BATH

The Long Reach Swim Club jumped right back in the pool after competing in Canada recently, with several swimmers heading to the University of Maryland for the long course YMCA National Championships.

The team from the Bath Area Family YMCA was among 115 teams that took part in the event, with LRSC taking 23rd place with 100 points.

The girls team of Olivia Harper, Haily Harper, Ella Martin, Margie McLeod and Talia Jorgensen finished in 18th place, and the boys squad of Brian Hess, Matthew Yost and Evan Willertz finished 34th.

“Our team score and individual results are all the more impressive given that Maine is the only state in the country without a 50-meter swimming pool,” said LRSC swim coach Jay Morissette. “Not being able to train in a 50-meter pool puts us at a disadvantage.”

Despite this, Olivia Harper, Haily Harper, McLeod and Martin claimed 14th in the 200-meter freestyle relay in 1:51.11. Olivia Harper earned second place in a team and state record time of 29.39 in the 50 backstroke, and just missed the YMCA national record in the 100 backstroke by a mere one-tenth of a second in a team and state record time of 1:02.21. She continued to excel, taking fourth in the 200 back in 2:15.75, also a team and state record.

Olivia Harper added to her solid meet in the 200 free relay, swimming her leg in 27.12, breaking former standout Abbie King’s time of 27.14.

Martin picked up a sixth-place showing in the 50 back in 30.56, and Haily Harper was 24th in the 50 breaststroke ( 35.20, state/team record).

In the boys competition, Hess earned two top-eight finishes. In the 50 breaststroke, he touched in 30.40 for sixth. In the 100 breaststroke, he claimed eighth in 1:07.56 (state/team record). Also, his 200 breaststroke time of 2:33.15 was also a state mark, besting the 1989 record set by Maine Swimming Hall of Fame member Bruce Crock of the Mt. Desert Island YMCA.

Note — At the Canada swim meet, the LRSC boys 11-12 squad of Keegan Rowe, Anders Savage, Finn Weafer and Aidan Saunders set a team and Maine state record in the 400 medley relay, completing the swim in 5:55.31. The previous mark was set by the LRSC team of Andrew Samson, Hess, Henry Raker and Dominic Marco (6:00.92).