Five from FAST compete in Junior Olympics

Five members of the Fallbrook Associated Swim Team (FAST) competed in the Junior Olympics meet held Feb. 24-26 at Poway Community Pool.

Kaimana Maestas and Doug Pearce competed in the boys 12-and-under division, Ava Dowden and Amelia Vorndam participated in girls 10-and-under races, and Rios Campbell faced boys 10-and-under competition.

"They did great," said FAST coaching director Sean Redmond. "As an overall team, we probably had the youngest team because we were all 12-and-unders.

"What was exciting was all five of them had at least one event where they finished in the top 16, so they got second swims," continued Redmond. "Three of the five had top eight finishes."

As a team, FAST placed 13th among the 20 teams who obtained a score. A total of 27 teams competed.

"We did it without any relays," said Redmond. "I thought it was great."

Last year, Cameron Batty, who is now a ninth-grader and eligible for CIF swim competition, was the only FAST swimmer at the winter Junior Olympics meet.

Maestas finished third in three different events with times of 1:12.36 in the 100-yard breaststroke, 32.77 seconds in the 50-yard breaststroke, and 2:20.12 in the 200-yard individual medley. He was fifth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 57.80 seconds, ninth in the 200-yard freestyle at 2:05.56, and 15th in the 50-yard butterfly with a 31.89-second performance.

Pearce also competed in six events and placed in the top 16 in each. He was fifth in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:06.97, seventh in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:24.75, eighth in the 500-yard freestyle with a 5:38.82 swim, eighth in the 100-yard butterfly with a 1:06.03 performance, ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke at 1:17.90, and 12th in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:07.82.

Maestas and Pearce are both in seventh grade.

"It's going to be fun watching what they do," said Redmond. "I look at some of their times and they would definitely be in the mix with our varsity boys in some events."

Vorndam and Dowden are both age 10 and both will turn 11 in April. Vorndam placed eighth in the 200-yard freestyle after completing her laps in 2:29.82, 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:32.60, 12th in the 100-yard freestyle with a 1:10.97 swim, 14th in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:55.24, 17th in the 100-yard individual medley with a time of 1:21.89, and 19th in the 50-yard breaststroke which took her 44.61 seconds.

Dowden finished 12th in the 50-yard freestyle with a performance of 32.25 seconds, 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke which took her 1:34.19, 14th in the 50-yard breaststroke with a time of 43.07 seconds, 14th in the 50-yard backstroke which required 38.48 seconds, 15th in the 100-yard freestyle at 1:11.65, and 18th in the 100-yard individual medley which was completed in 1:23.46.

Although Campbell competed in the 10-and-under division, he is only eight. "I thought he did well," said Redmond.

Campbell placed 16th in the 50-yard breaststroke with a performance of 45.52 seconds, 18th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:40.97, and 19th in the 200-yard freestyle with a swim of 2:50.32.