Riptides honored at All-State Banquet
MB Riptides honored at State Banquet
South Carolina Swimming held it’s annual awards banquet April 17-18 at Hilton Head, where eight members of the MB Riptides swimming team were honored for their achievements in swimming for 2009-10. The Riptides, for the second consecutive year, led the Grand Strand for swimmer achievement in both the pool and classroom.
Swimmers from the State can be recognized in several areas of achievement, but the primary purpose of the SC Swimming banquet is to recognize those swimmers who earn at least two USA-Swimming “AAA” Motivational time standards in their respective age-group.
For the Riptides, those earning All-State status were Chad Bateson, Julia Campbell, Lauren Campbell, Megan Kingsley, Keenan Lineback and Phil Mustert. This was the first time Bateson earned All-State.
Additionally, Riptides’ swimmers Ashlyn Dekleva and Ryan Eldred were recognized as first-time SC Swimming IM Tough winners. The SC Swimming IM Tough program is for swimmers 8-and-Under who compete in the following six events for the first time – 50 backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, freestyle, 200 freestyle and 200 Individual Medley.
L. Campbell received additional recognition as a member of the 2009 SC Swimming Zone Championship team.
Kingsley was honored as a member of the 2009 SC Swimming Zone Championship team, for the two state records she set and 15 individual state championship titles won at both the 2009 SCS Summer State Championships and 2010 SCS Spring State Championships.
Lineback earned recognition as a member of the 2009 SC Swimming Zone Championship team, 9 individual state championship titles from both 2009 SCS Summer State Championships and 2010 SCS Spring State Championships and as a first-time qualifier to the 2009 USA-S Winter National Championships. Lineback also earned 2009 USA-Swimming Scholastic All-American for the first time.
Mustert’s additional honors included being a member of the 2009 SC Swimming Zone Championship team, two event wins at the 2009 SC Swimming Summer State Championships, first-time qualifier to the 2009 USA-Swimming Winter Junior National Championships and as a three-time USA-S Scholastic All-American. Mustert is currently in his freshman year at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
Lastly, L. Campbell and Lineback were elected to serve SC Swimming as members of several committees which govern SC Swimming.
Said head coach of the Riptides James Smith, “It is always a proud moment to have swimmers from the Riptides honored and recognized by SC Swimming for their achievements. The swimmers worked very hard this year, in both the pool and in the classroom, and their dedication and determination are paying off in spades.”
Although a small program when compared the rest of the teams in SC Swimming, the Riptides are among one of the most elite programs when it comes to swimmer achievement and performance. About 10% of the membership is currently training and eligible to compete at the “junior” national championship level [the Top-2% of swimmers aged 18/Under] or higher.
At the SC Swimming State Championships in February 2010, the Riptides led all swim teams with an average of 31.7 points per swimmer; the next closest team earned an average of just 19.1 points per swimmer.
The Riptides also lead the state in average number of certified officials per swimmer at a ratio of 1 official for every 3 swimmers. To become an official, parents will volunteer to go through a stringent educational process which includes clinics, testing and apprenticing.
Smith commented, “It has always been and remains the goal of the Riptides to offer opportunities to all of our membership in order to become one of the truly elite programs in South Carolina and in USA-Swimming. We strive to be leaders in athlete performance at all levels of training and competition.
“The structure of the Riptides allows us to teach younger children with basic skills and fully develop those athletes into the best possible swimmers, students, and people possible.
“But we also encourage our parents to become volunteers to the sport, whether its becoming an official, or joining committees which help govern the sport, we offer opportunities,” continued Smith.
