more pix from rinconada

Thanks to Tiny seal for some great pix. Mine are nowhere as good as hers are but I did get a shot of Ariel from Phelps that shows her sucking in air as she sprints for the finish.

The shot of some of the pre race activity gives you an idea of the crowd and excitement that hung in the air as every competitor was keyed up for some great swimming. Ariel had a terrific day taking home a couple of Blue Ribbons (woo hooo!!) and Flippper took home a couple of 4ths (woo hoo!!). And too was a marvelous day for the meet with lots of sun and a slight breeze.

The parade of beautiful bodies from the Olympic Club did not materialize so there was a lot of opportunity for the rest of us to participate and take home some ribbons for our teams. As you can see there was some out of town presence with some folks over from Tam.

The highlight of the morning was the novice 50 yd sprint where our very own Ariel was one of the competitors. She chose to enter the water with a flat dive from poolside and hit the water swimming and never looked back. She flipped at 25 and sprinted back for the finish.

Flipper also swam and chose to go off the blocks. She lost her goggles on entry to the 50 and had to fight the drag from them the entire 50 yards!! What a swim though and despite those wretched goggles dangling from her neck she finished a couple of seconds faster than last year. Way to go Flipper.

The 200 showcased the amazing talents of both swimmers. There Ariel again struck gold and copped a Blue Ribbon with an impressive time and personal best. Flipper took home a 4th place and thinks she might have had a personal best too though she is not sure. However, she did manage to count to eight and finish the complete race!

So it was a very fun day for all and we look forward to seeing more of our friends at the next big show!!