Barracudas take bite out of Dolphins

by Chris McKeever

The Louisburg Barracudas Swim Team defeated the Golden Valley Dolphins in Clinton on Saturday, outscoring them 420 to 110 points. Having the only 50 meter long-course pool in the South Suburban Swim League, the Golden Valley Dolphins forced the Barracudas to step it up a notch during Saturday's meet.

Head Coach Kyle Farrington shared his thoughts about this particular swim meet, saying, "Swimming at a long-course pool is challenging but tends to expose kids that don't train as hard as they could. The kids don't get the luxury of using the wall, and it is challenging for the kids." The "8 and under" and the 9-10 age groups, who normally swim a 100 meter individual medley, were forced to swim the race at 200 meters in order to accommodate the greater pool length. Consequently, there were few swimmers in the younger age groups that even attempted the race. While Golden Valley did not enter any of their "8 and under" swimmers, four young swimmers from Louisburg attempted the longer-than-usual race (Madelyn Prettyman, Katie McIntyre, Matthew McIntyre and Bret Minor), and all successfully completed the event.

Louisburg dominated in all age groups in the relay races, winning 19 of the 20 relay races. Many swimmers also lowered their times that they set in previous swim meets. Coach Farrington proudly commented, "The kids' success is a testament to how hard they have worked this year." Louisburg's dedicated core of hard-working swimmers, as well as a large increase in their total number of swimmers, will certainly aid them in their swim meets leading up to finals.

Louisburg will be hosting their last swim meet before finals on Saturday, July 18th against the Harrisonville Aquacats.

Photos: (top to bottom) Samuel Kratochvil (8 & Under); Matthew McIntyre (8 & Under); Shelby Domann (13-14); and Logan Cornutte and Cole Williams (8 & Under). Photos by Chris McKeever