Woodsum qualifies for all-stars, Guerra wins 1,000-yard freestyle

Ten members of the Fallbrook Association Swim Team spent Dec. 20-22 at the Coronado High School pool for the San Diego-Imperial Winter Age Group Championships meet.

“Overall our kids did very well,” said FAST coach Sean Redmond. “Very long weekend but a fun meet.”

The FAST highlights included 12-year-old Kent Woodsum qualifying for the all-star team which will compete in a Bakersfield championship meeting during Martin Luther King Day Weekend and 17-year-old Bobby Guerra finishing first in his age group’s 1,000-yard freestyle race.

Selection for the all-star team was based on a swimmer’s six best finishes at the meet. Woodsum was one of the top eight swimmers in the boys 11-12 age group, giving him the all-star berth. “It was really good. He definitely had a great meet,” Redmond said.

Woodsum placed 19th in the 200-yard individual medley but finished in the top eight in all of his other events. He was third in the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly, fourth in the 500-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, sixth in the 100-yard freestyle, and eighth in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and 400-yard individual medley. Woodsum posted personal best times in seven of those nine events.

There is no all-star team for the boys 15-18 age group, which precluded Guerra from all-star honors. Guerra finished in the top 16 of all nine of his events. He won the 1,000-yard freestyle in 9:44.17. “It was a good swim, the way he split the pace,” Redmond said. “He kind of held back a little bit until the second half and then started putting it on.”

Guerra also finished fourth in the 1,650-yard freestyle, fifth in the 200-yard freestyle, seventh in the 200-yard butterfly, 12th in the 100-yard butterfly and 400-yard individual medley, 13th in the 500-yard freestyle, and 16th in the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard backstroke.

Although Woodsum and Guerra were the only FAST swimmers to place in the top 16, some of the events had more than 80 swimmers. “That made it real hard for some of them to get in,” Redmond said.

“Other swimmers did well,” Redmond added.

Thirteen-year-old Robert Hilton III had personal best times in all four of his events while 12-year-old Caleb Smedley posted personal best times in four of five events.

Cameron Batty, who is 11, qualified for the Junior Olympics by dropping 11 seconds off his previous personal best in the 500-yard freestyle. “That’s after being out for a while with a broken collarbone, so that was encouraging to see,” Redmond said.

“Overall we just had some good swims to finish off the calendar year with a great meet,” Redmond said.