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Truly the Beasts in the Beast Meet are, from left: Oro Valley Pirates Xander Pollock (14), Ava Parker (10), Sarah Seppala (10), Tim Oetter (17), Sea Lions Ethan Kellam (10), Ben Fister (11), Nate Fister (14), Riley Stewart (12), Andres Valenzuela (14), Evan Apuron (13), Hannah Smallhouse (12), not pictured Tabitha Kellam (13). Vince Apuron | Apuron Photography
Over the weekend of Aug. 27-28, swimmers from throughout Arizona came to compete in the San Manuel Beast Swim Meet. The long course meter (50 Meter Pool) meet was hosted by the Sea Lions Swim Team. The meet was a USA Swimming sanctioned meet in which any swimmer that is registered with USA Swimming could compete. There were no qualifying times and entrants who completed the three Beast Events (the 200 Meter Butterfly, the 400 Meter Individual Medley, and the 1500 Meter Freestyle) received special awards. The majority of the swimmers attending the meet were from the Tucson area, however, a few swimmers came from as far as Phoenix and Thatcher.
Twelve Swimmers completed all three Beast Events and eight of them were Sea Lions swimmers. From the Oro Valley Pirates – Sarah Seppala (10), Ava Parker (10), Xander Pollock (14), and Tim Oetter (17) completed the Beast Challenge. From the Sea Lions – Ethan Kellam (10), Ben Fister (11), Hannah Smallhouse (12), Riley Stewart (12), Tabitha Kellam (13), Evan Apuron (13), Andres Valenzuela (14), and Nate Fister (14) completed the Beast Challenge. All 12 swimmers who completed the toughest events in swimming earned a ‘Beast Certificate’ and an Arizona Swimming water bottle.
Team scores were not kept at the meet, but no other team won more races than the Sea Lions Swimmers. Sea Lions won 35 races, Oro Valley Pirates 35, Sahuarita Stingrays 11, Southwest Aquatics 8, and Swim Neptune 5.
Sea Lions coaches were pleased with number of different swimmers that won races at the meet. A total of 10 different Sea Lions won races at the meet. Evan Apuron, Briana Castellanos, Joey Castellanos, Ben Fister, Ethan Kellam, Tabitha Kellam, AJ Lopez, Mason Stewart, Riley Stewart and Emerik Zovko all won at least one race at the meet. What delighted coaches most was the number of personal best times at the meet. Every Sea Lion swimmer achieved personal best times in several events. In many cases, the improvements were substantial, resulting from a summer of conditioning and skill improvement.
AJ Lopez competed in his first USA Swimming sanctioned meet. He had a spectacular weekend, swimming very fast and winning 5 races. He won the 100 Backstroke, 200 Freestyle, 400 Freestyle, 50 Backstroke and 50 Breaststroke.
The Sea Lions swim team hosted the swim meet, but it was only possible with help from the San Manuel High School Swim Team, Sycamore Canyon Academy, San Manuel National Junior Honor Society and many other volunteers from throughout the community. Visiting teams were pleased by the small town hospitality and look forward to coming to future meets in San Manuel.
Anyone interested in full meet results or 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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