Alyssa Riekofski (15) in her first swim meet. Photo courtesy Apuron Photography
The Sea Lions Swim Team traveled to Parkside (Florence Anthem) for the first swim meet of the 2018 Summer Season against the other six teams in the Central Arizona Swimming League. The Sea Lions won the meet with 565 points, Parkside finished 2nd with 481 points, Coolidge finished 3rd with 249 points, San Tan Valley finished 4th with 181 points, Eloy finished 5th with 23 points, Florence finished 6th with 15 points, and Globe finished 7th with 11 points.
This is the most competitive that the season opener meet has been since starting with a League wide meet several years ago. The score was virtually even between the Sea Lions and Parkside after the Backstroke events (roughly halfway through the meet). The Sea Lions made the most of the second half of the meet with some great swims in the Long Freestyle, Breaststroke and Sprint Freestyle events to expand the winning margin to 84 points.
The Sea Lions have a group of 11-12 boys that finished 1-2-3 in every individual event. Joey Castellanos (12) won all five individual events while teammates Johnny Smallhouse (11), Martin Madrid (11), Vicente Curry (12), Ethan Kellam (12) and Mason Stewart (12) added to the scoring. The boys took 1st and 3rd in both the Medley and Freestyle Relays, in a demonstration of their team depth.
Evan Apuron (14) and Riley Stewart (14) showed that they were the fastest two swimmers at the meet regardless of age group.
Tabitha Kellam (14) was the only Sea Lion swimmer at the meet that entered the maximum number of events and won them all. The Sea Lions 13-14 Girls were unbeatable; Tabitha was part of a strong team that included Rianna Estrada, Briana Castellanos, and Hannah Smallhouse. In every individual 13-14 Girls event, the Sea Lions finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. With the 4 best swimmers in the age group it was no surprise that both relays were easily won by a large margin.
The following swimmers had first place finishes on Saturday:
Annie Nemons, 7, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Jocelyn Hudson, 8, (Back, 50 Free, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay)
Julie Ramirez, 11, (Fly);
Martin Madrid, 11, (Medley Relay);
Johnny Smallhouse, 11, (Free Relay);
Ethan Kellam, 12, (Medley Relay);
Joey Castellanos, 12, (Fly, Back, 100 Free, Breast, Free, Free Relay);
Vincente Curry, 12, (Free Relay);
Mason Stewart, 12, (Medley Relay);
Briana Castellanos, 13, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Robert Sanz- Anton, 13, (Medley Relay)
Rianna Estrada, 14, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Tabitha Kellam, 14, (Fly, Back, 100 Free, Breast, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Hannah Smallhouse, 14, (Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Evan Apuron, 14, (Fly, 100 Free, Breast, Free, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
AJ Lopez, 14, (Medley Relay);
Riley Stewart, 14, (Back, Medley Relay);
Darien Apuron, 15, (Fly, Back, 100 Free, Breast, Free);
Andres Valenzuela, 15, (Fly, 100 Free, Breast, Medley Relay, Free Relay);
Daniel Garcia, 17, (Medley Relay, Free Relay).
Athan Riekofski (10) in his first swim meet. Photo courtesy Apuron Photography
This was the first swim meet for Athan Riekofski (10), Ethan Erickson (10) and Alyssa Riekofski (15). All three participated in all the events that they were capable of completing and earned ribbons.
Ethan Erickson (10) in his first swim meet. Photo courtesy Apuron Photography
Ethan Erickson was named Sea Lions Beast of the Week. He swam every event in his age group, which is a great goal for any first year competitive swimmer, but doing it at his very first meet ever was something special. Ethan swam against the best 9-10 year olds in the League and was fast enough to come home with individual ribbons in the Butterfly and Backstroke. Ethan also had to swim two legs in both the Medley and Freestyle relays with Athan because the Sea Lions were a little short handed in the 9-10 Boys age group at the meet.
Coach Alex Gort was pleased with the win.
“We had many very good swims and came on strong at the end of the meet when the other teams started to fade,” he said.
The Sea Lions have won the League Championship for 11 consecutive years, however Coach Alex expressed concerns about the future.
“We need a few more children 10 years old and younger on the team that want to be part of the winning Sea Lion tradition.,” he said. “We will teach them how to swim.”
The Sea Lions will host a meet against the Eloy Otters and the Florence Sharks at the Mammoth Pool on Saturday, June 9.
There is still time to join the team – contact Alex or Wendy Gort at 896-2190 or stop by the Mammoth Pool between 4 and 5:30 p.m. (Monday-Friday) for more information.