Monday was the opening day for the 2025 Chattanooga Area Swim League with 12 of the 14 teams seeing action for the first time under “official conditions.”
It’s always like a Chinese fire drill in these meets as everyone is trying to get a handle on where they’re supposed to be and just how to do what is expected. It goes for the swimmers, coaches and parents as well as they all have a vital part in a meet’s success.
The Stuart Heights Sharks got off to a positive start with a win at Signal Mountain, the visitors defeating the Green Giants by a final score of 432.5 to 366.5.
Both teams have more than their share of first-year swimmers, but considering all of the circumstances, everyone from both teams seemed to have a great time and that’s the whole point of summer swimming to begin with.
“It’s really early, but I really like what I’ve seen so far,” said Stuart Heights coach Katie Sallee, who has been the leader for the Sharks for the past 10 seasons.
“It’s almost like a time trial where we just see what kids can do, but it’s been a great first effort and I’m totally pleased. It’s nice to see them in the right spots doing their thing, but now it’s time to work on getting faster,” she added.
Tracy Daverson is the head coach for Signal Mountain, but she’s in the process of training Laken Coppinger and Jake Holmes to eventually take over, so they both got a chance to share their thoughts with the good and bad about the opening meet.
“It’s been a little rocky with some miscommunication, but it’s as good as we can make it at this point,” Holmes began.
“We’re still learning the ropes, but I just want to see what kind of shape they’re in and seeing things we can build from. There have been a lot of races where I have been pleasantly surprised, but it’s still a learning curve and we have lots of potential for being better,” the 19-year-old sophomore at Centre College expressed.
Coppinger just finished her freshman year at UTC after graduating from Baylor after an outstanding career swimming for the Green Giants. She seemed to be happy with the results midway through the meet.
“There’s definitely stuff we can do better, but we’re just trying to create a fun atmosphere,” she began.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about doing your very best and I feel like we’ve done that for the most part today,” she added.
Lily Vicknair, Maddie Orth and Ava Gipson all maxed out with 19 points each while Joseph Myers was close behind with 18.5. Owen Isch was tops for the Green Giants with 19 points while Mimi Hanning Dmitrievskaya had 18 and Xander Callaghan 17.
Both of these teams will have Thursday off with Stuart Heights traveling to Ooltewah on Monday and Signal Mountain going to Fort Oglethorpe.
OTHER MONDAY WINNERS included Ooltewah, Dalton, Country Club, Big Ridge and Cleveland. The Waterdogs and Fairyland were both idle on Monday.
HIGH POINT SCORERS:
STUART HEIGHTS:
19 – Lily Vicknair, Maddie Orth, Ava Gipson
18.5 – Joseph Myers
16.5 – Luke Waldrep
15.5 – Atticus Kite
15 – Malory Gonzalez Easter, Jameson Halbert, Ridge Folmar
14 – Sage Sillery, Maxwell Shaw
13.5 – Alice Aupperle
12.5 – Madeline Scheib
12 – Stephen Myers
11 – Briley Kesler
10.5 – Warren Harman.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN:
19 – Owen Isch
18 – Mimi Hanning Dmitrievskaya
17 – Xander Callaghan
14 – Luke Russell, Ben Hardin
13.5 – Colin Bohman
13 – Marley Degenhardt, Nissa Ruth, Noah Ennen
11 – Alex Hanning
10.5 – Ben Flasch
10 – Jameson Pate.
CALHOUN:
17 – Lindsey Cox
16 – Morgan Cos x
15 – Ashley Ramirez, William Rickett
14 – Atticus Stephens, Cassidy Gray
11 – Nicklas Michels
10.5 – Jonah Ogas
10 – William O’Dell, Jacob Bateman.
DALTON:
19 – Camila Rodriguez, Cailynn Miller, Avery Loftis
18 – Sophie Martinez, Layla Brackett
17 – Colton Manis
15 – Joseph Moore, Angeles Rodriguez, Jazlynn Watson
14 – Favio Caceres
13 – Sebastian Rodriguez
12 – Aurora Caceres, Easton Thomason, Leola Bethel
11 – Kana Sueda, Eli Mickelson, Matthew Martinez
10 – Ava Tate, Harper Loftis.
COUNTRY CLUB:
19 – Cooper Brooks, Evie Ranalli, Lucinda Ranalli
17 – Zuma Bentley, Blaire Card
16 – James Bentley, Caroline Webb
15 – Callie Dake, Liam Tabibiazar, Chamberlain Johnson, Ryan Ellis
14 – Gio Janini
13 – Sloane Graham, Zeki House
12 – Sofia Bell.
RIDGESIDE:
19 – Charlie Schrader
17 – Owen Swisher, Henry Curtis
16 – Jake Stone
15 – Finley Smith
14 – Cora Hamilton, Lucy Hamilton
13 – Caroline Carpenter, Elizabeth Grace Schrader, Liam Collins
12 – Jesse Zimmerman
11 – Andrew Zimmerman, Hadley Goodlet
10 – Griffin Sipe, Parth Chinnathambi.
RED BANK:
17 – Noah Blake, Caleb Ross, Maggie Rust
15 – Caleb Grass
12 – Avalie Bilbrey, Charlie Cole, Reid Corder
11 – Natalie Emerson
10.5 – Jenna Thomas
10 – Pace Daniel, Adalia Ross.
BIG RIDGE:
19 – Quinn Young, Logan Carroll, Evan Scharff, Blakely Martin
17 – Jade Skiba, Noah Keener, Millie Watson, Lander Smith, Maci Haustein, Megan Gill, Benji Wamuhiu
16 – Madison Skiba
15 – Libby Brown
14 – Emory O’Steen, Zeke Hammang
13 – Eli Haupert
11 – Liam Kilpatrick
10 – Iain DeVries, Benson Wright.
OOLTEWAH:
19 – Anna Boyd, Keilah Holliman, Easton Daniel, Carmyn Watkins, Paxton Ross, Estella Salera
18 – Enzo Lourenco
17 – Sophie Grier, Jed Holliman, Ella Garcia
15 – Neelyn Merchant, Zack McInnes, Makayla McInnes, Julia Leite, Addie Rae Smith
14 – Max Emmert, Wilder Erhard
13 – Beck Seang, Calynn Daniel, Bryson Lake
12 – Kaci Lambeth
11 – Alejandro Garcia
10 – Aaron Ramirez, Daniel Diaz Ruiz.
FORT OGLETHORPE:
17 – Miles Worley
12.5 – Foster Stevens
12 – Reese Rawls, K
11 – R.J. Partain
10 – Juniper Dickerson, Camille Mobley, Brogan Groves, Katelyn Holman.
CUMBERLAND:
18 – Lola Phipps, Carter Young
17 – Zach Schurr
13 – Kymiri Turner
12 – Isaac Bennett, Everett Michael
10 – Marin Bennett, Jude Carpenter.
CLEVELAND:
19 – Reed Blackmon, Sophie Hughes, Kevin Curley, Elias Eldred
16 – Marian Christmann
15 – Maddie Peterson, Jaxon Moseley, Heidi Delmotte
14 – Ben Condo
13.5 – Teddy Elliott
13 – Chloe Frakes, Palmer Blackmon, Jay Eldred, Millie Wiseman
12 – Boone Bibee, Santiago Eldred, Caroline Kate Elrod
11 – Millie Smith
10 – Theo Lackey, Mark Peterson, Adelai Pendergraft, Evelyn Ols.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)