SBA enjoys strong meet; Martinez, Rodriguez and Reed star for
team
San Jose – Without a team competition on the line, San Benito Aquatics swimmers took the pool at the Lynbrook Long-Course Meet hoping for individual improvements. And despite battling a slow pool, many of the team members did just that at the meet of 637 swimmers on June 10-11.
Leading the way for SBA were Adrian Martinez and Linae Rodriguez, competing in the 9-10-year-old group, and San Benito High mainstay Shelli Reed.
Martinez, 10, posted personal-best times in six of his seven events, a showing highlighted by his moving up to the B Division with his 1:40.54 time in the 100-meter freestyle.
“He did a fantastic job this weekend,” SBA co-head coach Cathy Larson said.
Asked whether the weekend had to be considered Martinez’s best overall showing ever, Larson replied, “Probably, yeah. That’s pretty good for that many swims, especially in a long-course meet.”
Rodriguez, a new addition to the club, qualified for the Junior Olympics in the 100-meter butterfly. Swimming in the girls’ A Division, Rodriguez, 10, finished in 1: 38.52.
“She swam beautiful,” Larson said. “Her butterfly was strong. She’s competitive and she finishes very hard. She’s a strong swimmer, very talented.”
Reed, who garnered All American Consideration in the 100-yard backstroke as a San Benito High in May, qualified for the Sectionals in two events at Lynbrook. Competing in the 13-14-year-old A Division in all eight of her events, Reed took six first-place ribbons and posted Sectional-worthy times in the 50-meter freestyle and 100-meter backstroke.
Kayla Klauer and Lauren Lango each moved up to the B Division with strong showings in their respective 50-meter butterfly races. Klauer, seven, took third in the eight-and-under competition with a time of 1: 01.27. Lango, 12, finished fourth in the 11-12-year-old competition with a personal-best time of 1:22.54.
Michelle Brunido won the eight-and-under 50-meter backstroke in a personal-best 51.27.
After 10 different SBA swimmers recorded at least one individual-best time, Larson called the meet a success for the club.
“Our kids did very well,” the co-head coach said. “It’s kind of a slow pool, so we didn’t see as many improvements as we could have.”
San Benito Aquatics returns to competition this weekend with a Coast Valley Aquatics League meet at Gilroy. The first CVAL tri-meet of the season runs from 9am-12pm on Saturday.
