First RST at Trials: Austin in 200 fly!

6-30-08: Tomorrow, July 1, the first of 4 RST swimmers, Austin Brown, will be swimming at the Olympic trials in the 200 fly. We wish him will! Check him out in Heat 2, lane 4. Go Austin! Hope you're enjoying watching the rest of the trials. Exciting stuff! (If you can't watch it on TV, you can catch all the action on video at NBC's website.)

RST 4 in Press Enterprise!

6-28-08: Check out the article on RST's 4 teens heading to the Olympic trials this weekend.

Krug Press Enterprise swimmer of year

6-26-08: Karl Krug, Yucaipa High School senior and Redlands Swim Team swimmer, rec'd this honor for a second straight year. Read all about it at the PE's website. Congrats Karl!

Olympic trials send-off!

6-25-08: The last time RST sent someone to the Olympic trials was when Coach Vicky West was a club swimmer. Now, history repeats itself, and what's even more amazing is that we're sending FOUR HIGHSCHOOL boys to the Olympic Trials...something that is very rarely, if ever, done.

So to honor these 4 guys, their coaches, and parents, we had a special send-off, signing, and ice cream social as they prepare to leave for Omaha.

The swimmers are Austin Brown (200-meter butterfly), Tyler Harp (100-meter freestyle) and Joey Hale (50 free) - all of Redlands High School - and Karl Krug (50 free) of Yucaipa High School. (Source: John Murphy's blog, "Prep Dog", on the The Sun's website)

Good luck to these 4 guys!

Coach Vicky waves as she is recognized as our club's previous multiple Olympic trials swimmer.














Signing the 4 guys' banners, wishing them well!
President Neal talks about this historic occasion to the team.
Their coach, Head Coach Chuck, talks about the sacrifices and hard work that these guys, and their parents, have made to get where they are at.

Kim Pepper gives them going away gift bags as they begin their journey to Omaha.

Here are a few more candids from the ice cream social and send-off.

Staying COOL at last day of AA meet

6-21-08: Sun was the last day of the 4-day AA meet in Irvine and it was a scorcher! Some families were there ALL 4 days--now those are diehard swimmers and parents!

Here are just a few shots from Sunday--I actually spent that afternoon shooting mostly video for a change, doing interviews, etc. You'll be seeing those again someday!

Congrats to all the swimmers--I heard that it was a "hot" meet for most of them...and I'm not talking temperature-wise, either!

Melissa demonstrates how to keep cool--with a swim cap full of water and ice!

Calvin (on the ladder) thinks to himself, "What a bunch of crazy girls!" Are they practicing for the first RST Synchronized Swimming Team?

One of 3 sites where RST parents had enjoyed their sauna, fully clothed.

It was so hot that even the homeless took shelter nearby...
...oh wait, that isn't a homeless family, that is the Cunan family! My bad....

First day of AA meet!

6-21-08: Some of our swimmers made it to the AA meet in Irvine, which started Thur. and goes thru tomorrow (Sun). We thought it would be cool there on the coast, but it's HOT, ave. in the high 90's. Whew! Trying to keep the kids cool and out of the sun. Check out the pictures from Friday and watch for Sunday's pictures!

Redland's Hale wins duel!

6-11-08: A great article in the Press Enterprise on the CIF-SS Division 1 at Long Beach. Joey Hale wins 50-m free in 19.95 seconds....amazing! Read more about the story at PE's website: PE Article on swim meet

Swim-a-thon 2008

6-6-08 Today was our swim-a-thon, our major fund raiser of the year. The club raises $$ to help purchase equipment, subsidize the cost of gear, pay for social events and awards, and basically everything else that our monthly dues do not cover.

You could swim whatever laps or for however long; many kids were shooting for 200 laps (lengths) or just over 3 miles (5000 yards). Parents had to count laps and time.

Since the money doesn't have to be turned in till later, we won't know how much was raised by this swimathon.

Congrats to all the swimmers who helped out with this fundraiser!

Fun at team picture

6-2-08: Photographing all these kids is a huge task, so they can't help but have some fun while they wait. Thanks to Coach Audy for sending me these pictures!

6-1-08 TCC Meet

6-1-08 Unlike last year, this weekend's meet at TCC was a perfect temp., sunny, and not crowded! Had a good group of swimmers there today. Unfortunately, some weren't feeling well--Mia Ryan didn't make it today after getting sick yesterday, and Jared had to go home early today after not having eaten the last few days for some reason.

In this post, I've started a new "segment". One is called, "Caught looking" and will feature swimmers who I happen to catch obviously looking at the other swimmers! LOL! The other segment will be "Good Sports" and will feature those who exhibit good sportsmanship--shaking hands with the other swimmers, etc.

Way to go RST swimmers, coaches, and parents!



Good Sportsmanship Highlights (I know others do this, but I see Colin do it most)



Caught Looking Highlights