The Durango Swim Club opened a new season with a home meet short course at the Durango Rec Center last weekend and had several swimmers set personal records.
DSC is led by new head coach Frank Comerford, who came to Durango with more than 40 years of coaching experience.
At the 8-and-under age group, there were a few personal bests. Raina Dixon, 8, swam a personal best in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1 minute, 53.91 seconds to drop 30.91 seconds off of her previous personal best. Riley Simplot, 8, completed in five mixed-age events and placed in the top three in every event. Teagan Sarver, 8, was able to drop 4.59 seconds in her 50-yard freestyle swim to a time of 59.28 seconds.
In the 12-and-under division, there were also impressive times. Olivia Becher, 11, finished her 50-yard butterfly event in 44.45 seconds. Ava Brown, 12, finished in first place in three out of her six events. Aileen McManus had personal best times in seven out of eight events and scored 68 points for the team.
On the boys side, Hugo Reese won every event but one that he competed in and had personal bests in the 100-yard IM, 50-yard free and 50-yard butterfly. Reese’s 50-yard free time of 29.29 seconds broke a previous team record that had stood since 2011.
Evan Thillow, 12, won every event he competed in and achieved six personal bests.
At the 13-and-over age division, Warner Becher, 16, was the highest point-getter for the team and won every one of his events. Helen Rodstrum, who returned to swimming after a three-year hiatus, won the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 3:20.42.
While it was a good weekend in the pool, the Durango Swim Club missed a teammate. Swimmer Jolean Scott and her family were in Denver, as she continues to battle brain cancer. DSC wore #JOLEANSARMY shirts at the meet and all proceeds will go to the GoFundMe page set up by the Scott family. To date, the family has raised $27,970 and hopes to meet a goal of $105,000 to cover medical expenses. To donate, go to www.gofundme.com/a-gift-of-time-for-jolean-scott.
Durango Swim Club will continue the short course season Oct. 13-14 in Aspen.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
