The "Jack The Flash" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out all the trophies and medals that my niece Kelly's son Jack and daughter Megan have accumulated in the past few years while swimming for both the Ephrata Swim Team and the Lancaster Aquatic Club.  

Megan and her many awards for swimming.

Megan showed me her trophies as well as about two dozen medals that hung from a display area made for her by her dad.  When I walked into Jack's room I was amazed by the hardware that adorned his display rack.  I'm not sure how the rack could hold all the metal that rested on top of and hung underneath it.  Both Megan and Jack began swimming for the Ephrata Swim Club in the Fall of 2014.  Jack just finished swimming in the 9-10 year old division while Megan finished swimming in the 11-12 year old division.  Megan is a very good swimmer, but her brother Jack is the topic of my story today since he just finished a record-breaking winter swim season.  

Jack's hardware hangs from his bedroom wall.

Last year Jack attempted to qualify for the Junior Olympics but missed the cut in the freestyle by 0.01 of a second.  This past year he was determined to quality and did so in 11 individual events!  But, he ended up with strep throat shortly before the meet and could only swim a few events.  

Jack with one of his favorite trophies.

He was able to swim well enough to be part of a record breaking relay team.  Then in March, while swimming with the Lancaster Aquatic Club in a meet at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, he broke the 18 year old Lancaster Aquatic Club record in the 9-10 400 Individual Freestyle Long Course with a time of 5:32.46.  He broke the old record by almost four seconds which was recorded in 2001.  A teammate , Brody Reber, also beat the old record by coming in a few tenths of a second behind Jack.  I can still remember years ago when Jack was a very young boy how much he hated to get in the pool at his Grandparent's home which is next to his house in Ephrata, PA.  

The Kunkel Aquatic Center at Franklin & Marshall College
in Lancaster, PA where the Lancaster Aquatic Club swim.

He finally lost his fear of the water and is now at home in the pool.  His Uncle Matt coached the swim team at nearby Cocalico High School for years and I'm sure has given him a few tips that have helped him become the flash that he is today.  He seems so much at home now in the pool that he, as well as his sister, may perhaps swim for the high school team in the near future.  I'm sure we will be reading about the heroics of Jack once again in the newspaper.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Jack after breaking the Individual Freestyle record at UNC.

Jack showed me one of his favorite trophies.  This is the plaque at the base of the trophy.

Jack, Abby and Megan.

Kenny Williams, graduating senior on the men's basketball team at UNC stands for a photo with some of the winning swimmers in North Carolina.  Jack is to his immediate left and Megan is second from him on his right.

The "Wettest Year On Record In Lancaster, Pennsylvania" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking out the back door at my new bird feeder my son got my wife and me as a Christmas gift.  Haven't had much chance to put it up until yesterday since it seems to have rained just about every day since Christmas.  Newspaper this morning described 2018 as the wettest year in the history of Lancaster County.  That is, it is the wettest since records have been kept in 1914.  We have had more than five feet of precipitation this year and the long-range forecast for the beginning of 2019 looks like we will be getting more of the wet stuff.  A few of the local welcoming in the New Year celebrations were cancelled due to the rain.  I haven't had to wash the car for almost two months since the rain cleans it off as fast as the slushy roads mess it up.  The only good thing is that it has been fairly warm and has eliminated the heavy snowfall that could have been a big problem for me since I am still recovering from my back surgery months ago.  With the rain today we now have over 60 inches which tops the 59.05 inches we had in 1996.  A few numerical bits of information accompanied the newspaper article and were based on information from the Millersville University's Weather Information Center in nearby Millersville, Pennsylvania.  See how much rainfall your community may have had in comparison with Lancaster County, PA.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
  

• 153 - Number of rainy days in Lancaster County in 2018
• 123 - Number of rainy days in Lancaster County in 2017
• 10.5 - Number of inches that fell in about four hours near Mount Joy and Manheim on August 31.  That was the largest rainfall on record in one day.
• 8.46 - Inches of rain recorded at Millersville University on June 22, 1972 during Tropical Storm Agnes which was the rainest day on record before August 31 of this year.
• 12.77 - Inches of rain that fell on Saturdays in 2018, the rainiest day of the week.
• 9.63 - Inches of rain that fell on Saturdays in 2017.
• 5.44 - Inches of rain that fell on Tuesdays in 2018, the driest day of the week.
• 41 - Inches of rain is annual average in Lancaster County.
• 61 - Inches of rain forecasters say will have fallen on Lancaster County by the end of 2018, the wettest year on record. (The numbers listed here were as of a few days ago due to the newspaper deadline.
• 59.05 - Inches of rain in Lancaster County in 1996, the previous record-holder for wettest year.