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Aspen Speedos kick off new season in Durango

Dale Strode
The Aspen Times

The Aspen Speedos hit the road to the Four Corners for the inaugural club swim meet of the fall season last weekend.

The Speedos, led by head coach and team director Gordon Gerson, finished second out of a dozen teams at the annual Honeyville Invitational held at the Durango Community Recreation Center pool.

Host Durango won.



“For a start-of-the-season meet, I was real happy with it,” Gerson said. “Early in the season, you find out things you need to work on.”

He said he’s very pleased with the turnout of swimmers for the fall session.




“Our total numbers are way up,” he said of the 65-plus junior swimmers in the fall session.

The Speedos posted a bevy of first-place finishes in virtually every age-event category.

Micah Sanders-Silva, in the boys age 8 division, swept first place in all eight events he swam last weekend — 100 individual medley, 50 breaststoke, 25 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 50 back, 50 fly and 200 IM.

Cole Petersen, swimming in the boys 12 division, had six first-place finishes and a pair of seconds at Durango. He won the 100 individual medley, the 25 back, the 200 breast, the 100 fly, the 200 back and the 50 fly.

“He had his best times in all his events,” Gerson said.

Nathan Cherry also logged a pair of firsts for the Speedos. In the boys 11 races, he won the 25 fly and the 100 breast. He had seconds in the 100 back, the 200 free and the 25 free.

“Nathan also had a really good meet in terms of effor,t” Gerson said. “He’s been working hard in practice, and the results showed.”

Everett Olson won five events in the boys 12 division. He was first in the 100 back, the 200 free, the 100 free, the 25 free and the 200 individual medley.

“He was particularly impressive was his 200 IM, which was his last race,” Gerson said “He showed an extraordinary amount of … competitiveness.”

Hannah Freeman, swimming in the girls 13 category, had three first-place finishes to her credit. She won the 25 butterfly, the 50 back and the 200 freestyle.

Kelcie Gerson, of the Speedos, won a pair of events in the girls 17 races.

“It was kind of funny, she won in events that usually are her worst strokes,” Gerson said.

She won the 200 breast and the 100 breast. She also had five second-place finishes in Durango and one third in her eight events.

Isabelle Elder won the 25 fly and 25 breast for girls age 12. She also had two second-place finishes at the Honeyville Invitational.

Aubrey Elder collected a first in the 100 backstroke for boys 8. He was second in the 25 breast. He also had three thirds at Durango.

Haver Muss-Nichols, Harry Valentine-Wilson and Sophie Perry also won races in their respective divisions.

Other Aspen Speedos swimmers who participated in the Honeyville meet included Ava Cherry, Emily Driscoll, Reed Kulberg, Nathan Levey and Oliver Semple.

dstrode@aspentimes.com