Kingfish triumph at Benelux Division Championships

***image1***The Kingfish started and finished strong at the 2007 Benelux Division Championship with a first-place win over SHAPE, NATO and Brussels.

More than 60 Kingfish swimmers were evenly matched against the other teams and started the meet by taking three of the four 4 x 50 medley relays and finished by taking two of the four 4 x 50 freestyle relays. 

“I was pleased with the way our team stepped up  and raced.  While Brussels and NATO have some very good swimmers SHAPE was our main competition. They are well coached and love to compete and many races went down to the hand touch,” said Kingfish coach Bob Clinton. 

Age 10 and under swimmers Tess Barnes, Katie Funcheon, Peter Cummin and Ricky Acevedo led off with a convincing win followed by Connor Davis, Devon Davis, Lily Thomas and Hannah Shortsleeve in the 11 and 12 age group. Mindy Pierce, Drew Thomas, Teri Plotkin and Blake Davis dominated in the 15 to 19 age group.

 Triple event winners included Tess Barnes (10), Emma Thomas (8), Lily Thomas (12), Devon Davis (12), Mindy Pierce (17), and Teri Plotkin (17).  Six Kingfish team records fell that weekend and included:  Emma Thomas (8) setting records in the 100 meter freestyle, 50 meter butterfly, and 100 meter individual medley;  Katie Funcheon (9) in the 100 meter freestyle;  Jeci Luckado (10) in the 100 meter freestyle;  Drew Thomas (15) in the 200 meter freestyle and  Teri Plotkin (17) in the 100 meter Breaststroke.
The Kingfish completed the meet with 904 points. The closest competitor was SHAPE with 405 points, then NATO with 412.5 and Brussels with 345.

The next challenge for the Kingfish is the European Forces Swim League Championship Feb. 17 and 18 in Munich. The team has numerous qualified swimmers to cap off the season at that regional meet.