#FantasySwimming Wrap-up: Team Ricky Berens still undefeated in fantasy history, CordesNeck wins new league

From Lane4: #WeStillMissYouRicky, owned by @AdrienneQW

From DeckChange: #KevinCordesNeckTho, owned by @jjswim

We were so excited to have Rowdy Gaines officially announce our #FantasySwimming winners via Twitter!  THANK YOU, ROWDY!!  I have a feeling we’ll be seeing the name “Rowdy’ within a future team name in one of our leagues!

Congratulations to our winners, along with everyone else who played and/or followed along with our exciting league.  This round was (believe it or not) even more fun than our first, with having international swimmers, “fun” time zone differences, and the absence of a live feed for Finals.  The Trash Talk was relentless, as usual, which always makes things playfully competitive.  However, this time around we also were thrilled to have a few more folks within the upper echelons of the swimming community take notice and get involved!!  First in our Day 4 recap, though, are our Final Team Standings:

Owner	Team Name	Total Points
@AdrienneQW	#WeStillMissYouRicky	146
@rettarace/@dannygermany	#TeamTANDL	135
@jazzycrayon	#AnthonyErvinsTats	130
@AuntKim328	#BobsHat	124
@SueSueOsborn	#SmashBrothers	121
@HollywoodinDC	#Sharknado	119
@swim_Fit	#SwimFit	118
@grangertalley	#RyanLochtesCamoShorts	112
@HollywoodinDC	#sharknado	119
@dlswimdad	#FlyingClary	117
@LydiaJoo	#SwimCity	105
@DCGirlKayla	#TheMACAttack	105
@CslCuevas	#PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy	101
@stormi0611	#JustKeepSwimming	96

Owner	Team Name	Total Points
@jjswim	#KevinCordesNeckTho	197
@jackie_swims	#NateezytheDamaga	173
@reezy_nation	#ReezyNationLovesTWS	163
@antunes_natalia	#ChasingKalisz	151
@bassclarinets	#BellyFlopSplat	147
@HeartsLochte	#RyanLochtesBack	131
@Doggy_paddle1	#DoggyPaddle	129
@rikmaa	#RollOnYouBears	83
@iAngieMae	#InRadWeTrust	70

From #Lane4: Yes, you read that right, we have a REPEAT WINNER!!  Although #TeamTandL was in the solid lead through Day 3, she was clipped by #WeStillMissYouRicky right at the very end, due to strong performances by Cate Campbell, Anthony Ervin and Hagino.  The team’s roster earned enough points from the final night’s swims to claim the overall “W” for her and her 2 children (Dexter and Celeste) who are truly the drivers of  Team#WeStillMissYouRicky behind the scenes. Although bragging rights is certainly a nice prize, the entire league was absolutely floored to find out that Ryan Lochte himself offered up his M 4×100 Free Relay SILVER MEDAL as the grand prize!!  And how did this impact our winners???  According to @AdrienneQW: “Dexter and Celeste were PSYCHED to learn we had won Lochte’s 400 free relay silver medal… what? WHAT?? Really?? I can’t thank Ryan and Coach Marsh enough for this amazing gift – and I know it will please Ryan that this medal, like so many before, will end up in the hands of young swim fans who look up to him and love the sport.”  Can’t get much better than that.

From #DeckChange: Our second league, which grew out of demand for #FantasySwimming after Nationals, had its own winner as well, as #TeamKevinCordesNeckTho took the lead early on in the meet and just simply did not let go!  Day 4’s swims by Bronte Campbell, Anthony Ervin (again, with AE!) and the Japanese breaststrokers just further distanced his point totals from the rest of the league. And the prize for all of his efforts?  @jjswim was thrilled to learn he won a genuine signed swim cap from Ryan Lochte!!!!!  For his part, “JJ” said “this whole experience has been awesome!…..It has been so much fun to connect with other swim fans and bond over the sport we love so much.”

It seems that we, the participants, aren’t the only ones having a blast partaking in this fun new “sport”.  Our on-site SuperFan rep, @LaneFourRacer, was able to converse directly with Coach David Marsh and get his thoughts on how the league has a positive, energy-creating effect on even the athletes themselves.  Mr. Marsh also took the time to congratulate our winners on Twitter, as well!!!  Unbelievable!!  @AdrienneQW’s reaction?? “I’m so happy to learn that our #FantasySwimming league meant something to some athletes and coaches – it’s awesome to hear that they felt our support from thousands of miles away, all because of our tweets and shout-outs through social media. It gives me chills to think that our league pumped them up!”

Of course, Mr. Marsh and @LaneFourRacer conspired to procure our AWESOME grand prizes,  and plotted with a one, @GrangerTalley to keep them under wraps.  Granger dropped hints throughout the morning (U.S. morning, anyway) of the Final Day, trying to downplay how truly phenomenal the items were!!

Thus, the bar keeps getting set higher and higher as each round of #FantasySwimming comes to conclusion!  Who knows where our adventure will lead as we begin to look at the Grand Prix Season!  In the words of Team #BobsHat owner, @AuntKim328, “No matter who got the highest score in #FantasySwimming, we all win because this has been a blast!!  And, Team USA has ROCKED Pan Pacs 2014!!”  AGREED!

**For anyone interested in participating in future #FantasySwimming drafts, please contact @TheKaseyS and @rettarace for more information. Thanks to SwimSwam for following along with the fun!