Whitefish Pilot

Emily Sullivan, a Whitefish Middle School student, became the first-ever member of the local Wave Ryder swim team to make it to the finals of the annual Northwest Age Group Sectional Championship swim competition in Seattle over the weekend.

Competing in the 50-meter breaststroke, the final event on Sunday, Sullivan placed eighth. Less than one second separated eighth-place from first.

"I didn't really know what to say," Sullivan wrote in an e-mail to the Pilot. "I was really excited and I didn't even know that I was the first Wave Ryder to ever make to the finals at sectionals."

Nearly 1,200 swimmers representing 14 states, including California and Texas, competed in the three-day event.

"It was super exciting," Wave Ryders coach Diedre Loyda said. "Emily was the first swimmer ever from our team to break into that final category. It's just a whole other level of swimming. To even qualify for this meet, she dropped around seven seconds off of her best time just to get there. That is amazing for any swimmer to do."

Loyda said Sullivan, 11, only started swimming competitively in January 2008 and has been practicing for two hours a day, four days a week since then. She puts in nine hours of practice a week, including dry-land training and pool time.

"She has worked extremely hard to get where she is," Loyda said.

Sullivan is a 4.0 student who is also a first-chair clarinetist in the school band.

"She is that wholesome, all-American example, the dream of what every parent would like their child to be," Loyda said. "She does her business, and she is so polite. While other kids might celebrate when they do well, she just acts like this is what she does every day. In practice, when I know I'm working her hard, some kids might complain, but she never does."

The Wave Ryders team has been competing for four years and qualified five swimmers for the sectional championships, but they were only able to send three. Jordan Loyda, 14, competed in freestyle events and placed 15th in the 50-meter freestyle. Joe Potkonjak, 10, competed in the backstroke and placed 11th in the 100-meter.

Sullivan, competing in the 100-meter breaststroke on Friday, dropped four seconds off her personal best time.

"In Montana, we train at 3,000 feet, and in Seattle we were at sea level," Loyda explained. "Emily commented on how buoyant she felt in the water there. It really helped. She also had a really fast suit on called an Aquablade. It channels the water away from the body. She trained really hard, and mentally she was really prepared."

Sullivan said she is thankful that she could be a part of such a huge event.

"I'm just very glad that I made it and could go," she wrote. "I want to thank my coaches for training me so well."