Riptides compete at summer opener!
MB Riptides swim well despite weather
The Myrtle Beach Riptides swim team travelled to Charleston, SC for the first long-course meters meet of the summer April 24-25. Despite gale-force winds and patchy rain, the Riptides were able to achieve 31 personal best times and 15 team records.
Danielle Flaherty, 10/Under, led the Riptides will seven personal best times, all of which were new team records. Those events were the 400-meter freestyle, 50- and 100-backstrokes and butterfly events, 100-breaststroke, and 200-Individual Medley (IM).
Mackenzie Angwin, 10/Under, was next with six personal best times and a new team record in the 50-meter breaststroke.
Megan Kingsley, 13-14, earned four personal best times and four team records in the 200- and 400-IM events, 200-breaststroke and 1500-freestyle. Kingsley also had 8 event wins.
Connor Churchill, 10/Under, also earned four personal best times and set two team records in the 100-butterfly and 200-IM.
Zary Gouin, 10/Under, competing on Sunday only, swam to two personal best times and a new team record in the 50-butterfly.
Julia Campbell, Andi Churchill, Jack King and Sean King each swam to at least one personal best time. Several swimmers competed in long-course events for the first time. Those swimmers included Ryan Dallas, Ashlyn Dekleva, Ryan Eldred, Tyler Eldred, Rachel Krivanek and Emily Sabella.
Lauren Campbell and Keenan Lineback combined for sixteen Top-8 finishes, including 1-2 finishes in the 400-IM and 1500-freestyle events.
This was the first long-course meet of the season for the Riptides. Swimmers will compete long-course, or in a 50-meter pool, during the summer months. Long-course meters is also the same format used in many international competitions, including the Olympics.
Riptides’ head coach James Smith was pleased with the performances of the Riptides, even in the windy conditions.
“The first long-course meet of the season is usually pretty tough. Our swimmers do not get the opportunity to practice long-course, so the first meet in Charleston is more like a practice weekend than a meet weekend,” said Smith.
The next event for the Riptides will be the Augusta Swim League Junior Jaguar meet in Augusta, GA.
For younger members of the Riptides, their competitive opportunities will include participation in the City of Myrtle Beach Summer Swim League. Although training for the SSL has begun, the Riptides still have limited space available for new swimmers to join.
Since it’s inception in 2008, the Myrtle Beach Riptides has established itself as the programming and performance leader of the Grand Strand. The Riptides is the only nationally recognized swim team by USA-Swimming for its overall structure and is the only team to have successfully developed young swimmers to the national level of competition.
