Niwot girls show off depth in season opener

It's been nearly a year since the Niwot girls swim and dive hit the pool, but you wouldn't have known it from their performance against Mountain View in the 2021 season opener on Jan. 28. With impressive times from longtime veterans and some speedy newcomers, the Cougar swimmers dominated the Lions, winning 11 of the 12 events.

"I couldn't be more excited," first year coach Kyle Bachrodt said afterwards. "The energy was as high as it could be and we had great swims across the board... But it wasn't about winning or losing, it was more about me just getting to see the girls compete. The first time watching these swimmers is always a treat, and we have a lot of talent and a lot of great girls that have so much potential."

Leading the way for Niwot were fourth-year varsity swimmer Emiley Yie and junior Mary Codevilla, a three-time state individual champion. Codevilla handily won her two individual events on the day-the 50-yard freestyle (24.62) and the 100-yd breaststroke (1:06.50), while Yie was also an easy winner in the 100 butterfly (1:00.93) and 200 free (1:56.84). Both also helped out on the relays, as did Grace Shaw, who is back with the team after taking 2020 off. She also took first for Niwot in the 500 freestyle (5:30.62).

Among those making their debut for Niwot, sophomore Jamieson Legh also picked up wins in a pair of events, the 200 individual medley (2:10.35) and 100 backstroke (1:00.12), while freshman Charlotte Heuer took first overall in the 100 free (57.96). Freshman Mia Prok, coming off a championship season in cross country, took second overall in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.33) and 200 medley (2:12.18).

All of which gives Bachrodt and assistant Aimee Keronen a lot of options, and a lot of opportunities to get Niwot swimmers into postseason competition.

"We're going to be messing around with the relay lineups quite a bit, doing some tinkering here and there," Bachrodt said of his team. "I'm confident with whoever we put in whatever position in whatever relay that it's going to be strong swims and we can compete with the best in the state."