Clarence Swim Club finishes 2007 with a splash

Clarence Swim Club dove into the holiday season with outstanding swims at the Silver IMX meet in early December.

Andrew Cahalane, 11, swam well in his breaststroke and freestyle events, scoring personal bests in each of his races. Kenzie Laughlin, 11, also swam personal bests in her butterfly and breaststroke events.

Sarah DiMayo earned swimmer of the meet honors with personal bests in nine of her events, along with her outstanding effort and team minded attitude. Kendra Mayer, 12, dropped 1:29.26 in her 1000 yard freestyle swim, and another 12.6 seconds from her 200IM.

At the STAR invitational later in the month, Mayer followed her times by breaking the Clarence Swim Club 500 free record in 5:42. The swim marked a personal best by over 13 seconds.

Claire Willis gave outstanding effort in her 500 free as well, dropping 3.6 seconds for a 6:00.24. John Lee, 9, dropped time for six personal bests in eight races, receiving swimmer of the meet recognition.

Clarence will continue to compete throughout 2008. January will begin with the Bronze IMX meet, and continue with the 14 and under Gold IMX and the Go The Distance/Senior Junior Olympics meet, where Clarence swimmers will have the chance to meet three Olympians and attend a clinic hosted by Mark Gangloff.

For more information, e-mail Coach Russ Sampson at ClarenceSwimming@aol.com, or visit ClarenceSwimming.com. If you are interested in the Learn to Swim, open to anyone, contact Colleen Adams at ClarenceLearn- ToSwim@ yahoo. com.