Most of article is shown as published in the Hampton, Newport News and York County Town Square sections of the DAILY PRESS on Thursday, July 17, 2014
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| The pride of SEVA Swimming - Danika Katzer, Jenna Thompson, Morgan Miller, Jacqueline Tinneny,Skyler Dewall, Kathryn Nunez, Andrea Ducar |
In organized sports, coaches, athletes and fans are known to long for the fairy tale season involving their favorite team.
This summer, Jeff Kincaid, coach of the Southeastern Virginia Seahawks swim team, has been living through the experience, both literally and figuratively.
That’s because seven of his 13 year old age group female swimmers have pierced through the plateau of the Top 200 IM Xtreme national rankings established by USA Swimming, Inc. The rankings, which Kincaid says are “a motivating factor” to all of his swimmers, is based on a point system for key races starting at 100 meters, including the freestyle and individual medley.
Two of the Seahawks, Danika Katzer and Jacqueline Tinneny, both of Yorktown, have even made it into the Top 20. Katzer has scored in 14 different events, the most of any individual in Virginia, while Tinneny’s strength comes from being the highest ranked in the breaststroke.
Joining the pair in the rankings are fellow Seahawk teammates Morgan Miller (highest rank 35th), Jenna Thompson (#81), Skyler Dewall (#112), Andrea Ducar (#129) and Kathryn Nunez (#189).
For Kincaid, the success of his 13 year olds all part of a group effort, one which has earned a nickname from their coach, a moniker that associates more with Walt Disney than Mark Spitz.
“They’re like the Seven Dwarfs,” says Kincaid, now in his third year at the helm of the Seahawks. “Each one brings unique personalities to the pool.”
And while the Dwarfs reference may sound demeaning, it engages the larger effort involved with youth swimming, an effort that requires six days a week of summer workouts, which on a recent Tuesday at the Midtown Aquatic Center in Newport News, began at 5:45 AM.
“We try to do fun things to keep the swimmers happy,” adds Kincaid. “If this were easy, every child would be up at 5 AM to go to practice.”
Katzer and Tinneny are no strangers to the early morning regimen. Both have been swimmers for at least six years, and Tinneny in particular has a master plan to keep her summer schedule as regular as possible.
“It’s exhausting,” says the rising ninth grader, who will enter Grafton High School this fall. “I have to go home after practice and take a nap,” a comment which drew a knowing nod from Katzer.
The hard work is paying dividends.
Last month, at the CGBD (Coast Guard Blue Dolphins) Summer Madness meet at the Midtown Center, the younger swimmers were able to match up with older competitors in “Super Finals” races, which were open to all age groups. Both Katzer and Tinneny matched up well with more accomplished swimmers, such as Peyton Baldwin and Nicole Piercy from Hampton Roads Academy. In one memorable race, the 200-meter freestyle, Katzer held her own against former Menchville star and current University of Tennessee standout Amanda carnet, keeping up for several laps before fading behind by 1.7 seconds, still good enough for a respectable second place finish.
“Danica really pushed her (Carner) to the limit,” said Kincaid. Katzer looked at the opportunity as “really fun.”
Next up for the Seahawks was the non-scoring Summer Awards meet, the Senior Champs, and finally, the Age Group Championships, which was held at the Christianburg Aquatic Center in southwest Virginia. At the Age Group Championships, SEVA collected enough points to win the girls 13-14 age group title for Midsize team, while Katzer won high points award for the age group.
However, the Seahawks alignment with Katzer will be ending soon as her military family will be relocating to Northern Virginia before the beginning of next season.
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