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The Camden County Boomers Swim Club hosted the 13th Annual Down Under Swim Meet over the Columbus Day weekend. Ten teams from across Florida and Georgia brought 379 swimmers as well as their supporters to the Camden Rec Center pool for the three day event. The Boomers swam well in their home pool, taking three individual awards, setting meet records, making state qualifying times, and achieving many personal bests throughout the weekend.
Boomers senior Nathan Green set a meet record in the 500-yard freestyle event in a time of 4:54.13, on his way to collecting the overall, first place trophy in the Boys Senior Division. He dominated his group right through the meet, capturing first in five of the seven races he swam and nearly sweeping the six freestyle events, which range from 50-yards up to the mile (1650-yards). Green added to his medal count with a second in the 100-yard backstroke and third in the 100-yard breast stroke.
Overall top honors in the boys’ 13-14 age-group went to the Boomers’ Derrick Smith. Smith overwhelmed his competition by winning six of the eight events he entered. His first place finishes included the 200 and 400 yard individual medleys as well as the 100 breast. In the freestyle events Smith swam to victory in the 50, 100, and 1650. He rounded out his medal haul with a third place in the 500 free.
On the girls side of the competition Sophia Linnemann took home the second place trophy in the 6 and under age-group. Linnemann swam with style and speed in only her second meet for the Boomers. Her performance was highlighted by a win in the 25-yard butterfly and silver medals in the 25 free, 25 back, and 25 yard breast strokes.
Elizabeth Willis capped off her fine weekend in the pool with a meet record in the 11-12 year old girls 1650 freestyle event. Not only did her swim of 19:48.57 pull down the gold medal but it also surpassed the National AAA time standard, which signifies her as a Georgia State All-Star. Willis also came away with a first-place in the 1000 free and a second-place finish in the 500 free.
Several other Boomers took home medals in individual events. Taylor Wilson touched the wall first in the 10 and under girls’ 400 yard individual medley and had a great meet all around with six personal best times. Jessica Fry took first in the girls 15 and over 1650 freestyle and scored points for the Boomers in all of nine her events. In the 8 and under girls’ competition Lauren Monahan grabbed silver in the 25 yard freestyle and bronze in the 50 free. Monahan was in great form in the pool, cutting time in five events. Josh Reed took second in the boys 11-12, 1000 yard freestyle; his first time ever swimming that distance. For the girls, Sarah Yawn surged to a silver in the 13-14 year old 1650 free and with her time of 19:42.98, qualified for the Georgia State Meet in both the 1650 and 1000. Kimmy Postin also medaled for the Boomers in the 1650 free, finishing with the bronze.
The water and cool weather couldn’t put out the fire in the rest of the Boomers squad. Scores of personal bests were set by the team throughout the Down Under led by Shelby Linnemann dropping time in all six of her events. Storm Smith blasted her previous times in five races, including double-digit cuts in the 100 and 200 free as well as the 50 yard butterfly. Andrew Babb, Bobbi Harrill, and Moriah Reed also set new standards for themselves in five events each. Brenton Gerick had four personal bests including an incredible 43-second drop in the 100 yard freestyle. Mitchell Cross and Josh Reed also posted four faster times, with Reed burying his old 200 yard freestyle mark by 55 seconds. Shelby Bailey dropped the clock in four events as well, capped off by a 43-second cut in her 200 yard free. The slashing continued with Kathryn Postin, Kaitlyn Simmons, Jessica Sullivan, Caitlin Jenkins, Miranda Braun, and Matthew Johns seeing their times fall in three events each.
A number of extraordinary individual swims were turned in by Boomers. Avery Baldridge, swimming one of his best races ever, shaved off an unheard of minute and 30 seconds in the 500 yard freestyle. Seth Baldridge dropped 44 seconds in the same event. The two brothers had additional successes during the meet as Avery dropped time in three other races and Seth in two others. Leah Harrill dropped 34 and 15 seconds in her 200 free and 50 butterfly respectively. Swimming in the 200 yard individual medley, Kendall Minton knocked off 18 seconds from her previous best. Among Mikailah Ostoyic’s three personal bests was an 18 second cut in the 100 free. Milton Readdick ditched his old 50 freestyle time by a remarkable 20 seconds
Several Camden swimmers rose to the occasion in confronting some difficult challenges over the weekend. Corina Bratton, Nathan Ksenzakovic, and Anna Cantor all swam well in their very first meet for the Boomers. The 10-year old Cantor swam a full card with nine events including the tough 500 yard freestyle. Eleven year old Melissa Fry faced down the demanding trio of distance events by swimming the 500, 1000, and 1650 yard freestyle events. Joining her in this test of stamina were Kaitlyn Simmons, Elizabeth Willis, Sarah Yawn and sisters Christine and Kimmy Postin.
In the final team scoring, the big and always powerful Bolles Sharks out of Jacksonville, Florida took home first-place in the Down Under. The Georgia Coastal Aquatics G-Cats from Savannah earned second-place honors followed by the Brunswick YWCA Water Dawgs in third.
The meet marked the final Down Under for long-time Georgia High School and USA Swimming official, Mickey Howard. He has been a driving force in the success of swimming in Camden County and the entire state. Howard is respected by coaches and officials through out Georgia. Boomer Head Coach Tom Wilson says that “Mickey’s leadership and organization throughout the years are greatly appreciated and he will surely be missed”.
