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Fifty Oakdale Swimmers Take On USA Swim Meet
Swimming Roseville Meet 056
Marissa Raggio and Kaydon Meyers of the Oakdale Swim Team enjoy a break in action during their Roseville meet. - photo by photo contributed by Deanna Meyers

The year-round Oakdale Swim Team recently took fifty swimmers to a USA Swim meet at Roseville’s October meet, which drew an attendance of over nine-hundred swimmers. Oakdale Swim Team coaches were happy to see personal bests across the board from beginning swimmer to experienced senior group swimmers.  The local athletes achieved multiple Junior Olypmic, Far Western, and IMX qualifying time standards.

Brayden Costa took first in the 6-and-under 25 back and third in the 25 breast. Kaydon Meyers  took third overall in the 8-and-under 100 backstroke. Breelie Gibson took fifth overall in the 50 fly with a time of 42.07 in the same age division. First-time swims from Finn and Jack Huberty were impressive in the 50 free and 25 back respectively.

Breanna Campbell (9-10) pulled off best times in six out of seven events with a standout swim in the 500 free where she dropped 29 seconds. Breanna’s younger sister, Peighton Campbell (9-10), swam fast in the 200 free and 50 back dropping her times in both races.

Shai Russell-Tyler and Shannen Yeng (both 9-10) had fantastic swims in the 200 free and 50 free as improvements in their technique made for excellent swims. The 11-12 year-olds Madison Blanc and Brittany Gibson both swam to improvements in four of their six swims.

Hayley Rivera (11-12) had a fantastic swim meet with personal bests in all of her seven events including 'A' times in four of them. Mackenzie Brown, Brittany Gibson, Elyssa Gonzales, and Maya Lyda (all 11-12) had excellent swims in their Individual medley and butterfly races with Lyda dropping a staggering thirty-seven seconds in her 100fly.

Dustin Vandenbosch appeared in five swims and swam four races with Junior Olympic qualifying times and one Far Western time in the 100 I.M. Vandenbosch placed sixth in the 11-12 200 breast and sixth in the 11-12 100 I.M.

In the 13-14 age group, Cayley Elswick, Scarlett Green, CeCe Hurst, Clare McKeon Autumn Neal, Kinsey Ollis and Hanna Rivera all swam to new best times.

Fourteen-year-old swimmer Summer Thompson swam to five Junior Olympic qualifying times and also one Far Western qualifying time in the 200 breast. Thompson reached sixth place in the 200 back, fourth place in the 100 breast, and fourth in the 200 breast in a time of 2.33.47 (only .90 seconds off of first place for 13-14 girls).

For the 13-14 boys, Zach Copland had the largest time drop of the meet for Oakdale knocking 49 seconds off of his 500 free. A 13-14 swimmer, Rhett Harrison, swam to a J.O. time in the 200 fly and an eighth place finish, while Jackson Metcalfe has a massive drop in the 100 free dropping seven seconds to 58.85.

New to the team, and swimming in their first meet for Oakdale were swimmers Natella Baliaouri, Emma Magnuson, and Kerra Bispo. Magnusson, new to the 11-12 year old division is already seconds off of J.O. times in two of her events.  Bispo swam to Junior Olympic and Far Western times in the 200 free and 200 back.  In the 15-16 age group, Emily Basnight dropped 36 seconds to and ‘A’ time in her 400IM.

For the 15-16 boys, Soren Dickens swam to four Far Western times (a time standard more difficult to reach than J.O.s). Dickens ook first place in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

The 17-18 swimmer, Ryan Jones, swam to two Junior Olympic times in the 200 Fly and 400 IM, most notably his 200 fly with a time of 2.15.93.

Brian Fogarty contributed to this report.