Stephen's First ("Real") Swim Meet

On October 24, 2009, the mighty Dolphins of the Morris Center YMCA took to the Hackensack High School Pool in a showdown with the Greater Bergen YMCA. This would be the first true test for rising 8&Under star Stephen Graf of MCY. Below, MCY Coach Cecala huddles with Stephen and his 8U buddies to talk strategy.


Finally, it was time to race. Stephen started strong, with a very impressive third-place showing in the 25 yard freestyle. MCY swimmers took second and third to tally four big points for the Dolphins. Here's a video of the race (a little shaky at the end . . . sorry).



Then it was on to the next race, the 25 yard backstroke. True to Graf family tradition, Stephen struggled a bit in backstroke. Reflecting on his race later, Stephen puzzled over why it is that anyone would want to swim a race that requires sprinting headlong toward a cement wall while looking up at the ceiling.

But then Stephen finished strong on the freestyle relay. Unofficial splits had his time at 19.7 seconds, his first time under the 20-second barrier. Video of that race is below