Prenot and Stevens Hit the Water Again

Santa Maria Swim Club swimmer Joshua Prenot and Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens competed in the 200-meter breaststroke today at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Prenot finished in a lifetime best 2 minutes, 13.00 seconds. He placed ninth in the preliminary session, which means he will advance to the semifinal round for the event (the top 16 advance). The 18-year-old UC Berkeley freshman-to-be will be in the second semifinal heat tonight and will be in lane two.

In the lane next to Prenot (three) will be Brendan Hansen, who won the bronze medal in the 20-meter breaststroke at the 2004 Athens Games. Hansen punched his ticket to London on Tuesday night by winning the 100-meter breaststroke.

Prenot will also swim the 200-meter individual medley on Friday. He is seeded 18th with a time of 2:02.24.

Stevens, 16, also had a personal best time in the event. He finished in 2:19.52, which was 46 one-hundredths of a second faster than his entry time. Stevens finished 63rd after being ranked 104th going into the event.

Prenot and Zimmer Swim at Trials

Santa Maria Swim Club swimmers Joshua Prenot and Meghan Zimmer both competed in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials today in Omaha, Neb.

Zimmer, who swims for San Diego State University, hit the water in the first heat of Wednesday’s preliminary session. She finished the 200-meter freestyle in 2 minutes, 6.36 seconds. Although she was nearly three seconds slower than her seed-time, the 22-year-old moved up from 114th place going into the event to 92nd.

Prenot, who is competing in a total of five events over the course of the eight-day meet, swam in the 200-meter butterfly. His time of 2:01.64 earned him 37th place.

Prenot, 18, will next swim in the 200 breaststroke on Thursday. Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens will also compete in the event.

 

Stevens, Prenot, Kick of Olympic Trials

Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens and Santa Maria Swim Club swimmer Joshua Prenot both competed on the first day of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb.

Prenot, 18, hit the water first in the 400-meter individual medley. Prenot finished in 4 minutes, 22.53 seconds. He finished in 13th place.

The top eight finishers in the preliminaries of the 400 individual medley will compete again in finals tonight. The top two finishers in finals make the U.S. Olympic team. Defending Olympic champion and world record holder Michael Phelps is set to race Ryan Lochte, who is the defending World Champion. Also considered a serious contender in the event is Tyler Clary of Fullerton.

Prenot, who will attend UC Berkeley this fall, also swam the 100 breaststroke. His time of 1:02.89 earned him a 34th place finish in prelims.

Stevens, 16, competed in the 100 breaststroke as well. He finished in 1:04.26, two one-hundredths of a second faster than his entry time. The Arroyo Grande high school junior-to-be placed 72nd in prelims.

The top 16 finishers of the 100 breaststroke will compete in a semifinal tonight. The top eight in semifinals will advance to final, which will be held Tuesday night.

The other events that will be contested tonight are the women’s 100 butterfly semifinal, the men’s 400 freestyle final, and the women’s 400 individual medley final. Tonight’s events will be aired on NBC.

For complete results, click here.

Local Swimmers to Compete at U.S. Swimming Trials

Puma swimmer Zachary Stevens prepares for a race at the 2011 Junior Nationals, where he qualified for Olympic Trials.

Three swimmers from the San Luis Obispo area will compete in the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Omaha, Neb. The Trials begin on Monday, June 25, and will run through Monday July 2.

Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens is slated to compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststrokes. Stevens, 16, is ranked 98th in the 100 breaststroke and 103 in the 200. Stevens just completed his sophomore year at Arroyo Grande High School, and placed second in the 100-yard breaststroke at the CIF SS Division II finals.

Stevens qualified for the Trials meet last August at the 2011 Junior Nationals in Palo Alto, Calif.

The Santa Maria Swim Club will be represented by two athletes in Omaha. Joshua Prenot is entered in five events. He will compete in both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, in which he is ranked 35th and 18th, respectively. He is also seeded 18th in the 200 individual medley, and he is seeded 27th in the 200 butterfly.

Prenot, 18, is positioned best in the 400 individual medley, in which he is ranked 10th with a time of 4 minutes, 18.44 seconds. The top eight in each event advance to finals.

Prenot is set to attend UC Berkeley next fall.

The other Santa Maria swimmer is Meghan Zimmer. Zimmer, 22, will swim the 200 freestyle. She is seeded 114th in the event.

For complete psych sheets for the Trials, click here.

For the broadcast schedule of the trials, click here.

Local Swimmers Sign Letters of Intent

Arroyo Grande High School swimmers Mia Schachter and Sonny Fierro made their future plans offical during Wednesday’s National Signing Day.

Schachter accepted a full scholarship to attend Tulane University in New Orleans, while Fierro committed to swim for the Cal Poly Mustangs.

Schachter is a four-time CIF Division II finalist in individual events. She has also been a member of three relay teams that made CIF finals. She holds multiple Arroyo Grande school records, and was recognized as an All-American after last season in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard breaststroke.

Schachter has represented the local Puma Aquatic Club at both Junior Nationals and Senior Nationals. Most recently, she competed in the 100-meter breaststroke at the 2011 Winter Nationals Championships in Atlants, Ga.

Tulane University has a Division I swimming and diving team that competes in Conference USA. Schachter had offers from other Division I schools including UCLA, but chose to accept the full scholarship offered by the Green Wave.

Fierro is living on the Central Coast for the first time, having moved here from the Sacramento area at the beginning of this school year. Before he moved he swam for the Arden Hills swim team, but now trains with the Santa Maria Swim Club. He specializes in the mid to long distance freestyle events, and has swam at both Junior and Senior Nationals.  He recently swam the 400-meter freestyle at the 2011 Winter Nationals.

Fierro will join a Mustang team that is currently in its second season of competing as a member of the Pac-12 Conference.

Staying Warm at Swim Meets

As the winter months begin, the new season bring with it the possibility of rain. Although rain is neccessary for life on this planet to continue, it is not especially welcomed during swim meets, especially here in California, where most of the pools are outdoors.

The following video gives some tips on how to cope with the elements at rainy and cold swim meets, and also demonstrates how miserable it can be when an already water based sport gets even wetter.

SLO Gobbler Men’s 100 Free

Puma Swimmers Compete in Fullerton

Alan Peterson represented the Puma Aquatic swim team at the Kevin B. Perry Senior Invitational in Fullerton this past weekend.

A group of swimmers from the Puma Aquatic swim team traveled to Fullerton this past weekend to compete in the annual Kevin B. Perry Senior Invite.

The meet was hosted by the Fullerton FAST swim team, and was held at the Janet Evans Swim Complex. It began Friday night with timed finals of the men’s 1650-yard freestyle and women’s 1000 freestyle. Saturday and Sunday began with prelims sessions that ran until the early afternoon and finals sessions in the evening.

On Saturday, Mia Schachter finished second in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 4.90 seconds. Just a few minutes later, she swam in the finals of the 50 freestyle and finished fifth, posting a time of 24.17. Later that night, Schachter returned to the pool for the finals of the 200 individual medley. She placed seventh with a time of 2:09.89.

Schachter also swam in the finals of the 100 butterfly Sunday night. She came in fifth and finished in 56.57.

Also competing in the finals for Puma Sunday night were Alan Peterson and Graham Johnson. Johnson swam the 100 butterfly in 54.85 and finished 29th. Peterson took on the 500 freestyle and put up a 4:50.41 to finish 28th.

Peterson also competed in the 1650, 1000, 200, and 100 freestyles, as well as the 200 butterfly and 200 backstroke. Johnson competed in the 50, 100, and 200 freestlyles in addition to the 100 butterfly.

For complete results from the 2011 Kevin B. Perry swim meet, click here.

Puma to Start Masters Program

The Puma Aquatics swim team is now offering a masters swimming program for Puma parents.

Practices for the master’s group will be held at Arroyo Grande High School during the regular practice time, which is 5:30-7:30 p.m.

As of now, the masters group is only open to Puma parents to swim on their own. Eventually, it will be opened up to more people. As the program grows, a coach will be appointed to work with the masters group.

Initially, there will be no fee. But one will instituted when the group gets large enough in order to pay for its own coach.

Parents that are interested in being a member of the masters group should go to the U.S. Masters site. When signing up register under Puma Aquatic Masters.

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Stevens Selected to Camp

Puma Aquatics swimmer Zachary Stevens has been selected to be a member of the USA Swimming  National Select Camp, which is taking place October 27-30 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

The camp has 30 male roster spots and 30 female roster spots. The swimmers selected are the top two swimmers for their age group in each respective event.

Stevens qualified for the camp by posting one of the top two times in the nation for his age group (15-16) in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes.

Stevens’s performance at the 2011 Junior Nationals, held this past August in Palo Alto, made him eligible for the camp. The 16-year-old placed 12th in the 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes, 19.98 seconds. His time of 1:04.28 in the 100 breaststroke earned him a fourth place finish.

Stevens has qualified for the 2012 Olympic Trials in both of the breaststroke events. He is preparing to compete in the trials, which will take place in Omaha, Nebraska, next June.

Puma Coach Rich Firman is accompanying Stevens on the trip to Colorado Springs.