By Emily White
Swim is not an easy sport, and this week was even more difficult for our Emery swimmers as they faced two meets back-to-back against two good teams. Tuesday was at Carbon, and Wednesday they hosted Richfield at home. It was an opportunity for the kids to see what they were made of, and it turns out this team is made of tough swimmers who were up to the challenge.
At Tuesday’s meet against Carbon, the men won by 37 points, and the women won by 5. On Wednesday against Richfield, the men won by 6 points, and the women won by 138. The scores would be impressive on their own, but when you consider the fact that some of the swimmers logged 2,000 yards in the pool between those two meets…well, that’s something to be proud of.
In those two days, some of the kids who got very impressive PRs were Emma Grimm (200 IM), Tyson Gardner (50 freestyle), Adam Olsen (100 butterfly), Ashley Mesler (200 freestyle), Haylen Willis (100 butterfly), Corbin Madsen (500 freestyle), and Devon Farley (100 breaststroke).
I had the opportunity to talk with Devon Farley after one of his meets, and he told me that he deals with the stress and nerves of a meet by doing things like talking to his brother and other teammates. One of the biggest things he’s learned this season so far is that top-zone swimming is important, and his goal for the season is to make it to state and to PR in all of his events. He’s doing a good job meeting those goals so far.
Some of the Spartan awards handed out this week went to Emma Grimm for helping another team out, Reese Olsen for cheering for every event he wasn’t swimming, and Cody Howard and Hyrum Russell for always being the first to volunteer to pack and unload the bus.
All told, every Spartan fan can and should be proud of the Emery swim team and what they’re accomplishing. If you see any of them, be sure to congratulate and cheer them on. I, for one, can’t wait to see what they do next.