Vidor Swim Team makes strides in 4th year

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Vidor Swim Team makes strides in 4th year

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

VIDOR — An early work in progress has turned into quite a feat for kids in Vidor that love the sport of swimming.

In its fourth year of existence, the size of the Vidor Swim Team has more than doubled and long-time coach Bertie Loken is very proud.

“In it’s inception, we had about 30 kids, now it’s grown to more than 60,†said Loken. “I was so excited when we had 30, but now it’s even more wonderful. We have a tremendous group of kids.â€

The sport of swimming is a lot more demanding than a lot of people think too.

“We’ve had kids come in, thinking it was all about fun,†said Loken. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s fun, but there is a lot of hard work involved. It takes a great amount of stamina to swim and swim well.â€

Kids spend countless hours in the pool during the week.

“Our practices usually last about an hour and a half each day and believe, it’s all swimming during that time,†Loken said. “The kids take a lot of pride in what they’re trying to accomplish.â€

Coach Loken wasn’t a big-time swimmer growing up but she learned to love the sport by watching her children Katy, Jennifer and Chris perform with amazing results. All three were ranked in the top three in the state in their classification during their high school days.

“I swam a little in college, especially when I was working with the Red Cross,†said Loken. “I never really did it competitively. My kids really got me more involved in it and I’ve loved it ever since. I love being around kids and watching them succeed.â€

Loken likes the way the sport has progressed around the Golden Triangle in recent years but also feels it has a long way to go still.

“The area has made strides, but we’d love to have more kids come out,†Loken said. “We’re still a long way away from being like the Houston area. Swimming is respected much more in that area than it is here. A lot of those great University of Texas swimmers that have had so much success in the Olympics have usually came from the Houston area. Most people here are still more concerned about the foot and the ball and that’s the way it’s always been. We’ve had some pretty good swimmers in this area and one day, we just might have an Olympian. That would just be great.â€

The Vidor Team will compete at a meet hosted by Pinewood today.

The Vidor Swim Team competed at the West End YMCA Swim Meet last week.

For the Vidor team in the girls 9-10 100 intermediate Carly Bessire placed fourth with a time of 1:54.76. In the girls 11-12 100 intermediate Vidor’s Meredith Chilton was third with a 1:37.47 followed by teammates Loren Mahana (1:43.81) and Bailey Rogers (1:46.17). In the girls 13-14 100 intermediate Ashley Mann nabbed sixth with a 1:35.65.

In the boys 11-12 100 intermediate Christopher Montoya claimed eighth with a 2:29.03.

In the girls 6-and-under 25-meter freestyle, Vidor’s Gabrielle Leglue nabbed third place with a 27.87. A slew of Vidor teammates swam the girls 7-8 25-meter freestyle. Vidor’s Macy Chilton earned first-place with a sizzling time of 19.25 and she was followed by teammates Zoe Bahl (6th, 23.25), Kasey Leglue (8th, 26.27), Lauren Stout (10th, 26.34), Emily Christman (13th, 27.64), Britlyn Sanders (16th, 29.55), Tia Lafordge (19th, 32.59), Cheyenne Schiesler (21st, 37.03), Harley Schiesler (22nd, 38.43) and Josey Cade (24th, 47.87).

In the girls 9-10 25-freestyle Vidor’s Madison Chilton was fourth with a 17.32 followed by teammates Ariel Stevenson (8th, 19.85), Cameron Mayo (11th, 22.46), Kaitlyn Lea (13th, 23.20), Breana Bailey (19th, 25.48), Korbyn Lee (20th, 26.04) and Morgan Mayo (26th, 35.28). In the girls 11-12 50-freestyle Vidor’s Meredith Chilton claimed a solid second with a time of 35.97. She was followed by teammates Loren Mahana (5th, 38.24), Kayla Lee (8th, 42.57) and Kathryn Bost (12th, 48.76). In the girls 13-14 50-freestyle, Vidor’s Stephani Dyess was 10th with a 50.42.

In the boys 6-and-under 25-meter freestyle, Vidor’s Garrett Healy captured the top spot by swimming a 21.88. Teammate Timothy Bahl notched 11th with a 48.64. In the 7-8 25-freestyle, Vidor’s Lawson Flores was third with a 23.77 and teammate Joel Schiesler was fifth with a 30.04. In the 9-10 25-freestyle Vidor’s James Conner, Jr. was fifth with a 21.46 and teammate Taylor Roark was 10th with a 24.47. In the 11-12 50-freestyle, Vidor’s Tyler Thompson was fourth with a 37.59 followed by Lucas Wolfe (8th, 41.29), Damian Mann (16th, 55.13) and Drake Bruty (17th, 1:02.24). In the 13-14 50-freestyle, Vidor’s Timothy Brown notched fourth with a 44.82.

In the girls 6-and-under 25-butterfly, Vidor’s Gabrielle Leglue was second with a 36.82. In the 7-8 25-butterfly, Vidor’s Macy Chilton was first with a 22.93 followed by Zoe Bahl (3rd, 29.27) and Kasey Leglue (5th, 41.60). In the 9-10 25-butterfly Vidor’s Madison Chilton was fifth with a 23.17 followed by Cameron Mayo (6th, 24.61). In the 11-12 50-butterfly, Meredith Chilton was third with a 44.71. In the 13-14 50-butterfly, Ashley Mann nabbed the fifth spot with a 43.30.

In the boys 6-and-under 25-butterfly, Vidor’s Healy claimed first again, winning with a 26.67.

In the girls 6-and-under 25-backstroke, Vidor’s Gabrielle Leglue was third with a 37.86. In the 7-8 25-backstroke, Vidor’s Macy Chilton captured another first-place finish with a time of 25.10. She edged teammate Emily Christman, who was second with a 26.53 followed by teammates Zoe Bahl (7th, 28.95), Lauren Stout (11th, 33.15), Tia Laforge (15th, 34.05), Cheyenne Schiesler (20th, 37.70), Britlyn Sanders (21st, 38.81), Harley Schiesler (23rd, 41.40) and Josey Cade (25th, 46.61). In the 9-10 25-backstroke, Vidor’s Chilton won again with a time of 21.11 followed by teammates Carly Bessire (4th, 23.86), Ariel Stevenson (10th, 26.69), Cameron Mayo (15th, 29.57), Breana Bailey (17th, 30.81), Morgan Mayo (20th, 34.25),Kaitlyn Lea (23rd, 36.75), and Korbyn Lee (25th, 38.05). In the 11-12 50-backstroke Vidor’s Bailey Rogers was fourth with a 49.85 followed by Kayla Lee (7th, 53.84) and Kathryn Bost (9th, 58.46). In the 13-14 50-backstroke, Vidor’s Ashley Mann was sixth with a 43.03 followed by Stephani Dyess (11th, 1:05.18).

In the boys 6-and-under 25-backstroke, Vidor’s Healy won yet again, dominating with a time of 28.63. Timothy Ball was fifth with a 45.82. In the 7-8 25-backstroke, Vidor’s Eddie Dyess claimed first with a 22.90 followed by teammates Lawson Flores (4th, 32.61) and Joel Schiesler (5th, 33.07). In the 9-10 25-backstroke Vidor’s James Conner, Jr. was 11th with a 30.32 followed by Taylor Roark (13th, 31.82). In the 11-12 50-backstroke, Vidor’s Tyler Thompson was sixth with a 49.11 followed by Lucas Wolfe (7th, 49.62), Christopher Montoya (11th, 1:00.55) and Damian Mann (13th, 1:01.11). In the 13-14 50-backstroke, Timothy Brown was sixth with a 49.77.

In the girls 7-8 25-breaststroke, Vidor’s Lauren Stout was fourth with a 42.37. In the 9-10 25-breaststroke, Carly Bessire nabbed third with a 23.82. In the 11-12 50-backstroke, Bailey Rogers was second with a 47.14 and Kayla Lee was fifth with a 56.92.

In the boys 7-8 25-breaststroke, Vidor’s Eddie Dyess captured first place with a time of 28.18. In the 13-14 50-breaststroke, Timothy Brown was fourth with a 1:08.42.

The Vidor ‘A’ Team mixed 8-and-under 100 freestyle relay captured first-place honors with a 1:25.44. The Vidor ‘B’ squad was fourth with a 1:49.69 and the Vidor ‘C’ squad placed sixth with a 2:06.32.

In the mixed 10-and-under freestyle relay, the Vidor ‘A’ squad was second with a 1:21.72 and the ‘B’ unit was a solid fourth with a 1:36.71. In the 12-and-under mixed 100 freestyle relay Vidor was second with a 1:13.65 and the ‘B’ unit was fourth with a 1:36.44. In the mixed 14-and-under 100 freestyle relay Vidor was third with a 1:10.08 and the ‘B’ unit was fifth with a 1:44.38.

In the mixed 10-and-under 100-lagniappe relay, Vidor placed second with a 2:02.65.