Wrangell Swim Club gathers together at Petersburg's annual "November Rain" swim meet last weekend. Of the team's 42 members, 18 were able to attend the nearby meet. They include Alisha Armstrong, Jimmy Baggen, Paige Baggen, Stella Buness, Reese Corn, Ryley Corn, Trinity Glaser, Carter Hammer, Daniel Harrison, Ben Houser, Christina Johnson, Sean McDonald, Sophie O'Brien, Jack Roberts, Renee Roberts, Andrei Siekawitch, Nikolai Siekawitch and Rhiannon Wenzel.
Wrangell's youth swim team started its second competitive year at Petersburg's November Rain meet last weekend, hosted by the Viking Swim Club.
The annual event was last year Wrangell Swim Club's very first to field in competition, and its participants have since taken part in several more around the state in the year since.
"It's not too big, it's not too far from home, and the meet only lasts six or seven hours a day. It's a nice beginning swim meet," explained Wrangell coach Jamie Roberts.
This year the team was able to send 18 of its swimmers, joining 77 others from Petersburg, Craig, Juneau and Ketchikan.
"It is also an open meet," explained Bruce McQueen, who coaches WSC with Roberts. "So any swimmer registered with USA Swimming can swim any event in their age group. That makes it a great first meet for new swimmers, and Petersburg does a great job making everybody welcome."
Of the Wrangell swimmers, the weekend's meet was the first competitive one for six of its members. Thirteen of the group finished with fast enough times to qualify for the Southeast Championship meet in Ketchikan next month.
"Southeast Champs is essentially 'regionals' for age group swimming, and it requires qualifying times to participate," McQueen explained. Next month's meet will include a bonus, allowing each qualifying swimmer to swim an additional event under 200 yards.
During the meet there were a number of strong placements. Nikolai Siekawitch scored 137 points overall, including first place in the boys 11-12 200-yard individual medley, 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, 50- and 100-yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke. Jack Roberts scored 86 points overall, including a first place finish in the 50-yard butterfly.
Renee Roberts was the team's high scorer, with 161 points overall. She took first place in the girls 100-yard freestyle. Alisha Armstrong scored 108 points overall in the meet, including a second-place finish in the group's 50-yard backstroke.
The meet was also a place for new swimmers to shine. Stella Buness was the youngest Wrangell competitor in November Rain. She scored 3 points overall and shaved over 22 seconds from her best 50-yard freestyle time.
Siblings Reese and Ryley Corn only joined Wrangell Swim Club in September, and were new to the sport. Reese scored 2 points and completed the 100-yard freestyle in 16th place. Ryley scored 57 points and completed a continuous 500-yard freestyle swim 47 seconds faster than her seeded time.
"They did really well," said Roberts. "It was fun. We had a good time on the pool deck and we had a good time back at the church, kind of team-building, team bonding with dinners together, playing chess and hide-and-seek."
Over the past year the fledgling program has swelled to 42 kids. "Our youngest is five, our oldest is 14," Roberts explained.
The team's 10-month practice season includes two open meets sanctioned by USA Swimming and several local inter-squad meets. Swimmers achieving qualifying times at these meets can also plan to attend three other championship meets around the state. WSC also trains swimmers to participate in the Special Olympics summer games in June.
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