Success never happens by accident... but neither does failure

HHBF has done some remarkable work lately, and based on the number of hits I'm getting per day, I assume you want to read about them here:

HHBF finishes 18th @ Central Region Championships: Aysia Leckie wins High Point Trophy
Quite a few remarkable performances by our athletes at the Central Region Championships and a few athletes making the jump to another level. Aysia Leckie (the girl with a very unfortunate birthday) just missed out on qualifying for provincials in 3 events, but won the 50 and 100FR. Whats more impressive is that she also won the 400 and 800FR... impressive because she's a great natural sprinter; the endurance came from work and practice. Bronte McMaster also made a jump by qualifying for provincials (just missing Age Group Championships qualifications) in 200BK. A number of athletes made best times, made it to finals for the first time and gained valuable experience at this level of meet, which will serve them very well in their careers.
Top 8 finishers include:
Trevor Burwell (17) 8th 400FR
Britney Dortona (12) 3rd 100FR, 1st 200FR, 6th 50FR
Livy Olson 4th (11) 200FLY
Bjoern Ole-Schrader (13) 5th 200FLY
Emma Fender (13) 7th 200IM
Quinn Jaggard (13) 8th 100BK
AJ Tarczy (15) 8th 100BK
Mitchell Krafczek (16) 5th 200BR & 6th 100BK
Michael Jans (13) 6th 200BK
Aleks Plackoski (11) 8th 100BR
Bronte McMaster (14) 5th 200BK
Aaron Brautigam (17) 5th 50FR

As for the placing; its difficult to gage anything by results at this meet because we have athletes that are too fast to be there and swim their best events. 18th is a decent enough place to finish, although we lost to Milton by 1 point. Thats okay because the next weekend...

HHBF WINS HALTON CUP: final score HHBF 6087 - MMST 2709
Everyone who participated in this meet helped their team keep the cup in Georgetown. I'm very happy and proud of this victory. Congratulations to everyone! Wear your fins with pride!

HHBF Break Records at Eastern Canadian Championships:
Eastern Canadian Championships was a busy meet; about 850 swimmers including National Team members Mike Brown, Erica Morningstar, Pascal Wollach, Katerine Savard and Brittany Maclean. The pool is beautiful (see interactive 360 panoramic view HERE) and the atmosphere was intimidating, but that did not stop Kyle Haas, Matt Fox or Elizabeth Skuriat from performing well.

Matt Fox shattered 2 HHBF records in 200BK (2:09.32, now 2nd in the country) and 400IM (4:59.21) and took off a second in 100BK (1:00.57). These were remarkable performances, not only because the times were great, but also because Matt was one of the only men under the age of 15 at the meet. Matt finished 10th in 200BK out of 48 16&Unders and beat a lot of older swimmers as well. I m really proud of where Matt is going.

Elizabeth Skuriat also broke 2 club records in 400FR (4:36.57) and 800FR (18:03.52). Elizabeth set a great example that you can continue to get better through University and represent our team. You cannot put a value on this type of team help, you really can't.

Kyle Haas won the 50BK (27.10LC, HHBF CLUB RECORD) and 100BK (57.87LC) and finished4th in 200BK, 7th in 100FR and 8th in 50FLY (HHBF record in prelims 25.69sc). Kyle was not fully rested in this meet (his main focus will be Olympic Trials) but was competing against swimmers that were fully primed and rested. I felt the performances were a pretty good indication that all systems will be go at Olympic Trials in 36 days.

Despite having only 3 swimmers there, HHBF finished 32nd out of 81 teams: A very respectable ranking.
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No one performed really well recently by accident and conversely, no one performed really poorly by accident. The final product is a combination of preparation and willingness to perform. Practice time is a big part of that; not just being there, but actually doing what is asked of you. No one is going to make you do anything because its your swimming... which means you are accountable for it. I think watching all of the success that we had over the last 2 months should have a lot of younger swimmers asking a very important question: "If they can do it, why not me?".