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August 21, 2008

2008
ONTARIO SUMMER GAMES

Five of NYACs swimmers competed at the 2008 Ontario Summer Games in Ottawa on August 13-16. After two grueling long meets leading into this competition, Provincials and Age Group Nationals, our expectations were somewhat up in the air as to how well we could perform, taking into consideration the timing of the meet being so late in the season. Our swimmers took great pride in performing at the best of their abilities, discipling themselves by attending all the workouts set the two weeks prior to the meet and keeping themselves in great physical condition leading into the meet.



From our first race of the competition, it was clear that our swimmers were going set the example on how to race tough and race fast in difficult conditions. From dealing with morning finals to adjusting to other coaches to some athletes swimming up to a total of 15 races over three days, our swimmers led the charge in helping the Central Region win the meet by the narrowest of margins over the Eastern Region, 796 to 755.

It has been a long season and these swimmers showed great heart and character, representing their club with pride and determination. Their efforts are greatly appreciated not only by the members of the Central Region but also the entire NYAC membership.

Coach John would like to thank Olga for taking on the daunting task of accepting the team manager position for this meet. Her guidance and leadership leading into the meet, and also the week during the meet was greatly appreciated by not only myself but also the entire Central Region team of swimmers and coaches. The "non-NYAC" members of the team soon realized how valuable she is to North York and how great she makes us look as a team on a day to day basis.

Highlights

Here are some of the standout performances from the meet…

Nathalin Moy - high point scorer among 14 year old girls with 1st place finishes in both the 100 and 200 fly (not to mention a stellar 1:05.77 in the 100 fly, just missing her senior national cut)

Katie Martin - high point scorer among 13 year old girls including a 1st place finish in the 200 free (also two great swims of 1:08.8 in the 100 back and 1:01.7 in the 100 free on the last day of the meet)

Nathaniel Hu - high point scorer among 13 year old boys with 1st place finishes in the 200 fly and 200 back

Casey Gallagher - second in high point scoring among 14 year old girls with a 1st place finish in the 200 back

Connie Yang - finding her "sparkle" again after two tough meets in Thunder Bay and Calgary - she was second in high point scoring among 13 year old girls, placing first in both the 100 and 200 fly

Some John and Olga moments...

Here are some moments that Olga and Coach John will not soon forget (sorry if these don't make sense and turn into inside jokes - as many of you know, I can't help myself - haha!!!!!) …

-Olga protecting Coach John from being pelted with flying seat cushions at the opening ceremonies

-Coach John having recurring nightmares about the oh so good cafeteria food and recalling why he moved out of residence after his first year at university

-Olga realizing that "one size fits all" with our team apparel (what was thought to be a shirt turned into a moo-moo -haha)

-both Olga and John realizing that baseball players have some rather awkward pre-game routines

With that said, Coach John is going into hibernation for a few weeks as this meet brought a conclusion to the season. Yiiiiiiipppppppppeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful summer - see you in September!

John Calnan