Rancho Santa Fe students shine at swimming championship

A total of 25 teams from Southern California, Northern California, and Arizona attended the three-day Annual Winter Age Group Swimming Championship on Coronado Island Dec. 20-22. Roughly 800 swimmers competed, including the following Horizon Prep students: Drew Schmidt (7th grade), Daniel Hotson (7th grade), Revere Schmidt (4th grade), and Audrey Schafer (4th grade).

Drew had top 8 finishes in seven of his nine events, including a 3rd and two 4th place finishes. The points he earned for his nine events ranked him 6th amongst the roughly 80 boys competing in the 11-12-year-old age group.

Revere had top 8 finishes in five of her nine events. She ranked 8th in overall points among the roughly 50 10 & under girls.

With such strong results, both Drew and Revere were selected to represent San Diego County in the annual All-Star competition to be held in Roseville, Calif. Eight boys and eight girls were selected in each age group. The team will compete head-to-head against the Sierra Nevada All-Star team. The siblings also qualified to swim at the annual four-day Far Western Championships to be held in Morgan Hill, Calif., in April, a meet that attracts the top age group swimmers in the western half of the United States.

It was a special moment when Drew and 7th grade classmate Daniel Hotson competed in the 200-yard butterfly. This event is Daniel’s specialty, and the boys swam the race in lanes next to each other, finishing 3rd and 4th, respectively. Both boys had significant time improvements, likely because they pushed each other to a strong finish. Drew and Daniel have attended many local meets together over the past five years, initially as teammates, although they didn’t know each other at that time. They now compete for different swim teams, racing as Horizon Prep classmates and best friends. They encourage each other in the pool, the classroom, and in the Horizon Prep concert choir “HP Harmony.”

Revere and her close friend Audrey Schafer swam together on the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays. While the girls have different 4th grade teachers, it was wonderful to see them teaming up on a relay at this championship meet.