BEST WISHES FOR A SAFE AND SUCCESSFUL EVENT... ... to all of our athletes taking on any type of swimming, running, cycling, or blobbing event this weekend! Before we get into the 16 athletes competing this weekend plus an event next Tuesday, a shoutout to our athletes and volunteers from last weekend... I did not get a chance to put up a "Best Wishes" post for what was a fabulous event weekend for the club... Saturday, July 8 and Sunday, July 9: • CLUB/SPONSOR EVENT: DelMo Elite Sports' Women's Philadelphia Triathlon (includes Saturday's 5K and Kid's Splash & Dash as well as Sunday's triathlon/aquabike): Congratulations to Aiden Brannen for getting things going on Saturday with the completion of the Splash & Dash! And congrats to our Sunday finishers including Kerri Brannen (top 15% in age group and top 20% overall!), Whitney Chadwick-Lessar, Lindsay Inger, Christa Kachline, and Christina Pitchford (2nd out of 157 in age group... PODIUM!... and 14th out of 876 overall!) in the triathlon and Cindy Kelecic (top half of age group!) and Juliana Kelecic (age group PODIUM in her first adult event!) in the aquabike! Also, a HUGE shoutout to all of our volunteers that included the following (please add a comment if I missed anyone)... David Stone (overall event coordinator), Ginny Angus, Benjamin and Austen Fong, Jason, Keira, and Aiden Brannen, Matt Inger, Angela and Jack Epelbaum, Jon Crosby, Sara and Kate Dansbury, and Susan Flavin!!! 💚💙 Thanks to their efforts the club earned $30/volunteer to put towards our club budget! Saturday, July 8: • DQ Triathlon at Vincentown (Vincentown, NJ): Congrats to Jim Young, who completed his first triathlon that did not start with a jump off of a ferry, and to Joyce Williams who finished 2nd in her age group... PODIUM!! Sunday, July 9: • IRONMAN 70.3 Musselman (Geneva, NY): Congrats to our three Gator finishers Hannah Ludescher, Shawn O'Malley, and Justin Wychunis! For Hannah it was an amazing comeback from a recent hospital stay! And Shawn finished in the top 10% of his age group and overall, which earned him a spot in the 2024 IRONMAN 70.3 World Championships taking place in New Zealand! • XTERRA EX2 Offeroad Triathlon (Flintstone, MD): Yabba dabba doo to Chris Townsley who finished in the top half of his age group in this challenging event! Wednesday, July 12: • SEI Run to Honor Robb 5K (Oaks, PA): Shoutout to Beth Wysoczanski for completing the rare Wednesday event (which was rescheduled due to some of the recent air quality issues)! A few notes and our weekend workout schedule... • The weekend has arrived for our Sunday, July 16, 4pm Gators Surf & Turf Club "Prime Rib Party": We will celebrate the accomplishments of our athletes that participated in the Surf & Turf Club as well as celebrate our guests of honor, Katie Ho and Keith Ho! At last count we had 27 attending. It's possible we can add a few more, so if you'd like to attend and are not already on the attendees list, please message me ASAP. If you are not sure whether or not you are on teh list... A message group that includes all attendees was set up this morning; if you did NOT get it, you are not currently on the list. • Youth Gators Movie on the Lawn Night! The perfect combination... Nearby Ursinus College is offering a series of "movies on the lawn" nights and the Friday, July 28 event includes the movie "Luca", which has a triathlon theme! If you'd like to attend (even our adult members can attend), see the event and indicate "Going"... https://www.facebook.com/events/603053391966264 • Youth Gators Ride and Run Workout: After the inspiration of Friday night's movie night, you can participate in this workout taking place on Saturday, July 29 afternoon. See the event for more information and to register to attend... https://www.facebook.com/events/657269629640832 • Get your 2023 Member T-shirt! We are now distributing the exclusive 2023 SVY MS Gators 2023 member t-shirts! To get yours, just be somewhere that I am and you can claim one. The next opportunity will be at the Monday evening swim workout. For swim workouts, I leave the boxes in my car, so if you let me know in advance that you'll be there, I'll bring it in with me. Note for youth Gators: Please contact Cindy Kelecic or Angela Epelbaum to get your t-shirt. Weekend Workouts: We have three workout options over the weekend... • Saturday 7/15, 7:30am-9:30am, Spring Valley YMCA OUTDOOR pool: Uncoached group swim with the SVY Masters Swim Team. There will be at least one lane available for the club to use; if there are more than 2 swimmers we will circle swim. Enter the outdoor complex through the indoor pool. This is for adults over 18 only. • Saturday 7/15, 8:30am, Keystone Running Store, 200 E. High St, Pottstown: Group run... https://www.facebook.com/groups/479291044416772 • Sunday 7/16, 11:15am-12:15pm, Spring Valley YMCA indoor pool: Uncoached group swim Weekend Events: So, who's doing what? As always, if your name is missing from our best wishes list, PLEEEASE post a comment so that we can send Good Gator Vibes your way! Saturday, July 15-Sunday, July 16: • SPONSOR EVENT: CGI Racing's New Jersey State Triathlon (West Windsor, NJ): This event features sprint and Olympic distance triathlons and relays on both days. We have two Gators participating in Sunday's Olympic distance triathlon including Holly Beauchamp and Mike Jurski (participating in his FIRST Olympic Tri). Go Holly and Mike! • SPONSOR EVENT: Kinetic Multisports' Colonial Beach Triathlon (Colonial Beach, VA): This event includes Sprint and Olympic distance triathlon and aquabike options as well as a relay. Saturday, July 15: • SPONSOR EVENT: French Creek Racing's Delaware State OWS Championships (Newark, DE): This event includes a reservoir swim with 1/2 mile, 1 mile, and 1.5 mil distances along with a SwimRun option! Sunday, July 16: • SPONSOR EVENT: RUNegades' Blobfest 5K/10K/Half Marathon (Phoenixville): As part of the Blobfest weekend festivities taking place in downtown Phoenixville near the Colonial Theatre, this event features three distance options and will include 6 Gators racing along with Sarah Barkley volunteering and distributing medals at the finish! Our participants include Kristie Bruno, Jennifer Gehret, Don Mack, and David Stone in the 10K and Whitney Chadwick-Lessar and Lindsay Inger in the 5K. It's not too late to register in case anyone wants to join in on the fun (and use our club discount code GATORS15 to save on the entry fee)... https://runsignup.com/Race/PA/Phoenixville/TheBlobfest5k. Go Kristie, Jennifer, Don, David, Whitney, and Lindsay! And THANKS, Sarah! • Poconos Spartan Event Weekend (Palmerton, PA): This event features multiple distance options. Chris Townsley follows-up last weekend's off-road tri with the Sprint event. Go Chris! Tuesday, July 18: • CLUB/SPONSOR EVENT: French Creek Racing's OWS Race #4 (Trooper, PA): We have 7 Gators on the start list for the 4th event in this 6 event series! This includes Hannah Ludescher in the one mile swim and Chris Acosta, Kristie Bruno, Carla Setzler, Jennifer Gehret, Don Mack, and David Stone in the 1/2 mile swim. It's not too late if anyone would like to join in (and use club discount code Gators23 to save on the entry fee). Go Gators! Have fun, Gator Done, then drink a beer! 💚BK🍺