.png)
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Capable of swimming seemingly any event, Rochester’s Elena Bode is the RTC girls swimmer of the year.
Bode gradually improved over the course of her high school career, and she peaked this year. The highlight of her year was a Three Rivers Conference title in the 100 breaststroke.
But calling her a breaststroker would be limiting. She can swim anything from a sprint freestyle to the individual medley and was a key component on Rochester’s team.
Overall, it was a more normal year for swimming. Crowds showed up for meets throughout the season after limited audiences, or sometimes no audiences, showed up in the COVID winter of 2020-21. If anything, crowds were bigger as they missed being away for a year.
We thank area coaches for answering our questions and providing input, but this list is our own, and we take full responsibility for this list.
We place extra emphasis on conference and sectional meets and not as much emphasis on midweek dual meets. The conference and sectional meets are the meets where a swimmer is supposed to be peaking.
First team
Elena Bode (Rochester) – Bode was sixth in the 100 freestyle and fifth in the 100 breaststroke at the sectional and was the only Lady Z swimmer to qualify for two individual sectional finals.
Kendall Craig (Tippecanoe Valley) – Craig is a capable backstroker, but we liked her most in the distance freestyle events.
Chloe Chan (Pioneer) – Chan took second in the 100 breaststroke at the Warsaw sectional and looks ready to break the 1:10 mark soon.
Maddy Brouyette (Rochester) – A newcomer to diving, Brouyette showed off her gymnastics skills on the board and qualified for regionals.
Honorable mention
Makena Smith (Tippecanoe Valley)
Kendyll Bradley (Rochester)
Emily Chan (Pioneer)
Bella Riffle (Rochester)
