An Alum's Return to the Pool!!!

This is the stroke by stoke report of Chris Ekimoff's valiant return to the , not so welcoming, waters of competitive swimming. It was very entertaining reading that I had to share!!!

In a day when the excitement at Woodrow Wilson High School Aquatic Center was as palpable as a spring fog, a former legend in his own mind pushed himself to the limits of both mental reasoning and physical assertion.
After a brisk 2500 warm up in the Olympic-sized pool for the first time since January 2007, he approached the stationed lifeguard with a favor to ask. However, the highly certified and grossly overweight lifesaver debated that paying enough attention to time and film me would be dangerous to the less-able patrons. Alas, he would go undocumented into the abyss.
After a strong push-off towards the distant end, he felt light and fast, although keeping his stroke in line was difficult coming into the first turn. In what might have been the most technically sound flip turn in his illustrious career, the second fifty looked promising. A quick look at the clock going into the 2nd turn yieled an opening split of 1:04.
But the abyss began to take hold. Strokes turned to flailing arms, kicking turned into...nothing. As the third turn reared its ugly head, a gliding shark slowly turned into an orca whale -- equally efficient, but too large to continue swimming fast.
The last 50 came with another transformation, into the gentle giants of the sea, the manatee. As he slowly slapped his arms over the water, he knew he had failed the trial, but wished to give his best effort.
A final touch! Another quick glance at the clock: 2:16. Then ensued the wheezing, the coughing, and the run to the oversized hot tub. Maybe another day.

A-10 Helper Thanks!!!

Dear Parents and Friends,
As our swimming and diving seasons come to a close, I wanted to personally thank everyone for all you
did to make last week’s events so memorable for everyone. Whether you were working the pool deck as a
back-up timer or up in the stands cheering on our Bonnies, your presence and support is invaluable to our
program and the success of the meet. The enthusiasm and creativeness of your cheers and banners all help
make the championships so special to so many individuals. With all the different sport championships
I’ve been involved with over the years, I can honestly say that these championships, year in and year out,
are my favorite. And a large part of it has to do with the student-athletes and their families.
You should be very proud of your son or daughter for their accomplishments, whether it was winning a
medal or scoring a personal best. And though we all wished for two championship trophies on Saturday
evening, there is pride in consistently being two of the best programs in the conference. And, for many,
there is always next year!
I’ve received some inquiries about the dates for 2011. The Championships are scheduled for February 23rd
and 26th, 2011 at the Flickinger Center in Buffalo so please mark it on your calendars. We have also
submitted a bid for 2012 for the same corresponding week (the week of President’s Day). We will know if
we have support for this bid in the next coming months.
Finally, I want to thank you for entrusting your child to St. Bonaventure and our family. I know that you
and your child had a choice to make and that it is not always an easy one, especially when distance from
home can make it so difficult for you as parents. But we are very pleased that the choice was St.
Bonaventure and that they chose to continue their swimming and diving careers with us.
Thank you for your support and best wishes from our family to yours.
Sincerely,
Barbara Questa
Sr. Associate Director of Athletics