By Duncan Nixon
The Fluvanna Aquatic Sports Team (FAST) hosted the Gators from Louisa County on June 24 at the Fork Union Military Academy pool.
The FUMA pool is a high-quality indoor facility, and FAST Coach Mike DiFazio said the team has 67 swimmers this season, ranging in age from 6 to 18.
Pre-meet warm-ups are a kind of organized chaos, but once the meet gets underway, one event follows another with amazing rapidity.
The competition was not as close as some meets, as FAST relied on its depth to win 470-400.
The meet began with the medley relays.
In a medley relay, four swimmers compete as a team, with each swimming a different stroke: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, or freestyle. The boys and girls in the 8-and-under age group swim 100 meters. In the older age groups, the boys and girls swim 200 meters. There are five age groups, so there are 10 medley relay races. FAST won seven of the 10.
The medley relays were followed by the individual events. The first individual winner for FAST was Annabeth Thurston-Wells in the girls’ 9-10 50-meter freestyle, followed by Levi Rensch in the boys’ 15-18 freestyle. In the last individual freestyle event of the night, FAST’s Madison Clark won the girls’ 15-18 50-meter freestyle.
The meet next turned to breaststroke. An early winner for FAST was Hazel Adams in the girls’ 8-and-under 25-meter race. FAST then won both 9-10 events, with Grady McCoy winning for the boys and Harper-Page Amatt winning for the girls. Eleanor Grubb was first for FAST in the girls’ 11-12 breaststroke, and Abby Caruso won the girls’ 15-18 race.
The backstroke events came next. Thurston-Wells won again for FAST in the girls’ 9-10 age group. Rensch was also a second-time winner, easily topping teammate Riley Covert as FAST took first and second in the boys’ 15-18 race. In the girls’ 15-18 backstroke, FAST again finished first and second, with Abby Caruso first and Josie Caruso second.
In the butterfly, FAST won both 8-and-under races, with Jason Bradley winning for the boys and Adams winning again for the girls. In the girls’ 9-10 butterfly, Amatt scored her second win. In the 15-18 age group, FAST won both races, with Rensch and Clark scoring easy victories.
The final events of the meet were the longer-distance freestyle swims. In the boys’ 9-10 100-meter freestyle, FAST took first with a close win by McCoy. In the girls’ race, Amatt won again, this time by an impressive 27 seconds. Maddy Ford won for FAST in the girls’ 13-14 age group.
In the final event, the girls’ 15-18 100-meter freestyle, the Carusos finished first and second again, with Abby first and Josie second. FAST had the first five finishers in the event.
