Harlem Swim Team hosts Summers First Meet, Teams in Chinook this week

The Montana Federation of Swimmer summer season kicked off this past Saturday and Sunday as Harlem hosted the first meet on the schedule. A total of 12 teams and 130 swimmers were on hand for what was a very successful meet for our Blaine County Swimmers.

The Chinook Lions had an outstanding performance in the pool with six swimmers winning Individual High Point trophies for their respective age group. The Lions also took the team title with the Harlem Swim team taking second.

The host Harlem swimmers were led by Shayne Stiffarm who added another High Point Trophy to his career haul, and Cianna Johnson who is creating quite a collection of hardware herself won the 9-10 girls. Stiffarm has made it a habit of collecting trophies the past several years and doesn't plan on stopping any time soon. When asked what his goal was each week, Shayne had this to say, "To have fun and to hopefully win High Point!"

Stiffarm is happy to be a part of the swim team, "I love to race, compete and getting to see all the people each week is also a lot of fun." So what are his goals for this year? "I want to improve my times each week and win State. I really like all my events that I swim except the backstroke because I always hit my head on the edge of the pool!"

Andrew Rasmussen is the Harlem Swim Team coach once again. Rasmussen, now in his third year at the helm, is doing so as strictly a coach this season after swimming for the team as well the first two years. As far as his team's performance the opening week, he was pleased with their effort, "It's always exciting hosting the first meet of the season. Nobody really gets any practice time so it's fun to see what our athletes can do. Our kids competed very well with just three days of practice. We cut a lot of time and I'm very proud of their effort."

Unlike organized school sports, swimmers are not required to meet any set practice requirements. The season is so short and families often have vacations and gatherings to attend throughout the season that any opportunity to get in the pool is allowed and encouraged. For a swimmer to be eligible for the State Swim Meet in Lewistown or Divisional in Plentywood, July 30-31 they must have competed in just two of the regular season meets.

The Chinook Lions had an outstanding opening weekend with many setting new marks for their personal best times while six claimed the top spot in their age group. Bringing home High Points by winning all three of their individual events were: Tyler Stephens, 8 and Under boys; Rachel Stephens, 11-12 girls, Brockton Elliot and Daniel Tilleman tied for boys 13-14 High Point and Britton Elliot topped the 15-19 girls. Katie Tilleman won the girls 13-14 High Point by winning two events while finishing second in her third.

Lions Head Coach, Benton Elliot, is back at the helm for his second season, "For just getting in the pool Wednesday, I would say we had a great meet. We took first overall and had six High Point winners along with a few that fell just short." The team made the best use of their time in the pool that they could with just three days, "For the first few practices we just went through some basic stuff and talked about how the meets were going to go. We had some disqualifications for some technique issues but those are just some things we will have to clean up in the next few weeks. I'm super proud of how my team swam for just a few practices. This year we have over 30 swimmers and I can't wait so see all of them cut time from now up until state."