As swimmers competed in the outdoor pool in sunny Arizona in the 32nd Annual Lost Dutchman Invitational in Mesa, Arizona, multiple best times were raced and many swimmers qualified for finals and other upcoming championship meets, with 15-year-old Denny Woods winning the 200 breast stroke in the boys 15 and over division.
The team competed against 26 other teams from Colorado, Arizona, Utah, California and more.
The swimmers representing DSC at the Lost Dutchman meet were Avery and Fletcher Barnett, Olivia Becher, Linzie Bidart, Rhett Brown, Hadley Bumpers, Raina Dixon, Brinley Duran, Henry Goddard, Eddie and George Harrington, Elise and Quenton Harvey, Wyatt Hawley, Iris Hersch, Ada Krueger, Cole, Grayson and Katie LeRoux, Ava McKown, Ben Mertes-Yeager, Elin Mischler, Paxton Paxton-Horn, Shelby Powell, Cassidy Scott, Denny and Wylie Woods and Grant Wright.
The Durango men placed 12th and the women placed 21st out of 27 teams, with multiple relays clinching top 10 and top five spots.
In the 15 and over boys division, Denny Woods placed first in the 200 breast stroke with a time of 2:09.87, and Mischler placed second in the girls 15 and over 50 freestyle with a time of 25.04.
Woods also placed third in the 100 breast stroke (57.26), third in the 50 breast stroke (27.03), seventh in the 50 butterfly (25.77) and 10th in the 400 IM (4:38.98).
Rounding out the boys 15 and over division, Paxton-Horn placed sixth in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 17:42.98 and 10th in the 50 backstroke (28.06), Grant Wright placed seventh in the 1650 freestyle (18:21.26) and Hawley placed 10th in the 1650 freestyle (18:59.69).
The boys 15 and under 400 medley relay placed sixth. The relay team consisted of Woods, Paxton-Horn, Wright and Hawley.
The girls 15 and under 400 freestyle relay placed fourth and their 400 medley relay placed seventh. Both girls relays were made up of members Mischler, Becher, Scott and Dixon.
In the girls 13-14 division, Dixon placed 6th in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 18:32.78, ninth in the 500 freestyle (5:29.27) and 15th in the 200 freestyle (2:06.02), while Bidart placed 18th in the 50 butterfly with a time of 29.50.
In the 11-12 boys division, Grayson LeRoux placed eighth in the 200 breast stroke (2:47.48), eighth in the 500 freestyle (5:53.22) and 10th in the 200 freestyle (2:12.96).
In the 10 and under boys division, the boys 200 medley relay placed second, and their 200 freestyle relay placed third. Both relay teams consisted of George Harrington, Quenton Harvey, Wylie Woods and Mertes-Yeager.
Mertes-Yeager placed fifth in the 50 breast stroke (44.18), seventh in the 200 freestyle (2:42.22) and 10th in the 50 backstroke (1:34.20).
The weekend following the Lost Dutchman meet, Grayson and Katie LeRoux competed at Colorado Age Group State in Denver, and Duran and Katie LeRoux both will compete at Colorado Silver State in Denver March 1-3.
In March, Duran will swim in Fresno, California at the SWAGR Championships, and Mischler and Woods will compete in Phoenix, Arizona at the Four Corners Speedo Sectionals. Dixon, Scott, Mischler, Paxton-Horn and Woods will compete at Senior Western Zones April 3-6 in St. George, Utah.
On March 8, the club will attempt to Swim to Moab in their annual fundraiser. As part of this fundraiser, all DSC team members will try to swim as far as they can in a 4-hour session.
DSC has set a team goal to swim roughly 160 miles, which is the distance to Moab, Utah.
“This Swim Challenge is the team’s biggest and most fun fundraiser of the year,” DSC board member Mary Hawley said. “Swimmers seek sponsorship from friends, family and neighbors to financially support their efforts in this challenge. This is a fantastic way to promote swimming, teamwork, a healthy life and challenge the true grit of our athletes. A pizza party with raffle prizes reward swimmers for their efforts.”
