Beginning the year with back-to-back wins is tough to do in any sport. The Turlock Seadogs summer swimming program made it look easy on Saturday with a win over the visiting Ceres Dolphins at the Turlock High Pool.
With the help of some strong stroke swimmers, the Seadogs were able to capitalize with their depth over the Dolphins and ended with a 159-point victory after scoring 1,164.5.
“Ceres has some very strong individual swimmers and some strong relays, but where we truly beat them is in the strokes. And I believe that we have depth where they do not,” said Seadogs head coach Michaela Solario.
In all 27 of the stroke races, the Seadogs were able to finish in either first or second which attributed largely to the point total for the home team.
“Our motto as an organization is basically to foster a individual success reward system and a team success reward system,” said Solario. “We want the kids to know that every single member is responsible for a win, if they earn points or not, because without their hard work every day at practice and without them being supportive of their swim family we would not have success.”
Turlock still found it tough to compete against Ceres, which came out with 49 first place finishes.
However, the Seadogs managed to accumulate 53 first place results along with multiple second place results.
“I love the fact that I get to see kids who have never swam events before complete strokes they thought they couldn't do, or seeing a kid beat their time and win heat winner bracelets,” Solario said. “It is all about fostering a positive environment where the kids are happy, having fun and in turn they swim well and that is where I believe our true success comes from.”
With a large help of the entire team of the Seadogs, Lily Prouty proved to be a standout for the weekend after she won her heat in every event she swam in.
Swimming in the girls 9-10 age group, Prouty placed second in the 100 yard free and swam a personal best of 1:28.79, which was over 10 seconds faster than her previous time.
“She conquered a fear by swimming in the 100 free and did very well and earned points for her team, we were all proud,” Solario said of Prouty.
Also in the 9-10 group, was Meg Hall who also had some amazing swims including a first place finish in the 50 yard butterfly with a time of 38.12. In the 50 free, Hall placed second with a time of 34.16, just 0.34 seconds off from the first place finisher.
The Seadogs next dual meet will be 8 a.m. Saturday against Tracy at Manteca.
