The MCAL Championship meet is one of my favorite weekends of the year. The team competition, watching our swimmers compete for their schools, little rivalries, and blossoming of swimmers hard work over the last few months.

Amongst a lot of spectacular swims last weekend, there is 1 swim I cannot stop thinking about; Emerson Wunderlich’s final of the 200 Free.

For a little less than 2 minutes, Emerson and the girl in lane 4 were in a tough back and forth race. Every time they swam to the block end of the pool, the girl in lane 4 would take the lead. Every time they swam towards the turn end of the pool, Emerson would jump in front. All 7 turns, Emerson kept doing dolphin kicks off each wall, held her breath on her breakout stroke, forcing the other swimmer to “catch up with her” each 25. Then with 10 yards left, Emerson put her head down and didn’t take another breath until she got to the wall while the other swimmer breathed almost all the way in.

When she finished, Emerson didn’t take her goggles off and whip her head to look at the scoreboard. Instead, she grabbed the top of the wall with one hand, rested her head on the gutter and with her other hand tried congratulating the girl in lane 4. Unfortunately, Emerson struggled to reach that far over. When she hopped out to receive her medal, she sat down on the block because standing up took too much energy. Truly the definition of emptying the tank.

Emerson did not win the race. She did not swim a best time. She did probably go to the deepest into her reserves she has ever gone and executed a lot of details we talk about DAILY. What more could you want?? Go Emerson!!