The Turlock Seadogs summer swimming program opened up the new season with a near deficit this past weekend at the Tracy Invitational.
After a sluggish opening on Saturday, the Seadogs found themselves down by over 40 points heading into the finale on Sunday.
Rather than letting up, the Seadogs thrived on the final day to top out with a score of 1098, 30.5 points ahead of second place Ripon. Ceres was third with a 999 score.
“Sunday was our day to get back in the mix but I did not think that we would be able to come back from an 80 point deficit,” said Seadogs head coach Michaela Solario. “But on Sunday we pulled it together and ended up pulling out the victory.”
Set for an opportunity to turn the tables, the Seadogs made a serious push with all their swimmers in the finals and with the help of two high point trophy winners in Michael Tobin and Nathan Olson, the team was set nicely with crucial points.
“We were just happy that all of our kids were swimming well, taking off time and overall having a great meet,” Solario said.
Tobin broke a record in the 50 breast for the 11-12 age group after clocking in with a time of 33.09, which was 4.82 seconds faster than teammate Noah Cossey's second place time of 37.91.
With an outstanding performance in day-two, Olson, who competed in the 17-18 age group, broke records in both the 100 breast (1:05.70) and in the 100 IM with a time of 57.51.
“This meet is very hard to judge a whole season off of because of it being Memorial Day weekend. We never have all of our kids show up,” Solario said. “But overall from this meet and practices I have to say I am very excited about this season. Even though our boys are less in numbers, they are mighty in power.”
Although the boys dominated with many top performances, the girls, who have many fresh faces, provided some points for the team as Sierra Yandell in the girls’ age group of 11-12 placed first in the 50 free with a time of 27.39. Yandell also topped out in the 50 breast with a time of 34.51.
“We were dominating most of the age groups across the board but we have new girls as well so I do not know what the outcome of the season will be,” Solario added. “But I know the Seadogs family is looking forward to another great season together.”
The next meet for the Seadogs will be at the Turlock High pool against the Ceres Dolphins at 10 a.m. Saturday.
