Published: June 24, 2009 11:13 am      

Getting faster and faster

Swimmers show improvement at second meet

BEAUMONT — Area swimmers made strong showings at the second meet of the season this past Saturday, including representatives of the two Orange County swim teams.

Members of the Vidor Area Swim Team (VAST) and City of Orange Swim Team (COST) traveled to the L.L. Melton YMCA in Beaumont for the second straight week as the Golden Triangle Swim Association summer season gets into full swing.

Leading the COST swim team were Paige Perales and Will Cowart, as these two swimmers claimed five first place victories between them.

Perales, 13, claimed first place in the Girls 13-14 50 Yard Freestyle in 29.29 seconds. She also placed first in the Girls 13-14 50 Yard Butterfly in 34.13 seconds and first place in the Girls 13-14 50 Yard Backstroke with a time of 35.66 seconds.

Cowart, 16, placed first in the Boy 15-16 50 Yard Freestyle in a blistering 25.16 seconds, nearly one second ahead of the second place swimmer. He also claimed first place in the Boys 15-16 100 Yard Breaststroke in 1:12.96.

Other COST swimmers with excellent showings on Saturday included six-year-old Kaghan Odom, who placed first in the Boy 6 and under 25 Yard Freestyle with a time of 22.71 seconds. Odom also finished in second place in the Boys 6 and under 25 Yard Butterfly and Boys 6 and under 25 Yard Backstroke.

Michael Dupre, 13, finished in first place in the Boys 13-14 50 Yard Freestyle with a time of 33.23 seconds and also added a third place finish in the Boy 13-14 50 Yard Butterfly.

Rylan Odom, 10, placed second in the Boys 9-10 25 Yard Freestyle in 15.89 seconds, missing out on first place by just .03 seconds. He also placed second in the Boys 9-10 25 Yard Backstroke in 20.80 seconds.

The Vidor Area Swim Team had several swimmers with at least two first-place finishes, including six-year-old Timmy Bahl.

Bahl finished in first place in the Boys 6 and under 25 Yard Butterfly with a time of 32.60 seconds, while also placing first in the Boys 6 and under 25 Yard Backstroke in 29.75 seconds. He added second place finishes in the Boys 8 and under 100 Yard IM and the Boys 6 and under 25 Yard Freestyle.

Eddie Dyess, 10, finished first in the Boys 9-10 100 Yard IM in 1:35.15, and also claimed first place in the Boys 9-10 25 Yard Breaststroke in 24.84 seconds.

Ten-year-old Maverick Quirante added a first place finish in the Boys 9-10 50 Yard Freestyle in 34.34 seconds, and another first place finish in the Boys 9-10 25 Yard Backstroke in a time of 20.64 seconds.

Mia Fawcett, 6, placed first in the Girls 6 and under 25 Yard Freestyle in a time of 25.46 seconds, while also taking first place in the Girls 6 and under 25 Yard Backstroke in 32.11 seconds.

Macy Fawcett, 11, set a blistering pace in the Girls 11-12 25 Yard Butterfly with a time of 18.37 seconds, and Zoe Bahl placed first in the Girls 9-10 25 Yard Butterfly with a time of 22.21 seconds.

More swimmers with first place victories included Garrett Warwick, 11, with a 20.78 second win in the Boys 11-12 25 Yard Butterfly, and Kayla Lee, who claimed first in the Girls 13-14 100 Yard Backstroke. Christophor Montoya added a first place win in the Boys 13-14 100 Yard Backstroke with a time of 1:55.93, and Damian Mann claimed first in the Boys 13-14 100 Yard Breaststroke.

The VAST Mixed 6 and under 100 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Timmy Bahl, Mia Fawcett, Enoch Rice and Evrett Flores finished in first with a time of 2:19.01, as did the Mixed 11-19 100 Yard Lagniappe Relay team of Shelby Lee, Ashlynne Johnson, Carly Bunch and CJ Hartney who claimed victory in a time of 2:03.69.

The COST Mixed 10 and under 100 Yard Freestyle Relay team of Joshua Howard, Kaitlyn Braquet, Shelby Perales and Rylan Odom finished first with a time of 1:13.28 seconds.

The Vidor Area Swim Team will host the third meet of the season this Saturday at the City of Vidor Pool.



Tommy Mann Jr. is a reporter for The Orange Leader. He can be reached at 409-883-3571, Ext. 2619 or tmann@orangeleader.com