THE MARIPOSA MARLINS RECENTLY FINISHED THEIR MOST SUCCESSFUL SEASON IN THE TEAM’S 21-YEAR HISTORY. MEMBERS ARE PICTURED ABOVE. PHOTO COURTESY OF FIESTER PHOTOGRAPHY The Mariposa Marlins swim team posted its best standing in its 21-year history at this year’s league championship meet at Dos Palos High School on July 24 and 25. With two new teams joining the Merced County Recreation Swim League this year, the Marlins competed against 10 teams from throughout the Central Valley and earned its first ever fourth place trophy.

Up to this point, the Marlins best standing at championships had included a fifth place finish which only occurred twice within its twodecade history. Notably was that this year’s 64-member Marlins team was only outscored by Los Banos, Hilmar, and Kerman all of which each had between 30 – 50 more swimmers than the Marlins. In all, this meet was attended by over 650 individual swimmers from the 10 teams making up the league.

The 64-member Marlins squad attending the 2010 championship meet showed depth of talent. Over 92 percent of these swimmers swam their personal best times at this two-day meet. Thirtythree out of the 64, or 52 percent, of the swimmers qualified as top ten finalists in one or more of their events.

Head coach Tammy Kudela said, “In the past, our best year included 26 swimmers qualifying as top ten finalists. This year we had 33 make it. It’s incredible that more than half of our swimmers performed at that level.”

These finalists were Dillon Acker-James, Chance Burrough, Molly Casey, Chad Coffman, Jenna Coffman, Eleanor Cummings, Hannah Evans, Christine Garrett, Trianna Garrett, Lukas Hart, Jazmine Jones, Parker Jones, Jordan Keyser, Phillip Kudela, Wesley Kudela, Carissa Leonard, Laurynn Leonard, Ryan Leonard, Karley LeQuia, Dawson Phillips, Nathan Ritter, Bob Robinson, Drew Tapia, Kendra Tapia, Nicole Tapia, Larissa Thornburg, Bernhard Wall, Franz Wall, Katie Wall, Matthew Wall, Ian Whalley, Daria Wood, and Kylie Wood.

Qualifying as a top ten finalist in one event is an accomplishment in itself since that usually requires being able to swim faster than 90 percent of the competitors in any one age group for a particular event. Therefore it is remarkable that out of the 33 Marlin finalists, 27 qualified as top ten finalists in two or more of the four events that they were entered in at the meet.

Special recognition is given to Chad Coffman, Eleanor Cummings, Trianna Garrett, Phillip Kudela, Wesley Kudela, Karley LeQuia, Drew Tapia, and Ian Whalley, for qualifying for the top eight final point-earning swim round in all four of their entered events. These eight swimmers make up a group that comprises only the top two percent of all of the swimmers at the meet.

In addition to outstanding individual accomplishments, the Marlins also had strong team efforts in their relays. Coach Kudela said, “No doubt that our individual efforts were phenomenal this year, but it was our relays that allowed us to clench our fourth place standing. These kids wanted better than a fifth place win, and just came together to make it happen in the relays.”

Almost every one of the 30 Marlin relay teams placed in the top eight scoring positions. Nine of the teams placed in the top three medal positions, which included four first place finishes. These first place teams were the 13-14-year girls 200 medley and free relays which included Triana Garrett, Molly Casey, Katie Wall, and Nicole Tapia, and the 15-16- year-old boys 200 medley and free relays which included Wes Kudela, Ian Whalley, Franz Wall, and Drew Tapia.

The Marlins coaching staff, Kudela, Terri LaQuia, Jennifer Ritter, and Lisa Coffman congratulate all of their swimmers for their efforts this season, and are very proud of their swimmers’ championship performances. They also thank all of the parent and related volunteers that helped make this such a successful season for all of the swimmers.