Oxon Hill Swim Team

Hammerheads Maintain Performance at All-Star Meet 

8/1/09: When a person is disappointed about swimming a particular time in All-Stars, despite the fact that it is several seconds faster than what she did early in the season, one can see that that person had high expectations. Some of the Oxon Hill Hammerheads, despite all of their constant improvement throughout the year, seemed somewhat sullen as they found themselves not reaching the goals they wished for.

The goals of every Hammerhead, as well as for any swimmer in All-Stars, were to lower already fast times and to finish high in the final results. Divisionals was part of the reason for these personal goals- Nearly every Hammerhead had dropped a second or two in an event and the team in the end earned eleven individual first place medals. Although it was a challenge, the Oxon Hill Swim Team was able to both improve a bit and finish well as a team at All-Stars.

For every Hammerhead swimmer that was able to swim his or her seed time, another was able to beat it. For example, Kahimi Vanzego's high tempo in the 11-12 girls 50 meter backstroke (46.09) allowed her to chop two seconds off of her seed time. The boys 200 meter medley relay (2:24.22), consisting of Chase Steinberger, Kenny Weaver, Thomas Casey, and Ryan Casey, dropped nearly 2.5 seconds. In addition, Dominique Cheatham shaved half a second off her already speedy 9-10 girls 25 meter butterfly (21.80).

As with the times, the final rankings of swimmers in the meet were a mixed bag. Chase Steinberger, in a self-described awful 13-14 boys 50 meter backstroke (38.80), earned 13^th place, which was the Hammerheads' highest finish. The rest of the team was able to eke out 17^th and 18^th place finishes. Although unimpressive on the surface, the Hammerheads kept these races much closer than the blowouts predicted by the cold, computer-generated meet program.

Few teams, no matter how many first place trophies under their belts, can say that they have worked as hard as the Hammerheads did this year. For a team of thirty to win two meets, earn third place in a Division meet, and send fourteen swimmers to an All-Star meet is incredible. The Hammerheads aren't going to rest on these laurels though. Watch out- they're already thinking about next year.