Championship meet set for Saturday in Greenville

The White Caps’ success Greenville Summer Swim League has fluctuated with the availability of some of its top swimmers and on Tuesday, undermanned, the team fell to Cherry Oaks, 770-687, in the final regular season meet of the summer.

At full strength, head coach Spenser Pake’s roster is arguably the most formidable in the league, but this season, spurred by the league’s expansive growth, the competition is at an all-time high.

“We’ve been battling sickness, vacations and baseball, but I think overall we did pretty well considering the amount of kids missing at several meets,” Pake said. “I’ve watched it grow over the last 11 years from 400 swimmers in the league to now probably 800 swimmers. It’s a good league to be apart of. The purpose is to have and teach swimming in a laid back atmosphere.”

Down two Pam Pack standouts, Kevin Andrews and Megan Baldwin, the White Caps kept it close down to the final relays.

Despite three early losses, the 18U 200-yard free relay team of Eric Lovenberg, Kaitlyn Richards, Leland Hill and Tony Lovenberg swept the competition with a 1:50.78 mark.

The 100-yard medley races exhibited mixed results for Washington, with Cayden Pake (1:44.09), Campbell Barnes (1:25.10), Dariah Cole (1:14.34), Patrick Lovenberg (1:15.56), Kaitlyn Richards (1:14.03) and Eric Lovenbery (1:00.50) finishing first in their respective age groups.

The sheer number of Torpedos’ swimmers gave them a distinct advantage in the 25- and 50-yard freestyle point total, but Washington managed a handful of first-place finishes: Elli Pake (33.01), Sawyer Vosburgh (26.03) and Ty Cole (18.59) in the 25, and Campbell Barnes (32.18), Patrick Lovenberg (29.59), Carter Barnes (24.75) and Caitlyn Andrews (30.27) in the 50.

While Washington maintained its momentum through the 25- and 50-yard back stroke races, Cherry Oaks came through with seven victories in the 25- and 50-yard breaststroke events.

In the 50-yard fly, Barnes secured a dominating victory over the competition, beating teammate Hayes Pippin by nearly 14 seconds with a time of 39.59. Cole (32.93), Tristan Pake (37.06), AJ Howard (26.97), Richards (33.34) and Eric Lovenberg (26.62) all won their respective races for Washington, a strong showing from the middle age groups. Pake sees it as a preview of what the Washington High School swim team might look like in a couple of years.

“We’ve got a good base going for those 13-14 age group kids,” he said. “In the 11-12 age group, we have several really good swimmers there. The high school future is definitely looking up. We’re building these younger swimmers to be on that level and several of them are showing lots of potential.”

Pake and the White Caps are looking to gain strength in numbers and boost swimmer’s personal times in preparation for the Greenville Summer Swim League Championship, which begins Saturday morning at the Greenville Parks and Recreation Pool. The YellowFins are the perennial host of the final meet.

“As competitive as the league is this year, I honestly don’t know what to expect,” Pake said. “I see us being a top two team, even though we weren’t for the season. The expectation is first or second and I think we can do that if we swim hard.”