Nothing wrong with this ending.

Third place for the Normandy Park Swim Club under first-year coaches Alex Beyer and Lori Jude and Olympic View fourth after completed action of the culminating 16-team meet for the Seattle Summer Swim League. It's the clash of the North versus the South division, otherwise known as the All City Championships, at the Aqua Club pool in Kenmore Tuesday.

It's the best of the best of the SSSL.

And, Aug.7 will go down in history for Normandy Park as the year that its club swimmers took a step toward dominance that they had way back when they were the best team around.

"We haven't won All City since 1969," said Jude.

So, it's not a huge step, but certainly a step in the right direction, as far as the team goes. That speaks well of Jason Carr, too. He left the program in a good state for the new coaches, Jude and Beyer. Carr coached NP for over five years.

And, speaking of team, that is, a relay team, rather, it was their nearby rival relay team from OV, that set an OV pool record at All City. It was done by 8-and-under medley swimmers Lena Osterberg, Alexandra Wilhite, Ashlan Ragghianti and Lena Shelley in 1:08.34.

What was significant about that time?

"Oh man, they broke it by 1/100th of a second," said OV coach Haley Thompson after the relay race. "I can't believe that. And I thought that record would never be broken. They just broke my 19-year-old record so I'm so sad to see the record fall."

And more than that, the record was broken with a little caveat Thompson said was not in place when she was on the OV team that broke their pool record way back when.

"Another thing about this being good for them over us is that when we broke the record all four swimmers could dive in from the blocks," said Thompson, who is pregnant now but swam after high school as a Mount Rainier Ram at a Division-I school, USC.

The current four beat some tough talent.

Now swimmers have to start their swims in the water for the race, "pushing off," so, that makes this foursome's effort in 2007 all the more impressive, according to Thompson. She is sad, but she also helped this team do what they just did so that's got to make her happy.

And it does.

"I am glad they did it," said Thompson. "They deserve it."

Getting an eight-year-old to talk can be akin to getting a kid to take his hand out of the cookie jar after it's fully in and the cookie is on the way out, but why not try.

Was that neat to break the record?

"Yeah," said Osterberg, who swam on that pool-recording relay team of eight year olds.

She was also nodding her head. That was it for things said, but not it for Osterberg, who went on to have a good day at All City individually as well. She took second in the girls' 8-and-under 25 backstroke and second in the 25 freestyle, going 16.61 in that, narrowly missing the first place time of 16.38 by a Federal Way area swimmer from the Twin Lakes Swim Club. Osterberg's relay team also took second in the 100 medley in 1:23.24.

And now that we accoladed an OV pool record breaking performance, let's skip over to rival Normandy Park, whose foursome of Sophia Cassam, Abby Fenster, Megan Kawaguchi and Natalie Mutter altogether snapped their NP pool record in the girls 10 and under 200 free relay.

"We broke the record that we have been trying to break for a long time," said Cassam.

That would include the time all summer long where NP swam against seven other swim clubs, beating everyone but Kent, whom they beat at All City, not just the historic, 10-year, win-streak snapping effort of Kent at southerns.

Their All City time of 2:06.80 was a top 10 all-time time in the event.

Mutter did say matter of factly why the foursome could break that NP pool record.

She said, "Cuz we felt like it."

Mutter, individually, took second just barely in the 50 yard freestyle for 10 and under, hitting the wall in 30.52 to first place's, from Aqua Club, in 30.52. And she was fifth in the 25 fly in 16.04.

So past those two pool-record breaking relay teams from OV and NP, respectively, there were plenty of first place performances like OV's Chase Onstot, winning his bread and butter event, the 50 backstroke, in 31.25. He was also the winner in the100 individual medley for boys 12 and under in 1:07.57.

OV swimmer 10-year-old Kawaguchi, took first in the girls 10 and under 50 back in 36.43 and she was third in the 25 fly in 15.59. There were other firsts, from Grant Meyers with a 15.63 in the 25 fly.

And, speaking of how hard All City is, the kid, Meyers, who likely never lost in a dual meet and did win southerns in the 50 back by three seconds, did not win at All City in the best of the best.

"I got second," said Meyers, almost in a question form, that was right after his race in the 50 back.

"I know," said his dad, patting his son on the back and leading him away from the finish area.

Actually, Meyers was third, losing a close race for second. H is time was 38.74 and second was 38.25. Both swimmers were from the northern division.

Still others with firsts included OV's Sonny Dorhofer in the girls 12 and under 50 free as she commended her coaches.

"My coaches help out well, Ben Mitchell and Haley Thompson," said Dorhofer. "They tell me how I can go faster and help me with the basics, making sure I am breathing right. Two breaths down and one breath back (in the free)."

Why don't you take more breaths than three total in a 50 yard race?

"Because it slows you down," said Dorhofer, adding, "And I need some air."

Dorhofer touched the wall in the 50 in 26.65, ahead of Annika Stenfjord of Innis Arden in at 27.56. Dorhofer also was third in the 50 breast in 34.92.

NP's Alex Hastings took a third, 17.28, in the 25 fly for 8 and under and a first in the 25 back in 19.48.