Park Swimmers Excel At National Meet

Story By Colin A.J. Murphy

Photos Courtesy of Joan Wood

SPY Swimming recently sent 13 swimmers to the Short Course YMCA Nationals in Greensboro, NC. The national meet drew 1450 swimmers representing 212 teams from all corners of the country, from Spokane, WA to Sarasota, FL and from Los Angeles, CA to Bath Island, ME.

This year's SPY Short Course YMCA National team included Jack Bremer, Michaela Cunningham, Molly Gallant, Marissa Hand, David Harmon, Kevin Huntley, Jenna Kirchoff, Dougie Kogut, Matt McKenney, Grant Murray, Katie Parker, Jared Wasserman, and Tori Wood.

For the SPY swim team that trains year-round, six days a week, with regular 5:00am practices and two-a-day workouts, it came as no surprise they turned in a very strong performance at the Short Course Nationals. The team came away with 26 individual best times and nine relay best times. For the first time in SPY team history, a men's relay team made the national championship final. The men’s 800 free relay team of McKenney, Bremer, Harmon, and Huntley took 9th place with a time of 6:54.37.

Several other SPY swimmers had top-10 and top-20 finishes. On the girls’ side, Parker placed 6th in both the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

For the boys, McKenney placed 7th in both the 100 and 200 butterfly, 9th in the 50 free, and 19th in the 100 free. David Harmon placed 18th in the grueling 1000 free with a time of 9:37.56.

Congratulations to SPY Swimming and to all the swimmers who represented Severna Park at the Short Course YMCA Nationals.

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