Malta takes third overall at Chinook Meet

The Malta Swim Team welcomed their new coach, Cassie Pratt last weekend at the Chinook Swim Meet and placed third as a team. The meet also marked the first meet for many of Malta's swimmers.

"I was very nervous but everything went well," Pratt told the PCN. "Everything went smoothly. All of my kids did awesome. I am very proud of them."

The team was led by Jillian O'Brien and Carly Garfield, a pair of intermediate swimmers that scored 32 points apiece.

O'Brien placed second in the Women's 13-14 100 breaststroke with a time of one minute, thirty-four point seventy-four seconds. She also took third in the 200 IM with a time of 3:22.57 and third in the 100 fly with a time of 1:44.36.

Garfield finished second in the Women 13-14 100 backstroke with a time of 1:38.21, third in the 50 freestyle with a time of 35.93 and third in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:21.33.

Darrow Messerly scored 30 points, finishing first in the Men 11-12 50 breaststroke with a time of 44.51, and fifth in both the 50 backstroke with a time of 54.87 and 50 freestyle with a time of 34.28.

Denvyr Tuss had a strong meet scoring 29 points in the Bantam class. Tuss won the Women 8 and Under 50 freestyle with a time of 46.92. Tuss took third in her class' 25 freestyle with a time of 2.68 and eighth in the 25 back with a time of 29.73.

"She (Tuss) was sitting in fourth place in the 50 free and she ended up pulling out in first place," Coach Pratt said. "She did an awesome job."

Connor Tuss also scored 29 points, placing third in the Men's 11-12 50 breaststroke with a time of 49.65 and third in the 50 backstroke with a time of 43.45 and fourth in the 200 IM with a time of 3:34.37.

The Women 13-14 relay teams won the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:26.27 and the 200 medley with a time of 2:47.35.

"Everybody did a wonderful job, whether they took time off or moved up a place," Coach Pratt said. "I believe everyone improved on the second day."

Coach Pratt swam for Malta for fourteen years and she feels her work ethic can be translated to coaching.

"I'm very proud of all of the swimming that I did," Coach Pratt said. "I'm a hard worker and I want these kids to work just as hard and I think we're going to have a great year."

Rather than focusing solely on timed laps, Coach Pratt prefers to have each swimmer swim at least a mile a day. So far under Pratt the practices have been an hour long instead of two hours, a tactic that will also yield efficiency.

"It depends on the day," Coach Pratt said. "With my seniors and intermediates I try to get then to swim over a mile, sometimes we will do two depending on the day and how hard we're pushing them. We're working really hard every day."

For information on joining the swim team, stop by the pool during open swim or swim team practices in the morning.