A summer road trip is one of those classic American experiences that almost all young people have in common. Twenty one GPAC solidified their swimming team experience as they loaded a bus, waved goodbye to mom and dad, and arrived in Savannah, Georgia the weekend of June 21-23 to mix business and pleasure on their first GPAC team trip.

Departing early Thursday morning, a mix of GPAC’s best 11-and-over swimmers headed out in a charter bus for Savannah. After a long bus ride, a few stops and a Coach Phil-directed team bonding game in the gas station parking lot, the swimmers were anxious to get to the pool and loosen up for the meet the next day. The team enjoyed a relaxed team practice at the aquatic center, and then headed into downtown Savannah for dinner reservations at a local café on River Street. Soon, the team was headed to the hotel for check-in and closed the day with some downtime in their rooms.

On Friday, the team had a chance to sleep in and soon meandered their way down to the breakfast room. Sightseeing was the first item on the agenda, and the team loaded the bus again and took off for downtown. Traveling in small groups, the swimmers scattered about the City Market, checking out the specialty shops, candy stores, and souvenir boutiques along the way.  After lunch, the team reconvened and loaded the bus. It was finally time to swim!

On the program for Friday evening was the 400m freestyle, the 200m IM and the 400m IM, one of which virtually all the swimmers were entered in.  The team kicked it off with 13 out of 13 best times in the 400m freestyles.  Seth Scoggins,11, and Olivia Weekley, 16, grabbed new Southeastern qualifying times.  Coulson Barfield, Abby Barr, Parker Brandt, Sophia Diagne, Jillian Flowers, James Henderson, Jenna Luth, Geza Maruschak, Grace Menzies, Peyton Parra, Walker Parra andHeidi Schellin all dropped almost ten seconds or more in their 400s.  Next was the 11-12 200 IM.  GPAC only had three swimmers entered in this event, but GPAC won both the girls’ and boys’ events.  Caitlin Bridges,12, swam a tremendous breaststroke leg to come from behind and take first place in the event, dropping over seven seconds and posting a new ‘AA’ time.  Soon after that event, Cameron Jones, 12, dominated the field and dropped seven seconds to take the prize in his event. After was the 400 IMs. GPAC had four swimmers entered in the 400 IMS, and all four made best times in their swims. AJ Luth, 13, posted a new Southeastern cut, dropping seven seconds from her time posted just two weeks prior. She placed third overall. Jacquie Kinman,16, dropped 12 seconds to post a new SES cut, and Grace Sill, 13, dropped over 90 seconds from her best time to finish 5^th. GPAC walked out that night with 95% best times.

Saturday was the first day of the trials/finals format for the meet, a first ever for some swimmers, and a first of the season for all. A later warm up time provided the swimmers with a little extra sleep, so after they grabbed breakfast at the hotel, they were on the bus to the pool.  The preliminary session was very productive for the swimmers, and everyone qualified to come back for finals.  At night, the team gained some momentum as Sophia Diagne, 14, Peyton Parra, 14, and Seth Scoggins posted new SES cuts in the 100m freestyle, the first event.  Parker Brandt, 12, followed them in the 50m backstroke with a new SES qualifying time, and Abby Barr, 14, added to the team tally with a sixth place finish in the event.  Austin Lee, 14, and Geza Maruschak, 15, made their first appearance in the finals for GPAC in the 50m backstroke as well. The 200m breaststroke was the team’s strongest event that evening, with Diagne placing second, AJ Luth taking sixth in the 13-14 division, and Heidi Schellin, 15, taking fourth in the senior event. Peyton Parra took fifth place in the 100m butterfly setting a new SES qualifying time, as did Diagne, who won the consolation heat.  Olivia Weekley turned in a season-best time in the 100m fly to take second place in the senior girls’ event.  James Henderson, 12, on the cusp of turning 13, set a new team record for the 200m backstroke and set his new 13-14 SES qualifying time. Coulson Barfield, 13, also got a new SES cut in the 200 backstroke, winning the consolation heat, and Jillian Flowers, 14, posted a best-time in the backstroke as well.  To finish the night, Jacquie Kinman and Austin Lee took second place in their respective 50m breastrokes, and AJ Luth grabbed third in hers.  The team left the pool exhausted but feeling great.  A dinner at the hotel, another team building exercise after, and the swimmers were in bed.

Sunday morning was early, and the swimmers found it hard to get going by the time preliminaries began, but they all managed to qualify for the finals. After the prelims, the team grabbed a quick sandwich at the now team-favorite Jimmy John’s, and went to relax in air conditioned comfort at the local cinema.  Back at the pool, the team quickly gained the momentum that was somewhat absent in the morning. Once again, Peyton Parra turned in another SES cut time in the 50m freestyle, taking eighth, and Sophia Diagne followed with a win in the consolation heat. Barfield placed fifth in the event for the boys and James Henderson narrowly missed his second attempt at the 11-12 boys’ team record, but dropped time. Olivia Weekley placed fifth and Jacquie Kinman placed sixth in the event. Sophia Diagne captured the title in the 13-14 girls’ 100m breaststroke in a best time, with AJ Luth taking seventh.  For the 11-12s, Caitlin Bridges, Cameron Jones, and Seth Scoggins all turned in best times in their 100 breaststrokes, as did Scott Griffith, Austin Lee, and Heidi Schellin for the 13-14s.

Parra came right back and posted a fourth place finish in the 200m butterfly in a new SES cut time. Weekley finished strong on the last fifty meters to grab second place among the senior girls in the 200 fly.  To finish the meet, GPAC saw great improvement in the 100m backstrokes, with Parker Brandt and Sophia Diagne posting new SES cuts, and the 200 IMs, where Peyton Parra and Heidi Schellin each made new championship qualifying times, and the 200 free, with James Henderson made his new 13-14 cuts.  At the meet, ten swimmers accounted for 18 new Southeastern qualifying times.

After the finals were done, the team boarded the bus where pizza was waiting for them, and drove through the early night to the next hotel in Valdosta, Ga.  The team awoke around 8:30 a.m. to head out to Wild Adventures theme park for a day to relax and hang out with their teammates.  The team arrived back in Pensacola around 6 p.m. that evening.