 | | | Jack Avery, of Springbrook, swims the 100 freestyle. Photos Gint Federas | | | | | | Signs, banners, and painted cars have been seen throughout Lafayette for the past few weeks in anticipation of one of the biggest swim meets of the summer. On Aug. 2-3, caravans of painted cars and legions of strong swimmers congregated at Acalanes High School's Heaston Aquatic Center for the 2014 Lafayette Swim Conference Championship Meet.
"The meet is exciting for many of the swimmers because it is the first exposure to a meet of this size, with many competitors, big blocks and their names in lights on a big scoreboard," said meet director Lisa Passalacqua.
Swimmers from six different teams raced with the intent of dropping times and scoring points for their respective clubs. Each morning there were preliminary trials, and in the afternoon, competition heated up with the finals. Finishing second and third last year, both Sun Valley and Rancho Colorados hoped to knock off last year's champions, the Springbrook Swim Club. However, Springbrook took the title for the third year in a row.
Springbrook came out strong in Saturday's finals of freestyle, breastroke, and the medley relays. Swimmers from Springbrook took first place in over half of the freestyle events.
Still, competitors from all six clubs were dropping time from their individual records. It was a common to see beaming swimmers rise out of the water after shaving seconds off of their previous personal bests. "In addition to the competitive team atmosphere, dropping time is the best part about the Lafayette Championship Swim Meet," said Sun Valley swimmer Jakob Eaton, 13. Eaton, who still has a year left in his age group, dropped over a second on both freestyle and breastroke, his main events.
At the start of the second day, both Sun Valley and Rancho Colorados continued to fight to edge out Springbrook. Rancho Colorados trailed Springbrook by fewer than 500 points. Three of their relays broke LSC Meet records to push them closer to the point leader. The Sun Valley Rays also continued to swim fast with 60 percent of their swimmers recording personal best times. In the end, Springbrook won with 4,143.5 points.
Springbrook and Rancho Colorados won Outstanding Relay Awards. Sprinbrook's 6-and-under girls and Rancho's 7-8 boys broke both the freestyle and medley relay records. The Hogs' Sadie Suppiger, 6, Ella Del Rosario, 6, Clara O'Connor, 6, and Addison Dankworth, 6, broke the previous medley relay record by a whopping three seconds.
Emily Gebhardt, 13, of Springbrook broke two meet records for the second year in a row, an outstanding feat. "I felt like I was quick on the dive and on the walls, which helped me race much faster," said Gebhardt. With Gebhardt's help, Springbrook Swim finished 788.5 points ahead of second place Rancho Colorados' 4,143.5.
While Springbrook took the title, other teams were rewarded as well. The Sun Valley Rays earned the Spirit Award. The Oakwood Sharks and Marlins were the most improved club, nearly doubling their point total from last year.
Overall, the Lafayette Conference Championship Swim Meet was a both competitive and fun. Not only did over 64 percent of all swimmers drop time, but also the community atmosphere seemed to add extra excitement.
"It's just fun to get every club out here swimming together," Eaton said.
Results:
1. Springbrook Swim Team 4,932
2. Rancho Colorados Swim Team 4143.50
3. Sun Valley Rays Swim Team 3,229
4. LMYA Dolphins Swim Team 2,442
5. Pleasant Hill Dolfins 2,117
6. Oakwood Sharks and Marlins 851.50
High Point Winners:
6 & Under: Girls: Sadie Suppiger, Springbook, 72 points
Boys: Mason Schlehr, Springbrook, 69 points
7-8: Girls: Olivia Williams, Sun Valley, 72 points
Boys: John Mendelssohn, Rancho Colorados, 72 points
9-10: Girls: Caitlin Smith, LMYA, 72 points
Boys: Jack Wood, Springbrook, 72 points
11-12: Girls: Sophie Lurie, Sun Valley, 72 points
Boys: Zach Kuo, Springbrook, 72 points
13-14: Girls: Emily Gebhardt, Springbrook, 72 points
Boys: Riley Smith, LMYA, 69 points
15-18: Girls: Lucy Fellner, Rancho Colorados, 68 points
Boys: Jack Avery, Springbrook, 69 points
Records:
Emily Gebhardt, Girls 13-14, 50 Freestyle, 24.71 (24.99 previous record)
and 50 Fly, 27.23 (previous record 27.26)
Sophie Lurie, Girls 11-12, 50 Breast, 32.71 (32.76 previous record)
Relays:
Springbrook, Girls 6 & Under, 100 Medley, 1:33.72 (previous record 1:36.21) and 100 Freestyle Relay 1:21.37 (previous record 1:22.84)
Swimmers: Sadie Suppiger, Ella Del Rosario,
Clara O'Connor, Addison Dankworth
Rancho Colorados, Boys 6 & Under, 100 Medley, 1:35.79 (previous record 1:35.98)
Swimmers: Blake Robison, Dylan Felson,
Jasper Brock-Utne, Nikoloas Tzorbatzakis
Rancho Colorados, Boys 7-8, 100 Medley, 1:12.16 (previous record 1:12.49) and 100 Freestyle, 101.80 (previous record 1:02.71)
Swimmers: Sammy Lee, Jon Mendelssohn,
Walker Smith, Paul Kuhner
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA