2015 Peoria School District Swimming Championship
Come See the Light
Just wanted to share this beautiful music and video of the Savior's visit to the inhabitants of the Americas after His resurrection. You can read about the account here in the Book of Mormon, 3rd Book of Nephi, beginning in the 11th chapter.
Happy Halloween from The Bills Family!
West Valley Invitational Swim Meet
On Saturday, October 11th, Troy's high school swam in one of the state qualifying meets against 14 other high schools. He did SO GREAT! He won the 100 fly going 54:09, a second faster than his best time. He also won the 100 back, going 55:88. This is only a tenth faster than his best, but we think he would have swam a lot faster if he had the same type of competition that he had in the butterfly. Troy loves to race and loves to have other swimmers push him to be faster. Here are his race videos from Saturday:
Troy vs. Sunrise Mountain
The Bills Family sings "Happy"
We made this Jib Jab for Sean to encourage him to be HAPPY while he is serving his mission. He loved it!
Troy's Breaks the Minute Barrier in the 100 Fly!
Troy is in lane 5, four up from the bottom... 58.65!!!
Wedding Video
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One Minute is All it Takes
Age Group Champs. 100 yard backstroke. Troy is in lane 2, second lane up from the bottom of the screen. His dad challenged him to touch the wall in a minute flat. That would mean Troy would have to take 7 seconds off his best time. We knew he could do it though. He has been practicing really hard and swimming really well lately. He was ready to race. Next stop, sub :59!
The Fiddler
Uncle Doug Pickup calls Troy "The Fiddler". This is Troy's performance at his latest recital a couple weeks ago. We are extremely proud of him this time around. It has been very difficult for him to practice as much as he should with swimming, schoolwork, church activities and only few minutes of extra free time a day. His is still trying his best and we thought he did a great job! Take a listen.
Beast Mode!
Troy turned into a swim beast at his last meet! One day, 3 events. This is the only video we shot because after this event we had signed up to be timers. While the volunteer hours help us reach our required 50 hours for the year, if we had known Troy was going to swim this well we would not have signed up!
This meet was called "Last Chance for Glory" and we saw Megan Jendrick, the 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 100 Meter Breaststroke, swim her last race before the Olympic Trials in 2 weeks. She is making a comeback after having a baby just 7 months ago. There were lots of swimmers trying to get that Olympic Cut and it was an exciting atmosphere. Troy's goal at this meet was to try and qualify for the Champs Meet at the end of July. He was qualified at the 13 year old time standards, but since he just turned 14 (or "aged up" in swimming lingo) he had to make the new time cuts. They are much faster than before. We honestly thought he probably wouldn't get those cuts until the fall. Wow, were we wrong.
A summary of his performance:
200 Meter Backstroke: Needed a 2:39.69 for the Champs Cut. He swam it in 2:38.58 and took 8 seconds off his best time. Never expected his first qualifying swim would be the backstroke! We figured the butterfly or the freestyle since those are his best strokes!
100 Meter Freestyle: Needed a 1:02.59. Swam a 1:03.98. Only missed it by a little over a second, but managed to shave off another 8 seconds from his best time. Great swim and he has a chance to swim this again before the Champs meet, so he should get the cut then!
200 Meter Butterfly: TROY'S BEST RACE TO DATE! Needed a 2:48.29 for the Champs Cut. Swam a 2:36.90 and took 23 seconds off his best time! He was swimming in the lane we were timing and it was so exciting to be able to cheer him on from the blocks.
Troy actually doesn't like swimming the 200 fly. It is long, hard and exhausting. If you watch the Olympics this summer, the commentators will say how difficult this race is. Now Troy is thinking it isn't quite so bad. We are really proud of him. He is beating kids a lot bigger than he is. He is pushing through some really difficult swims at practice and at meets and really showing what he is made of. He won every heat he swam in, which just shows his competitive nature. He hates to lose. Yes, he's a beast!
As you watch, you will notice that there are girls and boys in this race. They had all kids, 13 and up, swimming in the same heats. We have no idea how old these kids were, but they were anywhere from 13-18 years old. He is in the middle of the pool in this race. Blue cap. Watch him come from behind for the win on the last lap!
This meet was called "Last Chance for Glory" and we saw Megan Jendrick, the 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 100 Meter Breaststroke, swim her last race before the Olympic Trials in 2 weeks. She is making a comeback after having a baby just 7 months ago. There were lots of swimmers trying to get that Olympic Cut and it was an exciting atmosphere. Troy's goal at this meet was to try and qualify for the Champs Meet at the end of July. He was qualified at the 13 year old time standards, but since he just turned 14 (or "aged up" in swimming lingo) he had to make the new time cuts. They are much faster than before. We honestly thought he probably wouldn't get those cuts until the fall. Wow, were we wrong.
A summary of his performance:
200 Meter Backstroke: Needed a 2:39.69 for the Champs Cut. He swam it in 2:38.58 and took 8 seconds off his best time. Never expected his first qualifying swim would be the backstroke! We figured the butterfly or the freestyle since those are his best strokes!
100 Meter Freestyle: Needed a 1:02.59. Swam a 1:03.98. Only missed it by a little over a second, but managed to shave off another 8 seconds from his best time. Great swim and he has a chance to swim this again before the Champs meet, so he should get the cut then!
200 Meter Butterfly: TROY'S BEST RACE TO DATE! Needed a 2:48.29 for the Champs Cut. Swam a 2:36.90 and took 23 seconds off his best time! He was swimming in the lane we were timing and it was so exciting to be able to cheer him on from the blocks.
Troy actually doesn't like swimming the 200 fly. It is long, hard and exhausting. If you watch the Olympics this summer, the commentators will say how difficult this race is. Now Troy is thinking it isn't quite so bad. We are really proud of him. He is beating kids a lot bigger than he is. He is pushing through some really difficult swims at practice and at meets and really showing what he is made of. He won every heat he swam in, which just shows his competitive nature. He hates to lose. Yes, he's a beast!
As you watch, you will notice that there are girls and boys in this race. They had all kids, 13 and up, swimming in the same heats. We have no idea how old these kids were, but they were anywhere from 13-18 years old. He is in the middle of the pool in this race. Blue cap. Watch him come from behind for the win on the last lap!
Sean Mouthing Off
One of the great joys of being Sean's mom is to listen... I never know when he's going to say something hilarious, insightful, sweet or just something totally inappropriate because Sean just isn't that talkative. But, give that kid that special mix of wisdom teeth anesthesia and the words start flying. First a disclaimer... Sorry it is so long, but I couldn't bring myself to leave anything out. Next, I profusely apologize for how many times I repeat what he says. I think I was doing that to keep myself from laughing hysterically. If you feel compelled to leave a comment, just go back to the "B"log page and leave them there. Hope you enjoy laughing at Sean as much as we do!
Memory Lane 4...
February 2009: Ryan's senior year at the Texas State Championships. The "B" Final of the 200 IM. Ryan had a mediocre swim in the prelims which put him out of the top 8. But he sure made up for it with this swim. His time would have put him in 6th place overall even though he could only finish as high as 9th. He ended up having the 6th fastest time in the state and was named 1st Team All-State. This is even more impressive considering he had an injured shoulder that required surgery just 2 weeks after this meet!