Tag Archive for: Swim

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CRST Swimmer Sammy Empey Ranks No. 2 in Nation in 100 Free

VANCOUVER, WA — Columbia River Swim Team’s (CRST) Sammy Empey, 12, loves to swim, even if he has to be at the pool before dawn for a 5:30 am practice.

“I tell him it’s OK to skip some of those early morning practices,” says his mom, Camille, “but, he’s always up on his own ready to be driven to the pool. He has a solid work ethic, and absolutely loves to swim. He’s very driven.”

Empey’s passion for the sport of swimming is resulting in some stellar swim times. The ever-focused, bright and happy, Empey, turned heads this year with not one, but four top 10 nationally ranked USA Swimming times for his age group. He’s No. 2 in the nation for the 100 meter Freestyle, or 100m Free as swimmers call it, with a time of 1:00.35.

He also nationally ranks No. 6 in the 50m Fly (29.94), No. 6 in the 100m Fly (1:06.65), and No. 7 in 50m Free (27.88).

“He’s very focused at every practice,” said his coach, Darlene Hill. “He listens, has fun, and encourages others to improve. He’s a delight to have on the team.”

For him, the sport is fun, but he also has some lofty goals.

“What drives me right now is the State records,” said Sammy. “Those are really hard because I’m young, but I still try by going to practice everyday. I love that my teammates help me everyday. I hate to practice when there are no people there, when there’s no one to push me. They keep me on my feet and push me to get to the next level.”

Hill said the team rallies around each athlete to help them get to where they want to be.

“There’s a real support system here,” said Hill. “And, if a swimmer wants to reach a certain goal, we help them achieve it.”

Empey

Sammy dives in for the 100 Free event at the Salem Open.

Empey Boys Breaking Records

“When he first started swimming a few years ago,” said Camille. “He saw the individual records on the wall, and told me he would break all of them. He’s starting to do that now.”

His younger brother, Steven, is just as driven, and likes to compete with Sammy. 

The Empey brothers broke team records at the Salem Open, in November.  Steven broke the 50 Back (33.91) and Sammy broke the 50 Free (24.32), 50 Fly (27.02) and 100 Back (1:01.45) records.  Sammy also set four team records at the same meet.  

Sammy went 2:10.60 in the 200 IM, 53.18 in the 100 Free, 1:01.89 in the 100 Back, and 27.98 in the 50 Back.

“My coaches help with the swimming techniques,” said Sammy. “But they also help us just be good people.”

To learn more, visit www.crstwaveriders.org or www.usaswimming.org

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Camas Boys Swim Team Excels at Thursday’s Propstra Meet

VANCOUVER, WA — The Papermaker Boys Swim Team came out ahead at Thursday’s Propstra Aquatic Center meet against Hudson’s Bay, Columbia River, and Washougal.

Pushing along in their quest to defend their State title, the boys made do at the swim meet without some key swimmers, who were traveling to a private swim club meet up north.

Their absence created a little shifting during key relay events giving underclassmen Dave Peddie, Luke Bales, and Ben Taylor the opportunity to swim a relay with State champion, Mark Kim.

“We just finished our 200 Free Relay,” said Peddie. “The Camas A team got first place, and our times are not bad for this point in the season, but we can definitely build on that, and keep improving.”

Bales, a sophomore, agreed.

“We were led by Mark Kim so that’s a really good thing,” said Bales. “And personally, I hit a PR in the event.”

Propstra Swim Meet Stats

Here’s how things turned out, by event.

200 Free Medley Relay:

  • 1st Place: Camas High School (1:51.31) – Junha Lee, Jakob Duerfeldt, Luke Bales, Austin Fogel.
  • 2nd Place: Columbia River High School (1:51.84) – Daniel Ishchuk, Ben Phelps, Elijah Parish, Simon Parish.
  • 3rd Place: Camas High School (1:57.62) – Sullivan Carrick, Jacob Fenley, James Hatch

200 Free

  • 1st Place:  Junha Lee (2:01.74), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Ben Taylor (2:08.4), of Camas.
  • 3rd Place: Colin Helt (2:27.3), of Columbia River.
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Luke Bales starts his relay event.

200 Individual Medley (IM)

  • 1st Place: Austin Fogel (2:08.92), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Dave Peddie (2:17.15), of Camas.
  • 3rd Place: Simon Parish (2:17.45), of Columbia River.

50 Free

  • 1st Place: Mark Kim (23.46 seconds), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Isaiah Ross (23.85 seconds), of Washougal.
  • 3rd Place: Ben Phelps (24.30 seconds), of Columbia River.

100 Butterfly

  • 1st Place: Jaden Kim (56.33 seconds), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Austin Fogel (58.02 seconds), of Camas.
  • 3rd Place: Daniel Brown (58.82 seconds), of Camas.

100 Free

  • 1st Place: Isaiah Ross (51.23 seconds), of Washougal.
  • 2nd Place: Daniel Ishchuk (55.86 seconds), of Columbia River.
  • 3rd Place: Jack Harris (57.29 seconds), of Camas.

500 Free

  • 1st Place: Jaden Kim (5:23.53), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Simon Parish (5:23.53), of Columbia River.
  • 3rd Place: Victor Wu (6:14.81), of Camas.

200 Free Relay

  • 1st Place: Camas High School (1:36.52) – Mark Kim, Luke Bales, Dave Peddie, Ben Taylor.
  • 2nd Place: Columbia River High School (1:39.39) – Elijah Parish, Daniel Ishchuk, Ben Phelps, Simon Parish.
  • 3rd Place: Camas High School (1:44.90) – Timchenko Timofey, Victor Wu, Jakob Duerfeldt, Jack Harris.

100 Backstroke

  • 1st Place: Mark Kim (58.84), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Daniel Ishchuk (1:01.35), of Columbia River.
  • 3rd Place: Daniel Brown (1:02.10), of Washougal.

100 Breaststroke

  • 1st Place: Danilo Kamenko (1:12.05), of Camas.
  • 2nd Place: Jakob Duerfeldt (1:12.95), of Camas.
  • 3rd Place: Elijah Parish (1:14.20), of Columbia River.

400 Free Relay

  • 1st Place: Camas High School (3:36.25) – Jaden Kim, Austin Fogel, Mark Kim.
  • 2nd Place: Camas High School (3:54.85) – Dave Peddie, Ben Taylor, Luke Bales, Timchenko Timofey.
  • 3rd Place: Camas High School (4:03.56) – Josef Kiesenhofer, Jack Harris, Danilo Kamenko, Victor Wu.

To learn more, visit www.chs.camas.wednet.edu

Swim Meet Gallery

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CRST Swimmers Gain Momentum for Long Course Championships

Vancouver, WA — The Columbia River Swim Team (CRST) is in peak training season with twice-a-day practices as the team prepares for the Long Course State Championships in late July, and Future Nationals in August.

The club team, and its dozens of members practice at Cascade Athletic Club in Vancouver, and also at Mt. Hood Community College for some of its long distance events. For most, they compete all year long, battling cold swimming pools, inclement weather (even in June) as the swimmers jump from a cold pool onto the rainy cold deck, and discuss improvements with their coach Darlene Hill, or Mike Bemis, who themselves struggle to maintain body warmth for hours.

Practices focus on building endurance, improving kicks and strokes, relay exchanges, timing, and dry land strength training — to name a few topics. The swimmers take their sport seriously, acknowledge the work involved, but are able to joke about the experience.

“We smell like chlorine all the time,” said a smiling Max Dolbinin, 18, who graduated from Heritage High School in June. “And it kind of bleaches your hair, especially during summer. We get these facial goggle tanlines, and those changing Speedo tanlines.”

Then, a laughing Andrew Chang chimes in.

“Sometimes you have problems untying your suit,” said Chang, 18, who graduated from Union High School in June. “You have to change slowly because the string can get really messed up.”

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CRST practices. By Max Dolbinin.

 

CRST

Max Dolbinin swims.

They laugh at themselves, but they also love what they do.

“I’m a sprinter,” said Dolbinin. “I compete in the 50 Freestyle, Butterfly and Breaststroke. And, I do this because this sport is really competitive, and it takes a lot of strength — both physically and mentally. I really like the competition, and the friends that we make.”

The 10-year swimming veteran said he appreciates the friendships most.

“We see each other twice a day, with two-hour practices,” Dolbinin added. “And, you just really become good friends.”

Chang, also a 10-year swimmer, said he just loves being in the water.

“It soothes me, it’s my way to relax and de-stress from the pressures of the day,” Chang said. “We make good friends also, and you get to meet people from all over the state.”

Chang said people think swimming is easy, but that’s not so.

“They don’t see all the training and preparation that comes with it, “Chang said. “They don’t understand the amount of physical strength that comes with it. It’s a hard sport. It’s high intensity all the time.”

Chang will be swimming at Carleton College this Fall in Minnesota, and looks forward to continue swimming competitively.

Maddy Wick, 12, is preparing herself for State, and will compete in the Backstroke, Butterfly and Freestyle. Annette Chang is also competing in the same events. Lily Seitz said she’s working on Butterfly.

CRST

Sammy Empty completes a late night event at Summer Blast #2.

Twelve-year-old Sammy Empey set a new 11-12 year old record in the 200 Fly at Summer Blast 2 in June.  Empey’s time was 2:50.33, which surpassed Chang’s long-held record by 7 seconds.

“I swim because it’s fun to me,” said Empey. “I just love the competition. I mainly compete in the Butterfly and Freestyle sprints. I may do IM’s in the future, we’ll see.”

The swimmers compete at Summer Blast #3 today at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. The meet is way for them to prepare for State.

To learn more, visit www.crstwaveriders.org

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Columbia River Swim Team: New Athletes, Bright Futures

Darlene Hill and Doug Lumbard, of the Columbia River Swim Team (CRST) “Wave Riders” talk about new athletes, the amazing talent of current swimmers, upcoming meets, and the success of past club swimmers.

Last year the Columbia River Swim Team “Wave Riders” brought on a slew of new athletes now going to their first competitions and meets, and Coach Darlene Hill is happy with how they are progressing.

“We take young swimmers and train them so they peak, but not so much that they peak at 13-14 years old,” said Hill. “If you train hard too young, even a talented athlete, if they have already done big meets at 12 years old, they can get pushed too hard. Parents and coaches mean the best, but young athletes will burn out and lose their joy for the sport. We make sure they enjoy their families, other sports, or music programs so that they are well-rounded and don’t become overworked.”

Hill, along with Lumbard and Mike Bemis (who coaches the Camas high school girls and boys swim teams as well), all work to make sure their athletes are doing well in every aspect of their life. Swimmers are known to have the highest GPA amongst other athletes. For example, recently, the Camas Boys Swim Team was honored for the GPA achievements.

“With our athletes we can almost always help them get a swimming scholarship if they put in the work,” said Hill. Swimming teaches so much camaraderie, so much endurance and focus.”

CRST

CRST Swimmer, Andrew Chang, competes at Mt. Hood Community College.

Past CRST Swimmers Now Compete at Collegiate Level

Schools will give better scholarships to students who have better academic records versus those who have impressive athletic achievements. Here is a list of some recent CRST athletes who have gone on to compete for their Universities:

Kasey Calwell- University of California Santa Barbara

Lucas Ulmer- University of Redlands

Chris Xue- Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Darya Samiee- Cal State Bakersfield

Jonah Rodewald- Whitman

John Utas- University of Lethbridge

Sierra Colletto- Whitworth University 

Julia Sanders-Texas Christian University

Andrea Young-Oregon State University

Eric Bugna- University Of Redlands

Justin Natyzak- Olivet Nazarene University/Cumberland

Wesley Tatum-  Whitworth University

Callum MacKintosh- Whitworth University

Alexis Morehouse- Seattle University

Jay Jones- California State Bakersfield

Lisa Tompkins- San Diego State University

Kelsey Lynch- Washington State University

Peggy Liang- University Of Hawaii

Bethany Hoopman- California State University East Bay

Felicia Williamson- Cumberland

Rachel Chong- Pacific Lutheran University

Keenan Natyzak- Arizona State University

Mackenzie Bailie- Orange Coast College/Concordia

Jon Brodeur- Bryant University

CRST

CRST swimmer, Max Dolbinin (in silver cap) dives in.

But the athletic scholarships aren’t the only plus for these young swimmers. Lombard and Hill have seen how it effects hundreds of young people.

“We’ve seen how therapeutic swimming is for our athletes,” said Hill. “We’ve seen our athletes take breaks from swimming and their parents tell us how uptight they are when they aren’t swimming. There’s a sort of water addiction that comes from swimming, being suspended by the water. And it’s a sport that is individual and yet you are working with a team as well, it really is the best of both worlds. Swimming has also been proven to help kids that have ADD and ADHD because of the rhythm and focus that happens in the water. It has both healing and physical benefits.”

The CRST Wave Rider coaches have seen hundreds of young swimmers grow up. “We have a lot of kids come back who have careers, maybe they’ve started their own families, and they come back to me and talk about all the good memories they have from the swim team, and a lot of their fondest memories were arranged times that we set aside for the team to bond. We want them to be good friends with their teammates and to keep their studies up. It’s a lifelong sport but needs to be balanced with a happy life.

Nick Solovey, left, receives swimming tips from CRST Coach Darlene Hill.

Nick Solovey, left, receives swimming tips from CRST Coach Darlene Hill.

As for the events coming up soon, Coach Mike Bemis explained what the athletes are currently preparing for:

“Right now we’re preparing for a meet at Mt Hood Community College that’ll take place tomorrow (Saturday, June 4). Then we have a Senior Seattle Open, which brings competitors all the way from Canada and Southern California. The Futures Meet, held at Stanford University, will be high school and returning college students competing from Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Nevada, Montana, and more.”

A new meet in USA swimming, “Futures Meet” is the junior national level. There are 7 CRST swimmers tentatively going this year: Max Dolbinin, Tom Utas, Colleen Woods, Eric Bugna, Kasey Calwell, Andrea Young, Lucas Ulmer, and Chris Xue.

Important Swim Meet Dates:

Senior Seattle Open – July 7-9

OSI 11 & Over State Meet – July 28-31

2016 USA Swimming Futures Championship (Stanford University) – August 4-7

To learn more, visit: www.crstwaveriders.org

Article by Haley Childers.

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CRST

CRST swimmer, Chase Hicks, competes in the 100 Breaststroke at Mt. Hood Community College.

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Camas Boy’s Swimming Wins 3A District Title

The Camas High School Boy’s Swim Team made waves at Saturday’s 3A District Championship game winning the meet and breaking some records along the way.

The swimmers competed in 11 events against several other schools, including Hudson’s Bay, Columbia River, Mountain View, Kelso, Ft. Vancouver, and Prairie, and won enough points overall for their efforts to capture the District title for their second consecutive year.

District team results are as follows: Camas 409, Mountain View 248, Columbia River 230, Kelso 114, Hudson’s Bay 82, Fort Vancouver 54, and Prairie 32.

During Districts two new CHS school records were set in the 200 Medley Relay and by Jake Yraceburu in the 100 Breastroke.  Kelso High School Pool Records were also set by Senior Nick Kabel in 50 Free, the 200 Free Relay and the 200 Medley relay.

“It feels so good to win the last one!” said Co-Captain and Senior, Ian Ulmer. “Everything was awesome, and the number of people who made state cuts really surprised me.”

 
Kelso Pool
Kelso High School Pool

 

District Champions
Camas High Boy’s Swimming is No. 1!

Swimmers who take the top two spots in every Finals event, or who have previously qualified for state times, will travel to Federal Way next week to compete in the high school State swim meet.

Swimmers are allowed to only compete in four events and only up to three relays. Relays are four-member races. The meet lasted a little less than three hours.

“The meet went perfectly according to plan,” said Kabel. “Swimmer placement was spot on, and the 200 free was great!”

Here’s how Camas did, by event.

200 Yard Medley Relay: Camas placed second with a time of 1:41.00. The relay team consisted of Junior Jake Yraceburu, Ian Ulmer, Freshman Lucas Ulmer, and Freshman John Utas. These four swimmers made state cut.

200 Yard Freestyle: Camas Junior Seth Albert secured placement at state with a second place finish and a time of 1:57.17. Fellow Camas swimmers Max Urbanek placed third, 1:59.65, and Nick Panebianco placed fourth, 2:01.97.

200 Yard Individual Medley (IM): Prairie High School swimmer Jaron Hamlik, who practices daily with the CHS swimmers, placed first. Freshman Kasey Calwell placed second, 2:01.99, and both will compete at state. Lucas Ulmer placed third, 2:02.95, and Ian Ulmer placed fifth, 2:10.10. Jeffery Lee, 2:20.11; Nicholas Burton, 2:32.64; and XinYang Chen, 2.33.45.

50 Yard Freestyle: Kabel handily won this event with a time of :22.32, and broke a pool record. Utas placed third, :22.92,  and Yraceburu placed sixth, :23.17. Other times include: Trent Harimoto, :23.87, Alastair Graham, :24.37, and Joey Stitzel, :24.53.

100 Yard Butterfly: Kabel placed third with a time of :55.67 and Trent Harimoto placed fourth, at :56.70.

100 Yard Freestyle: Utas placed fifth, :51.28, and Co-captain Alastair Graham placed sixth, :53.53. Joey Stitzel, :54:13, and Alec Geenty, :55.74.

500 Yard Freestyle: Max Urbanek placed fifth, 5:19.74, and Nick Panebianco placed sixth, 5:19.62. Other times include: Seth Albert, 5:36.06; Austin Alling, 6:15.32; and Xiangyang Yan, 6:26.38.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay: Camas won this event with Kabel, Harimoto, Calwell and Utas setting a pool record of 1:32.02. These boys are state-bound!

100 Yard Backstroke: Hamlik won this event; Lucas Ulmer placed third but already had a state qualifying time at Thursday’s races; and Freshman CHS swimmer Nick Langer placed fifth, at 1:03.46. Other finishes include: Jeffery Lee, 1:04.42 and Nick Burton, at 1:12.11.

100 Yard Breaststroke: CHS swimmers snagged the top four spots in this event. Yraceburu won the event with a time of 1:01.02; Calwell, second with a time of  1:03.10; Ian Ulmer, third with a time of 1:06.91; and Joey Wunderlich placed fourth with a time of 1:10.02.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay: CHS swimmers Harimoto, Ian Ulmer, Lucas Ulmer and Calwell made state cut with a second place finish, and a time of 3:24.33.

The seniors faced their last District competition of their high school careers and have enjoyed their experience. The team is losing several top competitors, but they are also confident of the team’s future.

“Kasey [Calwell] is an incredible swimmer,” said Ian. “With the times he posted today, I’m pretty sure that over the rest of his high school swimming career, he will continue to improve in all of his events.”

He is also impressed with his brother, Lucas, as well as Utas, Langer, Urbanek and Freshman Ryan Gunther, who competed in his first season of swimming.

“This year we are definitely losing many solid senior swimmers,” said Urbanek. “But I think we have an incredibly strong freshmen team. Kasey is a great breaststroker, Lucas is a really good backstroke and butterfly swimmer, and John Utas is a super fast freestyle sprinter, and me being a distance swimmer, we have some strong freshmen in every event. Along with the freshmen there are many juniors and sophomores this year that are fast and I’m looking forward to some relays in the following years. I really hope that my senior year I can be a part of that fast relay.”

The team has been working hard for months, with many practicing twice daily. It’s a major commitment.

The following is a list of all CHS swimmers who qualified for Districts:

  • Seth Albert
  • Austin Alling
  • Nick Burton
  • Kasey Calwell
  • Jake Charters
  • Xinyang Chen
  • Alec Geenty
  • Alastair Graham
  • Ryan Gunther
  • Trent Harimoto
  • Nick Kabel
  • Nick Langer
  • Jefferey Lee
  • Nick Panebianco
  • Joey Stitzel
  • Ian Ulmer
  • Lucas Ulmer
  • Max Urbanek
  • John Utas
  • Joey Wunderlich
  • Xiangyang Yan
  • Jake Yraceburu

“As much as I like to complain about how long and hard the race (500 Yard Freestyle) can be, I actually like the longer races, said Urbanek. “There is a lot more strategy to the longer races because you have to pace yourself and spread your energy throughout a longer distance. Training for distance races often includes just lots of distance and stamina work in the pool.”

State-bound swimmers will continue to practice, said Coach Mike Bemis, who is assisted daily by Leslie Dahlen.  The swimmers are grateful for their commitment to coaching and making the team better.

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Co-Captains Ian Ulmer, Nick Kabel and Alastair Graham savor victory.
 Trophy

 

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