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T-Bird swimmers wrap up season

The main body of the Iola-Scandinavia Thunderbirds swim team traveled to Plymouth July 26 and returned home with a first-place finish at a six-team invitational.

The T-Birds edged Plymouth by 22 points and finished far ahead of Brillion, Chilton, Sheboygan Falls and Kohler.

“The meet was a bit smaller than in the past couple of years, but we still had some nice competition in many races,” coach Dick Wright said. “Our kids always come to swim and try hard to improve their times. I was pleased with what they did today and proud of our great summer season.”

While the T-Birds competed in Plymouth, 10-year-old team member Tayler Carlson participated in the Wisconsin Long Course State Meet in Brown Deer. She had qualified for 10 events during the season and swim in six of them at state. She finished second in the 50-meter breaststroke, fifth in the 100-meter breaststroke and 11th in the 200-meter individual medley.

“This was an absolutely incredible performance by Tayler,” Wright said. “For her to be the second-best breaststroker in the state is quite an accomplishment. She is dedicated, hard-working and a very talented swimmer.”

Carlson qualified for both breaststroke events at the zone meet, to be held this weekend in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The Plymouth meet turned out to be the final competition for the T-Birds this summer. The team won both of its home meets, as well as an invitational in Wittenberg, and placed second at a 12-team invitational in Green Bay.

Riley Kostuch and Ethan Lashua led the 8-and-under swimmers in Plymouth with a pair of wins.

Matthew Glodowski, Aiden Wyhl, Amber Sperl and Cassidy Kostuch paced the 9-10 group. Glodowski won two events and placed second in another; Wyhl won the breaststroke race and took second in the 100 IM and freestyle; Sperl topped the field in all three of her events; and Kostuch recorded two firsts and a second. The 9-10 boys and girls also won both of their relays.

Dylan Kostuch, Katherine Leaf and Jessica Gutschow led the 13-14 group. Kostuch won the 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 IM; Leaf recorded seconds in the 50 and 100 freestyle and butterfly; and Gutschow had three top-five finishes.

Abe Konich, Mitch Glodowski, Zach Shulfer, Daniel Parks and Morgan Glodowski paced the 15-18 group. Konich on the 100 freestyle, IM and backstroke; Mitch Glodowski, Shulfer and Parks each won a race and recorded two seconds; and Morgan Glodowski won the girls’ 50 freestyle and took second in the butterfly and breaststroke.

“We had another terrific season,” Wright said. “We had 69 kids on our summer team and usually traveled with 30 to 40 swimmers. Abe Konich set five team records, Katherine Leaf set two new team records and Tayler Carlson’s performance with a second and a fifth at state set this season off as one of the best. This was a great way for me to end my 13 years of coaching this incredible team.”

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