But swimming revved up the year before the 2012 Summer Olympics, again drawing the attention of fans beyond its immediate circle of swimmers, parents, and coaches.

Ryan Lochte took down the first world record in the post-super-suits era. Sixteen-year-old phenom Missy Franklin stepped out as a contender for Olympic gold. Swim suit manufactures unveiled their newest textile speed-suits. And gold medalist breaststrokers Brendan Hansen and Ed Moses ended their retirements in hopes of tasting Olympic glory one last time.

The DC, Va., and Md. metro areas saw their own swimmers making headlines locally and nationally. Let’s look back at RFTW’s top stories of 2011.

1. November 14 – Katie Ledecky shines at National Age Group Team Challenge

In a meet stacked with nationally ranked age group swimmers, 14-year old Kate Ledecky smashed two 13-14 National Age Group yards records at the 5th Annual National Age Group Team Challenge. Ledecky now finds herself in an elite category of American distance freestylers heading into 2012.

Katie Ledecky in the 1000 freestyle final (Bryan Flaherty/The Washington Post)

2. February 27 – Whitman girls repeat at metros; Gonzaga boys victorious

On a night when six meet records fell, depth proved to be the deciding factor for both the Whitman girls and the Gonzaga boys. The Purple Eagles won just one individual event and one relay but picked up enough points to capture their first Metros title since 2003. Whitman used nine top-five finishes to pile up enough points to pull away from Good Counsel and Churchill.

3. February 19 – Langley girls, Westfield boys win Va. AAA titles

After finishing in second place in district, regional and state competition last year, Langley senior Jayme Katis wrote on her team captain application that the Saxons would win region and state titles this winter. The team outdid that forecast, taking Liberty District and Northern Region titles on their way to the Va. AAA state title.

Madison senior Kelly Corish helped completed the sweep for the Warhawks at the AAA Northern Region diving championships (Photo courtesy of Sandy Corish).

4. March 22 – Locals shine at Junior Nationals; Curl-Burke wins

In a testament to the hotbed of swimming talent that is the greater Washington region, Curl-Burke Swim Club, a member of Potomac Valley Swimming, brought home the boys’ title as well as the combined team crown.

5. November 11 – On signing day, no letters to sign for three Maryland high school swimmers

On the eve of the early signing period for NCAA National Letters of Intent, three area high school swimmers — verbally committed to swim for the University of Maryland next year — were contacted by the school’s athletic department and told that Maryland would not be sending out letters to swimming recruits, and they should pursue offers from other institutions.

6. July 13 – Recap: MCSL Coaches Long Course Meet

With clear skies and large crowds lining the 50-meter Olympic-sized pool, nine records were broken and two Olympic Trials cuts were achieved at the MCSL Coaches Long Course meet at Rockville Swim Center.

The 15-18 women line-up for the 200m breaststroke at the 2011 MCSL Coaches' Long Course meet. (Danielle Schulkin)

7. February 19 – Churchill boys, Whitman girls take MCPS titles

Churchill’s boys team mounted a comeback after trailing early in the MCPS championship meet to beat defending champion Wootton. Sparked by dominant performances in both freestyle relays, the Whitman girls went on to claim a second consecutive championship.

8. July 7 – Joe Pascale: a swimmer and a fighter

Last summer at the 2010  Senior Nationals, Joe Pascale made his first Olympic Trials cut in the 50 meter freestyle with a time of 23.20 seconds.  He attributes his recent success in the water to a swimming regimen supplemented with mixed martial arts.

9. August 8 – McLean, Conger impress at Nationals

Matt McLean broke Tom Dolan’s 1996 Potomac Valley Swimming resident record in the 400 freestyle.  The former All-Met from Potomac Falls produced the second-fastest time in the event for an American this year. Jack Conger breaks 15-16 year-old NAG record.

10. January 19 – “The Magic of Miracles”

In the summer of 2010, Chuck Katis (current Harvard swimmer) and twin sister Jayme founded a non-profit organization, which they named The Magic of Miracles, to bring wonder and joy to the lives of young cancer patients receiving treatment at local hospitals

11. December 12 – Records tumble at Tom Dolan Invitational

The year ended with a record setting meet held at the beautiful University of Maryland Eppley Center. The PVS record books were rewritten over the four day meet, including several National Age Group records.

Michael Andrews sets NAG record in 100 IM (Bryan Flaherty/The Washington Post)

You know people are in the holiday spirit when they point out how much lane lines look like candy canes. (Bryan Flaherty/The Washington Post)

10. Swim Spray

Personally, I love the smell of chlorine. But many people tire of showing up at school smelling like they brought the entire swimming pool with them. I know my mother would have appreciated this product after her eyes teared up from the chlorine flooding out of our pores from the unusually high levels in the pool one day.

Swim Spray neutralizes chlorine odor by removing the chlorine from the body. Developed by Andrew Chadeayne, PhD in Chemistry, a former Princeton swimmer and 2011 U.S. Masters Swimming National Champion in the 200 Backstroke, the product is 100% natural, made up of two ingredients, water and vitamin C. It’s really simple to use in your everyday routine. After practice, rinse off, spray your hair and body with Swim Spray, use soap and shampoo, and voilà, no more smelling like a vat of chlorine.

I’ve never personally used this product, but I’ve heard great reviews. If anyone picks it up this holiday season, let me know how you like it!

9. Sammies

Every diver knows how wonderful these little towels are. But swimmers could benefit from keeping one in their bag as well. Despite its small size, these towels are capable of absorbing huge amounts of water, perfect for drying yourself during dive practices, after warm-ups, or between races at your swim meet.

8. Timex Ironman Watch

A number of years ago, I had a lane partner who could barely make out the near flags when he wasn’t wearing his glasses. This made things really difficult for him considering the pace clock was on the opposite side of the pool where we trained. His solution was to just leave the wall when the group left, until our coach figured it out one practice and told him he had to get a watch.

For more than your visually impaired athlete, Timex Ironman watches make fantastic gifts for swimmers, with features like a lap counter, split and lap options, countdown timer, interval clocks, and an alarm clock to make sure you’re awake for 4 a.m. practice.

7. Speedo Performance Pro Backpack

Alternative: TYR Alliance Team II Backpack

If you’ve been on a pool deck for more than a month, you’ve seen these bags being toted about by just about every swimmer with an All-Star patch ironed to the side or an invitational pass dangling from the straps. But these bags are more than just great places to show off the great meets you’ve qualified for.

They really are great bags to transport your things to practice and meets. They come equipped with a rubberized bottom and a wet-pocket to keep your dry clothes separate from your wet swim suits and towels. They last for years and come in just about any color your swimmer might desire.

6. Splish Swimsuits

Sure, at the next championship meet you will probably be dying to get your hands on the new Speedo Fastskin3 or TYR AP12, but until then, why not have a little fun with your practice suits? Splish has fun and funky designs to show off your swimmers or divers personality, including winter holiday themes. You can even design your own if you are feeling creative!

Still looking for that perfect gift? Read on for gifts 1-5!

]]> http://reachforthewall.com/2011/12/16/gifts-for-your-swimmer-or-diver/feed/ 8 http://reachforthewall.com/2011/12/14/london-2012-ed-moses-wants-to-make-u-s-swim-team-recapture-glory-of-2000-games/ http://reachforthewall.com/2011/12/14/london-2012-ed-moses-wants-to-make-u-s-swim-team-recapture-glory-of-2000-games/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 15:03:18 +0000 Amy Shipley http://reachforthewall.com/?p=11170

Ed Moses, who attended Lake Braddock High School and the University of Virginia, is shown at the 2004 U.S. Olympic trials. (Donald Miralle/Ghetty Images)

Back in the glory days, when he was the nation’s top breast stroker and a world-record holder, Ed Moses didn’t aspire to anything less than record times and first place. Now, 11 years removed from the Olympic gold and silver medals he won at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, in the 10th month of a return to the sport after five years of no swimming whatsoever, Moses measures his progress by entirely different standards.

Did he advance to the eight-swimmer final? Did he get faster, even a little? Does he hurt as much as yesterday?

Moses, 31, a graduate of Lake Braddock High and a former swimmer with the local Curl-Burke swim club, has endured physical pain, embarrassment, frustration and constant second-guessing in his quest to make the 2012 Olympic team seven years after he last swam competitively. The process has been rough.

“That has to be the perfect word,” he said by phone from Fullerton, Calif., last week, days after finishing eighth in the 200-meter breast at U.S. winter national championship in Atlanta. “The hours you have to train to become a swimmer are just so many, and they are so monotonous. It wasn’t one year I wasn’t swimming, it wasn’t two years, it was five years of me not getting in a pool.

“My time is ticking. I can’t be wasting any time now.”

When Moses trained for the 2000 Summer Games as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, he displayed the single-minded focus and supreme discipline of the son of a military father. More than a decade later, Moses has become a serial dabbler, constantly seeking new and harder tests. He retired from swimming in 2004 after missing the cut for his second U.S. Olympic team, then waged an unsuccessful attempt to break in on onto the PGA Tour. After years on the links, he accepted an executive post at a start-up entertainment company in Burbank, Calif., then tried his hand at rap music and reality television while returning to swimming full-time, eyeing the London Games.

“I don’t think anybody out there besides my family, close friends and coach think I can make it,” Moses said.

Moses’s comeback has been chronicled in a reality show called “Against the Tide,” which will air for five straight nights beginning 9 p.m. Wednesday on Universal Sports. Moses, who helped put together a tongue-in-cheek rap swimming video you really have to call this up and watch it.; it’s quite hilarious to promote the show with three training partners and Towson swimmer Katie Hoff, got back in the water with the world’s most elite group of breast strokers under Dave Salo in Irvine, Calif. But he eventually moved to Jon Urbanchek in Fullerton for more personal attention — something he felt he needed with so much work to do.

After warming up at a host of masters competitions, Moses showed up to the U.S. summer national championships in August in Palo Alto, Calif., an event many of the top Americans skipped because it took place just after the world championships in Shanghai. Even so, Moses got schooled: He finished 17th in the 100 breast and 16th in the 200 breast.

Three months later at the Minneapolis Grand Prix, an international meet that attracts some top swimmers, he finished 15th and 17th — nearly four seconds off of his best time in the 100 (1:00.21) and 10 seconds slower than his best in the 200 (2:10.40).

He found himself utterly disgusted.

“If people see you swim like this, they’re going to think this is an absolute joke,” he recalled thinking.

At the U.S. winter national championships in Atlanta just more than a week ago, Moses, finally, experienced an epiphany. Though he finished 22nd in the 100 breast stroke with a time of 1:02.11, he finished eighth in the 200 breast in 2:14.50. Brendan Hansen won the race in 2:09.64; Eric Shanteau got second in 2:11.28.

For the first time in a long time, Moses made an elite event final. He felt competitive.

“That was a breakthrough,” Moses said. “I got to the final. I raced the best, stood toe to toe with them and said I could be in this race. That bridged a mental and physical gap. I do have a shot this year.”

Read more Olympic news at Heavy Medal: The Post’s Olympic blog.