The Loudonville Stingrays made waves at Crestline pool as they achieved the top spot at the All Summer Aquatic Conference (ASAC) for the 15th consecutive year.
The Stingrays snatched up 24 first-places in both the individual and relay events.
Cage Bleacher, 12, contributed to that number by placing first in five of his events, including the 100 meter I.M., 50 meter butterfly, 50 meter backstroke, 200 meter medley relay, and 200 meter freestyle relay.
Madalyn Murphy, 10, also finished first in her five events: 25 meter freestyle, 100 meter I.M., 25 meter butterfly, and both relays. In the butterfly event, she broke the 19-yeard-old record by finishing with the time of 17.65.
The Shelly Acres Sharks gave the Stingrays a run for their money, with the Shelly Acres men earning the most points for the male standings, and the combined male and female team finishing second place overall.
The combined male and female scores are as follows: Loudonville (1644), Shelly Acres (1449), Willard (1306), Ontario (1133), and Crestline (818).
While the meet was scheduled for Saturday the 20th, the poor weather conditions pushed the meet into the following day.
With over 400 swimmers who competed at ASAC, identifying one from another was a bit difficult, especially when they were geared up with their goggles and swim caps. With Cassidy and Sami Sheppard, that task became increasingly challenging as these two girls share the same team, same age, same looks, same DNA. I think you know where I’m going with this—they’re twins, and they both have a passion for swimming.
Cassidy and Sami Sheppard, both 15 years old, are a part of the Ontario swim team, where they have been swimming for six years, both for summer swim and winter swim.
While each of them has their own favorite events to compete in, they do get to face off in some races, including the 50 meter freestyle. Cassidy Sheppard explained, “We switch back and forth with who wins,” and Sami Sheppard added, “We like competing against each other because it makes both of us go faster and we both just want to beat each other.”
In the finals of the 50 meter freestyle, Sami Sheppard ended up placing third with a time of 33.13, with her sister Cassidy Sheppard right behind her in fourth place with a time of 33.56.
Although they enjoy the competitive nature that swimming against each other brings, they do work together by swimming in the same relays. Both girls were a part of the 15-18 200 meter medley relay, which placed third overall and the 15-18 200 meter freestyle relay which also placed third.
For more information on ASAC and for a full list of the results, go to http://asacswim.weebly.com/index.html.
