Hours of training pay off at Championships
Seven thousand yards, 4.24 miles, 140 laps : these numbers are no strangers to the Lawrence Aquahawks swim team. Six days a week the Aquahawks hit the pool at the Lawrence Aquatic Center, two to a lane, heads bobbing in unison with the rhythmic flow of the water as the swimmers barrel through their daily average of 140 laps.
The Aquahawks have been increasing their training volume since last September, building up to hefty practices throughout the first few months of this year. On March 10-12, all those laps, and the accompanying water log, paid off for the team as 48 swimmers swam in the Missouri Valley Swimming Championships.
Meet Results
Andregg, Zachary (11)
Men 11-12 200 IM 16th place
Men 11-12 500 Free 7th place
Men 11-12 100 Fly 14th place
Men 11-12 200 Free 12th place
Black, Adriane (14)
Women 13-14 200 IM 46th place
Women 13-14 500 Free 34th place
Women 13-14 400 IM 28th place
Boyer, Alex (16)
Men Senior 1000 Free 11th place
Men Senior 500 Free 10th place
Men Senior 400 IM 22nd place
Men Senior 1650 Free 6th place
Boyer, Jessica (14)
Women 13-14 200 IM 49th place
Women 13-14 400 IM 29th place
Buchner, Hannah (16)
Women Senior 1000 Free 11th
Women Senior 500 Free 21th
Women Senior 1650 Free 12th
Burd, Roland (12)
Men 11-12 100 Breast 14th place
Campbell, Canaan (10)
Men 10 & Under 200 IM 12th place
Men 10 & Under 50 Fly 10th place
Men 10 & Under 100 Free 6th place
Men 10 & Under 100 IM 11th place
Men 10 & Under 50 Back 15th place
Men 10 & Under 200 Free 7th place
Carlson, Bailey (15)
Women Senior 400 IM 17th place
Case, Cameron (14)
Men 13-14 200 IM 4th place
Men 13-14 500 Free 14th place
Men 13-14 100 Breast 5th place
Men 13-14 400 IM 9th place
Men Senior 200 Breast 16th place
Cistola, Heather (10)
Women 10 & Under 200 IM 15th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Fly 7th place
Women 10 & Under 100 Free 13th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Back 10th place
Women 10 & Under 200 Free 15th place
Clark, Heather (14)
Women 13-14 200 IM 6th place
Women 13-14 500 Free 18th place
Women 13-14 100 Fly 7th place
Women 13-14 100 Free 6th place
Women Senior 200 Back 3th place
Women 13-14 50 Free 12th place
Women 13-14 100 Back 2th place
Women 13-14 200 Free 8th place
Clark, Sarah (17)
Women Senior 200 IM 41th place
Dirks-Ham, Chelsea (16)
Women Senior 100 Fly 14th place
Women Senior 50 Free 12th place
Women Senior 100 Back 13th place
Women Senior 200 Fly 15th place
Ezell, Rory (18)
Women Senior 200 IM 33rd place
Fisher, Ethan (12)
Men 11-12 500 Free 4th place
Men 11-12 100 Free 9th place
Men 11-12 200 Free 8th place
Flannigan, Morgan (13)
Women 13-14 200 IM 11th place
Women 13-14 500 Free 2nd place
Women 13-14 100 Fly 8th place
Women 13-14 100 Free 4th place
Women 13-14 400 IM 4th place
Women 13-14 50 Free 14th place
Women 13-14 200 Free 3rd place
Women Senior 1650 Free 3rd place
Frank, Nolan (12)
Men 11-12 100 Back 11th place
Glass, Rebecca (18)
Women Senior 200 IM 31st place
Women Senior 1000 Free 7th place
Women Senior 500 Free 14th place
Grabill, Phoebe (10)
Women 10 & Under 200 IM 7th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Fly 3rd place
Women 10 & Under 100 Free 9th place
Women 10 & Under 100 IM 4th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Free 12th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Back 4th place
Women 10 & Under 200 Free 9th place
Grabill, Reese (12)
Women 11-12 200 IM 3rd place
Women 11-12 500 Free 3rd place
Women 11-12 100 Fly 8th place
Women 11-12 100 Free 8th place
Jackson, Whitley (16)
Women Senior 500 Free 18th place
Women Senior 400 IM 16th place
Janney, Hilary (17)
Women Senior 200 IM 42th place
Martin, Emily (12)
Women 11-12 200 IM 29th place
Women 11-12 500 Free 10th place
Women 11-12 100 Back 14th place
Women 11-12 200 Free 11th place
McCaffrey, Maddie (10)
Women 10 & Under 200 IM 10th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Fly 10th place
Women 10 & Under 100 IM 11th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Back 9th place
Moore, Mitch (15)
Men Senior 200 IM 45th place
Men Senior 100 Fly 9th place
Men Senior 100 Breast 14th place
Men Senior 50 Free 5th place
Moore, Reilly (13)
Women 13-14 200 IM 33rd place
Women 13-14 400 IM 34th place
Padgett, Elizabeth (10)
Women 10 & Under 200 IM 25th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Breast 13th place
Women 10 & Under 50 Free 16th place
Pipkin, Lauren (16)
Women Senior 200 IM 11th place
Women Senior 100 Fly 10th place
Women Senior 200 Fly 11th place
Portela, Chloe (13)
Women 13-14 200 IM 3rd place
Women 13-14 100 Fly 4th place
Women 13-14 100 Free 2nd place
Women 13-14 100 Breast 4th place
Women 13-14 50 Free 1st place
Women 13-14 100 Back 5th place
Women 13-14 200 Free 16th place
Women 13-14 200 IM 1st place
Women 13-14 500 Free 1st place
Women 13-14 100 Fly 1st place
Women 13-14 100 Breast 1st place
Women 13-14 400 IM 1st place
Women Senior 200 Breast 1st place
Women 13-14 100 Back 1st place
Women 13-14 200 Free 1st place
Robinson, Hunter (10)
Men 10 & Under 200 IM 6th place
Men 10 & Under 50 Fly 7th place
Men 10 & Under 50 Breast 7th place
Men 10 & Under 100 IM 8th place
Men 10 & Under 50 Free 15th place
Men 10 & Under 50 Back 14th place
Men 10 & Under 200 Free 14th place
Rosel, Deidre (18)
Women Senior 200 IM 15th place
Women Senior 200 Back 4th place
Women Senior 50 Free 16th place
Women Senior 100 Back 8th place
Women Senior 200 Free 9th place
Rudman, Stacey (13)
Women 13-14 200 IM 18th place
Women 13-14 500 Free 11th place
Women 13-14 100 Free 10th place
Women 13-14 50 Free 3rd place
Women 13-14 100 Back 9th place
Schwartz, Sarah (13)
Women 13-14 200 IM 31st place
Women 13-14 100 Fly 14th place
Women 13-14 100 Back 11th place
Sirimongkhon-Dyck, Lucy (9)
Women 10 & Under 200 IM 27th place
Sloan, Ben (11)
Men 11-12 200 IM 8th place
Men 11-12 500 Free 10th place
Men 11-12 100 Fly 6th place
Men 11-12 100 IM 13th place
Men 11-12 100 Back 15th place
Sloan, Logan (13)
Men 13-14 400 IM 27th place
Sparks, Eric (16)
Men Senior 200 IM 18th place
Men Senior 100 Free 7th place
Men Senior 50 Free 7th place
Men Senior 100 Back 15th place
Men Senior 200 Free 15th place
Swank, Katie (17)
Women Senior 200 IM 14th place
Weber, Elle (13)
Women 13-14 200 IM 25th place
Women 13-14 500 Free 13th place
Women 13-14 100 Breast 11th place
Women 13-14 400 IM 16th place
Women Senior 200 Breast 11th place
Women Senior 1650 Free 9th place
Winter, Adam (16)
Men Senior 200 IM 22nd place
In the weeks and days leading up to the championships, the Aquahawks worked on defining their strokes and sharpening their skills in anticipation for the meet, which serves as the crowning achievement of a very long season. The week before the championships, the swimmers took the opportunity to taper their laps to achieve a more refined form in the water and to rest before the meet.
Reese Grabill listens to instructions during a pre-championships meet practice March 3 at the Lawrence Aquatic Center.
Aquahawks senior swimmers coach George Robinson said the swimmers were working hard to face big teams in the battle for the fastest times at the meet.
“Wichita, Topeka and Kansas City are some of our biggest rivals,” Robinson said. “Even though Wichita and Kansas City have teams bigger than ours, we typically place third overall in the meet behind them.”
Not only a chance to stare down the competition, the meet also offers young swimmers the chance to make sectional cuts. Robinson said the sectional meet, in which swimmers face off against different regions, happens later in the year and is three to four times bigger than the Missouri Valley Championships.
The swimmers most poised to make sectional cuts going into the Missouri Valley Championships seemed to be the 11-14 year-old age group. This group’s coach, Scott Bliss, said the team was the elite age group for the Aquahawks.
“We swim very well,” Bliss said. “Individual-wise, our teams stack up as well if not better to some of the largest teams in Missouri Valley. We even look forward to probably having some nationally ranked swimming relays at the meet.”
Bliss said he attributed the swimmers’ success to the Aquahawks progressive program. The program is designed to build on each swimmer’s skills as they get older and move up in the program.
The swimmers themselves said they look forward to dropping their times at each meet, and recognized that skill and a lot of practice was key to securing a faster race. Sarah Schwartz, who swam the 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke and 200 backstroke at the Missouri Valley Championships, said she was working hard to swim better.
“Just going to practice and working hard and eating well and resting help in improving before a big meet,” Schwartz said.
Aquahawk Elle Weber, who swam the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 400 individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 1650 freestyle, said that all the practice and preparation sometimes suddenly disappears once in the water at the meet.
The Aquahawks practice using a kickboard during practice on March 3 at the Lawrence Aquatic Center in preparation for the Division 1 Championships.
“The first events of the meet are usually pretty nerve-racking, but once you start swimming it gets better,” Weber said.
Bliss said nerves might be a common problem at the Missouri Valley Championships. The importance of this meet is highly stressed and the swimmers seem to seriously take this to heart.
“This meet really is the meet we want to be our best at,” Bliss said. “You always want to swim your best at the end of the year.”
Many Aquahawks did just that at the meet. Some of the top finishers were 14-year-old swimmer Heather Clark, who finished fifth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.65 and third in the 200 backstroke and second in the 100 backstroke; Morgan Flannigan, who finished second in the 500 freestyle in the 13- and 14-year-old age group; and 13-year-olds Emma Reaney and Chloe Portela, who brought home first-place honors. Twelve-year-old Reese Grabill finished fourth in the same event for her age group with a time of 58.94.
Frayed nerves, exhausting laps, winning times, or not, the Lawrence Aquahawks put it all in the water to swim their best at this year’s Missouri Valley Swimming Championships.