Wk 1 Meet of the Week: Little Rocky Run @ Vienna Aquatic Club

It’s finally the start of NVSL competition! Week one is in the books–despite fears of bad swimming weather–and there was plenty to be excited about if you found yourself on the pool deck Saturday morning!

Preview | Free | Back | Breast | Fly | Relays | Recap

Old-timers familiar with the top divisions in the NVSL will remember both Little Rocky Run and Vienna Aquatic Club as leaderboard regulars. Facing off for the first time since 2012, Little Rocky Run walked into a spirited Vienna Aquatic Club to challenge the Gators who were eager to get back into competing in the penultimate division of the NVSL. VAC brought their patented cheering and spirit, as well as a notable 18-year-old record-breaking swim by Preseason All-Swim Ninja pick Anna Keating, but that was not enough to fend of the reigning divisional champion Stingrays, who displayed their overall team depth throughout the morning–Little Rocky Run defeated Vienna Aquatic Club 237 – 183

The LRR – VAC matchup was pretty even as we predicted — both teams had their clear strengths and sought to capitalize on those opportunities to pick up major points. The Stingrays only got 1st place in 21 of 40 individual events but displayed their greater depth throughout all the age groups by winning 9 of 12 relays. Going into relays it was 192 – 168 in favor of LRR, who built that 24 point spread on the back of their core: the 11-12 girls and 13-14 age group–8 of 12 events swum by these kids resulted in Little Rocky Run taking at least 8 of 9 points with first and second place. The only spot VAC pulled out a win against the Stingrays power age groups was in the 13-14 boys breast, which was decided by .06 seconds! Little Rocky Run certainly demonstrated their capacity to overwhelm their foes by getting their 2018 campaign off to a good start!

Vienna Aquatic was certainly up against the odds in this meet–after scraping by their D3 competitors a year ago to get the nod to jump to Division 2, the Gators had to start their season off against a fully loaded Little Rocky Run squad. The energy VAC creates in their home pool is never short of remarkable, making it a very difficult place to go and pick up a win. The Gators stand out senior Jack Galbraith left his competition to chase, winning both back and fly by about 3 seconds! Additionally, the VAC 11-12 Boys gave up only 3 points all day, and won their relay by 7 seconds–watch out for these guys to be at the top of the podium come All-Star Relays! The Gators got some good mileage out of their 8-unders, and have a lot to look forward to with this group as they progress over the course of the summer.

Little Rocky Run has established themselves as the team to beat in Division 2 — they will get challenged nearly every week because of how different teams match up with their strength, especially in the middle of each event with their 11-12 girls and 13-14 boys and girls. Regardless of the result, both teams showed up to compete in week 1 and by no means took a step backward, but, rather, are well set up to challenge the rest of their competition over the next 4 weeks. We look forward to seeing more from both these teams!

See all the race videos from the meet below!

Swim Ninja