(Story will be updated)
The winning continues for the Ooltewah Tidal Waves.
These guys and girls have become the dominant team in the Chattanooga Area Swim League in recent summers and they proved it with a road win at Stuart Heights, the Tidal Waves winning by a final score of 453-354.
Other winners on Monday included Red Bank and Country Club. The Gators had the closest meet of the day with a 400-395 win over Big Ridge while Country Club prevailed over Ridgeside by a 445-338 final.
Just to illustrate Ooltewah’s dominance in recent seasons, Monday’s win on the road was the 34th straight dual-meet victory. The Tidal Waves last loss was in 2017, but it’s been all about the Purple since then as they’ve gone five straight seasons without a loss and are currently the four-time defending City Meet champs.
These are without a doubt the two best teams in the league and perhaps it’s appropriate they faced each other on the first day of the new season. Stuart Heights has a bunch of quality, experienced swimmers, but the biggest advantage that Ooltewah has is individual numbers.
This meet was close from the beginning with the Tidal Waves only holding 191-168 lead midway following the medley relays. But that difference only got bigger as the Sharks had some holes in their lineup where they simply didn’t have bodies to compete.
Todd Jones is back in the saddle as the Ooltewah head coach for the 10th year. He stepped aside after the 2022 season and turned things over to his son, but Todd is back in charge after his son chose a different route to go.
“I was really kind of worried coming in to today’s meet as I really didn’t know where we stood,” Jones said while standing on the pool deck while the competition was still going forward.
“Stuart Heights has a bunch of good swimmers, but they just don’t have the numbers we have. We don’t have a bunch of superstars. Just a consistent group who works hard every day and just wants to keep getting better.
“We knew we would have to swim our best to win today and it seems like our times dropped across the board, but we’ll just keep getting better. Our kids came over here today ready to swim and all have done their best.
“Stuart Heights is not going to just give it to you, so that’s what makes this meet so rewarding as it was a great way for us to start our season,” Jones added.
Katie Sallee has been the head coach for the Sharks for the past nine seasons. She knows all too well what it feels like to finish as the runner-up as her team has never won a city meet and have finished second more times than she wants to admit.
“This is a great first step for us as we’ve only had one week of practice. I really could have used another,” she said while the backstroke races were underway.
“We have a bunch of new young ones and they’re just trying to find their spots tonight as this is their first time to really race. I think they are totally enjoying themselves, which is the most important part, but we just tried to focus on taking care of the little things today. The speed will come,” she nodded with a smile.
Makayla McInnes, Keilah Holliman and Jed Holliman all maxed out with 19 points apiece to pace the winning Tidal Waves. Nora Pace and Noah Holliman were close with 18 points apiece.
Elijah Holliman, Nolan Holt, Zack McInnes, Easton Daniel and Calynn Daniel all finished with 17 points as Ooltewah finished with 18 swimmers who had 10 points or more.
Gilly Smith and Ridge Folmar both scored 17 points to lead Stuart Heights while Molly Mae Ransom, Max Shaw and Jameson Halbert all finished with 15 as the Sharks had 11 swimmers with at least 10 points.
Ooltewah has the next eight days off before returning to action on Tuesday, June 11 at Calhoun. Stuart Heights will be at home again on Thursday to host Signal Mountain.
MONDAY'S HIGH-POINT SCORERS:
OOLTEWAH:
19 – Makayla McInnes, Keilah Holliman, Jed Holliman
18 – Nora Pace, Noah Holliman
17 – Elijah Holliman, Nolan Holt, Zack McInnes, Easton Daniel, Calynn Daniel
15 – Max Emmert, Carmyn Watkins
14 – Shiwoo Song
13 – Bryson Lake, Peyton Erhard
12 – Wilder Erhard, Julia Leite
10 – Riley Medley.
STUART HEIGHTS:
17 – Gilly Smith, Ridge Folmar
15 – Molly Mae Ransom, Max Shaw, Jameson Halbert
14 – Ellie Lydon
13 – Sage Sillery
12 – Ava Gipson
11 – Will White, Ava Shaw
10 – Warren Harman.
COUNTRY CLUB:
19 – Zeke House, Marvin Johnson, Evie Ranalli, Nicholas Johnson
18 – Cate Bowman
17 – Cooper Brooks
16.5 – Eliana Tabibizar
15 – Chamberlain Johnson, James Bentley, Sloane Graham, Gracie Manning
14 – Caden Wells, Caroline Hatfield
13.5 – Lucinda Ranalli
13 – Margaret Stinnett
12 – Cooper Webb
11 – Thompson Guy
10 – Adam Messerly, Scarlett Warrick, Isaiah Summey, Ryan Ellis, Carter Williams.
RIDGESIDE:
19 – Charlie Schrader
17 – Owen Swisher, Lucy Hamilton
15 – Elizabeth Grace Schrader
12 – Cora Hamilton
11 – Jesse Zimmerman, Jacob Stone, Shiloh Budd
10.5 – Caroline Carpenter
10 – Henry Curtis, Grace Hamilton, Ryan Carpenter, Henry Gibbs.
BIG RIDGE:
19 – Kate White, Logan Carroll
17 – Millie Watson, Nathan Jungels, Jade Skiba, Benson Wright, Quinn Young
15 – Haley Clark, Noah Keener
13 – Rowan Garver, Lander Smith, Megan Gill
12 – Gracin Smith Caroline Coode
10.5 – Blakely Martin
10 – Evan Scharff, Callie Scharff, May Kountz, Luke Scharff, Camden Ross.
RED BANK:
17 – Noah Blake, Benton Bilbrey, Addilyn Mayo
16 – Madelaine Ellis
15 – Allie West
14 – James Atchley, Audrey Mayo
13 – Luke Blake, Avalie Bilbrey, Caleb Ross
12 – Caleb Grass
11 – Jem Robertson, Lilah Blanchard, Reid Corder
10 – Adalia Ross, Luke Bowlin.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)