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Pod Of Gators Stand Out At Sea Dog Invitational
6-13 OAK Gators3
Hayley Rivera of Oakdale powers to the wall for a solid time in one of her events during recent competition. - photo by IKE DODSON/THE LEADER

It’s now apparent that Kevin Costner’s character from the movie Waterworld is loosely based on Oakdale Gators swimmer Dustin VandenBosch.

The standout athlete in swimming’s 11-12 age division glides through water like he’s equipped with gills.

He out-touched a barrage of competing swimmers in the 100 meter individual medley and the 50 butterfly during action at the Sea Dog Invitational on June 23.

VandenBosch was also second in the 50 breast and joined older swimmers for a sixth place finish in the 15-18 200 medley relay.

VandenBosch, who has continued to impress in the pool each time out, accounted for four of Oakdale’s 32 top-eight finishes among the competitive field of teams represented.

Oakdale gets back into the pool on July 7 against the host Ripon Sea Lions.

Six-and-under
Tyler Cooley was sixth in the 50 free and seventh in the 25 back while Jebb Fox ended eighth in the 25 back. Annaliese Stueve was also fourth in the 25 back.

7-8
Peighton Campbell, Dylan E. Gonzalez, Breelie Gibson and Alyssa Redd ended sixth in the 100 free relay. Redd was also eighth in the 25 fly while Carson Stueve touched eighth in the 25 back. Redd, Gonzalez, Gibson and Maia Basnight also finished eighth in the 100 medley relay.

9-10
Brittany Gibson touched fourth in the 50 back while Jack Mendes, Garratt Allan, David Terwilliger and Jakob Graham finished fifth in the 200 medley relay. Allen also joined Terwilliger, Royce Rodriguez, and A.J. Presto on the seventh place 200 free relay and was fourth in the 50 breast, fifth in the 50 back and seventh in the 50 fly. Terwilliger ended sixth in the 50 back and seventh in the 100 free.

11-12
The ‘Costner division’ also showcased strong performances in girls events by the likes of Kassidy Houck, Autumn Neal, Maya Lyda and Mackenzie Brown (seventh in the 200 medley relay). Lyda was also seventh in the 50 fly while Houck was seventh in the 50 back and Kinsey Ollis touched sixth in the 50 breast.

13-14
Queen Elizabeth Robinette stood out among competitors with a second place finish in the 50 fly, fifth place in the 100 free, fourth place finish in the 200 medley relay (with Cayley Elswick, Kate Allan and Xena Thompson) and fifth place finish in the 200 free with the same trio of teammates. Allen also ended fifth in the 50 breast while Thomas Torres was fifth in the 100 free, seventh in the 50 free.

15-16
Thomas Torres, Cameron Elswick and Chris Bradley joined Dustin VandenBosch on the sixth place 200 medley relay team. Elswick was also sixth in the 100 I.M.