Tallulah Falls’ varsity swim teams had solid outings on Friday at the Clarke-Oconee Invitational. The Lady Indians came in fourth among 16 teams, while the boys came in fifth out of 18.
“The elevated stage that has hosted the likes of Caeleb Dressel, Allison Schmidt, and Michael Phelps gave our swimmers a chance to display their talents in a fantastic way,” said Indians coach Rachel Nichols.
Freshman Madison Dampier finished second in both the 100 butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle. She set both a personal record and a new school record in the butterfly, breaking the previous record set in 2015 by Coach Nichols (2015).
Montgomery Dampier raced to a new 500 freestyle school record as well.
Other top-10 finishes on the girls’ side included Emily Wolfe, Daya Ssemakula, and Karis Tatum. Swimmers that earned personal records in at least one individual event included Emma Jackson, Tatum, Ssemakula, Tillie Crumley, Tamia Moss, Wolfe, Hannah Hickox, Lily Turpin, and Tahj Charlton.
Emre Sungur set a new school record in the 200-yard individual medley, breaking the previous record held by Hunter Weyrich (2020). Sungur finished first in this event.
Other top-10 finishes on the boys’ side included Henry Rickman, Emery Sims, and Nelson Wilkinson. Swimmers that earned personal records in at least one individual event included William Xu, Sims, Grayson Penland, Clay Kafsky, and Jason Dong.
The varsity team has its final regular-season meet on Saturday at home in the 1A Championship Invitational. The meet will also feature senior recognition.
– Brian Carter