Wow Double Squared and Then Some! TWIM at Zones!

Led by the Magnificent Coach Heather Shields TWIM lit up the Aquatic Stratosphere with a truly earth rocking performance as the TWIM wave swept through the 2015 PNA &NW Zone Championship Meet at the beautiful King County Aquatic Center this past weekend!!!

Powered by passion, desire and determination TWIM swam in every single event at the meet!!! This is where legends are born! This is where Champions step up!

Counting relays, TWIM set – or help to set – no fewer than 1 World, 6 Zone, and 22 PNA records at this meet!!

As there are too many successes to itemize individually, here are the highlights in Alphabetical Order by Last Name:

Maoz – set a new Israeli (National) record for his age group in the 100m Free with a time of 57.31 smashing the old record by 1.5 seconds. Way to go, Maoz!!! Who says we’re not International, huh? Maoz also shook up the pool in the 50 free with a 1st place time of 25.87. And he was part of a record-breaking Men’s 200 Free Relay setting a new PNA high-water mark!

Vince – set a new PNA record in the SCM 50 Breast with a time of 32.35!! Congrats, Vince! What is most amazing is he did it on the first leg of his 200. Don’t worry, he warned the officials beforehand, so the record is legit! Vince is fast approaching the records in the 100 and 200, also, so look out everybody! Vince also set a new PNA record as part of the Mixed 400 Medley Relay!

Zena – was part of the World-Record-Breaking Women’s 400 Free Relay for PSM (200-239 age group)! Yes, we mean that literally, and they smashed the old record by over 3 seconds. Add to this Zone records in the women’s 200 & 400 medley relays and PNA records in the mixed 200 medley & 400 free relays and you spell awesome! Individually, Zena rewrote the PNA record books in her 55-59 age group with new marks in the 200 free (Zone record), 100 IM, 200 Back, 400 Free (Zone record), 100 Back, and 50 Back. Way, to go, Z!!!

Jenny – while not able to swim Saturday, Jenny gave it her all on Sunday winning in every one of her races including an impressive 200 Breast swim! She also swam a great 200 IM. Jenny was very fun to watch, as usual!

Father Tom – set a new PNA record as part of the men’s 400 medley relay and captured first place in the 100 free crushing his old time by over 1 ½ seconds! He also bettered his times in the 200 free and 100 back. But what was most impressive was he knocked off 9 1/2 seconds from his 200 back!

Brian_100_Free — Brian in the middle of the 100 free fray

Brian – was part of the Men’s 400 free relay that set a new PNA record! He also has established his dominance as the butterfly sprinter on our club swimming the SCM 50 fly in 33 seconds flat! He dropped over 2 seconds off his seed time with that swim. His 50 free split in the Mixed 200 Fr Relay was screaming fast as well.

Carl – set a new PNA record in the 50 back and 100 breast and was able to better his PNA records in the 50 breast, 100 back, and 200 back! What surprised him the most was getting within a tenth or two of the 50 breast Zone record. He was also lucky to be part of 5 record-breaking relays: the men’s 400 medley relay (Zone record) and the men’s 200 free, 400 free, 200 medley, and mixed 400 medley relays (PNA records).

Betsey – set new PNA records in the 800 free and 200 free. She had already owned the 800 record but she nabbed the 200 as well. She took an amazing 7.67 seconds off her 800 record. Betsey was part of not one, but two record-breaking Women’s relays: the 800 free relay (new Zone record!) and the 200 free relay (new PNA record) !

TWIM_TWIM_TWIM_TWIM — TWIM, TWIM, TWIM, and TWIM!

Kathy – Kathy and Tammy had an epic duel in the 800 free – swimming side by side nearly the entire way. They both took oodles of seconds off their seed times. Kathy finished first in her age group with a time of 11:35.75, nearly a minute faster than what she thought she could do!

Frank – crushed his previous best time in the 400 IM by nearly a minute! Is that a typo, Frank? He understandably took 1st in that event! And he’s gotta be proud of his sub-30 time in the 50 free as well. Frank swam in two record-breaking relays: the Men’s 200 Free Relay and Men’s 800 Free Relay, both of which set new PNA records!

20151122_133427_Valerie_2_Carl — Valerie handing the baton to Carl

Valerie – Captured two 1st-place, solid-blue ribbons in the 50 Back and 100 Free. Valerie was one busy lady swimming a total of 8 races over 2 days! She also contributed to a 1st place finish in the Mixed 400 Medley Relay. Way to go, Valerie!

Tammy – Took off nearly 40 seconds from her best 800 Free time while battling Kathy in the next lane over. What an exciting race to watch! If we were to gauge from her smile, one of Tammy’s proudest achievements has to be her 100 free time when she took off over 5 seconds! Oh, and yeah, she finished first place in her age group – and with a best time – in the 1500 free!

Thomas W Walker – the animal that he is, not only took off tons of seconds from his seed times, but tackled such races like the 400 IM, 200 Back, 400 Free, and 200 Breast! He’s gotta be proud of his 400 Free. He looked strong throughout, taking nearly 40 seconds off his seed time. Way to go, Tom!

Mark – Mark is trying to steal the animal title away from Tom and maybe did so this weekend. Thanks to Mark and Tammy, TWIMmers swam in EVERY race in the meet including the 200 Fly and the 100 Fly! Us mere mortals shake in their boots whenever we hear those distances in combination with that stroke!