Wave Ryders place at state

By FAITH MOLDAN

Bigfork Eagle

Fourteen members of the Waver Ryder Swim Club participated in last weekend’s 2007 Montana Spring Junior Olympics at the University of Montana March 2-4. Five of those swimmers represented Bigfork.

One of the youngest Bigfork swimmers, 8-year-old Sarah Ward, qualified for the meet the previous weekend in Great Falls. She swam in one individual race — the 50-yard backstroke. She received a disqualification in the race, but Wave Ryder coach Deidre Loyda said the fact that Ward, who is in her first year of competitive swimming, qualified for the meet was impressive. She began training in September.

“Not many young swimmers qualify (for the Junior Olympics),” Loyda said. “It was a huge accomplishment for her to get to the Junior Olympics. She really put herself out there. Her turn was rough.”

Loyda added that Ward did a spectacular job swimming in the 200 free relay.

Jessica Loyda competed in the same age division — 8-and-under girls’ — as Ward. She swam in six events — 25 free, 25 back, 50 back, 25 breast, 50 breast and 100 IM. Loyda cut nearly two-and-a-half seconds off of her 50 back time. She finished that race in a time of 49.92 seconds. She also cut time off of her 25 free and 25 back finishes.

Joseph Loyda finished his one event — the 25 back — in 28.82 seconds and 18th place. He competed in the 8-and-under boys’ division.

Jordan and Joshua Loyda rounded out the Bigfork swimmers.

Jordan ended the meet as the state champion in four events.

“That was pretty huge,” coach Loyda said. “Our team had a clean sweep in the 50 and 100 back in the 11-12 boys’ division.”

Loyda placed first in four of his seven races — the 1000 free, 50 back and 100 back.

“Seven events turned into 14,” coach Loyda said. “Jordan was totally tired. I had to give him a pep talk — ‘Now’s the time to show what you are made of,’” she said. Loyda added that the meet was an opportunity for the kids to grow in character.

Jordan clocked a time of 13:30 in the 1000 free, 31.7 seconds in the 50 back, 1:10 in the 100 back and 2:30 in the 200 back. He has also qualified for the North West Age Group Sectional Championship in Seattle, Wash. March 23-25. The meet is the highest level for swimmers his age.

Joshua swam in eight events in Missoula, also in the 11-12 boys’ division. He shaved time off of all but two of his finishes. Loyda dropped more than five seconds of his 200 free time in the preliminary race. He finished the final race in a time of 2:31. He also knocked more than a second off of his time in the 50 free, 100 free, 50 back and 100 back.

“It was a really intense weekend and a lot of fun,” coach Loyda said. “We are a small team compared to other teams.” Days at the meet were long, lasting from 7 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with a short break in between. More than 400 swimmers competed in the meet.