Thornton, CO - Improving upon last year's ninth place finish, the Aurora Masters placed fourth at the COMSA state meet held March 23-25 at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center. The meet involved 37 teams from across Colorado.
"This was our best finish ever and we have big goals for next year," coach Brian Phelps said. "We aren't looking for speed but we do want to get fifty swimmers who want to have a great time and enter state with us next year. You don't have to qualify for state and it's a blast."
Thirth-three Aurora Masters swimmers participated in the state meet this year, of ages ranging from 18 to 72.
"I was so incredibly proud of our team!" Phelps said. "We are a supportive family that welcomes newcomers. We had several people race who had never entered a swim meet before in their lives. We had others who hadn't raced in thirty years. That is brave and no money can buy the genuine smiles from their faces after they competed and finished."
Aurora had two high point winners, with Jeff Gullett taking the high point award for men 25-29 and breaking a state record in his age group. Eric Hatch won high point for men 35-39. Gullett and Hatch will participate in the Summer National Championships in Omaha following the Olympic Trials in the same pool. Others going to Summer Nationals will include Todd Holmes, Brian Phelps, Jess Schwartzkopf, Scott Vieira, Melissa Phelps, Dakota McClain and others yet to be "convinced".
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