Over the weekend, the Coronado Girls Swim Team secured a third place finish at the Colorado Springs Metro League Championships. “Overall I think the team had a really great weekend! We had a lot of girls make it back to swim in finals which was very impressive,” said team captain, Mia Shaeffer.

Coronado earned the second and third place spots in the 100 fly thanks to strong swims from Mia Shaeffer, 12, and Abigail Shaw, 11. Shaffer also placed third in the 50 free and in the 200 individual medley, a grueling event requiring competitors to swim a 50 of each of the four strokes. Stephanie Boyd placed second in the 100 freestyle, and freshman Amber Bakken, “made it back to finals as a freshman and went a best time in her race despite being sick which was incredible,” according to Mia Shaffer. The team also had strong relay finishes, snagging third in the 200 free relay, second in the 200 medley relay, and first in the 400 free relay. “We do a lot of freestyle in practice which helped us all have fast splits,” said Shaeffer of the 400 free relay, adding, “it was also the last event of the meet and everyone raced really well and stayed competitive and fired up!”

Diver Lauren Grybowski placed third among a competitive field, earning an impressive score of 440.7 points. “The season’s been great, I’ve loved every second of it” says Grybowski, adding, “I’ve had a great team to work with,” and crediting their new coach with “ helping [the team] refine our dives.”

Individual state qualifiers include Mia Shaffer, who will compete in the 100 fly and 100 backstroke, and Stephanie Boyd, who will compete in the 50 free and the 100 free. Maycie Rogers, Alex Costa, and Alexa Touchard will compete in relays at the state meet, the exact makeup of which have yet to be determined. Additional qualifiers include Naomi Shaw in the 100 free, Abigail Shaw in the 100 breast and 100 fly, and Leanne Telle in the 100 back and 200 free. While these swimmers don’t attend Coronado, they are a valuable asset to the team. Lauren Grybowski is the only Coronado diver to qualify.  

The team will continue to taper as they prepare for the state championships. On the diver’s side, Lauren Grybowski has “been trying to stick with my main list of dives that I know I’m going to use to compete for state” and “work on [her] less consistent dives and make corrections on those.”

The state competition begins on February 7th in Thornton, Colorado. Be sure to wish the girls good luck if you see any of them!