The Glacier Swim Club is gearing up for the annual Alaska Junior Olympic Championships later this month.
Last year at the state championship, the Juneau team finished second behind the Northern Lights Swim Club — 3,189 points to 3,013 points — in what amounted to its best-ever showing at the state level. After a dominating swim this past weekend at the Savannah Cayce Southeast Championships, the club hopes it can win that elusive state championship later this month.
“We’re going up there with the hopes to win one,” GSC coach Scott Griffith said. “So hopefully it will be a battle and we’ll swim well. It will come down to how good our relays are and how many people make finals. They’re pretty fired up.”
[Juneau swimmer finishes college swim career as three-time national champion]
GSC raced past six other teams for their 23rd straight meet title at the Southeast Championships, which concluded Sunday. Juneau was led by Andrew Sanders, 9, Gabie Anderson, 12, and Nancy Liddle, 15. All three swimmers posted wins in three separate individual events. GSC fielded over 100 swimmers in all.
“The biggest thing we took away from it was the unity in our team,” Griffith said. “Everyone was positive and supporting each other and just having a lot of fun. We’re really proud especially of our older swimmers being role models all weekend.”
The Alaska Junior Olympic Championships will be held April 25-28 at Bartlett High School in Anchorage.
Savannah Cayce Southeast Championships
Team Results — 1, Glacier Swim Club, 2091. 2, Viking Swim Club, 430.5. 3, Baranof Barracuda Swim Club, 424. 4, Wrangell Swim Club, 399. 5, Craig Waverunners Swim Club, 328.5. 6, Ketchikan Killer Whales, 217. 7, Haines Dolphins Swim Team, 211.
Glacier Swim Club individual champions
Girls 8 & Under — Amelia Joca (50 breaststroke), Mae Crocker (25 backstroke), Olivia Jarvill (25 freestyle)
Girls 9-10 — Amy Liddle (50 backstroke, 100 IM), Valerie Peimann (100 freestyle), Dannan Mills (50 breaststroke), Kate Schwarting (50 butterfly)
Boys 9-10 — Andrew Sanders (50 freestyle, 50 backstroke, 100 IM), William Kiessling (50 butterfly)
Girls 11-12 — Samantha Schwarting (1650 freestyle), Gabie Anderson (50 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 breaststroke),
Parker Boman (100 breaststroke, 100 IM), Emma Fellman (100 freestyle, 200 freestyle), Emily Delgado (200 butterfly)
Boys 11-12 — Matthew Godkin (100 butterfly) Matthew Plang (100 IM, 100 freestyle)
Girls 13-14 — Jamie Heidersdorf (100 breaststroke), Mikayla Neal (200 breaststroke)
Boys 13-14 — Chaz VanSlyke (100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke), Sven Rasmussen (200 butterfly)
Girls 15 & Older — Nancy Liddle (1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 200 freestyle), Cameron Howard (500 freestyle), Jeanette Gann (200 IM), Selma Matiashowski (200 butterfly)
Boys 15 & Older — Spencer Holt (1650 freestyle), Raymie Matiashowski (400 IM, 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke), Adrell Mulgrew-Truitt (100 butterfly, 50 freestyle), Chris Ray (200 backstroke), Caleb Peimann (200 backstroke), Kristofer Ely (200 butterfly)
• Contact sports reporter Nolin Ainsworth at 523-2272 or nainsworth@juneauempire.com. Follow Empire Sports on Twitter at @akempiresports.
