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.

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.

Winter Nationals Day 3

The the third and final day of the 2011 AT&T Winter Nationals Championship saw more swimmers from San Luis Obispo take to the water and compete against the best swimmers in the country.

Puma Aquatic swimmer Zachary Stevens swam the 200-meter breaststroke in 2 minutes, 23.61 seconds. San Luis Obispo Swim Club and former Cal Poly swimmer Zachary Cutts swam in the same event and posted a 2:25.32.

Also in the 200 breaststroke were Cal Poly swimmers Angels Haven and Kylie France. Haven, a junior, finished in a time of 2:39.35. She was followed by her senior teammate, who swam the event in 2:46.31.

Junior Katrina Anderson and senior Gloria Benefield swam the 200 backstroke in 2:20.06 and 2:20.07, respectively.

Belen Enguidanos, a freshman, competed in the 200 butterfly and posted a 2:18.01. She was followed by Benefield and France, who swam the event in 2:21.05 and 2:24.94, respectively.

Sophomore Rachel Cleak was the lone Mustang in the 100 freestyle, which she swam in 58.58.

The final Mustang to swim in Atlanta was distance swimmer Konrad Antoniuk. The sophomore swam the 1500 freestyle and hit a time of 16:15.60 to close out the weekend in Atlanta.

For complete results of the 2011 AT&T Winter National Championships, click here.

Local Swimmers Headed to Senior Nationals

Puma swimmer Zachary Stevens prepares for a race at the 2011 Junior Nationals, where he qualified for Olympic Trials. Stevens will be traveling to Atlanta, Ga., to compete in the AT&T winter National Championships.

A number of swimmers from San Luis Obispo will travel to Atlanta, Ga., for the U.S. Senior Nationals swim meet, which is being held this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

The AT&T Winter National Championships, which is usually competed in the short course yards format, is going to be competed in long course meters, due to the fact it is an Olympic year (the Olympic Trials and Olympics are held in long course meters).The venue for the meet is the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

Nine Cal Poly Mustangs will be competing in the meet.

Representing the Mustang men is distance swimmer Konrad Antoniuk. Antoniuk, an electrical engineering sophomore, will swim the 1500-meter freestyle and 400 freestyle.

The only other male Cal Poly swimmer is senior Aaron Mckinnon, who is swimming the 200 and 50 freestyles.

Seven Mustang women will also be making the trip. Junior Angela Haven is entered in the most events, with four: the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, 200 individual medley, and 100 butterfly.

Senior Kylie France is also swimming the 200 breaststroke, in addition to the 400 individual medley and 200 butterfly. Joining her in the 200 butterfly will be teammates Gloria Benefield (senior) and Belen Enguidanos (freshman).

Benefield is also slated to swim the 200 backstroke and 100 butterfly. Sophomore Rachel Cleak will join her in the 100 butterfly, while junior Katrina Anderson will swim the 200 backstroke.

Senior Amy Morales is entered in the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle.

Cal Poly swimmer Konrad Antoniuk will swim the 1500 and 400 freestyles this week in Atlanta.

Two swimmers from the Puma Aquatic swim team will also take to the water in Atlanta. 16-year-old Zachary Stevens will swim the 100 and 200 breaststrokes, while teammate Amelia Schachter, 17, will compete in the 100 breaststroke.

San Luis Obispo Swim Club and former Cal Poly swimmer Zachary Cutts will also swim the 200 breaststroke.

These local talents will be sharing the pool with some of the biggest names in the sport, including Ryan Lochte, Nathan Adrian, Melissa (Missy) Franklin, Elizabeth Beisel, Dana Vollmer, and Kosuke Kitajima.

The Winter Championships is the last major national competition before the 2012 US Olympic team Trials, which will take place in Omaha, Neb., next June and July.

For complete psych sheets, 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.

View Larger Map

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.