EDWARDSVILLE – The Montclaire Marlins get back into action Thursday night on the road at Paddlers in Granite City, then host Sunset Hills in the final dual meet of the year on July 16, with both meets starting at 6 p.m.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

The SWISA meet, with Paddlers serving as host, will be held indoors for the first time on July 21 at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center on the campus of Edwardsville High School, with racing starting at 9 a.m. The Junior Varsity swim meet will be held July 22 at Paddlers, with the meet starting at 6 p.m.

Montclaire Swim Club of Edwardsville had another good showing in it last swim meet, as the Marlins had many multiple winners on their way to a 415-259 win over the Splash City Gators of Collinsville in a Southwestern Illinois Swimming Association matchup June 20 at Montclaire.

It was the Marlins’ second consecutive win on the young season, Montclaire having defeated Summers Port of Godfrey in last week’s season opener. Included in the winner's list for the Marlins were some swimmers who were making their season debuts.

“I’m thinking the meet’s going great,” said Montclaire head coach Porter LeVasseur said that night. “We’ve got a lot of first-time swimmers coming in for this meet also. They wanted a little bit more practice before they saw their first meet, and it’s going pretty well so far, they’re all excited, they’ve got their first races in, and I can say it’s gone pretty well.”

The first-timers helped lead the way in the meet, and the returning swimmers also made a very good contribution as well.

“Oh, yeah, the effort here for everybody, even the returners,” LeVasseur said. “The first-timers, a lot of them are really nervous, having their first meet, but they’re coming in and swimming really well. They’re doing really well for it’s first time at the meet, getting through all that nerves and everything. The returners are just killing it, too, putting in all their effort into the pool, and it’s going well.”

LeVasseur singled out some of his swimmers for their efforts in the meet.

“My standout swimmers are, I’d say, Jacob Grandone; he’s put in a lot of work,” LeVasseur said, “and Kylie Peel is doing pretty well; she’s one of our first-time swimmers, and I’d say Savannah Grinter’s done a pretty good job tonight, Daniel Sanchez has done a really good job; tomorrow, he’s got a big meet for Edwardsville Breakers tomorrow, and I asked him today if he wanted to swim, even though he’s going to be a little tired tomorrow, and he said yes. So I’m really excited to see him here, putting in a little effort into the pool, so I’m excited about that.”

Gators head coach Peggy Butler shared some of the same thoughts for her team as well.

“I think we’re having a really good meet,” Butler said at the halfway point. “We had a really good showing in the relays, in the 100 (freestyle) so far, had a couple of kids break team records, so we’re off to a really good start.”

Butler thought that the Gators were competing better, as compared to the team’s season opener last week.

“I think that we are competing better this week,” Butler said, “and we’re probably placing and collecting more points that last week.”

Splash City is somewhat of a young team, but Butler is very pleased with her team’s efforts.

Article continues after sponsor message

“Oh, absolutely,” Butler said. “These kids come, they swim hard every week, They love it.”

Butler singled out some of her top swimmers as well for their performances.

“In each age group, for sure, somebody is the lead,” Butler said. “Definitely some of my record breakers, Kylee Strong-Chasteen, Luke Berger, Hadley Gimple, Hudson Clemmer. I’ve got 99 kids, so there’s a lot of strong swimmers in this group.”

The goals for the Gators are very simple and reachable.

“Well, we always hope to finish in the top three, somewhere in there,” Butler said. “Definitely to get some gold medals in some of our relays is a top goal, and kids to set some team records.”

In the opening freestyle races, winners for the Marlins were Ava Whittaker, Evan and Savannah Grinter, Grandone, Vivian Lu, Hunter Schlueter, Cohen Osborn, Maddie Milburn, LeVasseur and Josie Bushell, while the Gators got wins from Tyler Brooks and Strong-Chasteen. In the medley relays, Splash City took both divisions of the eight-and-under 100-yard relay, while the 9 and 10-year-old teams won both the 200-yard relay races. The Marlins’ 11 and 12-year-old relay team of Alyssa Grant, Karis Chen, Grace Oertle and Claire Jones won, while the Splash City boys team of Braylon Young, Berger, Jacob Kober and Brody Bronnbauer won their race.

Montclaire won both the 13 and 14, and 15-18 boys and girls races in the 200-yard medley relay, while in the freestyle sprints, Montclaire got wins from Caden Calvin, Berger, Evan Grinter, Whittaker, LeVasseur, Bushell and Boden Rives while the Gators’ winners were Strong-Chasteen, Luke Berger, Claire Berger, Gimple, Clemmer, Annie Isensee, Vivian Johnson and Brennan Italiano.

In the individual medley races, the winners for the Marlins were Lu, Alan Chen, Oertle, Jenna Garella, Osborn, Schlueter and McLain Oertle, while Luke Berger had Splash City’s only win.

In the breaststroke, gaining wins for Montclaire were Rives, Alan Chen, Elliana Moody, Karis Chen, Sanchez, Milburn, McLain Oertle and Allison Naylor, while the Gators’ winners were Luke Berger and Johnson.

Moving on to the backstroke, Splash City got wins from Italiano, Claire Berger, Isensee and Tyler Brooks, with Montclaire receiving wins from Isabella Grinter, Logan Oertle, Garella, Evan Grinter, Grace Oertle, Tyler Allison and Kyla Calvin.

In the butterfly races, the Gators got wins from Claire Berger, Clemmer, Lauren Klaas and Strong-Chasteen, with the winners for the Marlins Bushell, LeVasseur, Whittaker, Osborn, Schlueter and Lu.

In the 100-yard freestyle relays, Splash City got wins in both of the eight-and-under races, while in the 200-yard relays, the Gators won both of the nine-and-10 races, while Montclaire won both of the 11 and 12-year-old races, along with the 13 and 14-year old races and the 15-18 races.

After having a bye week June 27 and being off for the July 4th Holiday,

More like this:

Jun 25, 2023 - Summers Port Boys Prevail In SWISA Relays, Gators Capture Girls Title

Jan 23, 2024 - Osborn Wins Three Events, Tigers Win Six, O'Fallon Captures Swim For Hope Meet, Edwardsville Finishes Third

Jul 17, 2023 - Montclaire Boys Take SWISA Championship By Narrow Margin Over Collinsville, Paddlers Third, Summers Port Fourth

Feb 18, 2024 - Edwardsville Sends Three Relays To State Meet, Osborn, Myers Advance In Two Events, Tigers Win Another Sectional

Jul 19, 2023 - Edwardsville's Madison Popelar Has Excellent SWISA Meet, Is A Johnston Law Office Female Athlete Of Month