hstorm

12z GFS took a big step backward on next week's heat (after Monday). That will, of course, all change at 18z.

Still not terrible this morning -- 70 for the low. Now up to at 74 at 9am.

68 this morning in Great Falls. Morning temps have been pleasant all week, despite the increasing heat.

Our B Meet lineup this year was 2 D1s, D2, D3, and D7. In my experience, the top-division teams cover the full spectrum from chill to intense. Langley and Hamlet (who we schedule most years) are great and we always have fun B Meets with them, home or away. The D1 elite -- the pools that are there every single year -- are much more serious about everything. But both of our D1 B Meets this year were fine. On the 7:40 finish -- we started at 5:30, which helped, and no IM. But there were still multiple 5 heat races for the little kids. The biggest efficiency was an extra referee who could handle the stroke/turn DQ discussions without a big delay to the start of the next heat. That one added efficiency likely saved 30 minutes by itself. (I also think that all of the stroke/turn judges -- ours and theirs -- took a fairly relaxed approach to DQs . . . perhaps out of necessity given that each judge had to cover 4 lanes instead of the usual 3.) Our team is around 150, excluding minis. Although our our typical B Meet attendance is likely closer to half that number.

Our club's location gives us the (mis-)fortune of having most of our B Meets against D1/D2 pools. (By comparison, we are D10 and quite happy to be there.) Most of them have large teams and LOTS of B Meet swimmers. It can make for long evenings, especially when we do IM. Last night we were at Tuckahoe, which has an enormous team. We hosted them for a B Meet a few years ago and the meet ended at 10:15, so we were prepared for the worst. Incredibly, however, we finished last night at 7:40. Small miracle! They were ruthlessly efficient in combining age groups to fill lanes (plus they have 8 lanes). So nice to get home at a reasonable time.

Ended with ~0.65” IMBY, but a big spread across Great Falls. Closer to 0.3” to the west by the Loudoun county line.

Update: still pouring. No thunder or lightning. Just heavy, heavy rain.

Absolutely pouring for the past 10-15 minutes in Great Falls.

Impressive thunder and lightning show in Great Falls . . . which fortunately held off until after tonight's fireworks ended.

Incredible dead heat in the boys’ mixed age relay at our meet today. I have seen plenty of ties in 25/50 races, but never in a 200. Great finish to a great meet this morning.

Always a fun night! And a beautiful evening (save for the smoke). Our kids swam great and, more importantly, had a blast. Hope it was a good night for your team as well!

Completely agree on the flinches. Especially for younger kids and if it doesn't otherwise affect the start. Our false start issue was a bit more unique, but is addressed clearly in NVSL's false start guidance. One of our swimmers was using a teammate's legs for a backstroke start. At the "take your marks" command, he started to pull up to get into his starting position, but one of his hands slipped off his teammate's legs and he fell backwards (all before getting set in his starting position). NVSL's guidance covers this scenario and says it is not a false start if a swimmer loses his balance and falls into the pool before getting set. We have a very experienced referee. To his credit, he was patient in letting them make their argument. But there was no reason for them to push the issue for 15 minutes after the meet ended. That, however, was just one of the many annoying (and petty) things that they did on Saturday.

Yesterday’s A Meet was the first time im our family’s 3 years of NVSL swimming that I left a meet with a bad taste in my mouth. Our opponent’s coaches/reps were just unpleasant (including a protest and staying for 15 minutes after the meet ended to argue with our referee over a — correct — non-call that they thought should have been a false start). Seemed entirely out of place for a middle division meet It was too bad because both teams swam really well and it was otherwise a fun meet … including an entertaining 8&u fly where everyone DQed.

For what it's worth, we are in the Fairfax County part of the severe drought area indicated on the map and we have gotten ~2 inches of rain this week. I assume that would make a dent.

IAD tied its record low max temperature for June 22 (66). DCA/BWI each missed by one degree.

Congrats to your daughter! We were also shorthanded this weekend and it showed in the final score. Lots of familes away for the week (or for the weekend) with school just getting out. My son and daughter did great, so very happy about that Rough going tonight at our home B Meet. Had to start 20 minutes late due to thunder and meet was called around 7:45 when another storm blew through. We made it through free and back with only ~1:15 of actual swim time between pool closures. Pretty efficient use of the little time that we did have. I always feel bad for the non-A Meet swimmers when a B Meet gets called off, but at least getting through free/back gave most everyone the chance to race.

Looks like a beautiful day tomorrow for the first A Meet. Our last evening practice was yesterday. No practice today because of our annual end-of-school party at the pool. Always nice to switch to the morning routine. Only downside tomorrow is that we are away and have a 45-minute drive to the other pool. We dodged any long trips last year but are paying the price this year -- our other away meet is also a 45-minute drive. Early mornings . . .

I think it was an easy choice for US Soccer. He was the best candidate, has had success as coach, and the players (except, perhaps, for Gio Reyna) like him. If not for the childish effort by Reyna's parents to undermine him, his contract would have been renewed without question.

Same here. 9:05pm finish (and then a 15 minute drive home . . . which is par for the course; we are a good distance from any other pool). Long evening for those of us who needed to stay until the end. At least it's the last week of school!

Steady rain for the past hour or so in Great Falls (despite the radar looking sparse).

Wow … you are much faster than us. We didn’t wrap up until ~11:30 (though also didn’t start until 9). Great to be back in the swing of things.

51 again this morning in Great Falls. Smoke aside, a great run of weather this past week.

Beautiful morning for time trials. Good luck to all the swim dads (and moms)!

Come tomorrow, we will be down to #2 warmest (going by average temp), That may be why it was posted today.

Gorgeous day. Nice to see the blue sky again. 51 overnight in Great Falls.