EDWARDSVILLE - Madelyn Pamatot, who swam this season in the 13-14 age group for Paddlers Swim Club in Granite City, had a good SWISA Championships meet, gaining two thirds and a fourth for the Pirates, along with a pair of second-place finishes in relay races. The Paddlers placed third overall and also third in the girls' meet at the 60th annual Southwestern Illinois Swimming Association championship meet on July 17th at the Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center at Edwardsville High School.
Pamatot thought her overall season was a good one, and she felt that she swam a good meet for the Pirates at SWISA.
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"Well, I've done OK," Pamatot said. "I've placed in all my events so far, so I've got two."
Madelyn is the Stillwater Senior Living Female Athlete of the Month for Granite City.
Placing at the top, where points are greatest, is always important for how the team scores add up during the meet.
"Yes, it is," Pamatot said. "It's important for the team, so we can do our best."
The championship meet is a climax for how Pamatot felt she swam this season, enjoying both success and improvement.
"I've done really well this season," Pamatot said. "In all my events, I've been going down, in a good way, downhill. I've been cutting time, I've been getting best times."
As with many of the swimmers and coaches, Pamatot thinks the summer season is designed more for fun, while still getting the job done.
"Summer swim's really fun," Pamatot said. "You get to hang out with all of your friends and you get to be outside, which I think is fun. We do some swimming also and it's more fun, because you get to be outside and you get to be at an outside pool."
Pamatot felt the Pirates had a successful season, having done well in its dual meets as well as the SWISA Relays in June.
"I think we've done really well," Pamatot said. "We have won the majority of our dual meets and our relay meet was really good."
Pamatot's also confident and optimistic about the Pirates' growth as a team and is looking ahead to the 2023 season as well.
"I hope we can grow as a team," Pamatot said, "and we can do better and better each year. I think we're going to have a great rest of this year and years in the future. Our coaches have done really well this year with that all we've done. They've told all of us since June and all props to them."
