Swim team sets seven personal bests at Juneau meet
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TweetHaines Dolphins swimmers set seven personal records at last weekend’s meet in Juneau.
On the first day, freshman Camelia Bell shaved 1.08 seconds off her 50-yard freestyle time. Her new personal record is 30.63 seconds. Bell later dropped 7.43 seconds off her best 100-yard freestyle time.
“I tried really hard in the 100-yard freestyle,” said Bell. “I didn’t know I dropped seven seconds. Once I heard, I was really happy.”
On the second day of the meet, the girls’ 200-yard medley relay set a new team record. Sophomore Fiona Tormey led the relay with backstroke. Bell competed second in the breaststroke. Freshman Lucia Chapell then swam the butterfly. Freshman Emma Dohrn finished the relay with freestyle. The team placed 6th overall.
Tormey dropped two seconds off her 100-yard backstroke. Dohrn competed after Tormey dropped 3.09 seconds in her 100-yard breaststroke.
The team only has four swimmers. Chapell said they’re a close-knit team. “Sitting around for hours is definitely energy draining,” said Chapell, “But you’re with your teammates, so there ends up being really fun moments. We spent the whole weekend laughing.”
Chapell said most meets were high energy, but the Juneau meet was held without spectators in the stands. She said she missed the energy in the stands, but once she was on deck the feeling returned. “You can feel the nerves in your stomach,” recalled Chapell. “My team calls it swim-meet stomach, because it’s a very specific feeling. Those nerves will hopefully be transferred into adrenaline once you spring off the blocks.”
Coach Lexi Dewitt was unable to travel to Juneau with the team. Art teacher Gizelle Miller and previous swim athlete coached the girls in DeWitt’s place. “Mrs. Miller did an amazing job of stepping up and coaching us at practices, and for (the Juneau) meet,” said Chapell. “She really knows a lot about swimming and it’s great to get a new perspective on our races and techniques.”
The team will be traveling to Ketchikan on Oct. 29 to compete in their last meet before state.
