Malta Swimmers capture third place at home meet

The Malta Swim Team took third at their home meet last weekend, led by 10-year-old Darrow Messerly, who pulled out a hat trick in the pool, winning in three events.

Messerly won the Men 9-10 100 IM, with a time of 1:44.74 in the final round.

He also won the 50 free, with a time of 38.09 and 50 Breast, with a time of 52.01.

The pool is a little cold and the weather is cool," Darrow said about the swimming conditions. "The pool is colder so it makes you go faster. That's why I shaved a lot of time off."

Messerly though he did well in the preliminaries, however he told the PCN that he needs to work on his breathing to swimming ratio.

"I did pretty well, but I need to do a little less breathing and more swimming," Messerly said.

He also was encouraged that his twin brother Dallan, did so well.

Strong efforts were seen by the team, nearly placing all of its 23 athletes in the top 10 in their respective events.

Top finishers include Jenise Amestoy, who placed third in three events, including the Women 15-19 50 Free, with a time of 37.18, the 100 Free, with a time of 1:21.20 and 100 Back, with a time of 1.33.97.

Marcus Woods had a strong showing as well, placing third in the 11-12 200 IM, with a time of 4:10.57 (12.44 seconds faster than his personal best). He also placed third in the 50 Free, with a time of 42.15 and third in the 50 Breast, with a time of 55.12.

"Coach Brett Amestoy and I thought the kids performed well," said Coach Donnie Lynn. "Team wise the hard practices have been paying off and we're going to keep going with a lot of technique training and conditioning."

The Malta Swim Team's home meet was regarded as one of the cleaner meets yet.

"I would really like to thank the City Crew. We receives so many compliments from teams and parents that came in," said Coach Lynn. "The pool was crystal clear and the grounds were immaculate."

Coach Lynn would also like to thank the parents of the Malta Swim Team for helping put together a flawless meet.

This weekend the team will head to Roundup, which features a brand new stainless steel pool.

"The camping there is nice to do, so a lot of us will camp out for the weekend," said Coach Lynn.

He expects a pretty good showing for the Malta team, with even more athletes than last week, bringing the team to around 30 swimmers.

Lynn expects the team to improve as they aim to work on fundamentals, like turns.

The meet starts this Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m.