Worthington Swim Club Swimmers!!

From the Ohio Junior Olympic Championship!!!
(updated photos here.)

Thirty-nine swimmers from the Worthington Swim Club competed at the JO Champs (Ohio State Championships) in Cincinnati on March 14-16. The team placed 14^th overall with 356.5 points behind first place Dayton Raiders.

For many swimmers, successful racing at the State Champs was the season ending goal that they set back in September. For others, this meet was a chance to compete at the highest level in the State for the very first time and gain invaluable experience for the future of their swimming careers. Most swims were very impressive and all swimmers are to be congratulated for ending such a great season at the State Championship. Altogether, we recorded 70 new personal best times over the weekend.

We showed great team spirit with enthusiastic cheers and support for one another. We also handled the sometimes adverse conditions very well. On Saturday morning, we found out while arriving at the pool that the lane assignment for warm-up had been changed without warning and that we had missed our warm-up time. We had to squeeze 35 swimmers in a single lane but this turned out to be our fastest session and we qualified 10 swimmers for finals. Our repeated discussions regarding the handling of unpredictable events at swim meets paid off as no swimmers showed any signs of being flustered by the unfortunate situation but rather we rallied around and supported one-another. Way to go Team!

Many swimmers traveled down to Cincinnati to compete in relays only. The dedication to the team of swimmers such as Katey Bell, Edgar Caraballo, Mara Dan-Weber, George Doyle, Abby Jank, Matt Reed, Maddie Schilling, Karri Stadulis, Sara Swart, Maggie Taylor, Carson VanFarowe, Cat VanFarowe, Audrey Wachtel, and Alex Winkle is admirable. Thank you all for your very best efforts. Your participation this year will create inspiration for your return to States next year for more fast races.

The best swims of the meet belongs to KayLee Witkiewicz who won the 10 and under 50 backstroke with a time of 31.01, confirming her ownership of a T16 national ranking in this event and lowering once again the team record. Congratulations KayLee! She was also the runner-up in both the 100IM with a time of 1:10.54 and the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:20.96. Maren Reeder was runner-up for 12 and under in both the 50 and 100 breaststroke with times of 32.23 and 1:09.10 respectively. Maren also swam faster than the qualifying time for the OSU Grand Prix of early April in the 100 breaststroke. In less than 3 weeks, she will join Claudia Doyle at the fastest meet ever held in Ohio. We will be there to cheer both of team on to success.

Other swimmers 10 year old and under included Rina Laios who placed 15th in the 50 yards breaststroke, Justin Jiang who placed 11th in the 50 breaststroke and Patrick Young who placed 15th in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 40.49 and 11th in the 50 freestyle with a time of 29.64. Bailey Williams recorded life-time best times in both the 50 and 100 backstroke with times of 36.03 and 1:18.90 respectively. Joel Schuster lowered his life-time best in the 50 freestyle to a very fast 30.79 and his time in the 100 fly to 1:27.90. Morgan DeWitt placed 7th in the 100 butterfly with a very impressive time of 1:13.65 and 10th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:37.43. The relay team of Patrick Young, Joel Schuster, Carson VanFarowe and Justin Jiang placed 7th in the 200 freestyle.

In the 11-12 age group, Wesley Smith recorded some very impressive races including a 10th place finish in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 33.69 and 6th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:12.72. Cassandra Laios, Jackie Wachtel and Julia Valentine ended their seasons with strong showings in the 50 and/or 100 breaststroke and irreplaceable participation on the relays. Taylor Schilling, Mason Zurovchak, Brittany McGhee and Jesus Caraballo showed their inspiring speed with life time bests in both the 50 free and 50 fly for Taylor with times of 27.06 and 29.60, in the 50 back and 50 fly for Mason with times of 31.90 and 30.59 and strong showings on the relays for Brittany and Jesus. The relay team of Mason Zurovchak, Wesley Smith, Jesus and Edgar Caraballo placed 8th while lowering their entry time by more than 1 second.

In the 13-14 age group, Trenton Harper won the consolation final in the 200 breaststroke with an impressive time of 2:23.13. Sam Reeder, Carly Davis and Phil Mueller finished off their long season (high school plus age group) with courage and will. Sam clocked some very impressive personal best times including the 50 freestyle where he placed 10th with a time of 23.44 and 11th in the 50 freestyle with a time of 52.05. He also placed 10th in the 100 backstroke breaking the 1 minute barrier for the first time with a time of 59.05. Phil and Carly’s speed were essential on the relays. Katie Allison finished a season plagued with injury with the heart of a true fighter while Madison Girardi displayed a much improved breaststroke technique. Kelley Jiang who just recently aged up demonstrated that she already belongs at the State meet. Her time of 2:29.07 in the 200IM was very impressive. Annie Miller keeps on improving steadily in both the breaststroke and backstroke which bodes well for the upcoming long course season. Her time of 2:38.87 in the 200 breaststroke was a life-time best. Lee VanFarowe finished off a very good season with a strong showing in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:04.29 and several relays. The 200 freestyle relay of George Doyle, Trenton Harper, Phil Mueller and Sam Reeder placed 11th lowering their entry time by almost 2 seconds.

Congratulations to all the swimmers who participated in the State Champs as well as to those who did not get to qualify this year but who helped make each other faster by competing with one another every day in practice!

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Coach Bernard Vrancken

Worthington Swim Club

Not in order they are: Coach Bernard Vrancken, Abby Jank, Annie Miller, Audrey Wachtel, Bailey Williams, Brittany McGhee, Carson VanFarowe, Cassandra Laios, Catherine VanFarowe, Edgar Caraballo, George Doyle, Jackie Wachtel, Jacob Schilling, Jesus Caraballo, Joel Schuster, Julia Valentine, Justin Jiang,  Katerina Laios, Katey Bell, Katie Allison, KayLee Witkiewitz, Kelley Jiang, Lee VanFarowe, Maddie Schilling, Madison Girardi, Maggie Taylor, Mara Dan-Weber, Maren Reeder, Mason Zurovchak, Morgan DeWitt, Patrick Young, Sam Reeder, Sara Swart, Taylor Schilling, Trenton Harper, Wesley Smith. not pictured: Carly Davis, Claudia Doyle, Cameron Harper, Phil Mueller, Zach Rabold, Noah Spegal.

Good job Swimmers! We are very proud of you!
Worthington Swimmers SHINE at ALL corners of the State!