Sports : Girls Swimming at LinnMar 9/19

VSU Girls Swimming was at LinnMar over the weekend for a double dual with LinnMar and Tipton. High school swimming is a one-class sport - meaning all schools compete against each other, regardless of size classification. This gives athletes the opportunity to compete against the very best in the state no matter location or school size. LinnMar (a 4A school twice the size of VS, CPU & Union combined) provides challenging competition every time we meet them, so we look at this meet as a chance to shake up our lineup and allow girls to swim events outside their usual repertoire. We also loaded up our varsity relays to see where our times are at for this point in the season. These girls did not disappoint on any front Saturday!
Chloe Juhl came off a 9-day hiatus to swim one of her best 500 Freestyle times ever. Lauren Moore continued to cut time in her 100 Backstroke and 100 Freestyle. Clarissa Carolan put up a speedy 1:07.39 in the 100 Butterfly - an event that she hasn't swam in 3 years. Geordyn Webster threw down a blazing 50 Freestyle time of 25.84 - putting her just .54 seconds off the school record and .58 seconds away from last year's state qualifying time. Maren Redlinger swam one of her fastest 100 Freestyles ever, clocking a 1:04.99; then she showed she had even more to burn in the 100 Breaststroke, turning in a 1:18.42 - the team's fastest time this year and her new personal best by over three seconds.
And then...there were the relays. The 200 Medley Relay of Carolan, Redlinger, Webster and Justyce Dominick swam a 1:58.81 - VSU's fastest medley time this season and just 1.05 seconds away from last year's state cut off. The same four finished the 200 Freestyle Relay in 1:48.70 - three seconds faster than that relay has gone this season. And the 400 Freestyle Relay, the last event of the day, proved they had just enough left in the tank. Carolan, freshman Molly Clark, Dominick and Webster touched the wall in 4:03.64 - a full twelve seconds faster than any previous mark this season and over eighteen seconds faster than the same four girls had swam last season. They were just .84 seconds off the school record.
This team has been working incredibly hard in practices. With covid concerns always swirling, they aren't taking any meet or practice for granted - the seniors especially look at every day as though it could be their last. They aren't waiting around to make strides at the end of the season, they're laying it all out there now. And it's making for some fantastic swimming.
I'm really excited to continue this season. By the time Districts roll around, when the girls are tapered, rested, in tech suits and truly swimming to qualify for State (not to mention record books) - it's going to be a phenomenal day.
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