Oak Ridge Today

Wildcats finish 4th in KISL swim meet

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Andrew Chou (Photo by Barry Houchin)

The Oak Ridge Wildcats swim team finished fourth out of 40 teams in the Knox-area Interscholastic Swim League (KISL) City Championship Meet at the University of Tennessee on Sunday.

With the fourth-place finish, the Wildcats have had top five finishes in back-to-back years at KISL for the first time in KISL records dating back to 1997.

“In fact, the highest place Oak Ridge High School had ever placed since 1997 is seventh back in 2003,” a press release said.

The Sunday swim meet was in the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at UT.

Out of 22 ORHS swimmers, nine swimmers competed in the finals, the press release said.

Here are meet results:

[Read more…]

Atomic Junior rower gets scholarship to Oregon State

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Atomic Junior rower Mason Fischer of Oak Ridge High School has signed a letter of intent to Oregon State University, where she plans to major in kinesiology. (Submitted photo)

Atomic Junior rower Mason Fischer of Oak Ridge High School has signed a letter of intent to Oregon State University, where she plans to major in kinesiology, a press release said.

She will be rowing for the Beavers in the powerful Pac-12 Conference, the press release said. Fischer is in her third year of rowing and was in the Atomic four that finished 8th nationally last spring.

[Read more…]

Forty-nine Atomic City Aquatic Club swimmers compete in Knoxville

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Atomic City Aquatic Club coaches pose with young swimmers. (Submitted photo)

Atomic City Aquatic Club coaches pose with young swimmers. (Submitted photo)

 

Forty-nine Atomic City Aquatic Club, or ACAC, swimmers competed in the Tennessee Aquatics January Classic Invitational this past weekend in Knoxville.

ACAC trains year-round for a series of meets where they can test their achievement and developments. This past meet was meant to measure improvements from holiday training plans, and see how the swimmers have handled their increased training load.

Abigail King, 12, headlined the event for ACAC with an outstanding meet that included four team records: 400 IM, 50 Fly, 200 Fly, and 100 Back. She made Southeasterns in all five races for which she could qualify, and also swam age group qualifying times in the 200 Fly and 400 IM.

In total, 40 of the 49 ACAC athletes entered achieved best times, and nine swimmers acquired Southeastern Time Standards throughout the weekend: [Read more…]

Brown wins, sets record as ACAC asserts presence at championships

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Tais Brown Age Group

Tais Brown takes the podium in his 200 Fly victory. (Submitted photo)

The Atomic City Aquatic Club completed its Short Course season in style in two recent sectional championship meets, the Age Groups for qualifying swimmers under 15, and Senior Sectionals for qualifying swimmers 15 and over. The special swimmers who made the cuts had simply incredible swims.

Tais Brown, 12, was spectacular at Age Groups. He set a team record in the 200 Fly, taking first place at the meet against the best swimmers from 10 states. He also placed fourth in the 100 Fly, fifth in the 50 Fly, and ninth in the 1650 Free, earning points and qualifying for finals in all of those races. He also competed in the 50 Free, 100 Free, and 100 IM, obtaining personal bests in the 50 and 100 Free.

Harper Houk, 14, made ACAC’s presence felt in the 100 Back, 200 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Breast, 100 Fly, and 200 IM, getting personal bests in the 100 Back, 200 Back, and 100 Fly. [Read more…]

Atomic City swimmers have impressive performances at Lois Weir Invitational

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Lois Weir 2014

Pictured from left to right are trophy winners Mason Fischer (10, first place), Madeline Linkous (10, second place), Daniel Arnold (10, first place), Thias Brown (10, second place), and Abigail King (10, third place).

 

After a dreary week, the sun shined on the Atomic City Aquatic Club at its annual Lois Weir Invitational in Oak Ridge.

“This was the largest meet we have hosted in quite a few years, and with the help of the volunteer efforts of our parents we pulled it off without a hitch,” said Coach Mike Bowman. “It was a fantastic meet on a nice weekend.”

The swimmers were impressive as well. In the 8-and-under age group,  Steven Zhukov (8), second overall, won three events, placed second in five more, and took third twice. Elijah Linkous (7) had nine top 6 finishes and brought home a third-place trophy. Trinity Byars (7) and Monica White (7) had outstanding debut home meets for the girls.

Daniel Arnold (10) took home the 10-and-under boys all-around trophy with 10 victories and two other top 3 finishes. Thias Brown (10) challenged Arnold with four second-place finishes and five other top 5 placements en route to second. Egan Rawn (10) finished in the top 7 eight times, and Loy Creed (10) and Dylan Arnold (10) also scored points for the team. [Read more…]

ACAC swimmers exceed expectations in first short course meet

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ACAC Madi Cottrell

Madi Cottrell (13) of the Atomic City Aquatic Club at the SAC Fall Kickoff in Sevierville. (Submitted photos)

 

ACAC Swimmers at SAC Fall Kickoff

Pictured above are Mason Fischer (back to the camera, age 10) and Julia Linkous (9).

By Chip Fischer

If the Atomic City Aquatic Club were a kicker, its performance at the SAC Fall Kickoff would be the ball that soared through the goalposts and out of the stadium.

ACAC swimmers took Sevierville by storm in their very first short course meet of the year, exceeding expectations with performances that demonstrated technical prowess and outcomes beyond expectations.

Top 6 performances scored points for the team. Many swimmers earned points with standout performances that led to trophies for most overall points in their age groups. Daniel Arnold (10) led the way with a dominant performance, taking first place in nine out of 10 individual events, winning the trophy for most overall points in the 10-and-under male group, and barely missing a perfect sweep. Kamden Batchik (12) won seven races and came in second in her other two to take the trophy for most overall points in the 11-12 group. Sydney Goodman (14) placed in all eight of her events, winning the 50 Free, 100 Breast, 200 Breast, and 200IM and taking home the trophy for High Points for the 13-14 age group. In an epic battle of 10-year-old girls, good friends Madeline Linkous and Mason Fischer faced each other in 10 races, each winning five and coming in second in five en route to a tie for most overall points for the 9-10 age group. [Read more…]

ORCA wraps up summer swim season in style

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Oak Ridge City Aquatic Swim Team

ORCA’s 11-12 Boy’s Medley Relay Team, which placed fifth overall with a time of 2:15.53 at the annual GKAISA City Meet Knoxville 2014. Pictured left to right are Harrison Whitson, Jake Cheney, Vidar Hondorf, and Ethan Chou. (Submitted photo)

By Erik Groscost

The Oak Ridge City Aquatic summer league swim team finished its 2014 campaign on July 27 with a two-win, two-loss dual meet record and many smiling faces at the conclusion of City Meet. Wins over Beaver Brook Country Club and University Swim Club balanced losses to a very strong Northside YMCA team and Cherokee Country Club over the course of the Greater Knoxville Area Intersquad Swim Association (GKAISA) summer league season, which runs annually from early June through the end of July.

Two thousand and three hundred swimmers representing 33 summer league teams converged on the Allan Jones Aquatic Center on campus at the University of Tennessee from July 25-27. By the end of Sunday’s Finals, close to 10,000 races had been entered into the books. It is one of the largest swim meets held annually in the United States.

Eighteen ORCA swimmers—along with coaches Lars Hondorf, Betsy Hondorf, Luke Johnson, and Kathleen O’Neal—competed in Sunday’s finals going stroke for stroke with some of the finest young athletes in the Knoxville area. Top ORCA point scorers included: [Read more…]