SPORTS High school swimming
BREMEN — The weather outside Thursday made it feel a little like spring and inside Bremen High School it felt a little like summer as the Lady Lions girls swim team opened its season by hosting Plymouth.
Bremen had more first place finishes ( 7- 5), but Plymouth’s team depth - especially in the diving portion of the meet - was the difference as the Lady Pilgrims defeated the Lady Lions, 100-82, to remain unbeaten on the young season.
“We’re ecstatic,” said Plymouth head coach Haley Church. “To start 3-0 is exciting, especially with one of our best swimmers (sophomore Marley Houin) quarantined. I’m proud of the girls because some had to step up in new roles and we have a ton of new swimmers. Each person is important. If we can beat somebody, we score a point and take one away from them. It’s a great team victory.”
Lucy Keirn won two individual events (200 IM, 100 back) to lead PHS.
“Lucy did great,” Church said of the sophomore. “She was a first-year swimmer last year and has made incredible improvement. She’s gone from barely being able to dive in to one of our top swimmers. I’m really excited for her. She brings a lot of life and energy and is competitive. She has kind of fit right in to (graduate) Graci Holm’s spot, who was our top swimmer last year.”
Other individual winners for the Lady Pilgrims were junior Summer South ( 50 free), senior Maggie Bradway ( diving) and senior Raven Gritton (500 free).
“Raven is tough,” added Church. “She does that back-to-back for us (500 free, followed by the 200 free relay). You can really see the competitive spirit she has. She’s being a leader because she is reliable and competitive; everything you want in a senior.”
Plymouth outscored Bremen 13-0 in diving with the top three places, as Bremen did not have any divers.
“Maggie has really been a big contributor,” continued Church. “She’s undefeated. Without the diving sweep, it’s a much tighter meet. We have a new diving coach (Christina Burcham). It’s been fun to see her get them ready.”
Bremen won all three relays and had two, double individual winners - both freshmen - in Audrey Sands (200 free, 100 free) and Kaia Podlin (100 fly, 100 breast). Each were part of two of the three relay victories as well. Podlin, in her first varsity
swim meet, was just .23 seconds off the school record in the 100 breaststroke win.
“The girls swam as strong as they possibly could,” said first-year Bremen head coach Andy Wassel. “We have four girls out due to quarantine, but hats off to Plymouth. They have a
deep team and are great competitors. I cannot be more pleased and more proud of how the Lions swam though.
“Audrey’s been swimming competitively since she was 6, but has been nursing back injuries the past two years so she’s not
swimming as fast as she wants to be, but she still comes out strong for the team. Kaia wanted that record now. Several records on that board will have her name on them eventually. She’s a phenomenal swimmer and will go to state this year.”
Plymouth will have its first conference meet next Tuesday at Concord. Bremen will host Mishawaka Marian the same day.
• PLYMOUTH 100, BREMEN 82
At Bremen
TOP THREE FINISHERS:
200 Medley Relay
1 Bremen, 2:16.23 Sands, Podlin, Cannon, Miller
2 Plymouth, 2:16.24 Keirn, Langfeldt, Jacobs, South 3 Plymouth, 2:38.68 Daniels, Bradway, Schaller, Gritton
200 Yard Freestyle
1 Bremen, Sands, Audrey 2:26.66 2 Plymouth, Gritton, Raven 2:26.77 3 Bremen, Miller, Keely 2:28.58 200 Yard IM
1Plymouth Keirn, Lucy 3:05.29 2 Plymouth Langfeldt, Morgan 3:07.16
3 Bremen Freehauf, Sophia 3:23.46 50 Yard Freestyle
1 Plymouth South, Summer 28.57 2 Bremen Miller, Lauren 29.10 3 Bremen Meyer, Sylvia 29.47
1 Meter Diving
1 Plymouth Bradway, Maggie 164.85
2 Plymouth Treber, Mia 131.65 3 Plymouth Hauptmann, Madi 116.75
100 Yard
1 Bremen Podlin, Kaia 58.09 2 Plymouth Jacobs, Rachel 1:34.12 3 Plymouth Schaller, Elli 1:42.15 3 100 Yard Freestyle
1 Bremen Sands, Audrey 1:02.07 2 Plymouth South, Summer 1:04.54 3 Bremen Miller, Lauren 1:07.67
1 Plymouth Gritton, Raven 6:33.73 2 Bremen Miller, Keely 6:40.52 3 Plymouth Vanlue, Kelsey 7:20.67
1 Bremen 2:00.06 - Miller, Meyer, Miller, Sands
2 Plymouth 2:01.03 - Langfeldt, Jacobs, South, Gritton
3 Plymouth 2:18.45 - Thangam, Gritton, Kara, Harter
1 Plymouth Keirn, Lucy 1:13.61 2 Bremen Depoy, Hanna 1:28.41 3 Plymouth Daniels, Vandalyn 1:32.20
100 Yard Breaststroke
1 Bremen Podlin, Kaia 1:07.53 2 Plymouth Langfeldt, Morgan 1:31.88
3 Plymouth Bradway, Maggie 1:43.88
400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1 Bremen 4:36.32 - Miller, Cannon, Meyer, Podlin
2 Plymouth - 4:57.82 - Keirn, Harter, Gritton, Gritton
3 Plymouth - 5:24.85 - Martin, Thangam, Wray, Vanlue