Swim Races at Thoroughbred Meet

Thoroughbred Swim Meet – Off to the Races…..

November 7, 2004……The 3^rd Annual Thoroughbred Swim Meet was held this past weekend in Brentwood at the Williamson County Indoor Sports Complex. Six youth swimmers from Wilson County residents competed in the meet representing Excel Aquatics.

Two county Middle School 7^th Grade boys competed. 12 year old Taylor Wallace led the way with Personal Best Times in every event he swam in, with Top 8 Finishes in all events as well. Wallace swam in the 100 Free (1:02.37, 7^th Place), 100 IM (1:10.58, 5^th), 50 Breaststroke (0:35.17, 4^th), 100 Fly (1:12.80, 8^th), 50 Fly (0:30.86, 4^th), 100 Breaststroke (1:17.00, 4^th), 50 Free (0:27.65, 5^th), and 200 IM (2:34.12, 7^th). Bradley Gillilan, also 12 years old, placed in the 50 Back (0:35.68, 8^th), 200 Free (2:12.84, 8^th), 100 Breast (1:24.99, 6^th), and 100 Back (1:15.26, 7^th). “Both of these boys had a great meet, Bradley had tremendous drops in his 200 Free and 100 Breast, and Taylor just keeps marching on in his progress as well.” Coach John Barnes stated.

On the 8^th Grade level, Kelsey Copeland, a 13 year old, improved in 7 of 8 events she participated in. “Kelsey had some great swims, she dropped almost 6 seconds in the 200 Backstroke, and based on what she turns in the 100 Back, she will continue to improve in the 200 Back as she gains more experience and learns how to pace the event.” Coach Barnes noted. Alek Nochowicz, also a 13 year old 8^th Grader, improved in all 5 of the events he entered. “Alek had some notable drops in all of his events. We were glad to see him step up and swim the 500 Free, his pacing of that event was exactly as we had discussed prior to the swim, for that matter he was open to instruction and swam every event as we wanted him to. He went out and applied those strategies and his times dropped considerably.”

At the High School level, two local girls competed. Hannah Morgan, of Mt. Juliet Christian Academy improved her times in all 3 events, the 200 IM, 100 Free, and 200 Breast. Meagan Maxwell, of Wilson Central High School, dropped times in the 200 Free, 200 IM, and 200 Breast. “Meagan was just slightly off on her 100 Breaststroke, which is one of her events she is striving to achieve a State Qualifying Time for. The coaches discussed with her what she needs to improve on, and then on Sunday she went out and applied that strategy to her 200 Breaststroke with a time drop to show for her efforts. She’ll get to that 100 qualifying time this year as her High School dual meet season gets underway.”

“It’s great to see these kids working hard, improving their times, and growing as individuals in this highly challenging sport. I’m a firm believer that kids have more fun in sports as they continue to improve in their techniques, in their understanding of the strategies involved in swimming, and in their times as a result of their efforts. We’re intense in our training and competitive in our meets, and as a result we have fun.” For more information on Excel Aquatics and complete Meet Results, visit www.ExcelAquatics.org.