete with the fire of these kids to be overly-excited about the small one.
The question I really wanted to ask the athletes was: "If you win a CIF title, but lose at Masters, is the season a disappointment?"
That may not apply this year. The good thing is that most of swimmers who didn't win titles now have new life.
Tuesday should be a awesome!

AT

I thought the meet was a little anti-climatic this year with the masters meet. You did not see the usually celebration from the winners. It was more like a qualifying meet then a CIF Championship.