After finishing in the top half of the regional meet last year, the Greenwave boys and girls swimming teams are ready to make an even bigger splash this spring.
“Our goal for both teams is to qualify as many swimmers as possible in as many events as possible for the regional contest in May,” sixth-year coach Ken Grimes said, who returns 10 swimmers this year. “This will give us the most opportunities as we get a better picture of the strengths of the other teams in our division.”
Returning on the boys side are senior Christian Nemeth, juniors Justin Bivens and Brian Seline, and sophomores Rueben Alanis and Dominic Schulenberg. For the girls, seniors Bailey Diedi and Alexi Wasmuth return along with sophomores Karley Frederick, Ashby Trotter and Whitney Bernard. New to the team are seniors Morgan McAlexander, Sam Hoonsiri and Donovan Wright, and freshman Kaden Grimes for the boys, and senior Marlen Hannen, juniors Emily Turnham and Cara White, and freshmen Emily Giovanetti, Hannah Rochna and Larissa Sanches for the girls.
Grimes will depend on his seniors, especially Diedi and Nemeth, to guide the team. Their experience and skills will be invaluable as they finish their swimming career with the Greenwave while helping the newcomers adjust to competitive swimming.
“We have several upperclassmen who have joined the team and this is their first year as swimmers,” Grimes said. “They have already shown marked improvement during our first meet and as they continue to improve their skills, our team gets stronger as they are able to play bigger roles and compete in a wider variety of events.”
Grimes said one of the strengths this year is the medley relay teams. Nemeth, Alanis, Seline and Schulenburg will be strong for the boys and Giovanetti and Rochna reunite with former club teammates Trotter and Frederick for the girls.
“We have a solid mix of skilled individuals and numbers to fill events,” Grimes said. “Our attitude and work ethic are solid, and we are supportive of each other’s individual achievements. Our swimmers know that if they work toward their personal goals we improve as a team.”
And Grimes will count on his team’s attitude, work ethic and support as they compete in a strong 3A division.
“Truckee and South Tahoe always field strong teams. Fernley and Lowry also will be on the radar,” said Grimes, who also expressed his gratitude for the support from the parents and fans. “We don’t have home meets so we greatly appreciate everyone who travels and takes part timing or cheering. They are a vital part of our team as well.”
Fallon sweeps first dual meet
Fallon’s girls and boys swim teams swept their three duels on Friday in Incline.
The Lady Wave defeated Sage Ridge, 121-46, Incline, 124-62, and Excel, 140-0. The Greenwave boys defeated Sage Ridge, 109-66, Incline, 123-10, and Excel, 122-8.
“We were already able to qualify several swimmers for some regional events in the first meet,” Grimes said. “Our goal continues to be focused on improving those times so swimmers have the opportunity to reach regional finals and qualifying in multiple events to give us as many event options as possible.”
The relay team of Sanches, Trotter, Giovanetti and Frederick finished first in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 2 minutes, 26.96 seconds. The relay team of Grimes, Seline, Nemeth and Alanis finished first in the 200-yard medley relay in 2:07.32.
Sanches and Trotter finished first and second in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:40.29 and 2:54.53, and Alanis, Bivens and Hoonsiri swept the top three spots in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:18.75, 2:52.72 and 3:01.77.
In the girls 200-yard individual medley, Frederick finished third in 3:22.52 and Wassmuth was fourth in 3:45.39. In the 50-yard freestyle, Bernard was fourth in 33.68 and Diede took fifth in 38.61. Turnham finished seventh in 43.05. Nemeth won the events for the boys in 24.53 followed by Schulenberg in second in 27.91. Seline was sixth in 30.77 and McAlexander took eighth in 34.64.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Giovanetti was second in 1:16.28. In the 100-yard freestyle, Bernard, Frederick, Diede and Turnham finished fifth through eighth in times of 1:17.16, 1:25.24, 1:29.29 and 1:41.19. For the boys, Bivens took second in 1:11.17, Hoonsiri was third in 1:16.82 and McAlexander finished fifth in 1:24.13.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Sanches was second in 7:12.28. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, the team of Trotter, Bernard, Frederick and Giovanetti finished second in 2:15.95, followed by the team of Diede, Sanches, Turnham and Wassmuth in fourth at 2:39.41. For the boys, Bivens, Schulenberg, Alanis and Nemeth won the event in 1:49.97, and the team of Hoonsiri, McAlexander, Grimes and Seline took third in 2:12.01.
In the 100-yard backstroke, Grimes took second in 1:29.53. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Giovanetti finished second in 1:26.25, Trotter took fourth in 1:33.37 and Wassmuth was sixth in 1:56.75. For the boys, Alanis finished second in 1:13.58 followed by Nemeth in third at 1:15.63 and Seline in fifth in 1:23.86.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Fallon swept both the boys and girls with Bernard, Diede, Turnham and Wassmuth finishing the race in 6:16.08, and Bivens, Hoonsiri, McAlexander and Schulenberg finished in 5:15.66.