Hats off to Jarrett Perry

At a meet once in Oklahoma City, summer Sectionals I think, a few of my senior club boys were laughing about being startled by "the guy with one leg." Apparently Jarrett Perry was talking to one of them behind the blocks at warm-up and my swimmer hadn't noticed yet that he had a prosthetic leg until he "popped it off" and jumped in to warm up. It was pretty hilarious, really. One of the kids who had been around a while was trying to describe to them how Jarrett jumps up onto the block and takes his marks for his races. There was no disrespect. They were marveling over how athletic he is and what a great guy he seemed to be.

One of my new fish was really curious about it and wanted to see him swim. Well, of course, in the 100 back that day, they ended up swimming next to each other in the prelim. My guy got schooled. Mind you, this kid was a 53-mid scy backstroker. He was hailed as a hero in our high school swimming conference, and he just got beat by the guy with one leg. I can't put my finger on why, but as a coach, there was something really satisfying about the whole scene.

Jarrett Perry is retiring. This guy has had a heck of a career at WSC and at Colorado Springs, and has been a tremendous inspiration throughout his career. Most people don't know this bit of trivia, but in 2004, his coach at WSC, Eric Nelson, was the first coach ever to put a swimmer on both the USA Olympic and Paralympic teams in the same cycle when Jarrett and Caroline Bruce both earned spots while still in high school. Here is the post from the Missouri Valley LSC website:

Jarrett, an accomplished swimmer and two-time USA Paralympian, has hung up his suit and retired from the sport of swimming. During Jarrett’s years of swimming he has compiled a long list of accomplishments, including: Olympic Gold and Bronze Medalist, World Record Holder (100 and 200 Backstroke), 100 Backstroke World Champion, American Record Holder, and two-time US team captain. If you are not familiar with Jarrett’s story, he was diagnosed at birth with Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and at two days old had one of his legs amputated. Jarrett joined the Wichita Swim Club at age four and competed in his first national-level meet at age ten. From there, Jarrett’s swimming success really took off. Jarrett has been part of the Missouri Valley family since 1991, and has impacted swimmers, parents, coaches and officials with his warm heart and fierce competitive spirit. Missouri Valley is proud of all Jarrett has accomplished and the positive way he has represented the sport of swimming, the Wichita Swim Club, and Missouri Valley!

Congrats on a great career, Jarrett.

Please vote for our PINK pic!

Jones Soda is having a contest to see if anyone can submit a picture that they like enough to turn into a soda label for their regular distribution. One of my team mom's took this picture last October on our first annual pink speedo night and submitted it to the Jones Soda website. Please visit the site and give our pic a 10 point vote. It would be pretty cool if this little thing we did to support our beloved diving coach through her chemotherapy and surgery could be celebrated by winning this contest.

After we made such an impression on our school last year, our student council organized pink events for every fall sport and has already raised a couple grand to support local breast cancer awareness through t-shirt sales and raffles. Our second annual pink night will be October 26th and this year a good friend and local breast cancer survivor donated pink caps to go with our suits. I am anticipating our best dual meet crowd ever.

To vote, go to www.jonessoda.com, click "photos and labels," then "photo gallery" and type "pink speedo" in the search bar. You can't miss our picture. Please pass it on!

The start of every high school invitational I have ever hosted...

Uhh... now what do I do?

“Welcome to the Red Bird Invitational. We are set for a 1:00 start. This is the time when we need volunteers to come down behind the blocks to run stopwatches. If you are a volunteer timer, please check in with the referee near the starters booth at this time…”

Six minutes pass…

“We are hoping for a 1:00 start, but we are going to need twelve volunteer timers to run stopwatches behind the blocks. We can’t start the meet until we have twelve people back there helping us out. Anyone can do it and we need all the help we can get. Please come on down. Thank you.”

Four more minutes pass…

“It’s just about one o'clock right now and we still need eight more volunteer timers. There is no pressure here folks. We have a timing system. The times are only needed for back-up in case the system were to malfunction. Even if you have never timed at a meet before, it is no big deal. Our referee will show you everything you need to know. It really is an easy job and you get the best seat in the house; except when they take their marks, but then you just have to look away for a couple of seconds. It’s not as traumatic as you might imagine. Please help us get started. Thank you.”

Three more minutes pass…

“Okay guys. We are already getting a late start. I apologize but we still need four more volunteers to run stopwatches. All you need is a thumb. Stop. Start. Reset. That’s it. You don’t even need both thumbs. Just one will get the job done...”

“All of you in the bleachers-- if you have thumbs, don’t raise your hand.”

“I thought so. That means you are qualified! Please come grab a stopwatch and a clipboard. Let‘s get this party started!”

One more minute passes…

“Cows can’t volunteer to time. They don’t have thumbs. My dog tried to volunteer, but he doesn’t have thumbs either. I used to have a pet monkey. I didn’t let him try to time because he was always drunk, but now that I think about it, even a drunk monkey could probably time. No, really. He had a thumb. Just like you. Please, let’s get some volunteers to get the meet moving.”

“Don‘t make my swimmers do it. Please. That‘s just plain wrong.”

45 more seconds…

“Come on people… We could be using our thumbs to time races but instead we are all standing around with them up our... Oh, wait. We got enough?! Okay!”

“We are ready to start the meet. Yeeeeee-hah! All timers are in place. I am pumped! You other three people in the bleachers who aren’t timing oughtta get a wave going or something! It‘s time for some fast swimming!”

“Go Red Birds!”

Beats to Pillage and Conquer By...

Between Rhapsody and Pandora, I have spent a lot of time finding good background grooves to keep my practices moving and also to keep a subtle layer of smooth beneath the stress. I stumbled across Rob the Viking while I was searching for something else entirely.

Go ahead. Type "Rob the Viking" into your Pandora playlist. You will be introduced to some of the smoovest instrumental, experimental trip-hop tracks and artists you never found because you didn't know you were searching for them.

Seriously. It's not a rap thing. Give it a try. You can't deny the awesomeness.

I think I'm in love...

I love you, Royal Red Robin.

There; I said it. It's out there now and I can't take it back.

I know that our relationship started in a way that might seem dirty and lustful to most. We met at the bar. I was intrigued by your bottomless fries and I thought that the way you wear your fried egg was cute, almost as if it were a throwback in honor of a comforting breakfast sandwich from my youth. I decided to muster up the courage to order you and I have never looked back since. One flirtatious glance, and I was all yours.

I have been trying to eat healthier, really. I choose salads when I visit Wendy. With the Colonel, I have switched to the grilled chicken. Even last night, in the throes of our passion, I only ate two baskets of fries, when in the past I might have eaten so many more. I feel our relationship has matured over time, but I still am worked up into such a frenzy when you are near, that I couldn't resist adding the extra burger patty and gulping down that chocolate shake last night.

I am hooked on you.

Royal Red Robin, I guess what I am trying to say is, I am ready to commit. Let's cast away the trivialities of the modern hustle and bustle of city life. I no longer need other foods to sustain me and even Chinese buffet's now seem promiscuous and silly. Let's run away together. I am on my knee here.

I can't believe I am doing this...

Royal Red Robin... will you marry me?

Red Robin... YUM!

Missouri State Bears Alumni Weekend!

Let's all get together and chat about how glad we are that they got rid of the stupid "Bear jumping through the U" logo!

The picture above is a link to it so you can declare whether you are coming or not. Please click it. This is the info, straight from the facebook event page:

Time	Friday, October 22 at 12:00pm - October 23 at 10:30pm
Location	Springfield, MO
Created By	Joshua Udermann
More Info	Fri. October 22, 2010 -- Meet vs. Drury 5:00 PM Sat. October 23, 2010 -- Football Game vs. Western IL 1:00 PM ... -- Alumni Intrasquad Meet 5:00 PM -- Alumni Social @ Mille’s Cafe 8:00 PM (appetizers provided) BRING YOUR SUITS! Alumni Challenge- Swimmers will compete in 4 x 50’s (1 of each stroke). Their time will be handicapped based on how many years since they last competed for the Bears. Based on the cumulative time for the 4 x 50’s an overall Male & Female winner will be crowned. Handicap Formula: 1-5 years out (.10 seconds per year) 6-10 years out (.20 seconds per year) 11-15 years out (.30 seconds per year) 16-20 years out (.40 seconds per year) 21 years + (.50 seconds per year) Example: Bryan Cavaness (last year of competition ’82) 14 seconds off each 50 time. Allison Zeller (last year of competition ’06) .40 seconds off each 50 time. Please RSVP on this event page or by contacting Joshua Udermann. 612-804-7316 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 612-804-7316 end_of_the_skype_highlighting udermann1@live.missouristate.edu Feel free to contact me with any questions! Also please help us spread the word and invite other alumni! See you at the meet!

You’re watching TSV, your source for swim-celebrity gossip!

Wait... What's this? She's the last person I thought I'd see here!

That’s right! If you’ve had a night out clubbing in LA recently, you might have run into Aussie swim star Stephanie Rice out having a good time. But she is not just hitting any clubs; she is gaining a presence on the gay scene in an effort to restore her image after losing her Jaguar sponsorship over an anti-gay slur posted on her twitter account. Apparently, lots of people were upset over the tweet in which she told the South African Rugby team to “suck on that, Fa**ots!”

According to her publicist, Steph will be rebuilding her marketability on a 12 city American tour of gay bars that will end with an appearance on June 26th at San Francisco’s gay pride parade.

When asked about her anti-gay tweet, Steph had only this to say, “I did not mean to cause offense and I apologize. I have deleted it from the site. I only hope that people understand that I am an avid rugby fan and I tweeted in the high emotions of a hotly contested match. Many of my friends are gay South African rugby players. Really! I only meant for the word fa**ot to come across in the most non-homophobic way possible.”

Good luck with that Steph! We at TSV support your efforts to bring a little tolerance to the world of sports, and to look good doing it!

Stephanie Rice at a totally gay after party, looking hot as usual!