Ventura Swim meet Recap

Scott Mahan en route to a new best time in the 100 backstroke.

Swim meet recap.

Wow, what a weekend we had in Ventura. Multiple best times were achieved, a few first place finishes were claimed, and the first ever official Santa Barbara Aquatics Club relay was contested. Thank you to all the parents that helped on the timing line. Here’s a quick rundown of the weekend:

SBAC participants; Scott/Erin/Matthew Mahan, Janelle Nguyen, Reagan Eickret, Ari Wallis, Courtney Nuttall, Abby/Deacon Hill, Andrew/Mia Giacobazzi, Eric Lindheim-Marx, Lilly Menear, Sophie Thompson, Audrey-Anne Patterson, John Errico, Shannon Slaught, P.J. Lannon, Drew Casier, Mark Warkentin.

Results can be found at socalswim.org.

Highlights:

Scott Mahan swam a personal best time in the 100 backstroke and competed in multiple races.

Matthew Mahan, Andrew Giacobazzi, Lilly Menear and Sophie Thompson all swam their first official USA Swimming competition with great success.

Abby Hill claimed the silver medal in the 8 and under division in multiple races with incredibly fast times.

John Errico/P.J. Lannon/Drew Casier/Mark Warkentin set a team record in the 200 M.R.

Courtney Nuttall swam her first 200 freestyle with an impressive time and went 2 seconds faster than her previous best time in the 100 freestyle.

Erin Mahan swam multiple races and had a tremendously positive attitude even when she was disqualified.

Reagan Eickert swam a best time by 3 seconds in the 100 freestyle.

Janelle Nguyen won 4 races, claimed multiple best times, and was in the hunt for the high-point award in her age division.

Ari Wallis swam multiple personal best times, in particular a very fast 100 breaststroke.

Deacon Hill (only six years old) competed against 8 year olds and swam very well.

Audrey-Anne Patterson swam 3 seconds faster than she did last week in Camarillo in the 100 breaststroke.

Mia Giacobazzi swam the 200 IM for the first time.

Shannon Slaught swam 4 races per day and swam a personal best time by over 2 seconds in the 100 backstroke.

Eric Lindheim-Marx swam 45 seconds faster than his previous best time in the 200 I.M (seriously).

As the head coach of our swim team the only downside to the weekend was that more SBAC athletes did not participate in the swim meet. I hope that parents/swimmers can see that our team was represented by a vast array of athletes at various ages and ability levels and we all cheered for each other and enjoyed the experience. The swimmers that participated swam well, gained confidence, learned about themselves and their capabilities and realized the possibilities ahead. We will have more opportunities in the future to swim in USA swimming competitions and I hope that everyone considers participating.