NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — Swimmers from Arkansas held their own against the region’s top competition this past weekend, coaches from Northwest Arkansas’ two swim clubs said.
The Northwest Arkansas Aquatics Sharks and Razorback Aquatic Club AquaHawgs both had solid performances at the Speedo Champions Series Central Section Region VIII Championships. Swimmers from across the state, in fact, looked impressive.
“It was a good meet for all the Arkansas kids that went,” RAC coach Scott Berry said. “A lot of kids from Arkansas were making it back at night (for finals). It was a lot of fun for all of us Arkansas coaches to watch our state get better and have an impact at this level.”
The event, at the University of Missouri’s Mizzou Aquatic Center, featured the top high school and college-aged swimmers from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.
The meet featured preliminaries in the morning in most events and finals for the top 24 swimmers in the evening.
AquaHawg swimmers Jenny Holtzen, Gage Crosby and Dexter Thomas each swam in four evening finals. The three swimmers also dropped time in every event they competed in during the weekend.
Crosby, 15, finished fourth in the 200-meter and 100-meter breaststroke races and was top 20 in the 400-meter and 200-meter IM races.
Holtzen, 16, started the meet with a eighth-place finish in the 200 breast, an event she doesn’t normally swim.
“She was really happy,” Berry said. “She dropped a lot of time in that and kind of surprised herself. It got her off for a good start for the week.”
Holtzen took third in the 1,500-meter freestyle and fifth in the 800 free and finished top 12 in the two IM races.
Thomas, 16, dropped 11 seconds in his 400 IM, finishing 14th overall and swam in the finals of the 200 breast, 100 breast and 200 IM.
He set the team record in the 400 IM and saw hard work in the different strokes pay off in the IMs.
Austin Hunt, 15, also set a team record, breaking teammate Sasha Hall’s mark in the 1,500 free just minutes after Hall set it.
Michael Haefner, 20, finished top 10 in two events and Jimmy Burch, 17, raced in two finals.
Pearson Gean was the only Sharks swimmer to advance to finals, but coach Steve Duwel said all of his swimmer recorded at least one personal best.
“There were some impressive swims,” Duwel said. “The biggest thing was the college angle — we got some coaches to watch them swim. It generated some more interest in the kids. Their performances were good.”
Gean, 17, finished in the top eight in three of his events — 50 free, 100 free and 100 butterfly.
“He pretty much did right what I thought he would do,” Duwel said. “He had some good races. He did a good job in the mornings.”
Clara Bracy, Lauren Tininenko, Jessie Nemesi and Jim Parker all had solid swims and earned cuts for next summers sectional meet.
Parker, 17, was close to finals in the 100 and 200 breast and Bracy, 17, and Nemesi, 17, both dropped times in their races.