OCC's Lea leads her race before the turn Photo Jordan Fong
Hundreds of local swimmers, from five to 15 years old raced in the 34th Annual "Bottom's Up" swim meet hosted by Moraga Valley Pool.
This event features children at the bottom of their respective age brackets and gives them a chance to compete against other swimmers their own age. It differs from most local swim meets because it brings together all Orinda-Moraga Pool Association (OMPA) bottom age group swimmers for a one day event, rather than the typical meets where kids swim against one team with age appropriate groupings.
More than 700 participants swam in the events, including mixed relays, individual medleys, free, back, breast, fly, and the day wrapped up with the coaches relays and parents relays.
Assistant head coach for Moraga Valley Pool, Adam Schaeffer was impressed with the fierce competition and the efforts by all of the swimmers. "As a team, we have been working extremely hard, and today there were a lot of popped times. This shows that all of their hard work is paying off". He added, "It's great for these kids to have this venue and this event, it will prepare all of them for a great time at OMPA."
During the day, boys and girls competed for their best times and the top ten swimmers in each event earned points for their respective teams. Orinda Country Club led the nine swim clubs with the most points and won the championship trophy for total team points scored. OCC head coach Steve Hauffler was pleased with the results of his swimmers after a day at the pool, "The meet went very well, and the kids swam great."
A pat on the back was earned by all who participated, but only a few earned the distinction of breaking new "Bottom's Up" records. Two meet records were set by five year old Brody Crouch of Moraga Ranch in the 25-yard freestyle and the 25-yard butterfly. Maddie Murphy of Orinda Country Club also set two new meet records in the 50-backstroke and 50-butterfly. Another meet record was set by Sleepy Hollow in the 200 Medley Relay featuring mixed nine year olds.
The Legends head coach Matt Ehrenberger was pleased with his team's success, "Overall it was a good meet for all the swimmers who attended. Soda Center is a really fast pool and leads to great races." He added, "Sleepy Hollow did well; our nine years olds were particularly strong in both the girls and boys."
High point winners in each age group also went home holding trophies. High point winners were as follows: Boy's Champions - Brody Crouch, 5, Moraga Ranch Swim Club; Mark McCurdy, 7, Moraga Country Club; Marcus Ferreira, 9, Sleepy Hollow; Cole Stevens, 11, Moraga Country Club; Jonathan Ratchford, 13, Moraga Country Club; Tennyson May, 15, Meadow Swim Team. Girl's Champions - Allie Saber, 5, Sleepy Hollow; Alex Fellner, 7, Orinda Country Club; Kenna Van Steyn, 9, Sleepy Hollow; Maddie Murphy, 11, Orinda Country Club; Allison Miller, 13, Orinda Country Club; Molly Schoenfeld, 15, Orinda Park Pool.
15 year old Valerie Su swimming backstroke Photo Les Hata
This event features children at the bottom of their respective age brackets and gives them a chance to compete against other swimmers their own age. It differs from most local swim meets because it brings together all Orinda-Moraga Pool Association (OMPA) bottom age group swimmers for a one day event, rather than the typical meets where kids swim against one team with age appropriate groupings.
Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA