Young kids having some fun 'getting punk'd'--- Not sure what that means? Well, watch the video. The kids in the video are all swimmers. They all swim for the Plantation Swim Team (PST) and they call themselves the Piranhas---

And on this day (May 12th) their coaches told them to go to the team room for a team meeting about the then upcoming swim meet of May16-18. But just for fun, someone had a video camera with them, and a few of them came up with the idea that they'd film the reaction of everybody coming into the room as they each got 'punk'd. And so they did, and at the 1:21-minute mark of this video, Skye Downey, followed by her best friend, Krissa, enter the room together--- not from the doorway, but from the stairway inside the room. And of course, they too get 'punk'd' just to see what their reactions would be. And so, if you watch this short video, then you too will know what getting 'punk'd' is like.

As for the results of the swim meet over this past weekend, Skye absolutely crushed her previous best times, and in doing so she added to her growing collection of JO (Junior Olympian) times. She's not quite 12 yet, and so she has another year yet to get them all in the 11-12 year-old age group.

Just look at what Skye accomplished over this past weekend---7 for 7 personal best times and another 4 JO cuts become hers! And a great part of her success comes from the fact that she practices swimming every day while wearing a 'drag suit' --- that, and the fact that she now runs laps 5 out of 7 days a week--- six laps a day--- that's running a mile-and-a-half a day in addition to swimming laps in every stroke...at every distance...every day.

What follows here is her mother's (Karen's) account of how things went for Skye:---

Ok here is how Skye stacks up...

Going into this swim meet, Skye already has the JO cut in the 50 Freestyle, 100 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle and the 200IM ---Individual Medley is where each swimmer swims all four strokes in the same event. This weekend's meet is the second long-course meet of the current season, each lap being 50 meters.

Friday, May 16, 2008:

Last night Skye was seeded 11th out of 21 swimmers in the 400 Freestyle (which is 8 laps of the long-course).

Her time going into the race was 5:59.72. When she finished the race she got a 5:27.74 which is 4.65 seconds under the JO cut of 5:32.39 for 11-12 year olds. She dropped 31.98 seconds off her personal best, and in the finals, she ended up 2nd out the 7 best in the 11-12 year old group.

This gives her 5 JO CUTS

Saturday, May 17, 2008:

Skye was seeded 2nd out of 18 swimmers in the 50 Butterfly with a time of 37.97 seconds.

When she finished the race she ended up first with a time of 35.44 seconds, which is 1.35 seconds under the JO cut of 36.79 seconds.

This gives her 6 JO cuts

Skye was seeded first out 14 swimmers in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 1:28.09.

When she finished the race she maintained her first place standing and received a time of 1:23.59 which is 2.70 seconds under the JO cut of 1:26.29.

She dropped 4.50 seconds in her personal best time....

This gives her 7 JO cuts

Skye was seeded 7th out of 28 swimmers in the 50 Breast with a time of 51.90 seconds.

When she finished the race she placed second with a time of 46.22 seconds, just 3.03 seconds away from the JO cut, but she dropped 5.68 seconds!!!!!

Sunday, May 18, 2008:

Skye was seeded 2nd out of 30 swimmers in the 50 Backstroke with a time of 40.98 seconds.

When she finished the race she dropped 2.15 seconds, placing first with a time of 38.83 seconds, which is .36 seconds under the JO cut of 39.19 seconds.

This gives her 8 JO cuts

Skye was seeded 2nd out of 10 swimmers in the 100 Butterfly with a time of 1:31.21.

When she finished the race she maintained her second place standing and dropped 6.95 seconds to a 1:24.26, which is only 17/100's of a second away

from the JO cut of 1:24.09!

And in her very last race, Skye was seeded 5th out of 23 swimmers in the 100 Breaststroke with a time of 1:52.42.

When she finished the race she dropped 15.02 seconds, finishing first but is still 3.61 seconds away from the JO cut of 1:33.79.

Overall, she looked strong, she made 7 out 7 personal best times at this meet, and the best part is that we do NOT have to go to the Division II

Championships, for we can go straight to her first all-J.O. meet doing more than just relays. There are two more meets prior to JO's, and Skye's goal is to

get the JO cuts in the ones she missed here, and to improve her times at each meet.

Additional note from Karen:

Stuart took the boys to a dive meet this same weekend, and while I didn't see any of Caleb's events, he placed second on the both the 1M and 3M boards.

I did not see Logan's 1M event, but he placed first. I saw Logan's 3M event and he placed first in that as well. So, all in all, it was a great weekend for the

Downey kids........

And when it was all over, her father, Stuart, summed up Skye's achievements this way:---

"It is great to set so many personal records, hard work pays off and Skye tries hard every day in every way. I see it and hear it from her every day in every way. We all know the makings of a beautiful and successful young woman."

...Bruce************