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EDWARDSVILLE - The Montclaire Swim Club Marlins won a total of 17 races, while Summers Port Swim Club of Godfrey won six as the Marlins won the Southwestern Illinois Swimming Association Relays Meet on Monday evening at Sunset Hills Country Club in Edwardsville.
The Marlins scored 238 points overall to win the meet, with Paddlers of Granite City second with 226 points, Collinsville Swim Club was third with 218 points, Summers Port fourth at 212 points, and Sunset Hills finished fifth with 58 points.
In one of the more dynamic comeback races of the meet, Annie Tucker led her 8 and Under 100-medley Collinsville Gators relay team with teammates Avery Finch, Vivian Cross, Julia Berger to first in the 100-yard-medley relay with a time of 1:51.22. Summers Port was second at 2:08.67. Tucker's heroic effort took place right at the start of the competition and set the stage for a spirited meet.
It was the first big SWISA meet since 2019, with last season having been canceled because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the emphasis was on having fun this summer swim season.
"So far, so good," said Marlins head coach Porter LeVasseur about the SWISA Relays Meet. "We have a lot of swimmers this meet, and we wanted to give everybody an opportunity to swim. So we made sure everybody who signed up got a chance to swim our relays, so we're excited to have everyone out and everyone having fun."
Needless to say, the Marlins' swimmers, along with the rest of the league, are very happy to return to the pools after having missed out on last season.
"It's so exciting to be back here," LeVasseur said. "I know last year, we kind of had some practices and stuff, but we never really had a true meet, and to be out here, seeing everybody and everyone swimming fast, the whole team's having fun. It's just fantastic to see. I'm loving it."
Fun will be the main idea of the 2021 season, especially with a shortened season this year.
"Yeah, that's definitely the goal this year," LeVasseur said. "it's just we have so many new kids, and we're just trying to really show off the sport of swimming, and make it exciting. And we have so many new people who have never swam before. They're going to enjoy it, just because of COVID, everyone's looking for something to do this summer, and now they're swimming. We're going to show them a good time, everyone's here and so far, we're having a good time. So we're excited."
LeVasseur hoped that for the remainder of the meet that his swimmers would continue to enjoy themselves while swimming as fast as possible.
"Honestly, I'm just hoping everyone has a good time. I mean, honestly, we'd love to win the meet, we'd love to get a trophy and everything, but honestly, this meet, we're here to have fun. Everyone's swimming, because we've got so many people, the first big SWISA Meet, and it's a great opportunity for those guys."
Summers Port had a good showing in the meet, winning a total of six events, and the Sharks swimming their best.
"I think it's been a good meet," said first-year Summers Port head coach Maddie Monroe, "a good learning experience for all of our kids, getting to swim relays with their teammates and getting to swim some strokes. People are learning new strokes every week, so we're getting to test that out here for our younger kids. And for our older kids, it's just a lot of fun. I have a lot of great memories from this meet, so I just want those guys to cherish those, just because it's a unique meet."
The fact that it was the first big SWISA Meet in two years truly meant something as well.
"Absolutely," Monroe said. "A lot of those kids have been out of the water for over a year, so we're getting back into it, practice, building up our yardage. A lot of these kids from Alton didn't have the opportunities that some of these kids in Edwardsville did, swim over the winter with COVID. So we're getting everybody back into the swing of things. It's important, and these meets are going to be important, working their way up to winter season if they decide to keep swimming."
The conditions for the meet were very pleasant and cool, unlike the hot and stormy weather that had invaded much of the Midwest in the days before the meet.
"I think it's a great night to be out here," said Sunset Hills coach Phoebe Gremaud, "swimming with all the other teams. It's a good practice for all these little kids to get some relays in. And it's just a great night out."
As with everyone, Gremaud and the Stingrays are very happy to be back in the pool and swimming after the lost season.
"Yes, we're all so excited that we don't have to miss another season for COVID," Gremaud said.
Gremaud felt her team was swimming well, and the number of swimmers who signed up for the team was very big and promising.
"I think we're really doing good," Gremaud said. "This year, we have the most kids we've had in the most recent year. It's really fun to have a bigger team this year, so we can actually get a lot of swimmers."
As with the other teams, Gremaud is placing an emphasis on fun and swimming as well as possible.
"Yes, correct," Gremaud said. "We're having tons of fun at Sunset Hills," she said with a laugh.
Gremaud's goals and expectations are very simple for the 2021 season.
"Honestly, just to have someone in all the events," Gremaud said. "We want everyone to have some fun, get some time drops, have everyone improve their times, and have a good season."
The most important thing is that the new and returning swimmers are back in the pool and getting prepared for the season.
"We really are just so happy to be out of the COVID era," Gremaud said.
In the nine-and-10 group 100-medley relay, Collinsville's Hunter Schubert, A. Petersen, Tate Van Kuelen and Grant Schultz won with a time of 3:10.08, with Summers Port second at 3:10.29 The girls race was won by the Paddlers team of Kaylee Kohl, Alexandria Suhre, Laine Curry and Lily Kohl at 2:37.39, with Collinsville coming in second at 2:47.82. Montclaire's team of Jace Snyder, Elijah Ball, Colin Donaldson and Michael Becker won the boys 11-12 race at 2:44.58, with Collinsville second at 2:45.33. The Paddlers team of Madelyn Pametot, Milyn Roehr, Reilly Curry and Lydia Harrison won the girls race at 2:22.53, with Montclaire second at 2:27.40.
In the boys 13-14 race, Collinsville's team of Tyler Heath. Luke Berger, Taylor Davis and Jacob Kober won with a time of 2:15.99, with Paddlers coming in second at 2:26.25. The grist 13-14 race was won by Montclaire's Madison Popelar, Karis Chen, Emily Moody and Kendalyn Portz at 2:15.00, Collinsville coming in second at 2:20.27. In the 15-18 division, Montclaire's Cohen Osborn, Daniel Sanchez, Jose Alfonzo and Evan Grinter won the boys race at 1:48.02, with Paddlers second at 2:00.46. The girls event was won by Montclaire's Savannah Grinter, Allison Naylor, Ava Whittaker and Autumn Grinter at 2:02.21, with Summers Port second at 2:08.34.
In the 3x25-yard freestyle races, the eight-and-under boys was won by Summers Port's Daniel Fitzgerald, Benjamin Hejna and Jack Osborn at 1:22.54, with Sunset Hills placing second at 1:29.33. The girls race was won by Collinsville's Cross, Tucker and Ellie Forman at 1:04.20, with Summers Port second at 1:19.88. In the 3x50-yard nine-and 10 races, the boys was won by the Summers Port team of Joey Henesey, Nicholas Davis and Parker Hough at 2:05.12, with Montclaire coming in second at 2:15.63. The girls race was won by Lilly Mathes, Lauren Willaredt and Kaylee Kohl of Paddlers at 2:00.02, with Collinsville second at 2:16.83. The boys 11-12 event was taken by Donaldson, David Ingram and Alden Johnson of Montclaire at 1:43.21, while Summers Port came in second at 2:03.84. The team of Pametot, Harrison and Curry won the girls race for Paddlers at 1:33.94, with Summers Port second at 1:45.64.
The 13-14 boys race was won by Paddlers' Armando Hernandez, William Taylor and Sam Klee at 1:30.83, while Collinsville came in second at 1:40.84. The girls race was won by Monclaire's Chen, Moody and Popelar at 1:20.08, with Paddlers second at 1:32.69. In the 15-18 events, it was Paddler's Kennedy Maddox, Chris Taylor and Wyatt Loftus winning at 1:18.06, while Summers Port came in second at 1:19.03. The girls race was won by Maddie Milburn, Isabella Grinter and Whittaker of Montclaire at 1:22.69, with Paddlers coming in second at 1:25.90.
Moving on to the breaststroke relays, the 3x25-yard eight and under boys race was taken by Montclaire's Evan Osborn, Max Ferguson and Parker Schlon at at 1:52.68, with second place going to Paddlers at 2:07.40. The girls race was won by Collinsville's Julia Berger, Cross and Tucker at 1:28.45, with Summers Port the runner-up at 1:57.42. In the 3x50-yard races, the boys nine-and-10 event was won by Hough, Noah Aldridge and Davis of Summers Port at 2:47.28, with Collinsville coming in second at 2:58.01. The girls nine-and-10 race was won by Lily Kohl, Suhre and Curry of Paddlers with a time of 2:24.46, with Collinsville finishing second at 2:44.26. In the 11-and-12 boys race, Ball, Johnson and Snyder of Paddlers won at 2:33.84, with Collinsville second at 2:42.03. In the girls race, Elizabeth Weaver, Roehr and Pamalot won for Paddlers at 2:14.12, with Collinsville second at 2:18.42.
In the 13-14 age division, the boys race was won by Collinsville's Tyler Beuth, Kayden Lutz and Berger at 2:15.65, with Paddlers second at 2:17.34. The girls race was won by Montclaire's Chen Popelar and Emily Moody at 1:57.69, while Sunset Hills was second at 2:01.65. In the 15-18 boys race, Jacob Grandone, Sanchez and Joey Johnson won for Montclaire at 1:48.50, while Summers Port was second at 1:54.4.66, while Naylor, Whittaker and Milburn won for Montclaire in the girls 15-18 race at 1:50.06, with Summers Port second at 1:56.72.
In the backstroke relays, the boys eight-and-under 3x25 yard race was won by Sander Stout, Alexander Jones and Trevor Rivenbaugh of Paddlers, with a time of 1:47.52, with Summers Port coming in second at 1:52.62. The girls eight-and-under race was won by the team of Finch, Forman and Tucker of Collinsville, who had a time of 1:27.96, with Montclaire finishing second at 1:44.14. In the 3x50-yard races, the boys nine-and-10 winners were Montclaire's Michael Becker, Braxton Tite and Alex Siegal at 2:45.94, with Collinsville coming in second at 2:48.78. The girls nine-and-10 winners were Suhre, Kaylee Kohl and Curry of Paddlers, with a time of 2:02.64, with Collinsville coming in second at 2:31.83. The boys 11-12 winner was Montclaire's Donaldson, Johnson and Ingram at 2:12.37, while Sunset Hills was second at 2:33.45. In the girls 11-12 race, Pamalot, Kathryn Gartner and Curry won it for Paddlers at 1:48.77, with Montclaire second at 2:05.08.
In the boys 13-14 race, the Collinsville trio of Davis, Brody Bronnbauer and Berger won with a time of 1:50.61, with second place going to Paddlers at 2:00.91. The girls 13-14 race was won by Collinsville's Katelyn Berger, Sophia Van Middendorp and Kylee Strong-Chasteen at 1:40.20, with Montclaire second at 1:49.51. Summers Port swept the 15-18 races, with Christian Kotzamanis, Luke Norton and Lucas Frey winning at 1:36.72, with Paddlers coming in second at 1:38.20. The girls team of Anna Moehn, Claire Paule and Elani Kotzamanis won with a time of 1:30.77, with Montclaire second at 1:34.06.
In the butterfly relays, Stout, Jones and Rivenbaugh of Collinsville won the boys eight-and-under 3x25-yard relay with a time of 1:52.65. with Summers Port second at 1:58.28. The girls eight-and-under event was won by Forman, Cross and Berger of Collinsville, with a time of 1:55.64, while Montclaire was second at 1:57.87. In the 3x50-yard races, the boys nine-and-10 winner was Montclaire's Caiden Calvin, Boden Rives and Tite at 2:2057, with Summers Port second at 2:39.53. The girls nine-and-10 winner was Paddlers, with Mathes, Suhre and Curry coming in at 2:04.72. Collinsville came in second with a time of 2:24.20. In the 11-12 boys race, Henesey, Erick Humphrey and Bishop Stotler of Summers Port won the race with a time of 2:02.35, with Montclaire coming in second at 2:09.73. The girls 11-12 winner was Paddlers, with Weaver, Gartner and Reilly Curry having a time of 1:46.52, with Summers Port second at 2:02.71.
In the boys 13-14 race, the winner was Collinsville's Berger, Davis and Kober at 1:38.94, with Summers Port second at 1:40.75. The girls 13-14 winner was Collinsville's Berger, Van Middendorp and Strong-Chasteen at 1:40.14, while Montclaire came in second at 1:43.66. The boys 15-18 winner was Sanchez, Grinter and Alfonzo of Montclaire with a time of 1:21.07, with Paddlers second at 1:29.28. The girls 15-18 winner was the team of Whittaker, Minter and Isabella Grinter of Montclaire at 1:29.88, with Summers Port second at 1:31.45.
In the final events, the 250-yard freestyle, Montclaire's Rives, Ingram, Jeremiah Watters and Grinter won, having a time of 2:27.39, with Summers Port second at 2:31.63, The girls race was won by Collinsville, with Berger, Corinne Koerkenmeier, Strong-Chasteen and Amanda Beuth coming in at 2:34.57, with Paddlers coming in second at 2:36.65.
The SWISA diving championships are set for Saturday, July 17 at Paddlers Pool in Granite City, while Summers Port will host the SWISA swimming championship meet Sunday, July 18.Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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