Because Nothing Says Christmas Like a Swim Meet

I spent Friday through Sunday at the Trees Pool in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the 48th Annual Christmas Meet Invitational. This was the first time that my daughter attended this meet and it was an incredible experience. We will definitely be coming back next year! The swimming pool deck was decorated for Christmas - there was even a wooden Santa in shorts and sunglasses...because nothing says Christmas like a swim meet!

We stayed at a Residence Inn minutes from the pool and were quite happy with our hotel choice. The rooms were very clean and comfortable. I particularly liked having a kitchen in the suite so that I could keep my swimmer fed! I spent quite a bit of time cooking the Thursday before we left and I was so happy to have yummy meals prepared and ready to heat-up when we got back to the suite after finals on Friday and Saturday. Kev and Aunt Kim drove us down on Friday, stayed for the prelims and finals, and then drove back home. Kev came back on Sunday morning and took us home after finals that evening.

The Christmas Meet was the fastest meet that my daughter has attended. I was amazed by the times that the young people were achieving at this meet. I mentioned to her coach that this meet seemed faster than the Central Zone Championships and he said that it was - several zones were represented among the swimmers attending the meet. There were swimmers attending the meet from Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Overall, the meet was exhausting for Amber over the three day period. The hardest part was that the meet was a preliminaries/final format each day. Amber swam 8 individual events over the 3 days and 2 relays. She made the finals in 7 of her 8 individual events. The 12 and unders swam in the afternoon so she really had no time to rest in between the end of the prelims and warm-ups for finals. Even with her grueling schedule, Amber had an absolutely fantastic meet and performed exceedingly well! Amber cut time in ALL of her events over the course of week-end, set new team records, and came home with 4 pieces of hardware (medals).

Friday Prelims

• 200 Free 2:03.33 (seeded #6 for finals)
• 200 Back 2:20.96 (AAA, new USC record)
• 50 Fly 27.10 (AAAA, seeded #1 for finals)

Friday Finals

• 200 Free 2:02.31 (AAAA, new USC record, 5th place)
• 50 Fly 26.76 (AAAA, new USC record, new Lake Erie record, 1st place)

Saturday Prelims

• 100 Free 55.91 (seeded #4 for finals, new USC record, AAA)
• 50 Back 28.93 (seeded #1 for finals, AAAA)

Saturday Finals

• 100 Free 56.30 (placed 5th)
• 50 Back 28.92 (new USC record, AAAA, placed 2nd)

Sunday Prelims

• 100 Back 1:03.94 (seeded 4th for finals)
• 50 Free 24.89 (seeded 1st for finals)
• 100 Fly 1:01.65 (new USC record, AAAA)

Sunday Finals

• 100 Back 1:03.35 (new USC record, AAAA, placed 4th)
• 50 Free 24.76 (new USC record, sectional cut, placed 2nd)
• 100 Fly 1:02.14 (AAAA, 3rd place)

We are so very proud of Amber! Her hard work, dedication, good attitude, and natural talent are serving her well in her chosen passion of competitive swimming.