Siblings Renee and Jack Roberts and teammate Nikolai Siekawitch present their awards after last month's Alaska Age Group Championship in Juneau. Representing Wrangell Swim Club at the statewide meet, all three broke personal bests and placed in the top echelons of their events.
A trio of Wrangell swimmers went to Juneau last month to participate in the annual Alaska Age Group Championship.
Wrangell Swim Club shared lanes with 21 other teams during the mid-February meet, which drew qualifying participants from around the state.
Now in the club's second year of competitive participation, coach Jamie Roberts said her swimmers are starting to feel like seasoned athletes. Competitive meets of this size are quite fast-paced, with competitors in one event often taking a flying start over the heads of those in the previous event as soon as they finish.
"If you blink and don't pay attention, you'll miss your meet," said Roberts. It proved to be no problem though for Wrangell's swimmers, which included 11-year-old Jack Roberts, and 13-year-olds Nikolai Siekawitch and Renee Roberts.
"The three of them were right on it," Coach Roberts recalled.
All three had previously competed at last year's championship, and in two seasons of competition each has swum in from seven to nine such meets. So they were comfortable returning to Juneau.
Which isn't to say the meet was easy. Participants are allowed to compete in up to seven events over the three-day meet. Swimmers have to place in the top eight before moving on to the finals, which through hard work all three of Wrangell's did. The team fielded a smaller group than many of the other competitors, some of which had brought several dozen children.
"It went really well," said Roberts. "They all placed top eight among everyone in the state."
Siekawitch took second place in the 100-meter breaststroke, fourth place in the 100-meter fly and 50-meter freestyle, fifth place in the 200-meter breaststroke, and sixth place in the 400-meter and 200-meter medleys, and the 100-meter backstroke. He earned 30 points for the team and earned personal best times in six of his events.
Jack Roberts took first place in the 100-meter fly and 100-meter medley, second place in the 50-meter fly, third place in the 100 and 50 freestyles and 100-meter breaststroke, and fourth place in the 200-meter medley. He earned 48 points and logged personal bests in two of his events.
Renee Roberts took second place in the 100-meter backstroke, fourth place in the 100 fly, sixth place in the 50- and 200-meter freestyles, seventh in the 200-meter backstroke, and eighth in the 200-meter medley. She earned the team 25 points and made three personal bests.
All three have qualified for participation in the Alaska Junior Olympics in Anchorage, set to start April 26. Roberts said she will be trying to coordinate an additional open swim meet in Juneau on April 6, though ferry scheduling could pose a problem.
Wrangell Swim Club is a youth-oriented club with increasing interest, this year having 42 members. The team earlier last month held a lap-a-thon fundraiser, securing pledges from various residents based on the number of laps the swimmer could perform.
Roberts said the event had to be spread over a span of four days due to the number of kids involved. Some of the youngest were able to do 10 laps, while the most done in an hour was 86.
"We raised over $7,000," the coach said.
Those funds will go to several areas, including acquiring an additional starting block. Currently the team only has one, putting some swimmers at a disadvantage during meets. With the new block, they should be on a more equal footing.
"We're raising money for that and some other equipment," Roberts said.
Funds will also go toward starting up travel and scholarship funds for the team, with the latter helping to defray costs for would-be swimmers. Costs can add up pretty quickly, from the team dues and USA Swimming registration fee to the community pool pass.
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