Action wrapped up Sunday at the Aberdeen Swim Club’s Annual High Point Meet with a number of state-qualifying performances for the Sting Rays at the Aberdeen Family Y.
“I thought we had a great weekend,” said Aberdeen coach Lisa Jorgenson. “We added a great deal of state qualifying swims. Many were in the younger groups.”
Jorgenson said it’s fun to let swimmers know they qualified for the state meet, especially when they have put in the time and effort to reach a goal they have been working at for a while.
“It’s always a thrill to tell a kid they made state for the first time,” Jorgenson said. “It’s equally as satisfying to tell a kid that he or she just qualified for state who’s been grinding away at a particularly elusive state time and finally cuts that last .10 seconds to nab a state-qualifying time.”
The Sting Rays have a large number of upperclassmen on the squad this season.
Jorgenson was pleased with how they performed this weekend, especially considering their training schedule during the holidays.
“Many of our older swimmers swam really well for being in-season, untapered, and following a particularly challenging few weeks of swim workouts and dryland training,” Jorgenson said. “The holiday season is a bit grinchy for us as we offer the two older groups double practices most days over a two-week period, which many partake in.”
Jorgenson noted that many members of the Sting Rays either reached goals in events they normally swim, or recorded state-qualifying efforts in events that they tried for the first tme.
“We had kids reach goals like going sub-30 or sub 1:00 in their 50 freestyle and 100 freestyle, respectively,” she said. “We also had some kids swim new races like the 400 IM and the mile, and swim those qualifying times for the first time out. That’s pretty satisfying as well.”
The coach said the team’s only home meet offered a chance for family and friends to come out and cheer on the participants and added to the overall atmosphere.
While Jorgenson said there is still plenty of room for improvement, she likes the direction her swimmers are headed going into the second half of the indoor season.
“There is still hard work to be done,” she said, “but I think we are on a good path. Overall, I am pleased with our performances.”
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