By By GREG KATSKI
Staff Writer
The Washington Whitecaps summer swim team successfully defended its Greenville Area Summer Swim League title by winning the league’s regular season and subsequent championship meet on Aug. 1 at the Tarboro Swim Club.
The Whitecaps won all seven of their head-to-head meets in the regular season and took the championship meet by tallying 490 points. The Tarboro swim club team came in a distant second at the meet with 414 points, and the Greenville Country Club team rounded out the top three with 330 points.
The Washington swim team, which had 86 members ranging in age from 6 to 18 years old this past season, placed in the top three in nine of the championship meet’s relay events. The Whitecaps mixed 14U 200-yard free relay team of Corey Hawkins, Jessica Penhollow, Kaitlyn Richards and Luke Harris took first in the aforementioned event with a time of 1:49.13, which was a new league record. The 18U team of Brandon Neiderhouser, Joseph Davenport, Luke Stroud and William Davis did the same, placing first and breaking a league record with an astounding time of 1:42.21.
“They worked really hard. They’re good swimmers,” Whitecaps head coach Spencer Pake said about his record-breaking swimmers.
Washington had two more relay teams place first at the meet. The mixed 10U 200-yard medley relay team of Tony Lovenberg, Kevin Andrews, Mason Beach and Aidan Morehead took first in its event with a time of 2:35.66, while the 18U team of Riziki Omonde, York Winstead, Erin Morehead and Colin Daw won with a time of 2:15.34.
Pake commended the teamwork of the relay swimmers.
“You have to drive into the wall hard so the other person can time their dive just right,” he said.
The Whitecaps had equal success in individual events, with 26 swimmers placing in the top three in at least one event. According to Pake, almost all of the 86 swimmers on the team dropped from their best times during the season at the championship meet.
Girls 11-12 age group star swimmer Chandler Beach took home first in all three individual events she participated in, according to Pake — the 50-yard breast with a time of 38.00, the 50-yard back with a 33.59 and the 100-yard IM with a 1:09.56.
Andrews placed first in three races — the boys 9-10 100-yard IM race with a time of 1:21.15, 50-yard free with a 29.91 and 50-yard fly with a 37.53. Neiderhouser, a star swimmer for the Washington High School swim team, took first three events — the boys 15-18 100-yard IM event with a time of 1:00.72, the 50-yard free with a 23.13 and the 50-yard fly with a 26.13.
Penhollow placed first in the girls 13-14 50-yard free with a time of 28.22, Hawkins took first in the boys 13-14 50-yard free with a 26.62, Lovenberg was first in the boys 9-10 50-yard back with a 37.35, Davis got first in the boys 15-18 50-yard back with a 31.94 and 50-yard breast with a 32.85, Mason Beach was first in the boys 9-10 50-yard breast with a 42.25 and Luke Harris was first in the boys 13-14 50-yard breast with a 35.65.
“It was a good team effort for the whole meet really,” said Pake about the championship. “We were ready and I had them well-rested.”
Pake, who also coaches the Pam Pack swim team, looks forward to swimming for a championship title three-peat next year.
“It’s a good battle. It’s fun,” he said.