TNT swimmer Ashley Szydel, competing as a member of the
Southeastern Age Group All – Star Team, won a medal in the
50 meter backstroke at the 2008 Southern Zone Age Group
Swimming Championships, held July 29 – August 2 in Atlanta.
Ashley, age 12 from Fairhope, earned the medal by finishing
10th place in the 11 – 12 girl’s 50m backstroke. She also
competed in the 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle, 100m
freestyle, 50m freestyle and 100m butterfly.
The meet, which was held at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center,
also the swimming venue of the 1996 Olympics, featured the
fastest age group swimmers from throughout the South and
included elite age group swimmers from the states of Alabama,
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
The elite Southeastern Swimming Team was composed of swimmers
from Alabama, Tennessee and the Florida Panhandle and finished
4th place over – all in the team standings.
“I am very proud of Ashley for not only qualifying for the Southeastern team, but for also coming through with lifetime best swims at the Zone Meet,” said TNT Head Coach, Jan Mittemeyer. “Winning a medal at a meet of this caliber puts her performance level among the some of the best swimmers her age in the nation.”
Szydel, who was the only swimmer from Baldwin County to qualify for this year’s Southeastern Zone Team, is the second swimmer from TNT to earn a spot on the elite age group team. Last summer, TNT swimmer Kyle Simpson also made the team, winning 5 medals.
“It is personally satisfying to see another of our young swimmers qualify for the Zone Team and come home with a medal. It’s nice to see kids come out of our program like Ashley, who can compete successfully at such a high level, especially in light of the fact that we intentionally limit training time at her age.” said Mittemeyer.
