Long Beach Grunions Swim Team

After three full days of competition (I write this very early on Saturday), the 33 Grunions attending IGLA 2011 in Hawaii can be very proud of some outstanding accomplishments. Big international events such as IGLA give us the opportunity to prepare together and bond, on a team level; and to test and push our boundaries, individually. This IGLA 2011 has been very successful on both levels.

Every Grunion I've talked to this past week has shared some very proud moments and achievements, and it has been incredible to witness our teammates accomplishing some important goals and personal best swims as the competition goes on.

For most of us, besides some individual bests, the "swimming pool highlights" have definitely been the team relays. On Thursday, for example, seven(!!!) Long Beach Grunions relays competed in the 4x100 meter freestyle relay. Three of those teams scored a first place finish in their respective age groups, and the other four also scored some precious points for the team.

Other Thursday highlights included the women's 400 IM, where Susan Duquesnel won a gold medal, with Monica Turner and Anita Cole winning silver and Robyn Utu winning bronze. John Werner and Mike Miranda also swam beautiful 400 IM's on Thursday. Later that day, ten Grunion men swam the 200-meter freestyle, giving us some nail-biting races and friendly competitions.

Thursday evening gave the Grunions the opportunity to relax and unwind, as Kenny & Steve and Ken Bixler hosted a fabulous wine and cheese reception at their condo. But that'll be the subject of a later post...