Shiner Stingray Swim team members advance to State

  • Shiner Stingray Swim Team members advancing to state include, front row, left to right, Charlie Park, Owen Gutierrez, Jack Park and Maston Davis; back row, left to right, Pierce Wallace, Austin Blaschke and Kori Kacir.
    Shiner Stingray Swim Team members advancing to state include, front row, left to right, Charlie Park, Owen Gutierrez, Jack Park and Maston Davis; back row, left to right, Pierce Wallace, Austin Blaschke and Kori Kacir.

    Seven members of the Shiner Stingrays Swim Team advanced to State at the Texas Amateur Athletic Federation (TAAF) Regionals meet held July 19 in New Braunfels. 
    There were 16 regions competing in TAAF. Shiner competed against teams from New Braunfels, Dripping Springs, Belterra, Kyle, Marble Falls, and Kerrville. 
    Those advancing to the state meet in College Station are Pierce Wallace, Austin Blaschke, Kori Kacir, Charlie and Jack Park, Owen Gutierrez, and Maston Davis. All state swimmers attend school at Shiner ISD, except Davis and Gutierrez who attend St. Paul and Hallettsville ISD, respectively. 
    From a team of 42 in Shiner, these swimmers have earned a spot at the State Meet, competing against athletes from 46 cities.
    “I’m very proud of these kids for advancing to state,” Shiner Stingrays Swim Instructor Rebecca Park said. “Last year was our first year doing this and we had three swimmers advance to state in three events. 
    This year, we have seven swimmers advancing for a total of ten events, so we basically more than tripled our events. These kids have worked hard. Swimming may look like fun, and it is fun, but it’s also a lot of hard work.”
    Wallace, Davis and Charlie Park went to state last year. 
    It took a lot of practice for these seven Stingray team members to advance.
    “We practiced Tuesday through Friday for an hour a day since April,” Park said. “That’s split up between those who are ten and under and those who are 11 or older. There are four competitive strokes we practiced. They included freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. We practiced all of them. 
    For the newbies, we start with freestyle and then we add backstroke and work our way from breaststroke and butterfly. These kids are swimming back and forth 2,000 yards in a practice. It’s amazing to see the amount of work put in and it shows.”
    There is also a category called individual medley. That is one race where you swim all four strokes. So, the 100 individual medley is one lap of each of the four strokes.
    Gutierrez and Davis as well as Charlie and Jack Park placed in the eight and under age group at Regionals. Jack Park placed third in the 25-yard breaststroke as well as the 100-yard individual medley while Charlie placed fourth in the 25-yard butterfly category. Gutierrez placed second in the 50-yard free style and first in the 100-yard individual medley. Those kids as well as Davis also placed second in the 100-yard medley relay. 
    Kacir placed fifth in the 25-yard backstroke for the 9-10 girls age group. Wallace placed third in the 50-yard freestyle for the 11-12 boys age group. Blaschke placed third in the 100-yard free style and fourth in the 50-yard backstroke for the 13-14 boys age group. 
    Park said this is a significant achievement for the program. “I believe Regionals was harder this year than last year especially looking at the times it took to qualify,” Park said. “I’m very proud of them.” 
    Along with Park, Libby Lindly and Ella Neskora also helped coach the Stingrays. There are some things Park and her assistant coaches are working on  with the kids in qualifying for state. 
    “Right now, we’re trying to tune up the start and transitions,” Park said. “That’s basically their time spent at the wall when they touch and do a flip turn and go back. We’re trying to improve that and get that faster. We’re also fine tuning the strokes. As they say, ‘the horse is already in the barn.’ 
    There’s not too much we can do to make them faster except little, tiny things that make a difference. One of the hardest strokes is the butterfly. It takes an incredible amount of strength to do that, so we are also practicing that.”
    A number of swimmers placed at Regionals but won’t be moving on to State. They include Ryan Bays, Kayla Heinold, Jacob Mahurin, Kateri Spring, Olivia Thompson, Ellasyn Klekar, Gemma Spring, Brynn Fric, and Gabrielle, Bridgette and Collette Woods.
    Parks said she is proud of everyone in the Stingray team, even those who didn’t make it to state. 
    “It is very rewarding every time a swimmer drops their personal records,” Park said. “The first practice after each meet, we have a bell and every swimmer who dropped their personal records gets to ring it. We celebrate every time drop. Everyone supported each other throughout this.”
    This is the 100th year anniversary of the TAAF competition. The state competition in College Station will be held starting tomorrow, July 31 through Sunday, Aug. 3.