Thunder Places Third At First Meet Of The Season

The small community of Harlem, Mont. has an oasis right in the middle of town, the city pool. This past weekend, they hosted the first swim meet of the season and the Glasgow Kiwanis Thunder Swim Team was there to compete. Overall, the Thunder had a strong showing as 13 swimmers competed in a total of 43 events, which included three relays.

The first meet is typically low-key and this one was no exception. There were several events in different age groups that had only one swimmer competing. When Glasgow was faced with that situation, Thunder's head coach Nicole Arnold suited up and swam with the lone competitor to help set a pace. "I just wanted them to feel what it's like to swim with competition so they swim at their full potential," explained Arnold. "If they have to swim by themselves, they won't swim as fast and I want them to achieve a good time in the race." Assistant coach Gervi Cadimas was busy as well. In addition to her coaching duties, she competes as a swimmer on the team.

At the end of the day, Glasgow came away with a third-place title right behind Malta (second), and Chinook (first). Leading the team in points was senior swimmer Jordan Kulczyk and junior swimmer Trevor Johnson. They both came away with three first-place finishes, earning high-point honors in their age groups.

Collectively, the swimmers improved from Saturday to Sunday by cutting off time crucial to securing the team's placement. Overall the team swam very well with only four days of practice in the water, and there are high hopes for the rest of the swim season. The swimmers will be heading off to Malta this coming weekend where they hope to bring back another team title as well as individual improvements.

Individual Results

(events are in yards)

Girls:

Billingsley, Rachel (13-14); 50 free (5th) 33.63, 100 breast (5th) 1:51.50, 50 fly (3rd) 42.16

Cadimas, Gervilyn (15-19); 50 fly (2nd) 34.71, 400 free (1st) 6:12.61, 100 fly (2nd) 1:26.54

Krumwiede, Klaire (11-12); 50 free (2nd) 32.80, 50 breast (5th) 49.16, 100 free (2nd) 1:16.03

Kulczyk, Jordan (15-19); 50 free (1st) 28.09, 100 free (1st) 1:05.19, 100 fly (1st) 1:18.61

Reyes, Ava (9-10); 50 free (5th) 41.28, 50 back (4th) 58.80

Vandall, Tarin (9-10); 100 IM (3rd) 2:00.00, 50 breast (4th) 1:01.62, 50 fly (DQ)1:04.96

Boys:

Billingsley, Jordan (13-14); 50 free (4th) 33.44, 100 free (5th) 1:19.52, 100 back (1st) 1:27.26

Johnson, Taylor (13-14); 200 IM (1st) 2:49.31

Johnson, Trevor (11-12); 200 IM (1st) 3:04.75, 50 back (1st) 37.97, 50 fly (1st) 33.02

Miller, Bergen (11-12); 50 free (7th) 39.55, 50 breast (2nd) 55.80, 100 free (5th) 1:31.05

Vandall, Tristin (11-12); 50 free (9th) 41.39, 50 back (7th) 47.67, 50 fly (4th) 56.90

Wageman, Tim (13-14); 50 free (2nd) 30.54, 100 free (2nd) 1:11.36, 100 back (2nd) 1:28.40

Boys relay results: 11-12 200 free (1st) 2:19.10; 13-14 200 free (1st) 2:05.75; 11-12 200 medley (1st) 2:48.03