The 411 on CCS & TO

I MADE CCS!!!!! WHOOOO! 1:05.05 in the 100 back, faster than the CCS qualifying time by half a second and faster than my personal best by almost 3 seconds. First girl swimmer to make CCS from MHS in years! (I know I am bragging, but I am so ecstatic that I don't really care.) Gideon: "I won't be the only swimmer in an individual event!" Haha. But on the downside, that means after the regular season ends, I have to go to those crazy CCS practices with Gideon, Kelvin, Peter, and Tung (Varsity boys relay).

I also got my first double 0 in 100 free! (Sorry, that was swim talk. Double 0 = 1:00 for a 100 yard freestyle) And my personal best in 500 free (6:12)! What the heck!!! I was thinking about how I dropped so much time... all of these could be possible explanations: an entire ham sandwich for lunch? new team suit? no snacking before events? faster turnovers like Coach Pagan said? backstroke training with Kelvin? actual competition this time, instead of winning by a half a body length like always? I do know for a fact that I focused on fast and powerful turns and I entered the race with a different mindset: to race the girl next to me instead of trying to get that CCS time. Well whatever it is, I am gonna repeat it. I just hope I can improve and not disappointment myself, Coach Pagan, or my teammates by gaining time.

Congratulations Class of 2011! 2nd place overall, but 1st in rooting section (YAAAY!!!), pyramid (It even looked cute from behind, haha), and decorations (California<3). I am kinda surprised we got 3rd in the dance, I really liked it. Quite a few people asked me this yesterday: am I planning to do Trojan Olympics next year? For now, my answer would be no. I really wanted to be in TO this year, almost more than anything... except to make CCS in my very last swim season at MHS (due to those budget cuts). Well, not participating in TO this year worked out to my advantage. I will be honest, I missed everything about TO last year: the unity, the spirit, the pride. But I had to realize that I needed to sacrifice something cause life is all about the choices. I would much rather be at TO practices instead of swimming endless, mind-numbingly boring laps in a pool while getting sunburned and extreme tanlines. But everything happens for a reason, right? Although I changed my mind so many times, I am glad I wasn't in it and I am proud of myself for choosing what I needed to do, instead of what I wanted to do. More importantly, I am proud of everyone who sacrificed their time, effort, sleep, and sanity (haha) to represent our class. Next year... we got this :D