Murphy – It has been a good summer for the Cherokee County Aquatic Club. The team, which practices at Murphy Health & Fitness across from Konehete Veterans Park, doubled in size from 12 swimmers last year to 24 this year.
“The new kids have progressed so well,” head coach Frank Bachteler said. “I’m really happy to see (that). We’ve been dropping time in every swim meet.”
Bachteler said the team grew through word of mouth from parents. With so many new swimmers, the first two weeks were more about basic technique and stroke work than actually practicing.
Once assistant coach Miletzy Rivas returned home for the summer from college, the team was easier to manage. During a recent practice, the team had lane lines set up for four of the six lanes, with four or five kids in a lane.
“Basic stroke mechanics is a big thing that we do,” Bachteler said. “It will be drill, drill, drill. Then we start to put it all together and getting into train(ing).”
The team has improved throughout the year, which is Bachteler’s biggest goal for the team. With only 24 kids, it’s hard to compete for score against the other teams in the Mountain Swim League. Bachteler estimates Franklin has 150 kids, Highlands has 75, while Smoky Mountain and Jackson County have 50.
Despite the small numbers, 13 kids have won an event at a meet this summer, and 12-year-old Connor Whitney broke the team record in the boys 11-12 50-yard backstroke. His time of 36.21 seconds bested Kylan Bunch’s time of 37.53 from 2014. More kids this year also means being able to swim relays, which Bachteler says are great for team camaraderie.
The team competed in the Mountain Swim League conference meet at Franklin on Saturday, then will compete one final time this summer during the league’s All-Star meet at Jackson County on July 22. Bachteler would like to offer practice for two to
three days a week during the winter. The team did that from September until right around Christmastime last year, when a local deep freeze shut down the pool.
The high school swimmers had to commute to Franklin to swim two days a week, and didn’t return to the Murphy Health & Fitness until April. Bachteler wants to get the team back to being a competitive year-round team, though he said they’re a year or two away from that. For next summer, he’s looking to grow the team to 40 kids.
“It would be great if we could get to be a 12 month team,” Bachteler said. “We don’t have the numbers to support it right now. There are a couple kids who have some great potential. If they get to swim a couple times a week through the winter, coming back next spring they’d be really tough.”
Below are the local swimmers who finished in the top six of their respective events in the July 6 meet against Jackson County and Smoky Mountain:
- Loreli Whitney in the girls 8 & under age group placed first in the 25-yard freestyle and 25-yard backstroke and second in the 25-yard butterfly and 100-yard individual medley.
- Elijah Whitney in the boys 8 & under age group placed first in the 25 and 50-yard freestyle.
- Natalie Lowrance in the girls 9-10 age group placed first in the 50-yard breaststroke and 100-yard IM and placed third in the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard backstroke.
- Ella Swint in the girls 9-10 age group placed second in the 100-yard freestyle, fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and sixth in the 50-yard backstroke and 50-yard breaststroke.
- Jasher Godsey in the boys 9-10 age group in the 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle, second in the 50-yard freestyle.
- Daniel Vaught in the boys 9-10 age group placed third in the 100-yard freestyle and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle.
- Connor Whitney in the boys 11-12 age group placed first in the 50-yard freestyle, 50-yard backstroke, 50-yard butterfly and the 100-yard freestyle.
- Matteo Colandrea in the boys 11-12 age group placed second in the 50-yard breaststroke and 50-yard butterfly and third in the 50-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle.
- Roman Blount in the boys 11-12 age group placed fifth in the 50-yard backstroke.
- Sophia Evans in the girls 13-14 age group placed first in the 100-yard freestyle, second in the 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard IM and third in the 100-yard breaststroke.
- Ansley Roper in the girls 13-14 age group placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke, third in the 100-yard freestyle, fourth in the 50-yard freestyle, and fifth in the 100-yard backstroke.
- Beth Beasley in the girls 13-14 age group placed second in the 100-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, third in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke.
- Issac Vaught in the boys 13-14 age group placed first in the 200-yard IM, second in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard breaststroke.
- Alex Malinowski in the boys 13-14 age group placed second in the 100-yard backstroke, third in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 100-yard freestyle.
- Ariana Rivas in the girls 15-18 age group placed first in the 50-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke, the 100-yard breaststroke and the 100-yard butterfly.
- Fern Crayton in the girls 15-18 age group placed first in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200-yard IM and second in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle.
- Tori Jiminez in the girls 15-18 age group placed third in the 100-yard backstroke and fourth in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle.
- Tina Trigueros in the girls 15-18 age group placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke and fifth in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle.
- Iris Diaz-Menchu in the girls 15-18 age group placed third in the 100-yard freestyle and breaststroke, fifth in the 100-yard backstroke and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle.