Sports
Five-Peat: Shamrock Continues Swimming Dominance
The Shamrock Seals continued their dominance with a fifth straight championship, and set three meet records.
Seven records were set on Saturday at the Oconee County Swimming Championships, but the team race was much the same as in recent years.
The Shamrock Seals continued their dominance with a fifth straight championship buoyed by a strong second half of the meet, and three meet records. For the second straight year, Summer Hill’s Danielle Della Torre set an individual record, and was joined by teammates in the boys 7-8-year-old medley relay.
At Bishop Park in Athens, Shamrock coach Kevin Taylor said his team excelled in the second half of the meet, including a strong finish in the butterfly.
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“We have great kids, and they work hard,” Taylor said. “They seem to know what it takes. We placed a little better in our relays than we expected.”
Shamrock’s 9-10-year-old boys 100-yard medley relay team won in 1:09.72, which beat Shamrock’s own meet record set in 2008 of 1:10.25. The Seal’s Alexis Shirley also lowered the girls’ 11-12-year old 50-yard butterfly mark to 29.85 seconds. And Shamrock’s 9-10 boys 100-yard freestyle relay team won in 59.96, which blew away the previous mark set in 2008 of 1:02.50.
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Della Torre set a record in the girls 11-12-year-old 50-yard freestyle in 27.57 seconds, but because the pool was “hot,” she couldn’t finish closer to 26 seconds, which she said she’s done before.
“So I wasn’t as close to 26 as I should have been,” she said.
Della Tore was undefeated in three events, as she also won the 100-yard individual medley in 1:06.62, and was a part of the 200-yard medley relay team, which won in 2:11.23.
“I really wanted to get that (individual medley) record,” she said of the mark of 1:05.12. “But it’s pretty fast, and I was just going to try my hardest and see what I could do.”
Barracudas coach Scott Burrell said he wasn’t surprised by DellaTorre’s wins because she hasn’t lost all summer.
“She’s a very strong swimmer,” Burrell said. “Very talented, I’m looking forward to the next few years with her.”
Della Torre led a strong team finish for the Barracudas, which was a pleasant surprise to coach Scott Burrell.
“I didn’t expect it to be this close this year,” Burrell said of staying close with Shamrock. “Certain age groups where we’re very thin. It made it fun that there was a little competition in there. They have a lot of depth in a lot of events, and that’s usually what gets us in the end.”
Burrell said the 7-8 relay record took him by surprise.
“You never really know what’s going to happen with the 7-8s,” he said. “They did have a seed time that was faster than the record. I knew if they just performed that they would get it.”
Other records set on Saturday included Wesley Cline, who was unattached to a team, who won the boys 9-10 100-yard individual medley in 1:18.13. The Georgia Aquatics Center’s Brynn Halbach finished the girls 7-8 25-yard butterfly in 18.46 seconds.
Team results
Shamrock Seals 569
Summer Hill Barracudas 503