ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Camryn Wells, El Centro Sunsations swim team
EL CENTRO — In her first invitational meet of the season with the El Centro Sunsations on June 30, Camryn Wells was able to put on the best performance of her young swimming career as she placed first in three of the four events in which she competed.
In only her second season of competitive swimming, Wells, 6, showed she was more than able to hold her own against other experienced swimmers from around the county and Yuma in the invitational.
“I swam confident, and I didn’t care who I swam with,” the 6-year-old said. “I had practiced every day of the week, and I do a lot of swimming by myself at my house. I like to swim a lot; that’s what makes this sport fun.”
Wells won the girls’ 6-and-under 25-meter butterfly race, with a time of 31.84 seconds, the 25-meter backstroke in 29.47 seconds and the 25-meter freestyle with a time of 25.72 seconds.
The 6-year-old then finished in second place in the girls’ 8-and-under 50-meter freestyle swimming event.
Wells was placed with the older group for the freestyle as her average times were significantly faster than those in the 6-and-under group.
“I felt great,” Wells said on competing against older swimmers. “It didn’t bother me, I was confident because I didn’t look. I wasn’t worried about who’s next to me.”
As a result of her strong performance in the invitational, Wells was awarded the High Point 6-and-under Award, which was the second she’s received.
“It’s kind of special because it tells me I could do it more than once,” Wells said.