Clovis swimmers excel at club meet

RICHARDSON, Texas — Clovis’ swim team didn’t have a meet on its regular schedule last weekend, but the Wildcats were still in action and notched some big performances.

Participating in a club meet in Richardson, Texas, near Dallas, Clovis rang up some big numbers, even though head coach Gordy Westerberg described it as an up and down meet.

“We haven’t had a meet like this in a while,” Westerberg said. “The good swims were great swims and the bad swims were awful, which was frustrating for me as a coach and, needless to say, for the athletes.”

The club meet included 40 teams, some bringing as many as 95 swimmers. “But these are programs that have over a thousand kids,” Westerberg said, noting an 1,800-swimmer program where the team swims out of seven different locations and comes together under one banner.

Among that environment of powerhouse programs, Clovis freshman Shyann Kissinger jumped out with her times in the girls 500 and 1,650 freestyles. In the latter event Kissinger took second place, missing first by less than half a second, with her time of 17:29.2. That was considered a national Quad A mark that put Kissinger in the top 98 percent in the nation.

Kissinger’s 500 free time was 5:02.8, good enough for third place and also a Quad A number. “That’s incredible,” Westerberg said.

Bella Zamora competed in the 100 backstroke and captured third place with her time of 58.3, a national Triple A mark that put her in the country’s top 96 percent.

David Reeb, though only an eighth-grader, competed in the 100 butterfly — because swimmers can only compete in the meets for which they’ve qualified. And Reeb made good use of that opportunity, posting a personal-best 58.65, good enough for 22nd place and a national Double A mark. “He’s in the top 94 percent in the country. It’s really good,” Westerberg said. “He had never been in a meet of that level, and he performed incredibly.”

Katie Reeb finished the 500 freestyle in 5:15.1, her personal best by four seconds, placing ninth with a Double A mark that put her in the nation’s top 94 percent.

Reeb posted a 2:00.4, her personal best by almost three seconds, in the 200 freestyle, placing 28th with another national Double A mark.

Overall, Westerberg was pleased with his team’s effort and the fact that the team was there competing in the first place.

“We’re so used to and comfortable in our zone of swimming against Hobbs and Alamogordo and Lubbock teams even,” Westerberg said, “so it’s really good for the kids to get out and get against some really high-level competition. And that’s something they’ll grow from. Even the kids who didn’t swim as well as they wanted to, they’ll grow from that.”

The Wildcats are back into their regular meet competition this weekend, visiting Seminole, Texas, before beginning their winter-break training. “That’s where I dial up the level,” Westerberg said. “That really prepares us to go into that January-through-March phase.”