WAVE SWIMMERS place several in Carson

The Greenwave swim team’s season is off to a good start, placing several competitors during the aqua 5 pentathalon.

The team swam in Carson City over the weekend, taking on teams from around the region. Fallon coach Ken Grimes recalled the meet had 170 girls competing in some events.

“There were a lot of big teams,” he said.

The coach said the meet was mainly individual competitions and there was very little team scoring; most of the competitions were focused on swimmers beating their own times.

Grimes said swimmers had to compete in all five events to place. Christian Nemeth took sixth in the 100-yard freestyle and eighth in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke. Grimes said Ruben Alanis also placed 15th and Amber Revels placed in the top 25. The coach said the team also qualified six more competitors for regionals — Kobe Abe, Lance Turnum, Ashby Trotter, Nemeth and Alanis.

“We’re starting to increase the work a little bit,” Grimes said.

The team has five more meets before regional competition begins. While it’s still relatively early, Grimes said the team is looking good. He said the swimmers have come a long way, and they surprise him every time they get in the water. He recalled some swimmers were taking risks and trying things at meets they’ve only touched on in practice.

“We’ve had a few hiccups here and there, but nothing that isn’t a good learning experience for us,” Grimes said.

The coach added he’s confident of the team’s abilities and where they are in competition. He said their main challenge is avoiding injuries and having everyone compete in at least four meets; swimmers have to compete in four meets to qualify for the regional tournament.

Saturday the swim team travels to Truckee to compete against Lowry. Grimes said he expects Lowry to be good competition. He recalled they usually have a big team with good swimmers in the program, adding Lowry is usually good at relay competitions.

There isn’t a competition-sized pool in Winnemucca so the location was moved. At the time of the interview, Grimes was uncertain what the roads would be like but said the team plans to head up Saturday morning.