Three Shiner Stingray Swim players advance to State

  • Pictured are State qualifiers Maston Davis, Charlie Park, and Pierce Wallace (left to right). They were the only three of the 23 Shiner Stingray Swim Team members who advanced to State.
    Pictured are State qualifiers Maston Davis, Charlie Park, and Pierce Wallace (left to right). They were the only three of the 23 Shiner Stingray Swim Team members who advanced to State.

    Three members of the Shiner Stingrays Swim Team have advanced to State at the Regionals meet in New Braunfels. 
    The competition was the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF). TAAF has 44 swimming teams statewide for their league, including Shiner. There are 17 regions and eight teams in Shiner’s region (region #3). 
    Shiner competed against teams from New Braunfels, Marble Falls, Kerrville, Kyle, Dripping Springs, and Boerne. 
    Those advancing to the State meet in Brownsville are Matson Davis and Charlie Park, both 6, and Pierce Wallace, 11. They are the only three out of 23 Shiner swimmers advancing to State. 
    “It went really well, I am super proud of everyone,” Shiner Stingrays Swim Instructor Rebecca Park said.  “Everyone did a great job. We had a lot of people drop a lot of time compared to their times at other meets we went to in Victoria.”
    Park placed third in the 25 yard freestyle, Davis placed third in the 25 yard backstroke, and Wallace placed fourth in the 50 yard freestyle.  
    “Everyone’s time did improve,” Park said. “We had additional weeks of practice. Swimming is something that takes a lot of repetition to hone your strokes. It also takes strength and conditioning. People were getting stronger and they all had better strokes. 
    “In order to advance to State, you have to get first, second or third at Regionals. If first, second, or third isn’t going to state for some reason, then they offer it to the fourth-place finisher. That’s how Pierce was able to go to the State meet.”
    The Stingrays practiced diligently for four hours per week since the beginning of May. There were four different strokes that the Stingrays practiced on. 
    “Those strokes include freestyle, back stroke, the breaststroke, and the butterfly,” Park said. “Most people came in generally knowing how to swim some sort of freestyle. However, we worked on making it more of a competitive stroke of our speed. Not many people knew the butterfly stroke or the breaststroke coming into it. So, we slowly worked on those techniques.”
    “Swimming is an incredibly difficult sport, and it took a lot of hard work,” Park said. “For the ones that are going to State, we will have private lessons from Ella Neskora. She actually swam in the Olympic Trials last year.”
    Parks said she definitely plans on doing this competition next year and she encourages everyone who is interested to apply. 
    The State meet will begin this weekend at the Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center in Brownsville.
    “I just want to say good luck to our players going to state,” Park said. “I just hope everyone will have a chance to improve their time. I’ll definitely be happy with that.”