** Parents, please share this with your swimmers **

Your Numbers Ninja reporting in with the Week 3 update! The Stingrays took on the Eagle Ridge Soaring Eagles this week, and let me tell you, Eagles may soar, but Stingrays sting! Unfortunately, the final score of 258 to 248 went in their favor, but with only 10 points separating the teams, this was about as close as it gets without actually winning! In fact, it was so close that I'm pretty sure the Eagles were checking over their shoulders the entire second half of the meet wondering if we were going to catch them, and we almost did! Losing by 10 points in a swim meet is the aquatic equivalent of losing on the last play of the game. It stings (pun absolutely intended), but it also tells you exactly how good your team really is!

It's pretty obvious that some of you have been putting in serious work between meets. This week alone, 36 swimmers dropped at least one time and an incredible 6 swimmers dropped times in every single stroke - that's right, EVERY stroke! Some of our younger swimmers are dropping times so fast it's hard to keep up, and our more experienced swimmers are proving that there's always another level to reach. Remember, every personal best is a reminder that hard work pays off, and every tenth of a second you drop is another reason for the Numbers Ninja to do a little victory dance in the data center.

Time to crack open the data vault and see who brought the heat this week!

Triple Winners

Kaytelin "The Comet" Baughman

Katelyn "The Kraken" Lickfold

Audrey "Aqua Dynamo" Eades

Jake "Jet Stream" Lohnes

Double Winners

Ethan "Electric Eel" Lohnes

Lucy "Ball of Fury" Dunham

Mia "The Swift" Fox

Inna "Little Fin" Mankad

Morgan "Wrecking Ball" Plumley

A special recognition goes to Sean "Sea Serpent" Quinlan for demonstrating exactly what it means to be a true Stingray. On at least two separate occasions, Sean took it upon himself to seek out younger teammates who were feeling disappointed about their finish or a disqualification, and made sure they left the pool deck with a smile on their face. That kind of character can't be coached, can't be timed on a stopwatch, and is worth more than any trophy in the cabinet. Sean, you didn't just swim well this week; you showed everyone what true Stingray spirit looks like, and we couldn't be more proud of you!

We also need to give a very special, and slightly terrifying, shoutout to our very own Erin "The DQ'r" Norton, who is serving as our stroke and turn judge each and every week. Now, let's be clear – Erin is doing an absolutely essential job and we love her for it. However, our swimmers have started referring to her lanes as "The Danger Zone" because if your technique isn't perfect, "The DQ'r" WILL find it! In all seriousness, having a sharp and diligent stroke and turn judge makes our swimmers better, so thank you, Erin - you may be the most feared person on the pool deck, but you're making our Stingrays better one DQ at a time!

We've now reached the halfway point of our season, and if this meet is any indication of where we're headed, the second half is going to be very exciting! We are dangerous, and every team on our schedule should be taking notice!

Keep training hard, keep that fighting spirit alive, and let's channel this energy into next week's meet!

Onward and upward Stingrays!

Numbers Ninja