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Tabitha Kellam with her perfectly formed butterfly strokes. (Photo Courtesy Apuron Photography)
Awards winners at the Regional Championships in Yuma. (Photo Courtesy Apuron Photography)
The Arizona Regional Championship Swim Meet was held Feb. 19-21 at the Valley Aquatic Center in Yuma, Arizona. Twenty teams from Western and Southern Arizona competed at the meet. The San Manuel Sea Lions finished in 5th place overall with 362 points. The Westside Silver Fins (Glendale), Vitras Swim Club (Verrado/Buckeye), Aquaforce (Yuma), and TJCC (Tucson) all finished ahead of the Sea Lions.
Swimmers must have achieved regional qualifying times at sanctioned USA swim meets to be eligible to swim in the Regional Championships. Thirteen swimmers from San Manuel qualified for the meet. The Sea Lions swimmers always seem to swim fast in Yuma and this year was no exception – perhaps it’s the ideal February weather or the Sea Level elevation.
Several Sea Lions Swimmers finished in the top 3 to earn medals. In the 10 and Under Boys division Ben Fister (10), Ethan Kellam (10) and Mason Stewart (10) came home with a good collection of medals. In a swim that really impressed the coaches, Mason Stewart won the 50 Butterfly. Mason also earned medals in the 50 Backstroke and 100 Backstroke. Ethan Kellam came home with medals in the 50 Breaststroke, 50 Butterfly, 100 Butterfly, and 100 Individual Medley (IM). Ben Fister won 4 races – the 500 Freestyle, 200 Freestyle , 100 Backstroke, and 100 Butterfly, and medaled in the 50 Backstroke and 100 Breaststroke.
Riley Stewart (12) had a great meet winning all four of the races he entered. After winning close races in the 50 Backstroke and 100 Freestyle, he swam superb races in both the 100 Butterfly and 200 Butterfly to finish ahead of the field in commanding fashion.
Darien Apuron (14) won the 50 Butterfly, 400 IM, and 200 Butterfly. Her swims in the 50 Backstroke, 100 Butterfly, and 200 Backstroke were fast enough to earn medals.
It was Tabitha Kellam (12) who put on a show at Regionals. She swam 9 events at the meet, and won 8 of them (her only 2nd place finish was in the 200 Butterfly). She dominated the distance events, winning the 1650 Freestyle, 1000 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle by huge margins. She had been trying to break the 6 minute barrier in the 500 Freestyle for several months and crashed through it to finish with a time of 5:49.80. Her Butterfly form looked almost perfect as she won the 50 and 100 Butterfly events. If any events were close, it was the 50 and 100 Backstroke where Tabitha found a way to get her hand on the wall to finish first. In the 100 Freestyle, Tabitha led a close field from start to finish for the win with a sizzling time of 1:00.57.
The Sea Lions swimmers had a great meet and achieved 22 new state qualifying times. Several of the older San Manuel swimmers will be headed to the Senior State Championship Meet this weekend (March 3-6) in Goodyear at the Southwest YMCA Pool. Next weekend (March 10-13), the Age Group Championship Meet will be held at the Oro Valley Aquatic Center for Swimmers age 14 and under.
Anyone who would like more information about the Sea Lions Swim team can contact Alex Gort at 896-2190.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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