The YMCA Mariners recently competed in the Southwestern YMCA Conference Championship meet at Grand Haven High school along with eight other teams.

The Mariners had 32 swimmers compete in the meet, which was for swimmers 18 and under. Each swimmer has to compete in three individual events as well as one relay for a total of 96 events

The Mariners set six records, four conference records and a pair of team records by the end of the meet.

“We have 17 swimmers going to 8 and under state, 13 qualified for the Age Group YMCA State Championship meet and seven for the Great Lakes YMCA Zone Championships in Maumee, Ohio,” coach Jacque Clark said. “It has been a wonderful season with the team experiencing growth due to the exposure to competitive swimming seen in last summer’s Olympics. The media coverage of last summer’s Olympics provided wonderful mentors for the kids as Missy Franklin’s story unfolded and this fall five of our swimmers met Tyler McGill, an Olympic swimmer, in person at Notre Dame.

“The swimmers have trained hard with focus on long-term goals as they achieved the short-term goals they set week after week after week. The championship meets ahead are going to be extraordinary. I tell them quite frequently that the extra in extraordinary is ordinary people doing a little ‘extra’ in their preparation for the completion life provides them. My team does step up and do the ‘little’ things it takes to do the extraordinary training. I am proud of these kids.”

Andie Drew was a conference champion in the 100-yard freestyle, 25-yard butterfly and 50-yard freestyle in the 8 and under division. She broke the conference record in the 100-yard freestyle, which was set in 2001 by former Niles swimmer Lindsey Craig.

Lauren Kilgore also had a record-setting day as she won three medals.

Her 100-yard individual medley set both a team and conference record, while in the 50-yard butterfly she also broke the team and conference mark. Her third win came in the 50-yard backstroke, a new event for Kilgore.

She qualified for both state and zone meets in all three events.

Vanya Ruppart won championships in the 13-14 division in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard backstroke. Rupport qualified for the state meet in both events. She also finished second in the 100-yard backstroke, which qualified her for the state finals.

In the 15 and over boys division, James Norris qualified for state was he won the 100-yard freestyle, the 100-yard breaststroke and the 50-yard freestyle.

His younger brother Matthew finished third in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard individual medley in the 11-12 division. He was second in the 50-yard breaststroke. He qualified for the state meet in all three events.

Halee Tittle won the 50-yard backstroke to qualify for both state and zones in the 9-10 division. She also won the 50-yard freestyle and was second in the 100-yard individual medley to advance to the state in both events.

Ryan Drew qualified for both state and zones by winning the 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard butterfly and 100-yard individual medley.

Twelve-year-old Taylor Altergott captured the 200-yard freestyle to qualify for both state and zones, while finishing first in the 100-yard freestyle and second in the 50-yard freestyle.

Sister Morgan Altergott was fourth in the 200-yard individual medley and third in the 100-yard backstroke, qualifying for the state meet in both events.

In the 8 and under division, Peyton Racht won the conference championship in the 100-yard individual medley and the 25-yard backstroke, She was second in the 25-yard butterfly and she earned a spot on the 10 and under 200-yard freestyle relay team for the state meet. Amaya Huffer and Alexa Vota qualified for spots on the 11-12 girls freestyle relay team for the state meet.

Marika Ruppart finished second in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 25-yard backstroke for girls 8 and under. Grayson Herbert was third in the 100-yard freestyle for boys 8 and under, with Gage Hannewyck finished third in the boys 9-10 50-yard freestyle.