45°
The sectionals championship drew more than 500 top swimmers from Virginia to Maine. Bryce Keblish, Justin Summers, Jake Hoin, Daniel Williams and Ethan Hunter are five of the six members of the Water Rats who qualified for the meet and made up the squad that came away as the highest-placing team from Connecticut. They placed eighth among all men’s teams. (Jonathan Blansfield also qualified but instead competed at the USA Swimming Junior Nationals in Irvine, Calif.)
Keblish got the team off to a great start with a first-place finish in the 200-meter individual medley event. His time qualified him for Senior Nationals. He completed the meet with four additional Top 20 finishes -- 16th in the 100-meter freestyle, 11th in the 200-meter freestyle, 13th in the 100-meter butterfly and 17th in the 50-meter freestyle.
The Water Rats also had other Top 32 finishers, including Daniel Williams, who was 14th in the 1500-meter freestyle, 29th in the 200-meter butterfly and 29th in the 400-meter individual medley. Justin Summers placed 31st in the 100-meter freestyle and Jake Hoin was 32nd in the 200-meter breaststroke.
The team also scored in their three relay events with a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter freestyle relay (Keblish, Hoin, Williams, Summers), eighth in the 400-meter freestyle relay (Keblish, Hoin, Williams, Summers) and 16th in the 400-meter medley relay (Keblish, Hunter, Hoin, Summers).
The Water Rat Swim Team of the Westport Weston Family Y has more than 200 swimmers ages 7-18. The kids are coached by Ellen Johnston, Mark Sedlak, Betsy Matheney and Frisk Driscoll.
Tryouts for new swimmers interested in joining the team will be Sept. 3, at the Westport Weston Family Y, 59 Post Road E., Westport. For more information, visit www.westporty.org or contact Johnston at 203-226-8981 or at ejohnston@westporty.org.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Westport and receive free news updates.
