Excel Swimmers Shine at Spring Fling

Swimmers excel at Spring Fling Meet

April 26, 2009….It was the first Long Course swim meet of the year, and it was the Excel Aquatics Spring Fling Invitational in Brentwood TN. Long Course meets are held in 50 Meter pools, as compared to Short Course meets which are held in 25 Yard pools. The Olympics and most international meets are held in the Long Course format.

Swimmers from Excel Aquatics who train in Sumner County joined over 120 of their Excel teammates from two other training sites to swim in the Spring Fling versus teams from across the region.

Leading the way in terms of effort and personal best times for the Excel/Sumner County squad was 11 year old Allison Riley from Hendersonville and Indian Lake Elementary.

Riley dropped time in all 9 of her events, with a substantial 40 second drop occurring in the 11&12 Year Old Girl’s 400 Meter Freestyle and over 25 seconds in the 200 Meter Individual Medley (IM).The IM event consists of all four strokes: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle in that order.

“Allie has had a great short course season, and it looks like it will continue into the long course season as well”, Excel Coach John Barnes commented. “She is a hard worker at practice, and is very coachable.”

Riley attained Southeastern Swimming (SES) Long Course Championship Meet qualifying time standards in the 50 Meter Breaststroke and 100 Meter Breaststroke.

Madison Kolbe and Paige Scheriger of Ellis Middle School recently aged up to the 13&14 Year Old Girl’s category; however that did not stop them from some Top 8 placements in the meet.

Kolbe placed in the 200 Meter Breaststroke (4th), 100 Meter Breaststroke (5th), 100 Meter Backstroke (6th), and 50 Meter Free (7th). Kolbe qualified for the Long Course Championship Meet in the 100 and 200 Meter Breaststroke events.

Scheriger placed in the 800 Meter Free (3rd), 200 Meter Breaststroke (2nd), 100 Meter Breaststroke (4th), 200 Meter Butterfly (6th), 200 Meter Backstroke (7th), and 200 Meter IM (7th). Scheriger qualified for the Long Course Championship Meet in the 100 and 200 Meter Breaststroke events.

“Aging up to the 13&14 year old category means that swimmers no longer will be swimming 50’s and 100’s in meets. Now their focus turns to 100’s, 200’s and longer distances in meets. As such training for those aging up needs to change accordingly if they are to keep pace with their peers in the state, and Excel Aquatics has a strong history in Sumner County of developing numerous teenagers into highly competitive swimmers over the past 15 years we have trained here.”

“Both Madison and Paige have been putting in more yards, doing some different things with their strokes, and are working hard in practice since they aged up. As the long course season progresses and they adapt to the change in training, we expect them to continue their improvements.”

Other Sumner County resident swimmers in the meet: Trevor Curtis, Kathryn George, Matthew Kastan, Gabby Salamone, Kelsey Wiese and Brittany Zobl.

For more information on swimming for Sumner County residents, stop by the Gallatin Civic Center and speak with an Excel coach in the early evening hours.