By PAULA Schumann, RP Rapids President
The River Place Rapids swim team completed a fantastic season at the All Star Invitational Meet at Westwood Country Club on June 24. Forty-seven swimmers participated in the event, in either an individual event or as part of a relay.
Three swimmers — Lucy Griego, Gwynna Simmons and Abby Naden — placed in the final individual overall standings. There were also multiple all-time records broken by 13 different swimmers!
The Rapids, sponsored by River Place Country Club, swim in the Austin Hills Swim League. The team competed in eight regular season meets from late April to the end of June.
The 2019 roster included 151 swimmers, ages 4 to 14. There was a 30 percent increase in the number of Rapids swimmers, where more than 45 swimmers joined compared to the prior year.
The primary goal was to make sure each swimmer has fun while improving his or her stroke techniques and speed.
The team was fearlessly led by head coach Casey Melzer, a former University of Texas swimmer, and aquatics director Jonny Songer. Assistant coaches were Izzy Petersen, Julia Roberto, and Kelly Summers, all current or former Vandergrift swimmers.
The swim team practiced five days a week for nine weeks, trained hard and enjoyed fun practices and drills. The season wrapped with the Medal Meet on July 21, luau dance party and awards ceremony.
For more information, go to www.riverplace.swimtopia.com.
River Place Rapids recap 2019 swim season
2019 River Place Rapids
*All-Star Invitational Swimmer
‡ 5 year plus Rapids swimmer
Annabelle Adams 11
Charlotte Allen 7
Massimo Altamirano 12
Adrian Anestos 12
Adalyn Aubrey 8
Whitney Aubrey 9
Hannah Bottoms 8
Ashton Brosi 14
Maddie Broxterman 9
Cinnamon Brunner 11
Saffron Brunner 12
Sage Brunner 9
*Amelia Callas 6
*‡Caroline Calvert 10
*‡Cade Cassens 14
*‡Lainey Cassens 10
Faith Chon 10
*Rachel Chon 11
Andres Conterno 9
Rafael Conterno 7
*Cate Conway 6
Anne Countway 5
Blake Countway 8
*Connor Crossley 8
Gray Crossley 6
Morgan Czepiel 8
*Foster Dale 6
Brandon Day 6
Joshua Day 8
Boden Drew 8
Saige Drew 5
Izzy Drury 10
Maddie Drury 12
Alexander Easley 6
Ava Easley 8
Landon Elder 8
Owen Elder 5
*Matthew Engesser 8
Patrick Engesser 11
Landry Fannin 8
Aubrie Foertsch 7
*Julia Foertsch 9
Makenna Fojtik 8
Corinne Gaertner 9
*Genevieve Gaertner 7
Alex Garcia 7
Dean Garcia 7
Jacob Garcia 11
Nicolas Garcia 9
Olivia Garcia 9
William Garcia 12
*‡Beckom Garvey 11
Lisa Gilbert 11
*‡Cannan Ginsburg 10
*‡Aiden Giroux 10
Alexandria Giroux 9
Zachary Giroux 5
Bradan Gorman 6
Eala Gorman 9
*Lainey Griego 8
*Lucy Griego 6
*Rafael Hazard 6
Alexandra Herkert 8
Declan Herkert 10
*Elliott Hinkhouse 13
LiLu Hoene 7
Hayes Hoffman 5
Hudson Hoffman 7
*‡Landon Huber 11
Michael Jacob 5
Olivia Jacob 10
Powell Jacob 8
‡Ryan Jeffries 14
*‡Kenzie Kudrick 11
Milana Kudrick 9
Ichiro Lin 9
Xander Lou 7
‡Tesana Lux 10
Declan McConeghy 6
Kinley McConeghy 6
*Caoimhe Mcdaid 11
*Gavin McLellan 8
Kaia McLellan 4
Sophia Mercurio 6
Fain Mollo 10
Livia Mollo 7
William Morris 11
Dolton Murray 7
Garland Murray 5
*Campbell Myers 6
*‡Abigail Naden 13
*‡Nicholas Naden 11
Caden O’Brien 7
Evan O’Brien 10
Dylan Odette 7
*‡Susan Orth 8
*‡William Orth 11
Kaelyn Owens 9
*‡Alexander Paulson 9
*‡Wyatt Paulson 11
Clementine Pena-Chazelle 8
Collin Pierce 11
Ty Pottichen 7
Emily Pyrcz 12
Elisabeth Rackl 6
Eli Rizkallah 7
Alvaro Ruiz de Assin Azquet 7
Ignacio Ruiz de Assin Azquet 9
Maria Ruiz de Assin Azquet 5
Jack Ruschitzko 7
Margaret Ryan 6
*‡Emma Schumann 13
*‡Lilah Schumann 10
*Maxwell Schumann 8
Alessandra Serafine 7
Ayden Serafine 9
Greyson Serafine 7
Baran Shafaei 8
Maya Showers 6
*Gwynna Simmons 8
Isabella Simmons 5
‡Grayson Smith 9
Aspen Spradlin 8
*Alexandra Steber 7
*Gretchen Steber 9
Sabrina Steber 4
Aubery Steen 8
Quinton Steen 11
Benjamin Stevens 5
Sophie Stevens 7
*Lyla Stojanik 11
*Madeleine Stojanik 13
*Mary Catherine Stojanik 11
*Cash Taylor 6
Ethan Walker 12
*Ava Weaver 8
Eliana Weaver 6
Justin Weaver 9
Ellie Wehman 10
Levi Werbeck 7
*Lex Werbeck 5
*Hollin Whitson 6
Bret Williams 5
*‡Christian Wilson 12
Luke Xu 9
*Zander Zieky 6
Charlotte Zimmerman 7
*‡Evan Zimmerman 12
*Kathleen Zimmerman 7
*‡Nicholas Zimmerman 10
