Flying Sharks Swimmers Back to Back State Champs

Flying Sharks Swimmers Back to Back State Champs

ATLANTIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS BREAK THREE STATE RECORDS

By Laeni Pelzer

On March 1 and 2 the Nishna Valley Flying Sharks swim team traveled to Marshalltown for the 2014 YMCA state swim meet. Forty-three out of the 51 swimmers on the team qualified for the state meet on Feb. 9. The swimmers have been practicing for this meet since Nov. 3.

The meet started with the boys on Saturday. Freshman Damon Miller kicked off the day when he and a swimmer from Waukee both broke the state record in the 15-21 boys 200 free. Miller placed second overall in the event. Miller also competed in the 15-21 200 yard medley relay swimming the backstroke leg with an eighth-place finish, the 100 free with a fourth-place, the 500 free with a third-place, and the 200 free relay swimming the last leg with a fifth-place finish.

Freshman Eric Weiser also swam the 200 free and ended up 13th. His other events included the 100 free with a 24th place finish, and the 200 free relay swimming the last leg, receiving 15th place. By the end of Saturday the boys had put the Sharks in first place, but by a mere 20 points.

On Sunday the girls got their chance to show the state what they were made of. They were told by head coach Dean Junker, “Stick it to them!” The day started off with the 200 freestyle. Freshman Madelyn Kickland competing in the 13-14 age division came out second in an extremely close race. Senior Sara King, sophomores Hanna King and Laeni Pelzer also swam the 200 free. Sara King finished in 12th, Hannah King finished in sixth and Pelzer finished in 15th, all with personal best times for the season.

Kickland swam the butterfly leg in the 200 medley relay and as a team placed third. The 15-21 200 medley relay consisted of Junior Lindsay Keltch swimming backstroke, Pelzer swimming breaststroke, H. King swimming butterfly, and S. King swimming freestyle. They placed eighth overall as a team.

Kickland swam the 50 free next in hopes to get a state record. She ended up first but missed the state record by two tenths of a second. Kickland also swam  the 100 free individually, finishing with a first place.

Pelzer swam the 50 free and placed 15th and the 100 breast placing 14th individually.

Keltch swam the 200 individual medley (one lap of each stroke) with a seed time faster than the state record. She came out first with a new state record time four seconds faster than the previous record. Keltch also swam the 200 back placing second, and the 100 breast with another second individually.

Sara King swam the 100 free and placed 22nd individually.

Hanna King swam the 100 free placing 17th and the 500 free placing 10th individually.

At last is was finally time for the relays, which is usually the most competitive event of the meet. Kickland’s relay swam a time of 1:42.50 which was good enough for a new state record. This was something the girls had wanted to do all year.

Kickland said, “It felt like I have accomplished something in my life. I was really excited because I swam my fastest 50 time ever and jumped out of the pool because I couldn’t wait to hug my team.”

Pelzer, S. King, H. King, and Keltch placed fifth in their relay.

The girls ended the meet with enough points to win the state meet. The Sharks won with a combined total of 189.50 points higher than the Spencer Tiger Sharks.