KEY swimmers make splash in Maryland

Kettering Oakwood Times

The South Family (Kettering) YMCA KEY National Swim Team, consisting of 13 swimmers, recently competed in the YMCA National Long Course Championships in College Park, Maryland.

They were part of a field of 132 teams from all over the nation consisting of a total of 1,294 swimmers. The KEY team finished an impressive seventh overall with many of their swimmers achieving their best times in their respective events.

Abby Galbreath of Kettering, 13, the youngest member of the team, stood on the award podium for her 13th place finish in the 400-meter Individual Medley (IM) with a time of 5:15.81. She also placed 27th in the 400 meter freestyle, 31st in the 200-meter IM and 54th in the 200-meter freestyle.

Carly Mathes, a recent graduate of Fairmont High School and the 2005 Division I State champion in the 200-yard freestyle, won the 200-meter freestyle, dropping time in finals to finish with a 2:06.83. She also added to the team points by placing third in the 100 free (59.45), fifth in the 200 IM (2:23.66), and 12th in the 100 fly (1:05.40). Mathes will be swimming for the University of Tennessee this fall.

Ridgeville Christian High School graduate, Kelly Gueltig, placed in all four distance events throughout the week. Gueltig was sixth in the 1,500-meter freestyle (17:56.05), seventh in the 800-meter freestyle (9:23.35), 11th in the 400-meter freesytle (4:34.84) and 15th in the 200-meter freestyle (2:12.96). She will also continue to swim in college this fall at Gardner-Webb University in South Carolina.

Two women swam in the breaststroke events at nationals. Claire Fogarty of Kettering placed eighth in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:46.69), 16th in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:18.80), 28th in the 50-meter breaststroke, and 53rd in the 400 IM. Jessica Markus, a breaststroker from Germantown, placed 77th in the 200-meter breaststroke, 88th in the 100-meter breaststroke, and 110th in the 50-meter breaststroke.

Brittney Rohr of Kettering, placing for the first time in individual events, helped the team score by placing 13th in the 50-meter backstroke (31.78) and 16th in the 100-meter backstroke (1:09.13). She also finished 23rd in the 50 free and 35th in the 200 back.

Ally Stover, soon to be a freshman at Alter, placed 81st in the 200 free, 81st in the 100 free, 110th in the 50 free, and 124th in the 50 fly.

Justin Galbreath of Kettering was a familiar face on the awards podium scoring the most points of any team member. He placed first in the 400 free (4:07.12), first in the 800 free (8:28.62), first in the 1500 free (16:14.09) and second in the 400 IM (4:42.17).

T.J. Collins of Kettering swam in the four freestyle events. He placed 34th in the 200 free, 38th in the 100 free, 47th in the 400 free, and 48th in the 50 free. Shane Zimmer, a senior at Alter, also swam individual freestyle events. He placed 53rd in the 100 free and 58th in the 50 free.

Michael Cobb of Oakwood placed 29th in the 50 back, 58th in the 200 IM, 64th in the 100 back, and 75th in the 50 fly.

Bill Linklater of Kettering, the male breaststroker of the team, finished 20th in the 200 breast, 35th in the 100 breast, and 52nd in the 50 breast.

Casey Miller, a backstroker from West Carrollton, competed in his first Nationals in Maryland. He placed 110th in the 50 back.

Besides placing well individually, five KEY women's relays had very successful performances.

The 200 free relay consisting of Gueltig, Rohr, Stover, and Mathes placed second with a time of 1:51.09.

The 800 free relay with swimmers Gueltig, Stover, Galbreath, and Mathes dropped time to finish in second place with a time of 8:46.04.

Gueltig, Rohr, Galbreath and Mathes swam in the 400 free relay and placed fifth with a time of 4:04.56.

The 200 medley relay, Rohr (backstroke), Fogarty (breaststroke), Mathes (fly), and Gueltig (free), finished seventh overall with a time of 2:05.05. The 400 medley with the same swimmers placed 13th with a 4:48.01.

The KEY men's 200 free relay, 400 free relay and 800 free relay placed 18th, 17th and 17th respectively. Swimmers on those relays were Galbreath, Collins, Webb, and Zimmer.

The national team coaches were Gary Galbreath, Bill Bothwell, and Eric Wentzel.

The KEY SWim Team is now accepting new swimmers for the fall.

FOr more information, contact head coach Gary Galbreath, South Community YMCA, at 434-1964.