The Vance Aquatics Club suffered a 252-118 loss at Treyburn on Wednesday evening, closing the regular Durham Summer Swim League season with an 0-5 record but a much stronger team than a year or two ago.
Even without two of their top swimmers, Karissa Thomas and Brian Hicks, the Barracudas put a season-high 28 swimmers in the pool; half of them were girls ages 10 to 14. The oldest Barracuda is only 16, so everyone could be back next season.
The team managed to produce 25 personal bests. Meaghan Johnson had the biggest improvement, cutting 6.39 seconds off her 50-yard backstroke time for a third-place finish in the 9-10 age group. Laurin Rainey, Lydia Harrop and Kimberly Polak also had races in which they improved by more than two seconds.
But the team won only 10 races during the night.
Katelynn Ray (6-and-under freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke) and Kaitlin Polak (11-12 freestyle, backstroke and butterfly) were the triple winners for Vance. Christopher Johnson won twice (6-and-under freestyle and backstroke), and Laura Copley (11-12 breaststroke) and Josh Jacobs (9-10 butterfly) also claimed individual victories.
The Barracudas close the Durham Summer Swim League season with the two-day league championships at the University of North Carolina’s Koury Natatorium on July 8 and 9. The team practices year-round at the Aycock Recreation Complex.
Full disclosure: The editor’s sons are members of the Vance Aquatics Club.