Terrapins swim fast, have a blast as Pacific Swimming Zone II champions
The Terrapins began the year with a championship at the Zone II Championships at the Soda Aquatic Center in Moraga, with the 80 swimmers on the local USA Swimming team racking up 2677 points and 170 lifetime bests times.
Morgan Wendler won the eight and under boys high point award, while many other Terrapin swimmers finished in the top 10 of their age group point standings.
Terrapin senior group swimmers made goody bags and special notes to hand out to all the age group swimmers at the meet, which helped bring an extra sense of comradery to the team and meet.
For the first time in many years the Terrapins had full relays at the meet, covering all genders and age groups.
The championships are also used as a qualification meet for swimmers to make the Zone II All-Star Development Team which will compete against the other Zone teams within Pacific Swimming at the 2019 All-Star Development Meet next month.
The Terrapins had 11 swimmers qualify for the Zone II all-star team:
8 & under girls – Sophia Struempf, Claire Meissner
8 & under boys – Morgan Wendler, Giovanni Castenada, Maxwell Goreshnik
9-10 girls – Abby Keller
11-12 girls – Elizabeth Joseph
11-12 boys – Aden Li, Mason Wendler, Diego Castenada
13-14 girls – Diana Chan
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.