Sweet Home Swim Club athletes competed in three championship meets this summer during the Long Course Championship Season.
The Long Course Championship events take place in an Olympic-sized pool (50 meters) rather than the short-course (50 yards/50 meters) pools used for high school competitions and other club competition.
For recent Sweet Home High School graduates Kirsten Sautel and RJ Abbott, “it was the end of an era as they completed their final swim meets with Sweet Home Swim Club,” Coach Jessica Rice said.
Sautel competed in the Speedo Sectionals meet hosted by Mt. Hood Community College July 17-20. She finished 92nd in the 100 free, 87th in the 200 Individual Medley, 48th in the 200 Breaststroke and 15th in the 100 Breaststroke. Sautel will compete this year at the University of Idaho.
Sophia Burns and Abbott competed in the Oregon State Championships July 24-27, also held at Mt. Hood.
Burns had qualified in nine events for 11-year-olds but could only compete in six at state, posting personal bests in five of those events. She dropped 10 seconds in her 200 IM to place second, then placed third in the 50 butterfly with a two-second PR. She also dropped nine seconds in the 100 Freestyle to place seventh, five seconds in the 100 butterfly to place fourth, and nine seconds in the 200 Free to place seventh.
Rice said most of Burns’ events included 20 other 11-year-olds from throughout Oregon.
Abbott was largely there to cheer Burns on, Rice said, but he did race the 50-meter Butterfly, posting a personal best by five seconds. He will swim this coming year at Shasta College in Redding, Calif.
At the Western Senior Zones in Clovis, Calif., Abbott competed in the 200 and 50 meter freestyles. He equaled his best time in the 200 Free and ended his club career with a best time in the 50-meter Freestyle, going 26.84 seconds.
The Sweet Home Swim Club will hold team tryouts at 5 p.m. on Sept. 4 at the Sweet Home Community Pool, 1641 Long St. For information, contact Jessica Rice at [email protected].