Our photographers made it out to a ton of events last week so enjoy the fruits of their labor. Here are this week’s photos of the week.

Photos of the week.

Let me first start this post by saying I know very little about swimming. When I was told I would be covering the DFAL swim meet yesterday, I absolutely had no idea what to expect considering I had never covered a league swim meet.

Now, there is one thing that stands true in any sport: you know the special ones when you see them. When I saw Las Lomas’ Kasey Carlson take her spot for the 50 freestyle, you could see that she was bigger, stronger and faster than any of the other competitors. Later, in the 100 breaststroke, when she shaved almost two seconds off her NCS record time of a year ago, the crowd knew exactly what happened and what they were watching.

Carlson also helped to set another NCS record when she teamed with Alex Madsen, Shelley Harper and Natalie Smith to break the record in the 200 medley relay. By the end of the day, Carlson had created quite a buzz poolside. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) was talking about her performance.

This week’s photos are assembled in a neat and tidy presentation, so I suggest you check it out.

Photos of the week

We are running a three-part series on high school coaches. The series started Monday with stories on coaches who are starting out. Tuesday’s package will be on coaches and what they endure to stay at it, and Wednesday we will close with coaches who got out. What’s surprised me is the candor of which coaches spoke of their respective hardships, especially in dealing with parents. It used to be whenever a coach told a reporter about anything in that realm it was prefaced by “this is off the record.” These days dissatisfaction with a coach is much more out in the open and thus many coaches are more willing to talk about these instances. Just checking the Times discussion boards or any other such boards demonstrates that. Another example of how life has changed in the cyber-era.

Well it’s that time of the decade again where the North Coast Section sits all its member schools down at a table and everyone reminds themselves how much they don’t get along. Cynical, yes. Out of touch with reality, no. In today’s Times, Chace Bryson explores the new proposals for league configurations. I looked at these changes this morning and suddenly the new hotbed for controversy is the Bay Shore Conference, within whose boundaries I happen to live.

First thing’s first: This is one of the most political processes you’re ever going to see in high school athletics. Why? Because it directly affects the purse strings that govern competitive equity. That’s especially true when it comes to the ACCAL and BSAL. The new alignment puts Kennedy back in the ACCAL with fellow WCCUSD schools De Anza, El Cerrito, Pinole Valley, and Richmond and also adds John Swett and St. Patrick-St. Vincent to the mix. Does anyone actually believe the Eagles are equipped to compete in any sports other than soccer and basketball in this league? No. What this does is lessen the travel costs for the WCCUSD, and that’s what dictated this move.

We have to put this proposal in perspective. Yes, money is a major factor in these talks whereas the new Valley Conference had concerns over competitive balance. The most popular dissenting opinion for these new leagues is that some schools are concerned with the fact that they can’t compete. I’m not indifferent to those opinions and I can tell you watching a blowout night after night is much less fun than seeing a good game. But the bottom line is this: We need to get these kids on the field and on the court. These moves allow teams like Kennedy and Richmond to cut costs and might allow them to establish some consistency in fielding teams. I care less about the ability to compete than the opportunity to compete and, to a large extent, these moves show that the NCS Board of Managers does too.