Swimming for the Lawrence Aquahawks serves as a family affair for Alyssa Rudman.

Alyssa, a 16-year-old Veritas Christian student, has four siblings, and two of them – Stacey, 14, and Elizabeth, 10 – swim on her club team. All three raced at the Indoor Aquatic Center on Sunday during the final day of the four-day Wave The Wheat Meet.

Aquahawk Chase Torgerson, 18, checks his time after competing in the 200-meter backstroke during the Wave the Wheat Meet. The four-day meet concluded Sunday at the Indoor Aquatic Center.

Although the elder Rudman sisters specialize in different strokes, it raises the question: Who is the stronger swimmer?

“Right now, I’m better than her, but she’s two years younger. So we’ll see how it gets in the next two years,” Alyssa said. “She’s faster than me in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle. I still have her in the backstroke. So that makes me happy.”

True to her words, Alyssa won the 200-meter backstroke in 2 minutes 27.42 seconds, while Stacey won her age group’s 100 freestyle in 1:02.7.

They competed together Saturday, with Stacey and Alyssa serving as the first two legs of the 400-meter freestyle relay. That team, which included Chelsea Dirks-Ham and Katie Swank, finished fourth with a time of 4:16.76.

“That was fun,” she said.

Alyssa also enjoyed two recent swimming destinations. She finished in the top eight in the 200 backstroke at junior nationals in March in Orlando, Fla., earning her a trip to a National Club Swimming Association meet last month in Honolulu, along with fellow Aquahawk Emma Reaney.

“It was amazing,” she said. “I loved meeting all the new, fun people there.”

¢Swank will enroll in Miami (Ohio) University, ending a decade of swimming tutelage under Aquahawks coach Mike Soderling.

“He’s kind of a like a third parent,” Swank said.

The 18-year-old, who swam for Free State during her freshman and senior years, chose Miami because she liked the Division I school’s 16,000-student population, Midwestern location and strong academic reputation.

“It just had the total package,” she said. “I really loved their swimming program. They’re one of the best in the MAC conference.”

Swank likely will pursue a business degree in the classroom and concentrate on middle-distance freestyle events in the pool.

“I’ve always been stronger in that,” she said. “It’s the most natural stroke to me.”

Although freestyle serves as her signature stroke, she achieved a notable accomplishment in the 200 individual medley when she qualified for junior nationals at age 13.

“It was a complete surprise,” she said. “That’s pretty awesome.”

¢Few Aquahawks swim for their school and their club team during all four years of high school, but Morgan Flannigan, who relishes the camaraderie of her Free State High squad, likely will be an exception.

“I’m going to continue probably for all four years,” she said. “There’s not as many kids swimming in high school as there is club. So it’s more getting points for the team. It’s not all individual.”

Such a decision presents bad news for the rest of the Sunflower League. Flannigan earned all-state honors, placing second in the 500 freestyle.

She also excelled at The Wave The Wheat Meet, finishing fourth individually overall with 74 points and second in the 400 freestyle with a 4:37.41 finish.

Considering her lineage, the 15-year-old’s high marks should not come as a surprise. Her mother, Jana, swam in sprint events for two years at Nebraska University.

¢Four Aquahawks earned first-place oveall honors during the meet. Reaney earned 172 points in the women’s category, Heather Cistola scored 20 in the 12-and-under grouping, Sydney Sirimongkohn-Dyck totaled 77 in the girls 8-and-under category and Jordon Portela topped the 8-and-under boys with 74.