Wong's BLOG

100 Breast


200 Breast

With this 100 Breaststroke swim, AJ got his first Junior Olympic (spring championship meet) qualifying time in the 13-14 year-old bracket (at age 13). Kids were grouped at this meet as ages 13 and up, so he was swimming against all older kids. He clocked the fastest time out of all 13 year olds at this meet in this event.

This was a team night special event for the older swimmers. The swimmers were videotaped in endless pools from multiple underwater angles, and were able to watch and have their underwater footage critiqued by coaches.

50 Free


100 Fly


200 Breast (He qualified for Holiday Invitationals with this swim)

On Day Three of Long Course Age Groups Champs, AJ swam in two team relays and competed in preliminary heats for two individual events. He made it to finals heats for both individual events. He finished 15th overall in 200M Breaststroke and 11th overall and got a AAA time in the 50M Free.

The scoreboard and announcement of the swimmers in the 50 Free final didn't include his name because he was subbed in last minute (the official results published showed his name, but it wasn't changed in the computer soon enough to show on the board during the race). He was first alternate for making the top 16 cut for finals of the 50 Free. One of the swimmers scratched, so he got to swim - and turned in the 11th fastest time in the finals.

On Day Two, AJ competed in 2 individual events. He made finals, and got a Zone qualifying time for the 100M Breaststroke event, but we scratched his spot in the finals in order to rest for a summer swim meet the next morning.



100 Breast

On Day One, AJ competed in preliminary heats for 2 individual events, and also swam on two relays. In both individual events, he qualified for finals, got AAA and Zone qualifying times.

In prelims, he finished 12th in 50M Breaststroke, and 12th in 50M Fly. In finals, he finished 16th in 50M Breaststroke and 11th in 50M Fly.

50 Breast


50 Fly

AJ 50 Back


AJ 100 Breast


AJ 100 Free

AJ's first long course (Olympic length 50-meter pool) meet ever!

He placed third in all three events. In some videos he finishes faster than third, but that was because there was another heat with faster swimmers.

His times qualified him in all three events for the Long Course Age Group Championship meet later this summer.

This is a meet for swimmers 10 & under that Lia and Anna participated in.

JOs were a packed 3 days (see also posts for Day One and Day Two), with morning preliminary heats and relays, and then evening finals every day. AJ clocked 1,250 racing yards of swimming in 14 heats over 3 days (and that doesn't include warm up and cool down laps!).

Day Three consisted of morning preliminary heats in the 200y Breaststroke, and the 50y Free, as well as the kickoff leg of the 400 Free Team Relay.

AJ made finals in the 200y Breaststroke event (top 16), and landed 21st in prelims in the 50y Free. In the 200y Breaststroke evening finals, his 14th and last swim of the 3-day meet, he got 15th place overall.

He is in lane 8, at the bottom of the screen.


AJ swam the first leg of the team's 400y Free Relay, and turned in the fastest lead leg time of the heat. He is in lane 4, which is fourth from the left or fourth down from the top of the screen.




AJ's end of short course season "Rookie Year" stats:
- Broke 4 team records in the 11-12 boys bracket (50 Butterfly, 50 Breaststroke, 100 Breaststroke, and 100 IM)
- Hit US Eastern Zones qualifying times, which are faster than the JO qualifying times, in 5 individual events (50 Butterfly, 50 Breaststroke, 200 Breaststroke, 50 Free, and 100 IM)
- Qualified for 10 individual events at the regional JO championship (won't list them all...but as a side note: he swam 4 events the weekend after JOs to try some new 200s for the first time, and would've qualified in 4 more JO events if he competed in those earlier in the season)
- Competed in the maximum of 6 individual entries allowed at the JO meet, and also swam on 4 team relays
- Made 4 individual event finals at JOs (50 Butterfly, 50 Breaststroke, 200 Breaststroke and 100 IM)
- Placed 10th overall at JOs in the 50 Butterfly, 50 Breaststroke and 100 IM; and 15th in 200 Breaststroke

The morning of Day Two consisted of 2 team relays (a 50y anchor leg of a 200 Free Relay, and a 100y backstroke leg of a 400 Medley Relay), as well as preliminary heats for two individual events - the 100y Breaststroke and the 100y IM.

AJ set new team records in both the 100y IM and the 100y Breaststroke. In the 100y Breaststroke, he finished 21st in prelims, so didn't make finals. He qualified for finals in the 100y IM (made top 16 in prelims), and in the evening finals finished in 10th place overall.

He is in lane 6, third up from the bottom.




This is the team walking out to their spot in lane 2 for the 200y Free Relay -- the set of 4 boys in white or gray caps with blue sharks walking out in front of the boys with the all green caps. The kids walk out in the order they swim, so his team is led by the tall boy in white cap with the blue shark who will lead the relay, and then AJ is picking up the tail as the anchor leg.


The team (in lane 2, second from the top) got 5th in their heat for the 200 Free Relay. AJ was anchor, and actually had the 2nd fastest anchor leg split time in the heat for his 50 Free.

Junior Olympics (JO) is a regional championship meet with qualifying time standards. There are 50 teams in our region, with nearly a thousand total registered 11-12 year old boys. For each 11-12-yr-old boys individual event, 80-100 swimmers on average met qualifying times and competed at the JO regional championship. AJ met qualifying times in 10 individual events, but had to choose a maximum of 6 individual events to swim at the meet.

The morning of Day One consisted of preliminary heats in the 50 Breaststroke, 50 Butterfly, and then the 50y Fly leg of a 200 Medley Team Relay.

AJ qualified for finals (made top 16) in the 50 Breaststroke and 50 Butterfly, so we went back in the evening to swim the finals heats for those events.

In the finals of BOTH events, he placed 10th and also set new team records!!!

Race preparation: AJ is in about the middle of the screen behind the black chairs in blue swim shorts. He is putting on and adjusting (and re-adjusting) goggles first, and then his white cap with the blue shark.


He is in lane 5, about middle of the pool, or fourth up from the bottom (in the white cap with the blue shark).





And here he is in lane 4, again about the middle of the pool, fourth down from the top.




His team is in lane 4 (about middle of the pool, 4th from the top of the screen). AJ swims butterfly in the 3rd leg of the relay. AJ and the team's anchor free leg made up considerable ground - almost enough, but not quite, to touch the wall first in the heat.

The Individual Medley Extreme Meet, or IMX, is a combination of swim events (like a pentathlon, encouraging versatility) that takes place in each of 4 US swim zones annually. In order to qualify to compete, swimmers must earn a minimum total point score across several events during the season. The meet for the Eastern/NE Zone (Virginia through Maine) was held at the Univ. of MD in late January. Required events for the 11-12 age bracket (all participants swim all 5 events) included: 500 Free, 200 IM, 100 Backstroke, 100 Breaststroke, and 100 Butterfly.









Grandma and Grandpa were in town during the meet. You can hear Grandpa cheering for AJ during the last few laps of the 200IM. AJ is in the third lane from the left (third from the top of the screen).




Here is the 100 Backstroke event.




AJ is in the far left (very top) lane.

AJ competed in his first year-round competition level swim meet. He had been doing the neighborhood summer team which is a 2-month summer season for a few years. But now he decided to make swim his sport and do it year round. While most of the kids on these year-round teams get much younger starts, AJ made his debut on the official USA Swimming circuit at age 12 -- at boy did he make a splash!

His final standings were:
5th out of 78 in 100y Breaststroke
6th out of 70 in 50y Breaststroke
7th out of 66 in 50y Butterfly
12th out of 81 in 100y IM
16th out of 131 in 50y Freestyle
24th out of 94 in 50y Backstroke

His times in the two breaststroke races already qualified him to swim those events at the regional Junior Olympics at the University of Maryland in March!

Below are some videos and pics from the meet. [Although he is lengths ahead, he doesn't place first overall because he was swimming in slower heats with other kids presumably also new to official USA Swimming and without seeded times.]

Boys 9-12 100M Breast (lane 2, second lane from the top, blue cap)




Boys 9-12 100M IM (lane 5, middle of the pool)




Boys 9-12 50M Fly (lane 4, fourth from top)


Boys 9-12 50M Breast (lane 3, third from top)


Starting Block Practice
Towards the end of warmups, swimmers get a chance to practice their starts off the starting blocks. AJ is in middle/bottom part of the screen in the blue cap. One of his coaches is in the gray shirt and gives him the go.


Warm-ups
These meets are quite an experience. There were over 400 swimmers warming up for the next several hours of events at the same time across three different warm up areas. AJ pushes off the wall from his turn right at the start of the video in the lane where the lady with the red rescue noodle is standing.




Phelps still holds the 200 Fly record at the pool where the meet was held: