KSC swimmers took part in the USA National 5K and 10K Championships in Fort Lauderdale this past weekend.  The 10K event on June 10 was trials for the Olympics with the top 2 swimmers moving on to the World Championships in China for the Olympic qualifying.  KSC swimmers all finished in the top half during one of the roughest conditions ever for a National Championship event.  Coach John was on the feeding boat during the event where almost half of the coaches on board became ill from the waves.  The high surf, jellyfish, and lack of sighting buoys made for a challenging race.  Eric Nillsson led the way with a 12th place finish.  Kacy Johnson ran down some competitiors during the final stretch to finish 27th.  Ian Wheeler had a great start holding on to the small lead pack for the first 5K and then fell back to 29th.  All excellent finishes for their fist National Championship.

      Kacy Johnson and Ian Wheeler also competed in the 5K event on June 12.  Both went into the event with much more confidence from their previous race and raced aggressively.  Sean Ryan took an early lead, while the boys both worked there way through the pack to lead the chase pack after about 1K.  Ian Wheeler held on to lead the chase pack through 4K where he got passed by 2 swimmers after the last turn buoy, one of which was a former world champion.  Both swimmers raced excellent down the last 1000 meters with Ian holding off a huge charging pack, and Kacy moving his way up.  Kacy Johnson finished off the race in 13th place, while Ian Wheeler earned a medal from the National Championships with his fourth place finish.  Over 100 competitors completed the event.

Congratulations KSC swimmers on your exceptional performance!!!