Summer Success for St. Michael's Swimmers

Throughout this past spring and summer in the St. Michael/Albertville area, there has been a very dedicated group of young athletes who spend early mornings and late nights training for the sport they love. These athletes train up to three hours a day and five days a week. They cross-train, they run, they lift weights, and they swim. And they swim and they swim and they swim. And then they swim again.

These young athletes are members of the Sea Devils swim club. The Sea Devils are led by an experienced and exceptional coaching staff who is dedicated to helping swimmers, ages 5-18, achieve their goals and become their best, both in and out of the water. Head Senior Coach Michelle Mix and Head Age-Group Coach Terri Moser, along with assistant coaches Dave Cliff, Dawn VanDerBeek, Tisha Lezer, Katie Leuer, Jamie Stromberg, and trainer Stephen McCarthy have led this group of swimmers from a small and inexperienced team to one of the largest and most competitive clubs in Minnesota.

This season, the club practiced most often at the STMA Middle School East pool. In order to continue to meet needs for pool-time and 50-meter pool training, they incorporated practices in Brooklyn Center 1-2 days a week.

“As the season progressed, we knew we were looking good. Their practices became more intense and their dryland training hit new levels. As we expected, these kids stepped up to every challenge we had for them.” Mix said.

Finally, following months of hard work and preparation, 44 members of the Sea Devils team traveled to the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center this past week for the 2011 Long-Course State Championship. As the swimmers made their way onto the pool deck and the meet got underway, the Sea Devils started out with a huge splash as 7 of their swimmers achieved zone-qualifying times in a single event.

The hard work, dedication and countless hours of training were completely evident as race after race the Sea Devils crushed their previous individual and relay records while making their way up the scoreboard and finishing in 3rd place.

Kasey Roberts, age 15 of St. Michael, won the State Champion title in the Girl’s 15-16 200 meter Breaststroke. She out-touched her opponent by 0.04 seconds in an amazing photo-finish.

Brandon Richardson and Noah Dalluge, both age 16 from St. Michael, achieved Grand Prix Series cuts in the 50 and 100 meter Freestyle. Dalluge also attained a Speedo Sectional cut in the 50 Free. Jordan McGinty, age 10 from Hanover, was awarded 8^th Place high-point winner in the 9-10 Girl’s division. There were also numerous top-8 and top-16 finishes for several Sea Devils swimmers.

Far-surpassing all previous season’s entry numbers, there are currently 13 swimmers in 40 events qualifying to advance to Central Zone Championships this weekend. The swimmers age 14 & under will compete in Topeka, Kan., while those 15 & older will be traveling to Franklin, IN. Sea Devils Zone-Qualifiers include Brandon Richardson, Noah Dalluge, Sam Konsor, Ashley Drazkowski, Katie Schmitz, Kasey Roberts, Grant Moser, Taylor Pehrson, Lexi Heil, Maddie Gallagher, Emma Lezer, Jordan McGinty, and Jason Thomas.

The club is looking forward to an amazing experience along with fantastic results at Zones this weekend. According to Coach Moser, “Considering our tremendous growth both in numbers and talent, the Sea Devils are now recognized as one of the largest clubs in Minnesota. We have a great group of swimmers and coaches taking this club to a whole new level.”

For information about the Sea Devils or to find out more about team registration for the upcoming Fall/Winter season, go to www.seadevilsswimming.com.

Story submitted by Sea Devils Swim Club Registrar Tammy Gallagher.