Indians Boys Swim Team Has Impressive Outing

400 Free Relay record holders – Owen Gordon, Jarod Miller, Colin Fiechtner, Carson Breon
500 Free record holder Gordon
200 Free Record holder Miller
100 Free Record holder Breon (submitted photo)

by Todd Miller

What a night for the Indian Swim team! The Indians traveled to the Indianola YMCA to take on Grinnell, NCMP, and Indianola in an invitational swim meet. It turned out to be one of the greatest nights for Oskaloosa Boys swimming as the team set 5 new school records as all the swimmers seem to be setting new personal best times. The team, parents, and coaches were so excited at the end of the meet that the Osky following was the last one in the pool area enjoying the moment.

In the 200 Medley Relay, the Indians got things started by sending two teams to compete. The first team of Landon Hunolt, Aaron Scholes, Joshua Hartl, and Trae Jarvis finished in a time of 2:18.33 which was 11 seconds faster than their personal best. The second team was Owen Gordon, Jack Dawson, Carson Breon, and Colin Fiechtner as they finished in a time of 1:46.13 which was a 3-second improvement and were able to take home the Bronze Medal.

The next race was the 200 Free, and Luca Claro was up first as he swam the race for his first time and finished with a time of 2:48.29. Up next was Jarod Miller, as he finished in a time of 1:58.82, 8 seconds faster than his previous personal best and a new school record while earning the Bronze Medal finish.

The following race was the 200 IM, and Carson Breon went to the blocks and came away with a 2:14.87 to earn another bronze medal for the Indians.
In the 50 Free, 60 swimmers were competing, and Osky sent 6 of our own to compete in the sprint. The Indians had all six finish in the top 15 gathering points for the Indians. Trae Jarvis had a 33.72, Andrew Scholes a 31.88, Landon Hunolt a 28.58, and Keygan Roberts a 27.34 and all of these times were personal bests. The 10th place finish was Joshua Hartl as he swam a 27.12, which is impressive for a first-year swimmer and the 5th place finish was earned by Colin Fiechtner who swam a 24.65 and these times were also personal bests.

The next race for the Indians was the 100 Free, and there were nearly 50 entries in this event. Osky sent four swimmers to the blocks to compete, and it was fun to watch as they all finished in the top 13 to earn points for the Indians. The first swimmer to go was Claro, and he swam a 1:08.75 as he took 10 seconds off his personal best. Roberts was next as he swam a 1:02.77, another personal best for a 12th place finish. The next 2, Dawson and Miller ended up being placed side by side in the final heat as they battled it out for a third and second place finish for the Indians. Dawson finished in a time of 52.80, personal best, and Miller finished in a time of 52.64 and broke the school record.

The longest race of the night was next as Hunolt and Gordon went to the blocks to compete in the 500 Free. Hunolt was up first as he was swimming the race for his first time and he finished in a time of 6:42.18. In the final heat, Gordon stepped up and swam a 5:27.19 for the Bronze medal and set a new school record as he blew his previous personal best out of the water.

Oskaloosa sent two teams to compete in the 200 Free Relay, and it was one of the best races in our school’s young history of swimming. The first team in the water was Aaron Scholes, Andy Scholes, Trae Jarvis, and Josh Hartl as they swam a personal best in a time of 2:01.94. The second team in the water was Carson Breon, Jarod Miller, Colin Fiechtner, and Jack Dawson as they battled the whole time with two other teams who all finished within .11 of a second of each other. The good news is that Osky upset the two higher ranked teams and came away with a huge Gold Medal finish and broke the old school record by swimming a 1:36.40.

After a short break, the teams were back in the water and Oskaloosa sent Owen Gordon to compete in the 100 Backstroke Event. Gordon finished in a time of 1:02.24 and took home the Silver Medal for the Indians.

Next up for the Indians was the 100 Breast Event and they sent three swimmers to compete against the field. The Scholes brothers were the first up as they battled the field with Andrew finishing in a time of 1:24.25 and Aaron in a time of 1:20.65 as they both had personal best times. The final swimmer for the Indians was Jack Dawson as he swam a new personal best in a time of 1:05.28 and earned the Bronze Medal.

In the last event of the night, 400 Free Relay, Osky again sent two teams to compete. First up was the team of Hartl, Claro, Jarvis, and Hunolt as they swam a time of 4:49.82 for the Indians. The last heat of the night had the team of Breon, Fiechtner, Miller, and Gordon. They took off and swam a personal best time of 3:38.66 to break the school record and they earned the Silver Medal finish in the process. Carson Breon’s first leg split of 51.90 gave him the new school record in the 100 Free as well.

It was a great night for the Indians as they were all swimming faster than ever as Coach Bolibaugh is pushing this group to continue to get better every day. Next up for the Indians is the double dual at Grinnell against them and Ottumwa on Tuesday, January 22nd. It starts at 7:00 pm at the Grinnell College pool for anybody wanting to watch this group compete.