The Kraken swim at the Black River Falls Invite

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The Kraken Swim Club attended the second-to-last meet of the winter season on Jan. 17 in Eau Claire. The meet was hosted by the Black River Youth Swimming team, held at Eau Claire North High School.
The Kraken had thirty swimmers in attendance, with many returning seniors and first-time athletes. The swim clubs at the meet representing the Central Wisconsin Swim Conference were Black River Falls, Bloomer, Eau Claire, Rice Lake, Ladysmith and Medford.
Anna Gumz had a new state cut in the 25-yard butterfly. She finished first in that event and set a new club record. Anna finished the day with first places in the 25-yard and 50-yard freestyle, and a second in the 25-yard backstroke. All of Anna’s races set new club records.
“She had a very good day in the water,” said Coach Dave Kontz.
Gumz will be representing WRSC at the Winter Short Course Championships held the weekend of Feb. 28 and March 1 at Verona High School. The meet is hosted by The Badger Aquatics Club.

The list of first place finishes continues with Addison Borek placing first in the 50-yard breaststroke. Borek also got second in the 50-yard butterfly and third in the 50-yard freestyle. Tretton Delaney finished first in the 50-yard breaststroke. Tretton also finished second in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 50-yard freestyle.
Willow Lee is a member of the Rapids Girls High School Swim Team, and in the off-season is swimming with the Kraken again. Willow finished first in the 50-yard backstroke, third in the 100-yard backstroke and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle. Mya Marquard placed first in the 100-yard backstroke and set a new club record. Marquard also has a pair of second place finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, with a sixth place in the 100-yard breaststroke. Finally, AJ Plummer finished with a pair of first places in the 50-yard freestyle and 50-yard butterfly.
The second-place winners start with Kyndel Borek in the 200-yard breaststroke. She also placed fourth in the 100 breaststroke, with a new club record, and a pair of fifth places in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard individual medley. Brycen Henslin finished the day with a second in the 100-yard individual medley. Brycen also finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and fifth in the 50-yard butterfly. Finally, Mackenzie Miloch finished in second place in the 200-yard individual medley and a pair of sixth place finishes in the 50 butterfly and 50 freestyle.
Chasten Delaney starts the third-place finishes with his 100-yard breaststroke. Chasten also placed fourth in the 50-yard breaststroke and sixth in the 50-yard freestyle with a personal record. Payton Kraklow finished with a pair of third places in the 100-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke.
Other top finishers include Ryan Besasie placing in fourth place in the 200-yard freestyle, Wyatt Hamilton finishing in fifth place in the 50-yard freestyle and Emma Knoll placing sixth in the 50-yard backstroke. Janessa Rucinski also placed sixth in the 100-yard individual medley and Maelyn VanAsten finished in sixth place in the 50-yard backstroke.
The morning relays had our age group girls finishing in eighth place in the 200-yard freestyle relay. Swimming for Rapids was Aubrey Knoll, Erin Self, Stella Spees, and Rhianonn Zabawa. In the afternoon session, the senior boys finished first in the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard freestyle relay. Swimming for Rapids was Brycen Henslin, Chasten Delaney, AJ Plummer and Tretton Delaney.
The middle school girls finished in third place in the 200 medley relay with Janessa Rucinski, Kyndel Borek, Mya Marquard and Emma Kay. The senior girls finished second in the 200-yard medley relay with Payton Kraklow, Addison Boreck, Mackenzie Miloch and Maelyn Van Asten. In the 200 freestyle relay, the girls finished in second place with Willow Lee, Addison Boreck, Mackenzie Miloch and Maelyn Van Asten.
The Kraken honor the swimmers who achieve a personal record at each swim meet. The swimmers who achieved new personal records are Emily Beckett, Emma Kay, Aubrey Knoll, Erin Self, Savannah Self, Autumn Soika, Ryan Soika, Stella Spees and Rhiannon Zabawa.
The final conference meet of the winter season was the Rapids Invite at home at Lincoln High School on Jan. 24. The Kraken will go on to compete in the CWSA Eastern Divisional Championship held in Tomahawk on Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The Conference Championships will be held in Rhinelander on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 7-8.
For the complete meet schedule and other information about the Kraken, visit www.rapidsswimclub.swimtopia.com. The Wisconsin Rapids Swim Club is a non-profit organization open to the public. The club is part of the Wisconsin Rapids Recreation Department. WRSC is designed exclusively for educational, competitive, and recreational purposes. The Kraken is geared for children ages 5-18. Practices are at the Lincoln High School Community pool and at Witter Park in the summer months. For more information, email the club at info.wrsc.swim@gmail.com. Visit the Wisconsin Rapids Parks and Recreation website at www.wirapids.gov/234/Recreation-Programs.