Durango Swim Club sent 10 swimmers to the High Desert Classic during the weekend in Albuquerque, and several of the swimmers set personal records and some broke DSC team records.
Angela McManus, 13, broke the team record for the 13-14 age group in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 14.47 seconds. McManus shaved 6 seconds off her previous best time and finished 11th in the event.
“Angela didn’t drop much time last year. She worked hard but sometimes it takes a while to pay off,” DSC head coach Alex Martinek said in an email to The Durango Herald. “This was a huge improvement. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the year has in store.”
Quinn Schmidt, also in the 13-14 age group, came within 9 tenths of a second of the record for the 200 backstroke on Saturday. She finished the race in 2:16.4 to place eighth.
On Sunday, Schmidt toppled the team record in the 200 breaststroke by a wide margin. She finished in 2:37.1 to place ninth. The previous record was held by University of Houston signee Haley Benjamin with a time of 2:40.2.
“Quinn and I have been struggling with figuring out her breaststroke,” Martinek said. “This summer it was on point. Then we came back from a break and we couldn’t figure out. It wasn’t until the evening before she swam the 200 breast that it all came together.”
Ali Reese, who turned 10 last week, was the high point scorer for DSC during the weekend with 56 points. He cut time in all of his events and placed fourth in the 100 freestyle, sixth in the 50 breaststroke and eighth in the 50 backstroke, in which he cracked 40 seconds for the first time with a time of 39.5 seconds.
Martinek said DSC also got big swims from Aileen McManus, Merin Schmidt, Emmett Stottlemyer, Mina Willemin and Violet Witchel, all of which either set new personal records or were on the verge of new personal bests during the weekend.
“Everyone swam great at this meet,” Martinek said. “It’s really showing the work that the team has been putting it in. We’ve got some seriously tough kids on our team.”
kschneider@durangoherald.com
