Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Thunder Brings Home Team Trophy, Relay Gold; Four Win Individual Crowns
TOP PHOTO: It's been 14 years since Glasgow swimmers brought home a first-place trophy from State. Celebrating their championship at the state swim meet in Roundup on August 2 were DJ Rasmusan, Katie Kaiser, Natosha Sand, Tim Wageman, Iris McKean, Abbey Kulczyk, coach Gervilyn Cadimas, Jordan Kulczyk, head coach Nicole Arnold (holding the trophy), Taylor Johnson, Trevor Johnson, Ava Reyes, Jazmine Foster-Shaw, Dalton Sand, and Grace Reyes. Other state swimmers not pictured include Myli Swindler, Kaitlyn Hiltunen, Tarin Vandall, Bergen Miller, Zavier Urbin, Tristin Vandall, Klaire Krumwiede, Tori Pehlke, Raelee Dowden, Britt Fairclough, Rachel Billingsley, Mykenzie Eliason, Logan Gunderson, Tony Kaiser and Khloe Krumwiede. AT LEFT: Katie Kaiser (foreground) stays ahead of the competition during the 13-14 year-olds' 100m butterfly event.
Victory is sweet – just ask any Glasgow Kiwanis swimmer. With just 29 swimmers, the Thunder brought home gold this past weekend from the state swim meet in Roundup, outscoring five other teams in their division.
Not long into the first day of the meet, it was apparent that it was going to be a memorable weekend.
The powerhouse relay team of Katie Kaiser, Khloe Krumwiede, Jordan Kulczyk, and DJ Rasmusan proved they were a force to be reckoned with, winning gold in the 200m freestyle relay.
The 15-19 year-old girls not only won the event, they broke an eight-year-old pool record with their time of 2:00.05. The same relay team snatched a second gold medal in the 200m medley relay Sunday morning.
The rest of the weekend followed suit. In addition to the gold medal relays, the Thunder produced four individual state champions. Krumwiede won gold in the 15-19 year-old 50m freestyle and silver in both the 200m IM and the 100m freestyle, bringing her medal tally to five. Trevor Johnson earned gold in the boys 11-12 year-old age group in the 200m IM. His efforts also earned him a silver medal in the 50m freestyle and a bronze for his finish in the 50m butterfly.
Continuing their outstanding seasons, Dalton Sand and Kaiser easily dominated their age groups. Both swimmers earned high point honors with first place finishes in each of their events and put new pool records in the books at the same time.
Kaiser showed her stuff in the girls 13-14 year-old age group with wins in the 50m freestyle, the 100m butterfly, and the 100m backstroke. Kaiser has had exceptional success in the backstroke with three state championships and several pool records, including her new record in Roundup with a time of 1:15.81.
Sand essentially had a perfect season with an undefeated record and high point status in each meet he attended. During the short two months of swim team, Sand claimed seven individual pool records, one of them in Roundup for his 50m freestyle with a time of 33.14.
Despite a few disappointments and unexpected setbacks, each swimmer really had very good performances and most achieved some personal goals. Coach Nicole Arnold told the Courier: "Going into day one, I knew we would have a chance at beating Columbia Falls but realized it would take many top three finishes to compete with their numbers. Throughout the course of the second day, we shuffled between first and second [place] and in the end pulled through being led by our older swimmers and high point winners."
According to Arnold, each swimmer contributed to the team's success one way or another, whether they qualified for the state swim meet or not.
"What made the team succeed was hard work and dedication to the sport," she said. "Every swimmer was very focused on their events and ways to help score more points at meets. As a coach, all I had to do was give them the means to do so."
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