Amazing . . . simply an amazing night. It's 1:23 am and we just got back from dinner, picking up some well-earned Frosty's from Wendy's and picking up Dani's stuff at the Hilton but consider this - tonight we had three swims. Nobody in the history of the CCIW has ever swum faster than these three. Pelka - CCIW record 15:49.21 in the 1650 breaks Dan Lloyd's previous record of 15:55. Schranck and Zach - 2:01.79 and 2:01.86 both go under Tom Sur's CCIW record of 2:02.24. Our highest NCAA finish in school history, most points scored in school history, three All-American honors, three more Honorable Mention All-American honors.
Everything on the night was cool. What's cool? Here's what's cool: -getting to shake those guys' hands on the podium; checking (and re-checking, and re-calculating) team scores to see where we stood; having other coaches, coaches I look up to, admire and turn to advice for recognizing what our guys were able to do; the Stevens' Point guys loaning us pants after Steve and Zach forgot theirs; watching our guys become better competitors as the meet went on; catching four teams that had relays at the meet; getting text messages from all over (including Tom Sur, former CCIW record-holders) during the meet just seconds after the guys finished racing; hearing meet announcer Tim Schutt say, "....and we are still awaiting relay cards from Williams, Emory, and Carthage" (a joke since we only had three guys); listening to Zach plan alumni get-togethers around future nationals; watching Dani get excited not just for her alma mater, but also getting nervous and excited about her guys' swims; our fans cheering louder than a couple of top-ten teams; shaking Zach's hand in front of a thousand people during Senior Recognition and saying, "I'll give you a hug if you win" (all the other coaches were hugging); and finally, sticking around (along with Wash U) until the end so that we could recognize the four teams that took home trophies - Williams, Emory, Denison and of course Kenyon.We stuck around because its always more meaningful when others can recognize and appreciate your efforts . . . we're hoping they'll do the same when it's our turn.
More later time to pack, pay the hotel and hit the hay.
