Blasters Win Blue Division, Disrupts Sudleys 25-Year Reign

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The Braemar Blasters won the Prince William Swim League Blue Division finals Saturday at Piedmont, seizing the title Sudley has held since 1989.

The Braemar Blasters won decisively with 4,356.5 points. The Sudley Seahorses took second place with 3,754 points, while the Piedmont Tsunamis were not far behind with 3,413.5 points.

Despite the major upset to the Seahorse’s long legacy, the win was not a surprise, considering Braemar’s 6-0 season. In terms of points, Braemar dominated throughout the meet that lasted from 7 a.m. to approximately 1:30 p.m.

Blasters’ Head Coach Will Gideonse gave all the credit to his swimmers.

“The kids deserve all the credit. We brought a great team to the meet. Over 62 percent of the team had time improvements,” he said. “They’ve been really wanting this; they’ve been training hard.”

Blasters swimmers were excited for their win. Swimmer Alyssa Hartung, 14, said they had been chasing this goal since last season when they defeated Sudley in a dual meet, but later fell just points short of becoming Blue Division champions.

After a close brush with victory, the Blasters entered into the 2014 season with their eyes fixated on the prize. They made their slogan“check the box,” referring to the final goal of winning the final meet, which they closely lost last season to Sudley.

After checking that box, a loud cheer erupted from the folks dressed in red and blue. Teens hugged and were hoisted onto friends' shoulders. Tweens smiled and posed with their friends for photos their moms took on their smart phones.

Most felt pleased knowing their hard work finally paid off.

“It feels great [to have won],” said Rebekah Wied, 15.

She explained it was a rush to come out on top, especially in the relays, which was last event of the meet and as such had the crowd on their feet.

Excitement always builds for the relay races. However, unlike last season’s close finish, this meet followed a more predictable trajectory. Heading into the relays, most parents and spectators were able to predict the ending. Still, some were holding their breath.

Braemar coaches remained caution in their predictions.

“It’s still up in the air,” said Gideonse before the relays. “I just want to get [my swimmers] fired up to go.”

Assistant Coach Annie Livingood was equally wary of declaring an early victory.

“We’ve been in this position before,” she said, recalling last year’s nail-biter. Then, perhaps reevaluating, added: “This is the best position we’ve ever been in. Things are looking positive.”

After the butterfly events, some Sudley parents resigned themselves to accepting second place for their team. Meanwhile, the Tsunamis held out some hope of moving up to second place.

“We are currently in third place, but there is just a couple of points between us and second place. Anything can happen,” said Tsunami Team President Mary Poleto, who was happy her team swam competitively within the top tier division.

It was also a day in which many, many swimmers achieved their personal bests.

“All the teams have been breaking their times. It’s a really great performance from everybody,” said Jack Peters, a Tsunami parent and timekeeper.

After the announcement that the Braemar Blasters had won the division finals, Sudley accepted their loss with grace. Head Coach Dennis Miller called his team into a huddle. Then from the huddle of green, the team cried out in unison, “Great job, Braemar,” and “Thank you, Piedmont.”

Stacy Yentz, Secretary of the Braemar Blasters, explained that they thought they were winning, but did not know exactly until it was announced.

“We had our hopes up (but) I didn’t do the number crunch,” she said.

Tsunami father Eric Marterella marveled at how all of the swim parents worked together to make sure the meets ran smoothly all season. In his role of “hydration specialist” he provided cold water bottles to swimmers, coaches and other volunteers. Parents also kept time, added points, sold concessions and swag and kept the kids moving from one event to another.

And right outside the pool gates, parents erected tents for shade, and sat with coolers and ice water. That is until the relays began and everyone crowded around the edges of the pool.

Now, with swim-season over, residents should not be surprised if they find more parking in their communities Saturday mornings, or if western Prince William looks like a ghost town for the next few weeks. Most parents say they are finally able to take their summer vacation.

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