On September 6, the Petersburg High School swim team dove into action at the Petersburg Invitational Meet: the first meet of the region’s swim season. Teams from across Southeast, including Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka, competed in a total of 48 events. After a strong showing at last year’s state championships, the Vikings are looking to build on that success for the 2024 season.
In 2023, the team had only two swimmers: juniors Brooklyn Whitethorn and Logan Tow. But this year, Coach Andy Carlisle has eight swimmers on the team, including six freshmen. Besides simply having more swimmers for individual events, both the boys and girls teams were able to participate in relay events for the first time in over a decade.
On the first day of the race, the girls’ 200-yard medley relay team, featuring Bella Miller, Lexie Tow, Brooklyn Whitethorn, and Cadence Flint, secured a third-place finish with a time of 2:02. The boys’ relay team also showed determination, with Logan Tow, Drew Beavers, Sean Gacchina, and Tucker Gibbson putting up a solid effort in their events.
(Photo by Olivia Schmidt/KFSK)
In the individual races, standout performances came from Lexie Tow, who took second in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing in 26.25 seconds. Tow continued her momentum on the second day, securing a win in the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:22. Bella Miller also put on a strong display, finishing third in the same event, and taking home first place in the 500 yard freestyle with a time of 5:51.
For the boys, Logan Tow placed second in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:53 and continued to lead the team in the 100-yard backstroke, where he finished third.
Petersburg’s relay teams made their mark again on day two, with the girls’ 400-yard freestyle relay team finishing second overall with a time of 4:08.
Petersburg’s coach, Andy Carlisle, said he was pleased with the team’s overall performance, especially considering the early season:
“It was a little better than expected,” Carlisle said. “I expected the freshman to be a little deer in the headlights. For some of them, it was their first swimming race ever in their life, but they did really well. I was pretty impressed.”
Despite being early in the season, Coach Carlisle expressed optimism.
“Even the kids that have been here every day have less than 20 practices,” Carlisle explained. “It’s pretty early in the season. We have a long way to go, but we still have a long time to do it, so we’re good. I’m pretty comfortable with where we are right now.”
Carlisle also credited the Vikings swim club, parents, and volunteers for making the event a success.
“The swim club puts the meet on, and they do great,” Carlisle said. “The parents and all the volunteers put on a great meet. I think we put on the best meet in Southeast. It’s really nice when I don’t have to do very much.”
The Vikings now look ahead to the upcoming meet in Ketchikan, which will be the weekend of September 21 and 22.
(Photo by Olivia Schmidt/KFSK)
