Chinook Lions, Harlem Swim Teams compete in Chester as season hit midway point
June 29, 2022
The Chinook Lions and Harlem Swim Teams were in Chester this weekend in the final meet of the month. The teams will take the Fourth of July weekend off and return to the pool July 9-10 at the Malta Invitational. Heading into the break both teams have had plenty of success in the pool, collecting plenty of hardware along the way.
This week was no different as a couple of Harlem Swimmers took home top honors in their respective age group. Landen Gray won the 15-19 Boys High Point with a stellar showing in the Chester pool. Gray easily won the 100 Meter Freestyle with a time of 1:05.35 outdistancing the runner up finisher by more than :10 full seconds. Gray also recorded a first place finish in the 50 Meter Freestyle, touching the pad at :27.96 to win the event. Grey captured gold in the tough 400 Meter Freestyle completing the eight laps of the pool in 5:50.69.
Ciana Johnson once again showed off first place talent in all three of her individual races to win the girls 9-10 Individual High Point trophy, her second of the season. Johnson first won the 50 Meter Freestyle with a solid effort of :34.88. Next up Johnson captured gold in the 100 Meter Freestyle turning in a time of 1:18.95 to win the event. Johnson completed her swim in Chester by winning the 50 Meter Backstroke with a time of :43.58.
All together eight swimmers represented Harlem in addition to Gray and Johnson were Lane Cochran (6 Points), Lillian Cochran (13 Points), Mara Cochran (18 Points), Walter Cochran (15 Points), Baily Johnson (38 Points) and Precious Stiffarm (28 Points).
The Harlem Swim team has plenty of swimmers that work hard each and every week in practice. Some are new to the sport this summer and some have been working to get better for a couple of years. Head Coach Andrew Rasmussen wanted to highlight a couple of those swimmers. "Lucas Blackcrow works really hard at practice as does Lillian Cochran, They both try so hard and really make me proud that they want to get to the top. They both learn quick and I really appreciate both of them for all the hard work they put in."
The Chinook Lions Swim Team also was in Chester this week and again had plenty of success with 12 swimmers in the pool. Four of them took home High Point Honors in their respective divisions.
Earning three firsts in each of their individual events were Katie Tilleman, Brockton Elliot, Bryce Elliot and Rachel Stephens
Chinook Head Coach Benton Elliot has a good group of kids as well and like Coach Rasmussen he has some swimmers that have really worked hard this summer, "I have so many swimmers that deserve recognition for hard work and improvement. Cynnloch Gibson would be one, he is a 9-10 boy that is a pleasure to coach. He is so smart and you can tell because you only have to explain things once to him and he understands. Cynnloch picked up on Butterfly after one day of teaching it. He's never one to complain and after every sprint he's gasping for air when he finishes. He is always paying attention and you never catch him messing around. He's really just the kind of kid that a coach dreams of coaching.
For the girls Elliot was quick to mention one senior, "The next would be Clara Laird. Clara is a 15-19 girl and is the perfect example of a leader. She's the first person in the pool for practice and normally is encouraging other kids to get in so we can get practice rolling. If you want to talk about someone who cuts time week after week, that's Clara. Her hard work and willingness to learn is the reason for that. Sometimes she won't finish a sprint before the next one starts, and instead of stopping for a break like most people would do, she just does a flip turn and does whatever she can to try to make the next one in time, and that's effort that you love to see.
When the teams return following the holiday break they will be in the home stretch of the season with just a few weeks to prepare for the post season. Good luck to all swimmers.