This story has been updated with additional information.
Three of Alaska’s top high school swimmers competed at the Lake Oswego Swim Club Fall Open on Oct. 8-10 in Oregon.
Juneau Glacier Swim Club athletes Emma Fellman, a Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé senior, and JDHS junior Valerie Peimann and sophomore Lily Francis used the top competition meet to gauge their early season club progress.
“For me this meet was an opportunity to get some fun racing in mid-season,” Fellman said. “It’s always a really great experience to travel and race kids outside of Alaska.”
Fellman had first-place finishes in the girls 200-yard backstroke with a 2:12.95 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.74. Her 200 back time is the fastest for girls in southeast Alaska this season.
“My goals for this season are to hopefully get a couple more qualifying times for some higher-level meets and to really just enjoy my last year of Alaska swimming,” Fellman said. “Training has been going really well and our coaches have been working us very hard, which has been awesome. I’m super excited for the rest of the season.”
Glacier Swim Club athletes Lily Francis, Emma Fellman and Valerie Peimann start the girls 50 freestyle at the 2024 Lake Oswego Swim Club Fall Open in Lake Oswego, Oregon. (Photo courtesy Glacier Swim Club)
Fellman also had a second place in the girls 100 back in 1:04.08 and the 100 butterfly in 1:05.41. She added fourth-place finishes in the girls 11 and over 200 freestyle with 2:01.86 and the 50 free in 25.80.
Peimann had first-place finishes in four of her six swims. She won the girls 50 free in 25:48, the 200 fly in 2:19.92 (a 3.73 seconds improvement), the 100 free in 55.41 and the 100 back in 59.77 (1.23 seconds improvement). Her 50 and 100 free times and 100 back are the fastest this season in southeast Alaska.
She had second-place finishes in the 11 and over 200 free with 1:58.92 and the 100 breast in 1:12.33.
“This meet for me was a mid-season training meet where I was hoping to gain racing experience and gauge how mid-season training is going in preparation for a meet we are traveling to in Virginia in November,” Peimann said. “My goals for the season are to hopefully achieve more cuts for higher-level national meets. I’m also aiming for some club records in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 1,650-yard freestyle. Training has been going really well. I’ve been training longer and harder than I have ever before. My teammates and coaches are really dedicated and I’m thankful for their support. I’m excited to see where the season takes me.”
Francis had first-place finishes in the girls 100 fly with 1:04.16 and the 200 Individual Medley with 2:22.47. She had second-place finishes in the 50 free with 25.50, the 200 fly with 2:30.64 and the 100 free with 56.13. She also placed ninth in the 11 and over 200 free with 2:04.35 (a 2.45 seconds improvement).
“This meet might not have been my best performance, however, I can still take away things I need to work on, as well as a different outlook on swimming,” Francis said. “I learned that I might not always get to swim in the best circumstances, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still perform well. Despite how I swim I still have fun with these new swimming opportunities that without coach Scott and GSC I wouldn’t get to experience. Some of my goals for this season are to qualify for higher-level meets as well as get to race new people.”
“Training has been great, and challenging at times but I know it will make me a better swimmer in the long run. I am extremely grateful to my coaches for giving me and my teammates the best swim experience possible, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them. This season isn’t over yet and I’m excited to see what the rest of the season has in store for me.”
Glacier Swim Club athletes (left-to-right) Lily Francies, Emma Fellman and Valerie Peimann pose during a GSC practice. The three just competed in the Lake Oswego Swim Club Fall Open in Oregon over the weekend. (Photo courtesy Glacier Swim Club)
Francis swam for the now-defunct Thunder Mountain High School team and qualified for state finals events as a freshman last season. Fellman and Peimann are in the top 10 all-time marks for Alaska high school state championship rankings in the girls 200 medley relay for JDHS (defending state champions). Fellman has the fourth fastest state tournament 200 IM time (won back-to-back titles in ’22 and ’23) and fifth fastest 100 breaststroke (won title in ’23) and has qualified for state since her freshman year. Peimann is the defending state champion in the 500 free and together with Fellman, members of the defending state 200 Medley and 400 Free Relay teams.
The three GSC athletes were seeking training for events outside of the high school swimming season and felt training with GSC gave them a better opportunity to meet those goals. They still support former teammates on the high school team.
“I am blessed to coach these three athletes,” Glacier Swim Club head coach Scott Griffith said. “They are extremely hard workers, fun to be around, humble and all very talented. It takes a lot of integrity to train on your own most of the time and they have done everything asked of them and more.”
Added Griffith, “It was important to get the girls to a mid-season competition where they could compete against swimmers their age to gauge their training. The conditions were less than ideal, no warm-up/cool-down space, little rest between swims, swimming on travel days, but the girls raced hard. Most swims were as expected; a bit tired and broken down, but pushing themselves to the best of their ability. Valerie Peimann (100 back, 200 fly) and Lily Francis (200 free) had some personal best times, which was unexpected at this point in the season. From what I saw at the meet, I can adjust their training to give them the best chance to perform well at the next championship meet.”
The GSC coaching staff includes Griffith and assistants Seth Cayce, Lisa Jones, Corinne Bullick, Jan Rumble, Jenny Chester and Carole Triem.
• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.
