PVS Long Course Distance Meet

PVS Generates SNAPPY solution @ LC Distance Meet

Swimmers arriving at the new Wilson pool on Saturday June 18th were expecting to swim their 1500 freestyle event in the normal fashion.  But that was not the case.  We were all treated to a first for good old PVS.  Upon arrival, we were informed that there was no starting system to start the races.  Apparently, the Takoma / Wilson Aquatics Department who provided the equipment for PVS to run the meet did not supply the starting system and the Meet Director had not anticipated the need for back-up equipment from PVS (just in case).  In my 15 years of running swim meets, I have come to realize one thing for certain, when dealing with the D.C. government, it is always prudent to plan for the, “just in case" inevitable scenarios.

That brings me to the "creative" solution that was proposed.    One would think that using a starter’s pistol would be the first back-up plan.  You know, going retro, back to the classic era of swimming before speed suits and goggles that need an instruction manual and an engineer’s degree to figure out how to adjust.  But alas, no one had one. I guess carrying a gun in D.C. was not on the tip of anyone's mind that morning? One would think that the next best solution would be to use a whistle start.  But that was nixed because the liesure pool was open to the public during the meet and the Officials crew felt that swimmers may false start if the life guards blew their whistle at the general public.  So the powers that be elected to use a clip board.  Yes, you read that correctly!  A CLIP BOARD!  Now, if you can stop laughing long enough to keep reading, I’ll explain how that worked. 

On the command, “Take your mark,” the Starter, who had been trained in the ancient art of Chinese thumb wrestling, would pull back on that mighty spring loaded clip at the top of the board and in one lightning quick flick of his mighty thumb, the Starter would release the clip and in the blink of an eye the clip would spring back against the board and make an ear shattering “snap” that could barely be heard from 20 feet away, and the race was off!  To everyone’s surprise, this actually managed to work, as ridiculous as it sounds (and looked).  And, though it was not very loud, no one had a bad start.  I guess there is a first for everything. Fortunately for us, we were spared the sight of the starter trying to do a false start signal on the clip board devise. A feat sure to have caused serious injury to his thumb and various nearby tendons.

Despite the starting spectacle sure to generate higher revenues at the local office supply stores, four Marlin swimmers dropped their times by over 20 seconds.  The rest of the Marlin swimmers at the meet all swam their event for the first time in long course.  John Macdonald dropped 39.76 seconds in the 1500 free and recorded his first “A” time in that event stopping the clock at 19:17.66.  Martin Javelosa swam the 400 free at the distance meet and he broke the 5:00 mark for the first time clocking a 4:49.09 which was a 21.26 second improvement and his first “AA” time in the event.  Also swimming the 400 free was Holly Jansen.  Holly also recorded her first “A” time in the event by dropping 29.44 seconds.  Becky Burke swam on Sunday when there was a starting system and she dropped 20.70 seconds in the 400 IM, stopping the clock at 5:44.38 and her first “A” time in the event. 

Great meet everyone despite the new challenges you had to face. 

Coach Bill