Four young Carson Tigershark swimmers are finding out what it takes to swim at the elite level at the Huskie Invitational in Federal Way, Wash.
Tigershark coach Jim Puleo said the most elite events are international competitions such as the Olympics and Olympic Trials. Next comes the national championships and Grand Prix meets.
Puleo said the Huskie Invitational would be considered one level below Grand Prix meets. Forty-nine club teams and five colleges, including Washington and UCLA, are competing in the Huskie Invitational. The Tigersharks are the youngest team at the meet.
Fourteen-year-old Kevin Dyer is having a strong meet, dropping his time by five seconds in the 1,000-yard freestyle, taking 31st in 10 minutes, 11.33 seconds.
Dyer came back to break five minutes for the first time in the 500 free, dropping his time by six seconds to take sixth in 4:54.27. "Kevin's having a pretty good meet," Puleo said.
Thirteen-year-old Abby Niehoff struggled to 31st in the 1,000 free in 10:39.86. She came back to take 40th in the 500 free in 5:10.50. "Abby looked a lot better," said Puleo about Niehoff's 500 free.
Fourteen-year-old Tatum Boehnke took 46th in the 1,000 free in 11:17.40 and swam to a personal best of 5:32.43 in the 500 free.
Matt Grunert, who celebrated his 15th birthday on Friday, swam to a personal best of 25:54 in the 50 free, taking 49th and also took 49th in the 500 free in 5:19.84.
Grunert will swim in his first main event today in the 100 breaststroke. Also today, Niehoff will swim in the 100 butterfly and Boehnke, Niehoff and Dyer will swim in the 200 free. The meet concludes on Sunday with Dyer in the 200 breaststroke, Niehoff in the 200 fly and Niehoff, Dyer and Boehnke in the 1,650 free.
"It's an eye opener for these guys," Puleo said. "It's important for these youngsters to see what they need to do to swim against these caliber of swimmers."