Many Years Ago

A swim team named Little Falls was in high divisions like gallant G and excellent E. It sank to lower divisions, reaching the jaw-dropping J in 1998. But fortunes turned, and Little Falls rose to in-the-middle I in 1999 and happy H in 2000. It surged to formidable F Division in 2001, and then surged back to the slightly less mighty, but still harrowing H Division for the 2002 season. For 2003, it will challenge the devastating D Division! In this mighty bastion of swimming known as Division D, victory shall come only through Diligence, Daring, and a Dash of Decorum. Ill-temper, Indigestion, and Irascibility will only send us back to I Division. I leave it to your imagination where Not-trying, Nausea, and Naughtiness might lead us.

Preseason

Meet entries have been posted. Meet at Little Falls at 8:00 am for Saturday's meet at Bethesda.

Week 1

Bethesda proved why they are supposed to be the best team in our division, defeating Little Falls 444 to 333 on this Stygian morning of cold and wet. However, we dominated them in exceptional performances (a good sign for divisionals); their legions of minions simply proved too numerous. Annie Norton entered the 15 - 18 age group dramatically, winning all of her events and setting four team records in freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly, and IM. Her freestyle and IM records appear to be the first all-star nominating times ever recorded by a 15 - 18 girls penguin. Ethan Benjamin likewise won all of his events, with all star times in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and IM and team records in all but IM. He is ranked in the top four swimmers in the county in each of those events. Our third standout performance was from Ben Cimons, who also easily won all his events with all-star times in freestyle and IM. In the IM, he broke a team record and has a strong chance of swimming in the prestigious Coaches' Invitational Long Course meet. Another bright spot was our relays, continuing a powerful tradition. Both open medley relays defeated Bethesda, thanks to commanding breaststroke legs from Joe and Annie Norton and the anchoring exploits of Kirby Rootes-Murdy and Yasmine Ahmad. Only the boys won their freestyle relay, with a time that seems likely to win the division and reach all-stars. The relay, comprising Patrick Hearle, Ben Cimons, Ethan Benjamin, and Jacob Taswell is in many respects a showcase of good technique. Watch their posture and rotation in freestyle; it is positively textbook. Both freestyle relays' best starts were performed by their youngest members. Maisie McCune and Jacob Taswell timed their jumps perfectly. Maisie swam very strong races in freestyle and breaststroke, but unfortunately had to face the Viking-named Ida Tjonneland. The 8 & under boys Russell Petty and Jacob Taswell formed an intimidating duo, between them winning all their events with two 1 - 2 finishes. The 8 & under boys freestyle was a particularly interesting event. In the first heat, Tom Ferguson swam inspired, dropping eight seconds to beat some in the second heat. Then Jacob Taswell dueled his competition for half a length before shifting into a higher gear for the victory. Finally, we are thankful for our newest teammate, Beck Friedman, who did not know he would be swimming 13 - 14 breaststroke until 10:30 pm on Friday, and Mitchell Curl for swimming up into the 13 - 14 age group, both of whom scored points.

Week2

We lost by about 90 points to Robin Hood, but at least we don't have a silly name. Add to that fact the improved weather and some personal-best times and it wasn't a bad day at all. Our stars continued their success as Ben Cimons, Annie Norton, and Ethan Benjamin each lowered at least one of their own team records. Maisie McCune added outstanding performances in freestyle and breaststroke, receiving her first all-star nominating times in each. The latter time currently ranks her sixth in the county. Patrick Hearle recorded his first all-star time of the season en route to winning the 9 - 10 boys backstroke and nearly did the same in freestyle with a polished flipturn. Our 13 - 14 girls, including Hannah Epstein, Colleen Hamm, Ellen Hearle, Caitie Leaman, Claire Mueller, and Elizabeth Spergel, combined for first place in all of their events despite the handicap that most of them are only 13.

Week3

First, the "bad" news. Little Falls was unvictorious against Westleigh, 357 - 428. On the bright side, our margin of defeat has shrunk from 100 to 90 to 70 points. Additionally, the meet was one of the most exciting of the last decade. The Penguins achieved the perfect harmony of spirited cheering and competitive races. Never before in a humble dual meet have I seen virtually the whole of halftime devoted to non-stop cheering. Several swimmers pulled out especially gutsy victories and deserve mention for their effort. Jacob Taswell found himself locked in an intense freestyle race, but as is becoming a habit unsettling to opponents, he motored ahead in the second half. Patrick Hearle had to come up with his first freestyle all-star time in order to win the 9 - 10 boys race, winning by 0.18 seconds in the final few meters. Bruce Spake outtouched a Westleigh swimmer for second place in 13 - 14 boys breaststroke after a neck-and-neck sprint. Finally, Kinsey Hoffman found the energy to go all-out while her opponent faded in 9 - 10 girls butterfly, winning by a half second. This does not diminish the accomplishments of the Penguins who swam to lopsided victories, who reliably include Maisie McCune, Ben Cimons, Ethan Benjamin, and Annie Norton. They overmatched their opponents, though they did not the best opportunity to lower their own team records as the Westleigh pool was shallow and murky. However, Maisie did manage to reach a milestone, adding a all-star time in butterfly to freestyle and breaststroke. The meet concluded dramatically with the freestyle relays. The soon-to-be-famous "Moyer Shuffle" (distributing the considerable talent on our boys relays more evenly than usual in a gamble to place first and second) worked perfectly. Patrick Hearle, George Spake, Ethan Benjamin, and Russell Petty finished first and Even Duncan, Ben Cimons, Bruce Spake, and Jacob Taswell were a split-second behind. Both beat Westleigh's relay by a small margin that was only comfortable at the finish. Our youngest swimmers on the relays, Russell Petty and Jacob Taswell, delivered clutch performances and doubtlessly saved Brian's job. Though the girls freestyle relay did not win, it was engaged in an equally thrilling race for second place. Another clutch 8-year-old, Maisie McCune, overcame a 10-meter deficit to win convincingly.

Relays

Little Falls came in. . . NOT LAST at Division D's relay carnival. Does that deserve a coveted exclamation mark? Who knows?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were fifth, defeating Bethesda, and were as high as third at the half. Three relays earned a trip to all-star relays. Our boys' graduated relays, the freestyle relay that concludes each dual meet and a 100 meter medley, both swam to runaway victories. The victorious tetrad of Ethan Benjamin at backstroke, Ben Cimons on breaststroke, Patrick Hearle swimming butterfly, and Jacob Taswell anchoring with freestyle (in the freestyle relay, they all swam freestyle) pulled ahead both times and never looked back. All four swam splits that equaled or bettered personal best times, leading to a huge lowering of our freestyle relay team record. The other first-place relay was our 11 - 12 boys medley of Nick Procelli, Nathan Epstein, Ben Cimons, and George Spake. Two very close relays that came in second were the boys crescendo and the boys open medley. In the crescendo, the Penguins narrowly fell to Country Glen and their great 15 - 18 Chris Dufek. Joe Norton swam a stellar middle leg of the relay with by far his best time this season, but Dufek was able to open up a small lead during the last 25 meters of the 15 - 18 segment which Ethan Benjamin and Patrick Hearle couldn't quite make up. The boys open medley took close to another level, with a photo finish that was decided by .03 seconds in favor of Country Glen. The relay began with 14 - year old Ethan Benjamin relieving his older brother of his backstroke duties and holding a lead over all but one 15 - 18 (not Country Glen). Joe Norton maintained a tiny lead against Country Glen, clearly our only rivals by the end of his breaststroke leg. Chris Hewes swam a very fast butterfly leg, but had the misfortune of facing the archnemesis Dufek. Coach David Benjamin nearly stole the race from Country Glen's anchor, but came up imperceptibly short. The relay will have a chance for a rematch that could lead to all-stars at Divisionals. Additionally, the crescendo relay has a very strong chance of going to all-stars as a wildcard.

Week4

Little Falls lost another dual meet in this crazy journey through Division D, but it was a fun meet nonetheless. Let's talk about our amazing eight-and-under swimmers first. Not since the glory days in Division G when Joe Norton, Pat Hamm, and to a lesser extent David Benjamin ruled the pool have the Penguins witnessed such great competitors on our own team. Russell Petty, always a champion of charm, had a breakout swimming performance, joining the dynamic duo of Jacob Taswell and Maisie McCune to form a triumphant triumvirate. Russell finished an extremely close second to Jacob in backstroke, won breaststroke (both in very strong times), and lowered his butterfly an astounding 4 seconds to set a new team record with a powerful all-star time. In the same race, Jacob Taswell also attained the all-star time. Earlier, he won freestyle with his first all-star time ever, pushed by stiff competition to drop over a second to an already-strong time. The third mighty 8-year-old, Maisie McCune, also seemed to rise to a challenge. She lowered her existing all-star times in freestyle, breaststroke, and butterfly. Annie Norton had two competitors, the Samanthas White and Aponte, to respond to. She lowered her team records in freestyle and IM, and then put them in their place in breaststroke with an even more significant drop in her team record. Finally, Ben Cimons, spurred on by NWB's Doug Mackenzie, swam the IM race that we all knew he had in him, shattering his team record. He also came only .07 seconds off our team's backstroke record for 11 - 12 boys, a record with a history of surviving close attempts at conquest. There is further happiness that could be written here, but it is late.

Long Course

All Little Falls swimmers competing at Long Course equaled or bettered their seeding. Ben Cimons finished 6th in 11 - 12 200 meter IM, edging the seventh-place swimmer by a hundredth of a second. Ethan Benjamin came in second in 13 - 14 100 freestyle, staying in contention up to the finish. He also finished fifth in backstroke. Maisie McCune had the 8th best 8 & under 50 breaststroke and stayed with the pack in a very competitive heat.

Week5

Little Falls lost by a mere 48 points to Country Glen in the last dual meet of the season. Unfortunately, it was also one of the rare times when the PEnguins were outclassed in spirit, for Country Glen had live rock music at halftime. Anti-unfortunately, we have great things planned for Divisionals. Unnoticed by many spectators, our 9 - 10 girls swept two of their races. These were freestyle (Kinsey Hoffman, India Scribner, Diana Perry) and butterfly (Kinsey Hoffman, Grace McNamee, amd India Scribner). Patrick Hearle won three 9 - 10 events -- freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly -- by an average margin of 0.60 seconds. Jacob Taswell and Maisie McCune both set new team records for 8 & under butterfly. Meanwhile, Russell Petty neared the all-star time in backstroke and beat his own record-breaking butterfly of last week. Little Falls could end up with two swimmers, Jacob and Russell, swimming the same event at all-stars. Has this ever happened before? Filling in for Joe Norton as the top 15 - 18, Paul Hamm won breaststroke by almost half a length and dropped over 3 seconds. Ethan Benjamin won his four individual events, as did Ben Cimons and Annie Norton, while lowering his freestyle and backstroke team records.

AllStars

***Relays*** Little Falls sent four relays to all-stars. Our first was the boys graduated freestyle team of Patrick Hearle, Ben Cimons, Ethan Benjamin, and Jacob Taswell, who finished fourth in the county. The same group swam the graduated medley in the order of Ethan (backstroke), Ben (breaststroke), Patrick (butterfly) and Jacob (freestyle) and came in sixth. Our 11 - 12 boys medley of Ben Cimons, Nathan Epstein, Jeffrey Aronoff substituting for the injured Nicky Procelli, and George Spake finished eighth. Because Ben's backstroke leg was the first, and therefore did not benefit from the anticipation of a relay start, his time of 36.86 counts as a new team record. The boys crescendo relay, essentially the graduated freestyle relay plus 100 meters from the 15 - 18 and minus half of the 9 - 10's usual 50 meters, finished fourth, beating its ranking by one spot and finishing only four seconds out of first place. In a surprising twist, David Benjamin, hoping only to fill in respectably for Joe Norton or to break the elusive one-minute barrier, split 57.6 seconds thanks to careful analysis of his left hand. As Aristotle said, an examined life is the only worthwhile way to live. ****Individual**** Little Falls acted like a Division D team at individual all-stars. Ben Cimons picked up a 13th in IM and 15th in freestyle among an 11 - 12 age group loaded with stars. Ethan Benjamin finished 6th in freestyle, 3rd in backstroke, and 10th in butterfly, lowering his own team records in all but freestyle. Our excellent 8 & unders set personal bests in every race. Maisie McCune lowered her breaststroke time under 24 seconds to place fifth, Russell Petty dropped half a second to finish ninth in butterfly and break the old team record. Jacob Taswell finished a solid 11th in freestyle and then broke his butterfly record yet again to finish 5th.