Individuals shine for Niwot at All District Meet

With a new name, time, location, and an extra team, this year’s annual rivalry meet between the Longmont-area girls swim and dive teams didn’t bear much resemblance to the traditional “All City” match-up. However, the final team standings were strangely familiar. For the fifth consecutive year, a loaded Silver Creek squad claimed the meet title, with 696 points, followed by Niwot (636) in second and Longmont (387) a distant third.

Though it wasn’t the result she was hoping for, Niwot junior Abbie Shaw said her team’s individual performances on the day are the real story. “Our team came in hoping to win, and we’ve been training really hard. I think Creek just had more depth than us. Everyone had personal bests, and everyone had awesome swims, so I think overall we’re really, really happy with it.”

The personal bests were certainly abundant for the Cougars at the newly christened All District Meet, which was moved from CU to the Mountain View Aquatic Center in Loveland due to a last minute scheduling conflict. Niwot swimmers took first place in seven of the meet’s 12 events, posting season-best times in each. Ultimately, it was Silver Creek’s domination of the diving event—with four of the top five finishers—that made the difference in the team scores.

Shaw had a hand in four of the Cougars’ top swims of the day, notably the 100 freestyle which she won with a time of 54.36 seconds. She also took first in the 100 backstroke (58.27) and was on the winning 200 medley (1:51.55) and 400 freestyle (3:40.02) relay teams.

Niwot freshman Mary Codevilla also picked up two individual titles, in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.34) and 200 individual medley (2:09.78), both of which she won by nearly six seconds. Sophomore Emily Yie took the 500 freestyle title for Niwot, with a time of 5:25.22, and finished second overall in the 200 freestyle (1:58.87). Both were with Shaw on the 400 freestyle team, along with Hanna Luo, and Codevilla joined Shaw on the 200 medley team, with Sofia Gaspar and Kristi Vu.

Senior Luo was second in the 200 IM (2:15.36) and fourth in the 100 butterfly (1:00.01), both personal bests. She was also on the second-place 200 freestyle relay team with senior Vu, who was fourth overall in the 50 freestyle (26.42), and eighth in the 100 freestyle (1:00.20), the latter a season best by more than a second.

Like Shaw, Niwot head coach Sarah Stamp came away impressed with her team’s performance, even if the Cougars fell short of their ultimate goal.

“It was a strong showing; the girls showed up and did what they needed to,” she said. “We lost a few girls, as did most teams, to the time and location change, but across the board, just awesome, fast swimming, and we did what we could in the pool.”

The Cougars are heading into the final stretch of their regular season, which has been chaotic due to the ongoing closure of the team’s regular practice venue, Longmont’s Centennial Pool.

“We haven’t had issues because of it, but it’s just been a nightmare,” Stamp said. “We practice off the blocks maybe once a week. But that’s the reality. The girls are being super positive, they’re persevering through it. We don’t talk about it, we just deal with it.”

Nevertheless, both she and Shaw are optimistic about the team’s prospects at the upcoming Class 4A State Championships.

“We have a nice, deep team already qualified, and we’re obviously trying to get a few more,” Stamp said. So far, more than 30 Niwot swimmers are eligible to compete there, with three events remaining on the schedule. “We’re just trying to keep everyone healthy and keep our eyes on the prize.”