Permanent link for Swim Nationals on April 25, 2022

It was a bittersweet moment for the GVSU Swim club as they ended their season with the biggest meet of the year. Eight swimmers flew down to Atlanta, Georgia for Nationals where they competed against 115 teams and a total of 2,001 swimmers. They scored a total of 4 points and it came from Veronica Lidy in her 400 IM (5:14.13). We had some career best swims from some of our swimmers. Shaun Walkowiak (freshman) swam at his first nationals meet and had some killer times. Walkowiak competed in four different relays and swam one individual event.

His individual event was the 50 backstroke (27.55) where he dropped 0.39 milliseconds. Walkowiak said, “I had a great time with all of my teammates, cheering them on and swimming with them. It definitely encourages me to make the cut again next year to experience it again!” We had six other swimmers who competed for their first time at nationals as well ( Jonah Cox, Dom Ferracciolo, Erin Marshall, Jay Patterson, and Rachel Patterson). Cox swam the 50 backstroke (28.29) as well along with four relays. Ferracciolo competed in four relays and the 50 breaststroke (29.16) where he dropped 1.34 seconds. Marshall swam three relays and one tough individual event of the 200 butterfly (2:32.66). Jay Patterson swam four relays and competed in two individual events of the 50 butterfly (24.76) and the 50 freestyle (22.92). Jay also broke the 50 butterfly record. Last but not least, Rachel Patterson competed in three relays and four individual events of 50 freestyle (26.91), 100 backstroke (1:06.68), 50 backstroke (30.72) and 100 freestyle (58.44). Rachel also had time drops in all her individual events. Our last two swimmers, Skylar Gottschalk and Veronica Lidy, both seniors, had competed in one other nationals their freshman year. Unfortunately, due to Covid, they lost two chances to swim at Nationals their sophomore and junior years. For these two swimmers it was sadly their last swim meet of their careers. Both Gottschalk and Lidy dropped time in every event they swam over the weekend. Gottschalk competed in three relays and four individual events of 100 breaststroke (1:16.55), 50 backstroke (31.79), 50 breaststroke (34.68) and the 100 IM (1:08.28). Lidy swam

in three relays and three individual events of 400 IM (5:14.13), 200 IM (2:26.99), and the 200 Freestyle (2:11.63). It was a bit of a stressful meet for the team and a happy but sad ending for the seniors. But this meet will be one these eight swimmers never forget.

Categories: Swim
Posted on Permanent link for Swim Nationals on April 25, 2022.