Five Firsts for Durham!

Shown from left to right: Julia Maclean, Laura Walsh, Julia Thornton, Amber Mealing and Julia Ehrt all first place winners!

Durham Synchronized Swim Club has just had an incredible first meet of the 2008-2009 season at the Lisa Alexander Invitational held in Hamilton, December 6th and 7th. By the end of the meet, ten Durham swimmers stood proudly on the podium with five laying claim to first place! This is the amazing result of many hours of practice for swimmers and coaches alike.

Coach Sarah Rowe’s Tier 3/4 team was the story of the meet! All nine swimmers posted results in the top half of their Tier and an incredible five swimmers achieved podium results. Amber Mealing claimed first in the Tier 3 12 & under category with Wenjing Deng placing second. Julia Ehrt took first in the Tier 3 13& over while Shannon Blaney and Ellen Hamilton also placed in the top ten. In Tier 4 14 & over, Julia Thornton won first and Brooke Stevens placed third. Look out synchro, this is a team with a mission!

Julia Maclean turned in a repeat of her Gold medal performance last year in Tier 7 competition. Her team-mate Carrie Mouck claimed a podium 6th place finish while a newcomer to Tier 7, Stephanie Geller, made the top ten in her first meet at this challenging level under Head Coach, Holley Lundmark.

Laura Walsh won first in Tier 1 competition under Coach Michelle Lopers. Team-mate, Samantha Low, was also top ten with a 9th place finish in a field of 72 swimmers. Samanth Gurrieri placed 10th in the Tier 2 13 & over category under Coach Amy McPherson. Rachel Nickerson and Alycia Halyk, coached by Holley Lundmark, both turned in podium performances with a 4th and 6th respectively in Tier 6. This level was the largest Tier with 117 competitors.

This competition marked the first time that all tiers were involved in the Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) testing. Many of the swimmers turned in gold level performances in the splits and strength testing and we look forward to more strong results as the program continues to refine and develop itself. Congratulations to all 54 Durham competitors on a job well done at this first meet of the season!