By RICHIE HALL
sports@readthereporter.com
The water at Geist Waterfront Park was full of Tigers last month.
The Fishers Area Swimming Tigers (FAST) dominated the Indiana Swimming Open Water meet, which took place at the park on June 24. FAST swimmers won eight championships at the meet: four age divisions and also four relays.
In the team standings, Fishers scored 474 points, well ahead of runner-up Concord Swim Club’s 280 points. FAST coach Joe Keller noted that his club has won the last seven meets.
“You never know what can happen in Open Water events,” said Keller. “It can change quickly.”
At the Open Water course, swimmers complete a various number of laps in the water, swimming roughly parallel to the waterfront shore. Each age group swims a different number of laps. The youngest group, the 10 & under competitors, swim one lap. The number of laps increases, with the 15 & over swimmers making four laps in the water.
Southeastern Swim Club hosted the Open Water race; Keller said SSC has “done a nice job hosting the event.” He also gave credit to Paula Hardin, the Waterfront Director at Geist, for the event running smoothly.
“It takes a lot of resources to put on that event,” said Keller. “It’s a really cool event for a lot of kids.”
Keller said that Geist is a good place for the Open Water race since it’s a controlled and contained area. The park’s water quality and water temperature are measured to ensure swimmer safety, making sure that it’s not too hot or too cold.
“This year was awesome,” said Keller. “It was really good. By the time we finished [the temperature] was low 80s. It was actually a little cool that morning. Water quality was good, it wasn’t too windy. There wasn’t a lot of chop to the water, it was really smooth.”
FAST’s age-division victories were all in the older categories. Carter Schultz won the Boys 15 & over race, swimming four laps (1.6 kilometers) in 19 minutes, 49.78 seconds. Ayla Madara, an Open Water veteran who has one several races, was the Girls 15 & Over champion, clocking in at 19:49.96.
In the 13-14 division, Liam Chop was the boys winner. He swam the three-lap, 1.2-kilometer race in 13:14.65. Grace Gannon paced the girls 13-14 race, finishing in 14:34.61. Fishers placed four in the top five of that division.
The relays consisted of three swimmers each swimming a 400-meter lap. For Fishers’ boys relay, Schultz joined Alex Koo and Josh Krimmel to place first, while Madara teamed up with Amira Leer and Brooklyn Rager to claim the girls relay.
Gannon, Abrielle Andrzejewski and Annie Hare were the winners of the Girls 14 & under relay, with Shiloh Pak, Xavier Dunn and Michael Bielski-Russell placing first in the Boys 12 & under relay.
Several swimmers have participated in other Open Water competitions; Fishers sent a group to a meet in Sarasota, Fla.
“They have it on one of the inlets there,” said Keller. “They comb through it and get gators out.”
“Grace Gannon placed high enough in that event that she qualified to go to Argentina as a member of Team USA,” said Keller.
Gannon will compete in the junior event for 18 and under swimmers in September. Keller said that making an international trip or a national or international team provides swimmers an opportunity and opens the door for other opportunities from USA Swimming.
“We’ve had several ahtlets that have been able to create a different pathway for them to create different opportunities that are provided by USA Swimming,” said Keller.
A complete list of swimmers that competed in the Open Water meet appears below.
Boys 15 & over (1.6 K, 4 laps)
- Carter Schultz (Fishers Area Swimming Tigers) 19:40.80, 2. Alex Koo (FAST) 19:49.78, 7. Ivan Semko (Southeastern Swim Club) 20:33.35, 8. Luke Fletcher (SSC) 20:38.57, 10. Sawyer Green-Whitehead (SSC) 20:46.41, 12. Joshua Krimmel (FAST) 20:50.51, 13. Josh Lawrance (SSC) 20:54.28, 14. Grayer Belaire (SSC) 21:09.14, 16. Tyler Tisch (SSC) 21:17.28, 24. Cade Breske (SSC) 22:47.86, 25. Jackson Reine (SSC) 22:49.58, 33. Aidan Ballart (SSC) 24:34.82, 37. Braeden Van Hyfte (SSC) 25:17.28.
Girls 15 & over (1.6K, 4 laps)
- Ayla Madara (FAST) 19:49.96, 2. Brooklyn Rager (FAST) 19:59.11, 3. Amira Leer (FAST) 20:17.48, 4. Kate Cassidy (Carmel Swim Club) 20:30.72, 5. Brooklyn Penn (SSC) 20:38.77, 6. Izzy Schmitt (SSC) 21:07.70, 9. Lexi Adams (FAST) 21:40.38, 12. Haley Coleman (CSC) 22:08.76, 13. Ryan Murphy (SSC) 22:14.50, 15. Emerson Bunch (SSC) 23:02.50, 16. Addy Lehman (CSC) 23:05.61, 18. Eleanor Hultgren (SSC) 23:24.09, 21. Hayden Bunch (SSC) 23:45.49.
Boys 13-14 (1.2K, 3 laps)
- Liam Chop (FAST) 14:19.65, 8. Jacob Lugar (FAST) 16:12.71, 10. Jack Birch (FAST) 16:21.63, 12. Landon Marini (SSC) 16:23.76, 13. Tanner Tisch (SSC) 16:27.26, 15. AJ Chesterfield (SSC) 16:28.44, 17. Jacob Lawrance (SSC) 16:57.62, 22. Evan Calanog (SSC) 17:37.84, 26. Joseph Seabaugh (FAST) 17:46.87.
Girls 13-14 (1.2K, 3 laps)
- Grace Gannon (FAST) 14:34.61, 2. Annie Hare (FAST) 14:42.97, 4. Abrielle Andrzejewski (FAST) 15:47.56, 5. Conley Johnson (FAST) 15:50.74, 9. Addie Adams (FAST) 16:08.70, 22. Emelyn Baker (SSC) 17:58.71, 25. Presley Barker (SSC) 18:28.63, 26. Grace Gowdamarajan (SSC) 18:33.34, 27. Faith Reine (SSC) 18:41.07, 28. Lucille Yust (SSC) 18:41.08.
Boys 11-12 (800m, 2 laps)
- Shiloh Pak (FAST) 11:19.90, 8. Nash Barr (SSC) 11:54.68, 12. Jace Martin (SSC) 12:19.36, 16. Michael Bielski-Russell (FAST) 12:42.69, 21. Xavier Dunn (FAST) 13:15.36.
Girls 11-12 (800m, 2 laps)
- Emery Lindvall (SSC) 11:59.36.
Boys 10 & under (400m, 1 lap)
- Timmy Lawrance (SSC) 7:36.46.
Girls 10 & under (400m, 1 lap)
- Lydia Lawrance (SSC) 7:03.54, 4. Harper Byl (FAST) 7:20.57, 10. Emma Wagers (FAST) 7:39.82.
Boys 3×400 relay
- Fishers (Schultz, Koo, Krimmel) 14:21.25.
Girls 3×400 relay
- Fishers (Madara, Leer, Rager) 14:34.27, 2. Carmel (Cassidy, Coleman, Lehman) 15:42.94.
Boys 14 & under 3×400 relay
- Fishers (Chop, Birch, Lugar) 15:18.60.
Girls 14 & under 3×400 relay
- Fishers (Gannon, Andrzejewski, Hare) 14:32.86.
Boys 12 & under 3×400 relay
- Fishers (Park, Dunn, Bielski-Russell) 18:25.67.
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