During the first weekend of December, the Durango Swim Club swimmers were busy racing in Denver at the 2023 CO CSI Pioneer Open. The meet, which took place at Denver University, went from Friday to Sunday, with multiple Durango swimmers having strong showings in their races against 30 other teams in the region.
Brinley Duran, 10, had a strong showing in her events, placing second in both the 200-meter freestyle (2:26.94) and 100-meter butterfly (1:19.60), seventh in the 50-meter backstroke (35.62) and 200-meter Individual Medley (2:46.15), sixth in the 100-meter freestyle (1:07.95) and ninth in the 50-meter freestyle (31.64)
Other top 10 showings include Bodie Fischer, 12, who placed ninth in the 100-meter backstroke (1:08.45), Eddie Harrington, 12, who placed seventh in the 500-meter freestyle (6:00.71) and Raina Dixon, 13, placed 10th in the 500-meter freestyle (5:33.41).
Denny Woods, 15, also broke the top 10, swimming a time of 59.22 in the 100-meter breast stroke to place 10th in the evening finals session.
The weekend before Thanksgiving, the Durango swimmers took on the 16th Annual Speedo High Desert Classic in Albuquerque at Albuquerque Academy. The team placed eighth out of 19 teams, with many swimmers returning for finals each day and all swimmers contributing to the team’s top 10 placing.
Denny Woods, 15, led the way for Durango, going sub-1:00 for the first time in his swimming career to win the men’s 15 and over 100-meter breast stroke with a time of 59.92. He also placed seventh in the 200-meter breast stroke (2:19.62) and 10th in the 100-meter freestyle (51.27). Also, in the men’s 15 & over age group, Paxton Horn placed 10th in the 400-meter IM (4:48.45) and Cole LeRoux swam the 50 & 100-meter freestyle, 100-meter backstroke and in both men’s relays.
Grant Wright, 14, placed sixth in the 400-meter IM (5:03.83) and 500-meter freestyle (5:35.12) and seventh in the 1,650-meter freestyle (19:09.83) in the men’s 13-14 age group.
In the men’s 12 & under age group, Grayson LeRoux, 12, placed second in the 200-meter breast stroke (2:48.20) and fourth in both the 200-meter IM (2:34.65) and 100-meter breast stroke (1:20.49), and seventh in the 500-meter freestyle (5:59.94). Eddie Harrington, 12, placed fourth in the 200-meter backstroke (2:33.07), sixth in the 500-meter freestyle (5:54.67), seventh in the 100-meter backstroke (1:10.36) and eighth in the 200-meter freestyle (2:16.70) and Bear Allport, 12, placed fourth in the 200-meter breast stroke (3:00.00) and sixth in the 100-meter breast stroke (1:24.80).
For the women’s 15 & over age group Elin Mischler, 16, placed fifth in the 100-meter butterfly (1:02.27), sixth in the 50-meter freestyle (25.37) and eighth in both the 100-meter freestyle (55.74) and the 200-meter freestyle (2:02.85). Olivia Becher, 16, placed 11th in the 200-meter breast stroke (2:45.66) and Cassidy Scott, 15, placed eighth in the 200-meter butterfly (2:36.84) and 11th in the 100-meter butterfly (1:04.32).
The women’s 13-14-year-old swimmers had a good showing with Raina Dixon, 13, placing fourth in the 1,650-meter freestyle (19:22.77) and 100-meter backstroke (1:05.05) and sixth in the 500-meter freestyle (5:46.45), seventh in the 100-meter butterfly (1:07.12), eighth in the 200-meter freestyle (2:09.93) and 10th in the 200-meter backstroke (2:29.98). Linzie Bidart, 13, placed seventh in both the 500-meter freestyle (5:55.80) and 200-meter freestyle (2:09.16) while also placing eighth in the 1,650-meter freestyle (20:08.14) and ninth in the 50-meter freestyle (27.30) and 200-meter IM (2:37.04).
For the women’s 12 & under age group Ava McKown, 12, placed fourth in the 200-meter breast stroke (2:56.73), fifth in the 200-meter backstroke (2:39.73), 100-meter freestyle (1:03.73) and 500-meter freestyle (6:18.83), sixth in the 100-meter backstroke (1:14.73) and 50-meter freestyle (28.79). Brinley Duran, 10, placed fourth in the 200-meter backstroke (2:38.22) and eighth in the 100-meter backstroke (1:15.62), 100-meter butterfly (1:22.50), 500-meter freestyle (6:31.38) and 10th in the 200-meter freestyle (2:31.98).
The team will continue training for the MAValanche meet in Grand Junction at the beginning of January.
