The Sedona Swim Team hosted the 29th annual Sedona Splash swim meet, its only home meet of the summer, on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, at the Community Pool at Posse Grounds Park.
There were a disparate number of athletes between the top and bottom teams in the team standings; Sedona took fourth place overall with 568 points and about 25 athletes.
“The kids are improving, head coach A. Jay Bronson said, the kids are doing really well, I’m excited with their progress.”
Despite having one of the smaller teams compared to other clubs like the Cottonwood Clippers or Bullhead City Barracudas, it did not stop a handful of Sedona swimmers from turning in top individual performances.
Six finished in the top five of individual scorers for their respective age groups: River Valdez, Sarah Frey, Bryce Kirk, Dezra Dana, Jaxon Oles and Andrew Tate.
“It’s the dedication to the sport,” Bronson said. “They’ve been working hard the last six to eight months consistently, the constant improvement and constant work ethic.”
Tate scored 88 points, tied for second-most out of all participants and first in his age group [13-14 boys], with nine first place finishes and one second place finish. He also set five pool records.
“Andrew is incredibly fast,” said Bronson, who added that the people whose records he broke later went on to be state champions. “There haven’t been that many meets there [in Sedona], but he’s definitely performed at a high level and I definitely don’t think they’ll be broken any time soon.”
Dana and Oles battled throughout the weekend in the 13-14 girls division, combining for 10 first place swims, with Dana edging Oles in the individual standings 74 to 73. Dana had six first place wins, two third place finishes and one fifth place. She also set a Sedona Swim Team record in the 200-yard breaststroke [3:07.62].
Oles had four first place swims, two second and three third places. She, along with Dana, also beat the previous pool record in the 200 breaststroke [3:14.94].
Kirk’s performance was particularly impressive because it was just his second ever swim meet. He started competitive swimming about six months ago.
He had one second, two third, two fourth and one fifth place finish on the weekend.
“For him this is a huge accomplishment,” Bronson said. “He’s worked hard the last four to five months. It’s not only the individual swims, but the also the fact that he’s competing at such a high level in such a short
time period.”
This summer the team has around 35 swimmers, one of the highest amounts in recent years, according to Bronson.
Bronson also said it was the first meet that the team was focused on for the summer, the second being at Kingman on Saturday, June 24, and the next at Payson on Saturday, July 1.
After that will be the regional meet, from July 7 to 9, and the state meet, from July 13 to 16.
The Verde Valley Invitational, held in Cottonwood on July 22, is the meet most of the team is building up to, which is the last of the summer.
City councilman John Martinez also stopped by the meet on Sunday, June 17.
