By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Sports Editor
Numerous young swimmers from Sitka competed in the 10-and-under state championship meet last week, swimming at the Blatchley Middle School pool and sending results for compilation. Out of seven teams, the Baranof Barracudas Swim Club took fourth place overall, though some individual Sitkan swimmers punched far above their weight.
Sawyer Bastian, 10, finished in first place in all five of his individual events and earned the most points of any boy at the meet. He was particularly happy with his 100 yard individual medley race, though he sees room for further improvement.
“Probably the 100 IM. I think I cut off like five seconds, that was really good… (but) I need to work on my fly… I can never get my hips up high enough,” Sawyer said at practice Thursday.
He was first to the wall in that event in 1:24, less than a second behind the next swimmer. Since the meet was virtual, however, the two were racing at their home pools, not side by side. Barracudas swimmer Wim Edwards took fourth in the medley in 1:29, with his teammate Braylon Doyle in 14th.
Bastian continued his win streak with a first-place finish in the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 100 free and 500 free. In the 200 free relay, Sawyer swam alongside Wim Edwards, Ashton Turner and Rowen Gebler to take fourth place in 2:35. Also in that relay, Tanner Ystad, Braylon Doyle, Nicholas Belding-Falzerano and Lukas Schmidt took eighth place, while Jase Horton, Fraser Jansen, Quinn Faux and Keian Young came in ninth.
While he’s a capable swimmer with years of experience in the pool, Sawyer said he most enjoys the social side of the sport.
“I really like the team, I like the group aspect of it,” he said.
The athlete has high hopes for future time drops, and wants to qualify for the Junior Olympics.
“I might end up going to JOs. I’m not sure because I don’t actually have the times yet. I’m just like, I might get them. I think I’m like 20 seconds off in the 500 free and two seconds off from the 50 free,” he said.
Sawyer wasn’t the only high-performing Barracuda over the weekend, however. Olivia Jarvill, 10, snagged first place in the 200 free in 2:48, the 100 backstroke in 1:23 and the 100 free in 1:17. Between those top-notch finishes and other strong race performances, Olivia earned the second most points of any girl at the meet. In the 200 medley relay, Olivia, Ella Colliver, Stevie Jarvill and Rory Powers claimed third place in 2:58.
The BBSC girls relay team relaxes by the pool during the 10-and-under age group championship this weekend. Pictured are Ella Colliver, Stevie Jarvill, Olivia Jarvill and Rory Powers. (Photo provided by Kevin Knox)
In the 100 freestyle, Rory Powers took fourth in 1:25. She also swam in the 200 free relay with the Jarvill sisters and Ella Colliver. The squad took second place in 2:30.
Rory enjoys the challenge of beating her previous best times.
“I like swimming and getting a new time and just, like, having fun. And it’s fun to see if you get a new time or beat somebody,” the 10-year-old told the Sentinel.
In the 50 backstroke, she shaved off nearly a second from her seed time, taking 14th place in 48.99 seconds.
Much like Sawyer, Rory enjoys her time with the other BBSC swimmers.
“I just like being in the water and doing an activity that is fun. And because I see my friends here and I have nice coaches.”
Sawyer and Rory have spent years in the pool, but their younger teammate Quinn Faux, 8, has trained for only three months. Nonetheless, he was happy with his results in an unexpected event: the 100 yard backstroke.
“Kevin (Knox, BBSC coach) here signed me up for that, and I don’t like backstroke at all… They texted the times to everybody, and when I got home I’m like, ‘Wow,’” Quinn said.
He finished the event in 2:34.
In the future, he’d like to work on his breaststroke – an event in which he tends to be disqualified because he pulls down his arms too far.
All told, 20 young Barracudas participated in the meet, coach Knox said. Unlike in a run-of-the-mill time trial, he said, the online meet gives the kids a chance to try themselves against a larger competitive field.
“It’s really fun to see the kids compete with a higher goal in mind, knowing that their times are going to go up against other kids in the state… You send in your times and you get to see where you kind of stack up,” the coach said.
While the Barracudas took fourth place of seven teams, Chugiak won the meet overall. However, in the boys meet Sitka took third, and in the girls meet BBSC also claimed third. In the boys meet, the Aurora Swim Team of Anchorage took first, and the Northern Lights squad, also in Anchorage, won the girl’s meet.
Knox flies to Fairbanks today, where five BBSC swimmers will compete in the Alaska Senior Championship meet over the weekend.
