Wk 4 Meet of the Week: Tuckahoe @ Overlee

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

Overlee and Tuckahoe are two great Division 1 teams with long histories–both teams are original members of the NVSL, as noted by their single letter initials (O and T), and no two teams in the league have competed against each other as many times as these two pools. After many decades of a bitter rivalry existing between the pools that devolved into extracurricular antics taking place away from the pool deck, many of which are not acceptable by today’s legal standards, the Overlee-Tuckahoe rivalry has transformed.

Today, the Tigers and Flying Fish have annual intense yet friendly contests and that are almost always the 4th week of the season–this year was no different. Overlee put on their senior recognition ceremony before the start of the meet, while also paying respect to the graduating Tigers across the dive well. Throughout the morning, handshakes became hugs as the true spirit of this rivalry was on full display!

We had predicted this meet to be close enough to come down to the relays, but Overlee was determined to keep their streak as one of the top two in the league alive. The Flying Fish came out fast, taking a 52-38 lead in free, with sweeps of the 9-10 girls, 11-12 boys, and 15-18 boys races. Overlee continued to open up their lead throughout the meet, taking a 106-74 lead in backstroke, 164-106 lead in breast, and winning the meet after fly, with a lead of 214-146. This meet saw both teams pick up points in bunches, which caused the point margin to get away from the Tigers–too often Overlee would sweep or go 1-2, taking 8 or 9 points at a time, preventing Tuckahoe from cutting into that lead. Tuckahoe did have a number of dominant swims where they landed their own 1-2 blow or had a swimmer finish 1st by several body lengths, but overall the Overlee depth proved too much to handle. The final score was 244-176 with both teams taking 6 relays.

Overlee heads into the final weekend 4-0 where they will face their arch-rival Chesterbrook who also sits at 4-0 and the D1 relay champions. Wednesday’s All-Star Relay Carnival will be critical for determining which team brings added momentum into the meet–Overlee appears to be constantly progressing and getting faster throughout the season, and the question remains will the Flying Fish be able to unseat the two-time reigning league champion Tiger Sharks? Tuckahoe will swim Highlands next week in hopes of securing their status as the #3 team in the NVSL–both meets will be loaded with highlights and things to look for so make sure to check back here for insight into those contests!

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