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Evan Apuron 11-year-old boys 5th place, left, and Riley Stewart 10-year-old boys 5th place. Vince Apuron | Sea Lions
Sea Lions competing at the IM Xtreme Games Challenge are, from left: back, Coach Jeanine, Coach Alex, Coach Tanya; front, Darien Apuron, Tabitha Kellam, Gianna Sweeney, Riley Stewart, Evan Apuron. Vince Apuron | Sea Lions
USA Swimming held the IM Xtreme Games Challenge in Mesa, Ariz. at the Kino Aquatic Center Nov. 14-16. To qualify swimmers in the Western Region of the USA (10 States from New Mexico to Alaska) had to achieve an IMX score of 1500 points or more in the preceding 15 months. An IMX score is obtained when a swimmer swims each of the IMX events (200 Butterfly, 200 Backstroke, 200 Breaststroke, 400 Individual Medley, 200 Individual Medley and 500 Freestyle for swimmers over age 13, for example.) A score is assigned based on the time for each event and age of the swimmer. The scores from each event are then added together to obtain the IMX Score. It is quite an achievement to complete all the IMX events and truly a milestone for any swimmer that achieves an IMX score of 1500 and qualifies for the IMX Meet. Six swimmers from the San Manuel area qualified and swam in the meet. The top 16 swimmers in each age group received plaques.
Three girls, from the Sea Lions Swim Team, had great swims at the demanding three day event. Tabitha Kellam finished 27th place in the 11-year-old girls division with a score of 1689. Darien Apuron and Gianna Sweeney both competed in the 13-year-old age group and finished 47th and 53rd respectively. Darien had the best meet of her life finishing with an IMX score of 1998, while Gianna finished with a score of 1781.
All three boys from San Manuel were awarded plaques for finishing in the top 16. Riley Stewart finished fifth in the 10-year-old boys division with 2264 points, Evan Apuron finished fifth in the 11-year-old boys division with 2832 points, and Will Newman finished sixth in the 15-year-old division with 3159 points. All three boys had tremendous swims and battled for every point against some great competitors from the Western United States. Riley and Evan swim with the Sea Lions in San Manuel, while Will swims with the Flying Fish in Oro Valley.
San Manuel Sea Lions Swim Team practices in Oro Valley in November – March while the water is too cold to hold practice in San Manuel. Anyone interested in more information on the Sea Lions can contact Alex Gort (896-2190) or check the team website, sealionsswimteam.com.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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