Clarence Swim Club splashes to new records

The Clarence Swim Club ended its first meet of the season with three new club records.

The meet was hosted by the Tonawanda Titans Swim Club Oct. 26-28.

Kim Forhd, 8, pushed to a 3:50.85 in the 200-yard breaststroke to break the 2005 8-and-under club record by six seconds.

John Lee, 9, sped to a 2:47.05 200-backstroke time, crushing the three-year-long 9- to 10-year-old record of 2:55.55. As an 8-year-old, Lee achieved 12 of the 18 record-breaking times, including the 50 and 100 backstroke; 100 breaststroke; 25, 50, 100 and 200 freestyle; 100 and 200 IM; and the 25, 50 and 100 butterfly.

Andrew Barden, 15, glided to a final time of 4:38.19 in the 400 IM. The event showcases all four recognized strokes: butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, in four laps (100 yards) of each stroke. The previous 15- to 18-year-old record was scored in 1999, when 4:49.13 topped the books.

Thirty-nine CLSC swimmers attended the meet, seven of whom participated for the first time. The meet also gave veteran swimmers, many who recorded personal bests, a chance to assess themselves.

Participating swimmers were Tori Argentieri, Andrew Barden, Neil Batta, Victoria Butler, Andrew Cahalane, Andrew Case, Aaron Cole, Olivia Colson, Julia Diebel, Sarah DiMayo, Chris Dugan, Kim Forhd, Austin Geiger, George Hermance, Scott Irish-Bronkie, Melanie Johnson, Brianna Kleinlein, Aaron Kreher, John Lee, Peter Marshfield, Kendra Mayer, Sabra Messer, Becky Michalski, Jake Michalski, Sydney Modeas, Liz Principe, Emmanual Rockwell, Charlie Rommel, Robert Rutkowski, Ryan Saenger, Danny Salvatore, Lauren Scanio, Christina Seminara, Basia Tou, Dorotka Tou, Brian Turner, Kevin Turner, Adam Weber, Claire Willis and Kyle Wilson.

For more information, e-mail coach Russ Sampson at ClarenceSwimming@aol.com, or visit www.clarenceswimming. com.