The Mariposa Marlins swim team had its best placing in its two decade history at the 39th annual Firebaugh Invitational three-day swim meet which was held July 9 through 11. Nearly 600 swimmers from 10 highlycompetitive teams from throughout the Central Valley attended this meet.

The Marlins’ squad of 58 swimmers wasn’t the least bit intimidated by the level of its competition though. It came home with their first-ever third place trophy, only being surpassed by the significantly larger teams from Los Banos and Hilmar who placed first and second, respectively.

Head coach Tammy Kudela stated, “I am so proud of how all of our swimmers did this weekend. They just made it happen. We had so many lifetime best swims and such unity and strength on our relays.” She continued, “Out of the 24 relays which were swum by our swimmers, 22 earned points and of those 10 scored in the top three medal positions. Furthermore, five of those teams came in first, earning gold medals.”

ABOVE, MARLIN SWIMMER MOLLY CASEY GLIDES THROUGH HER HEAT DURING THE FIREBAUGH INVITATIONAL. AT RIGHT, RUSSELL ZELAZO CATCHES HIS BREATH AFTER A RACE. At this meet, the Marlins recognized the efforts of Molly Casey and Russell Zelazo for the Swimmers of the Week award. Both of these swimmers are new to the Marlins this year. Zelazo, age 10, has made incredible efforts to learn all four of the competitive stokes this season. At this meet he transformed into a competitive swimmer. He shaved almost five seconds off of his 50-yard breaststroke, allowing him to place 21st with a time 1:11.62 seconds. His greatest improvement came in his 50- yard free event. He cut 10.5 seconds off of his best time, finishing in 24th place with a time of 44.46 seconds.

Although his improvements are notable, he really was selected as the Swimmer of the Week because of his positive attitude and enthusiastic team spirit. As a unifying member of his medley relay, his team was able to capture fourth place, and as part of the free relay, he helped bring home a second place medal. Russell is the son of Shaina and D.J. Zelazo, and brother to Trinity and Caleb who are also first year Marlins.

Casey had an amazing performance at this huge meet. She placed in the top eight, earning points in every one of the seven events that she swam in over the weekend. In addition, she shaved her seed time on six out of seven of these events. Casey, like Zelazo, is also recognized for her positive attitude and team spirit. She helped her teammates, Triana Garrett, Katie Wall, and Nicole Tapia, earn gold medals in both their medley and free relays. Molly is the daughter of Kathy and Matthew Casey. The Marlins congratulate both swimmers on their efforts and look forward to their future improvements and success as part of the Marlins’ swim family.