Sandpoint Sharks capture 25 medals at IES Long Course Championships

PASCO, Wash. — Eight different swimmers took home medals and the Sandpoint Sharks won the Spirit Award for the third straight year at the Inland Empire Swimming Long Course Championships held Friday through Sunday at Memorial Aquatic Park.

“There was a 100% time drop from all the Sharks this meet," head coach Emily Renzini said. "Every single swimmer did amazing and all of their hard work paid off."

Kate Bracht, 8 years old, was the High Point Award winner in the 8-and-under age group. She finished off an exciting weekend with six gold medals, two silvers and four new personal bests. She was first in the 50-meter free (41.11), 100 free (1:32.70), 200 free (3:23.60), 50 back (47.43), 100 back (1:43.37) and 200 individual medley (3:44.16), and second in the 50 breast (56.45) and 50 fly (51.70). Her time of 3:23.60 in the 200 free was a meet record by roughly 13 seconds.

Charley-Rain Olpin, 11, broke multiple team records and, in doing so, qualified in numerous events for the USA Swimming Western Zone Age Group Championships, set to be held Wednesday, Aug. 6 through Saturday, Aug. 9 in Elk Grove, Calif. She tallied two gold medals, four silvers, and two bronzes at the meet. All-in-all, she placed first in the 400 free (5:11.44) and helped the 200 medley relay to a first-place finish (2:22.30), placed second in the 100 free (1:07.51), 200 free (2:25.01), 100 back (1:21.59) and 50 fly (33.36), and finished third in the 50 back (37.15) and 50 free (31.10). She recorded a new personal best in eight different events in total.

Myelle Jensen, 13, swam to one gold, four silvers, and one bronze, including four new personal bests, across the three-day event. She led off the first-place 200 medley relay, finished second in the 50 free (29.00), 200 free (2:22.26), 100 back (1:13.63), and 200 individual medley (2:41.80), and placed third in the 100 breast (1:25.50).

Alivia Storms, 14, and Athena de Leeuw, 14, were also a part of the first-place 200 medley relay team. Charlie Johnson, 10, added a silver medal in the 100 back with a new personal best time of 1:32.16. Renzini also noted that Vienne LaFountain, 12, and Zoey Travnicek, 10, had a plethora of great races over the weekend for the girls squad, which placed sixth overall out of 17 teams with a score of 664 points across all age groups.

On the boys side, Andrew Ford, 14, led the way with a silver and a bronze. He placed second in the 100 breast (1:14.58) and third in the 200 breast (2:48.20) — both of which were new personal bests. 

Lou Foust, 15, recorded nine new personal bests in total and podiumed with a bronze in the 200 back (2:26.82). In the 100 free, he finished seventh with a new personal best time of 59.01 seconds, qualifying him for the USA Swimming Western Zone Senior Championships, which started Tuesday and will conclude Saturday at the Clovis North and West Aquatics Centers in Fresno, Calif.

Joshua Jackson, 13, swam to new personal bests in six of the events he competed in, including a sixth-place finish in both the 200 back (2:39.87) and the 1500 free (19:53.70). Bodi Demmons, 14, also had a handful of personal bests and registered a fourth-place finish in the 200 back (2:29.42) for the boys squad, which finished 12th out of 17 teams with 198 points across all age groups.

18 Sandpoint swimmers participated at the championships in total.

“There were so many first-place winners," Renzini said. "Coaches from other teams were noticing how amazing our team was doing. It’s just a wonderful reminder that despite how small of a team we may be, we still show up and put our hearts into each race. That is how I wanted to end the long course season."

The Sandpoint Sharks will host the Shark Attack Open Swim, which acts as a fundraiser for the team, this Friday at City Beach. The swim is geared towards new swimmers under the age of 18. If interested, registration is still live at https://runsignup.com/Register/?raceId=185198.