Despite the Talented Abby Boswell, Chestnut Forks Swims at a Disadvantage
By Jeff Malmgren
The 15-18 age group in the Tri-County League is traditionally a lonely place.
Younger swimmers fill the rosters of most teams in the summer swim league, while only a handful of kids are relied upon in the oldest age group. Abby Boswell is a poster child for that breakdown.
Boswell is the only 15-18 swimmer for the Chestnut Forks Blue Marlins, one of the TCL’s smallest teams with 55 members. That’s one reason they don’t expect to win many meets.
For example, Chestnut Forks lost its second dual meet of the season Saturday, 576-507, to the Fauquier Springs swim team. Boswell won four of six 15-18 girls events, but Fauquier Springs swept all the boys races in that age group.
“That hurts us a lot. We mostly have 14-and-unders," said Blue Marlins co-coach Jason Sprecher, whose team also lost to the Orange Otters last Tuesday. “But the kids are improving a lot since the first meet. Against Fauquier Springs they all looked really good.”
Chestnut Forks actually won the girls competition, 270-258, but Fauquier Springs’ 298-207 win in the boys competition offset that and prevented an overall victory for the Blue Marlins.
Winning is far from everything in the Tri-County League, though.
“It’s more about the kids having fun and improving than it is winning,” Sprecher said. “But if we keep improving at the rate we’re going, we’ll definitely have a strong team.”
With team members as young as age five, teaching fundamentals is critical to improvement...See the Wednesday print edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat for the complete story.