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Health & Fitness

2014 Age Group State: The Gold Standard

When it comes to swimming, Chattahoochee Gold knows how to rock some style. By the morning of Friday, February 21, 2014, the first day of the Age Group State Championships, there were ninety-nine elaborately decorated rubber duckies prepared to bestow their mystical duck luck on their artistic human companions. Among the notably dressed were Flappy Duck, Ducky Cyrus on a wrecking ball, Viking Duck, and even a guest appearance by a certain Gold coach, complete with stopwatch and state heat sheet. Clearly, our 14-under swimmers have the creative edge. Fortunately that creativity seems to enhance our aquatic prowess as well! The State Championships couldn’t have gone better if all ninety-nine ducks were channeling Michael Phelps.

            Lucky Ducks sure did their part, but the real credit goes to the swimmers who designed them. The ninety-nine Gold swimmers that competed at the 2014 14-Under State Championships swam their hearts out and raised the bar for Gold success on the state level. With a solid third place finish overall, the team scores showed a narrowing of the gap between Gold and second place finisher Dynamo, a huge marker of our progress. With the giant Swim Atlanta at the top of the team standings and powerhouse Dynamo following in second, third place has become Gold’s home for the last several years. This year, we proved that second place is within striking distance in the future. Gold continues to make great strides towards changing the standard and we couldn’t be happier with the dedicated swimmers who make this happen.

            Success like this only comes with hard work, cooperation, and copious amounts of passion. By the numbers, these kids accomplished more in one weekend than seems conceivable. In just three days, Gold swimmers managed to snag 45 individual top three finishes. Medalists included Emilie Flynn (500 free, 1000 free), Sophie Taylor (200 fly, 400 IM, 1000 free, 200 IM), Caroline Aikins (50 free, 200 free, 100 back, 400 IM), Bayley Frierson (1000 free), Jackie Hill (100 fly, 200 IM, 500 free, 1000 free), Emma Cole (200 fly, 400 IM, 100 free), Nate Matthews (100 free, 500 free, 1000 free), Bear

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Breeze (500 free, 1000 free, 400 IM, 200 fly), Alex Morge (50 breast, 100 breast, 200 breast), Jack Aikins (100 breast), Jack Dolan (50 free), Tiger Pilkington (500 free, 400 IM, 200 fly), Landon Ballard (100 back), Jonathan Young (100 fly), Jack Dalmolin (400 IM, 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 IM), Anna Case (500 free, 50 fly, 100 fly, 200 fly), and Joey Young (100 back, 200 back). Whoa. Carpal tunnel, hang on, we’re not even close to done yet.

            Among those 45 top three finishes, five individual state champions emerged. Jack Dolan snagged the 13-year-old 100 backstroke win; Caroline Aikins took the 14-year-old 200 backstroke and 200 individual medley; Emma Cole dominated the 14-year-old 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and 1000 freestyle; Jackie Hill topped the field in the 14-year-old 100 and 200 breaststrokes; and our youngest state champion Nate Matthews scored the win in the 11-year-old 200 freestyle.

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            Keeping the impressive ball rolling, our relays racked up some more podium-worthy finishes. Seven relays placed either second or third, including the boys 11-12 200 free relay (Mason Sommer, Nate Matthews, Thomas Eaton, Riley James), the boys 13-14 200 free relay (Landon Ballard, Jack Dalmolin, Jack Dolan, Tiger Pilkington), the boys 13-14 200 medley relay (Ballard, Dalmolin, Jonathan Young, Dolan), the boys 13-14 800 free relay (Ballard, Pilkington, Joey Young, Dalmolin), the boys 13-14 400 free relay (Dalmolin, Pilkington, Ballard, Dolan), the boys 13-14 400 medley relay (Joey Young, Dalmolin, Pilkington, Dolan), and the girls 13-14 200 medley relay (Caroline Aikins, Jackie Hill, Bayley Frierson, Emma Cole). What’s more, the 13-14 girls relay teams managed to win four of the five relays. State championship wins came in the 800 free relay (Emma Cole, Bayley Frierson, Jackie Hill, Caroline Aikins), the 200 free relay (Cole, Kristina Friedrichs, Hill, Aikins), the 400 medley relay (Aikins, Hill, Frierson, Cole), and 400 free relay (Hill, Aikins, Friedrichs, Cole).

            Overwhelmed yet by all the greatness? Well, we’re still not finished. Let’s talk records. Topping 21 years of Chattahoochee Gold times, our current swimmers broke 27 team records during all that chart-topping success. Twelve of those records came down on the relays previously mentioned, with the addition of the 11-12 boys 400 free relay. Individual team records were broken by six swimmers in 15 swims. Tiger Pilkington, Jack Dalmolin, Joey Young, Jackie Hill, Caroline Aikins, and Emma Cole all will place their names to the top of the Gold record board. At the end of the weekend, another accolade was awarded: Jackie Hill impressively defended her High Point award, scoring the most points of any other 14-year-old girl at the meet. Well done to all!

            For the grand finale of the recap, the most noteworthy performance of the championship, we congratulate the State Champion relay team of Caroline Aikins, Jackie Hill, Bayley Frierson, and Emma Cole. With a time of 3:50.66, these four girls broke the Georgia State Record in the 13-14 400 medley relay in a three-way duel so electric that the finish had everyone at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on their feet. Closely fighting the top teams of Swim Atlanta and Dynamo, the first 300 yards of the race were separated by only tenths of a second, with the lead shifting among the three powers. At the conclusion of the third leg, Gold was just a second and a half behind first place and a tenth behind second, a testament to the will of our girls. Gold’s Emma “The Closer” Cole dove in for freestyle with the whole crowd on the edge of their seats. With a 50 left, the battle was fierce. Then Emma did what she does best: sprint shockingly fast at the very end to eliminate anyone who dares cross her. In the final few yards, she passed both Dynamo and Swim Atlanta to touch the wall with confidence and cap off the relay’s incredible performance. A phenomenal swim from four exceptionally talented and hard-working girls!

            Congratulations to all the Gold swimmers that participated in the 2014 Age Group State Championships. Whether you broke a record, won an event, or were at state for the first time, you’re an important part of the Gold standard.




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