Danes Use Meet to Get Back in Shape

Platte Canyon is in the small mountain town of Bailey, about 30 miles west of Denver. In a bus, it is a solid 2.5 hour drive from school, so it is an all-day affair to go up and swim.

The Husky team was demolished by graduation last year, and they only have seven swimmers and no divers this season. Really, this was a chance to get in some hard swimming at altitude (close to 9000') and to continue trying to recover the level of fitness the girls had prior to the holiday break. A majority of kids did not get much training in over break, so it was not reasonable for them to expect to swim their best times yesterday.

Nonetheless, there were some strong performances. Senior Jana Kleemeier dove her best score of the season (98 points) and also swam a strong 100 back for a good day of work. The Breadwinner Award was given to two girls, Kiira Walsh and Hannah Pratt. Pratt swam a race she had been leery of tackling, the 200 IM, and she gave a stellar effort. As is often the case, once a challenge is taken on and achieved, it did not seem so bad. What the coaches really found out is that Pratt has a great butterfly stroke, and this could be a great place for her.

These experiments almost always yield good results, sometimes in a serendipitous fashion. Walsh also tackled the 200 IM and swam her best time of the season, and then swam the 500 free for the first time. Her very respectable time of 7:02 at altitude shows great potential.

Maia Presti was away diving at an 11-dive invitational in Monument and placed second out of 23 divers. This meet gave her a chance to compete in the 11-dive format like leagues and states are contested in, as well as see some of her top competition.