Orcas Beat Lightning First Time in 7 Years

Eidtor's note: This article was corrected. It originally stated that the Orcas beat the Lightning 20 years ago.

On Saturday, May 12 at the the Terra Linda Orcas beat the Lucas Valley Lightening for the first time since 2005, 289 - 268. 

It has been so long that nobody really knows for sure when the last time the Orcas beat the Lightning, but it’s a safe bet that none of the current swimmers were even alive the last time it happened.  Hillary Clinton was likely getting acclimated to her role as first lady and infamous intern Monica Lewinsky was a mere glimmer in her husband’s eye.

The victory over the Lightning means that for the first two weeks of the season the Orcas have beaten teams that finished directly ahead of them at the 2011 Championship meet.  The Lightning took fourth in 2011, and the Novato Riptide, , finished fifth. The Orcas came in a close sixth in 2011.  They have been building and improving yearly since finishing last in the league in 2007.

Perhaps the truest measure of how well the Orcas are doing comes in the individual swimmer’s performances in achieving their best times. A remarkable 36 Orca swimmers got best times in all three of their events. It’s difficult enough to get a best time in one event, much less all three. There were literally too many great performances to mention, but below are a few.

Girls 8 and Under

Orcas who dazzled this past weekend include Colette Bissey who shaved nine seconds off her breaststroke with a 35.15.

Anna Palfry took her swimming to another level in getting three best times and shaving a total of 27 seconds off all her times combined.

Maya Carter not only got her three best times, her freestyle in 36.30 was a 15.95 improvement.

Boys 8 and Under

Tristan Barnes not only got three best times, he got a first and two third places with all start times in each heat.  He bettered his breaststroke by more than 2.5 seconds and the IM by 3.5.

The single most improved performance of the week goes to Caden Doyle who did the backstroke in 41.36, a whopping 17.06 seconds better than his previous best time.

The list of accomplishments could literally go on and on, and there are wonderful things that could be said and written about each of the swimmers whose parents should all be very proud. 

My own 8 and Under daughter Sabrina got two best times, one of which was in breaststroke and earned her a third place finish.  Like her older sister Skylee who took first place in breaststroke, she continues to be the fastest Orca breaststrok swimmer in the water. 

Skylee only got one best time in IM, but it was more than three seconds better at 1:30:70 and pulled her within a second of an all star qualifying time.

Next up the Terra Linda Orcas (David) will be loading up their slings against the Scotts Valley Sea Serpents (Goliath) who finished second in the league in 2011 and nearly scored twice as many points as the Orcas in the process.  The meet will take place in Terra Linda, which may be the Orcas greatest advantage this weekend.