State Week '14: 11.17 to 11.22

Success is peace of mind 

which comes from knowing 

that you did your best to become 

the best that you're capable of becoming.

~John Wooden

A gold medal is a wonderful thing.

But if you're not enough without one,

you'll never be enough with one.

~Irv Blitzer (from the movie Cool Runnings)

One final lengthy post to read!  Enjoy...

Important News/Notes

• As we will be missing school on Friday, you need to communicate with each of your teachers AHEAD OF TIME to get your assignments that will be due the following Monday.  You will still be responsible for handing those in on-time.  Also, make sure to ask when you should turn in any assignments that are due this Friday; some teachers may require you to turn them in on Thursday, which is their right to request.
• As I mentioned earlier for the Conference swimmers, we need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to stay rested up throughout the week.  Get enough/extra sleep and avoid adding extra vigorous physical activities.  If you have a question about something that you're doing, employ the motto "when in doubt, leave it out".  For those who are taking PE classes right now, I have emailed the PE teachers requesting that you be allowed to sit out for physical testing, running, etc.
• Swimmers will be shaving-down at the hotel once we get there, so you need to make sure to bring your shaving supplies with you.
• Between warm up and the actual meet, each day of State will be 5+ hours long.  Each day, be sure to bring plenty of snacks and a couple water bottles or other drinks so that you can stay fueled-up throughout each session.
• Each swimmer needs to bring a pair of comfortable, broken-in tennis shoes to wear on-deck during the meet on both Friday and Saturday.  Walking around barefoot on a hard-surfaced pool deck for five hours is more draining than you would expect.  Please clean the soles beforehand so we're not tracking dirt everywhere.
• Each swimmer also needs to bring a bag chair.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get some bleacher seats on deck, but if not, we'll need our own chairs to sit in.
• Money:
• Swimmers will need to bring extra money for their meal on our return trip on Saturday.  
• There will also be t-shirts for sale, so be prepared with extra cash is you'd like to purchase one of those as well.

Monday 11.17

• Swimmers out at 5:30pm.

Tuesday 11.18

• Swimmers out at 5:15pm.

Wednesday 11.19

• Swimmers out at 5:15pm.

Thursday 11.20

• Swimmers meet in Main St at 2:50pm to pack vans and will take the vans over to the pool.  Drivers will leave their cars at the high school.
• Swimmers out at 4:20pm.
• Drop cars off at the high school.
• Dinner at Slenks' at 5:00pm.
• Depart Slenks' for Oakland by 5:45pm.

Friday 11.21

• MHSAA D3 State Meet @ Oakland University
• Spectator Seating opens at 9:30am.
• Swimming Prelims
• Warm up at 10:00am.  Meet starts at Noon.
• Live results will also be available via the Meet Mobile app, which you can download here.
• Post-Meet Plans
• Dinner at Olive Garden @ 4:30pm

Saturday 11.22

• MHSAA D3 State Finals
• Spectator Seating opens at 9:30am.
• Warm Up at 10:00am.  Meet starts at Noon.
• Divers will complete their final 3 dives in the normal diving spot.
• There may be a live video feed available via the MHSAA website ( <-- link).
• Meal
• On our way home, we will quickly stop somewhere to grab dinner.
• This is the only meal that athletes will need to provide their own money for.
• Musical
• As is our tradition, we have a block of seats reserved for our crew.  Usually, we make it back just in time for the start!
• Be sure to get your $10 to Robyn if you haven't already!!!

Addresses

• Hotel: 
• Hilton Auburn Hills Suites
• 2300 Featherstone Road, Auburn Hills, MI 48326
• Located on the South side of the road.
• Pool
• Oakland University Aquatic Center
• 2200 North Squirrel Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48309-4401
• Pool is located in the Recreation Center
• Olive Garden
• 2615 S. Rochester Road, Rochester Hills, MI 48307
• Located on the East side of the road.
• See the Driving Directions link in the right-hand menu bar of the blog.

State Championships Info

• Location: Oakland University
• Prelims/Finals for Individuals: The State Meet is split up into two days: Prelims on Friday and Finals on Saturday.  On Friday, the 24 fastest seed times will be circle-seeded in the final three heats, with the remaining swimmers being seeded by time (slowest to fastest) in the first couple heats.  The Top 16 times for each individual event and each relay from Friday qualify to swim on Saturday.  For Finals on Saturday, the first heat will be the Consolation Finals (9-16) and the second heat will be the Championship Finals (Top 8).
• Diving: Divers will do 8 dives for prelims on Friday evening.  Those who are in the Top 16 after 8 will complete their final 3 dives on Saturday in the normal diving spot of the meet.
• Scoring Breakdown (Saturday only, descending by place):
• Individuals:
• Championship Finals (Top 8): 20, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11
• Consolation Finals (9-16): 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
• Relays (double the points of individual events):
• Championship Finals (Top 8): 40, 34, 32, 30, 28, 26, 24, 22
• Consolation Finals (9-16): 18, 14, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 
• Note: if a swimmer qualifies for the Consolation Finals (9-16) but swims a time on Saturday that would make the top 8, she still receives 9th place.
• Saturday Awards: 
• On Saturday, there will be an award ceremony for the Top 16 in each event.
• The Top 16 receive medals.
• The Top 8 are All State.