Cudal wins 50 back at FAST meet

The Fallbrook Associated Swim Team hosted the FAST 12 and Under ABC Meet at the Fallbrook High School pool Jan. 25-27, and FAST swimmer Lucky Ace Cudal won the 50-yard backstroke race for 9-year-old and 10-year-old boys.

The 10-year-old Cudal had a winning time of 40.67 seconds.

“It was a great swim,” Sean Redmond, meet organizer and FAST director of coaching, said.

The time was more than five seconds faster than Cudal’s previous personal record in the 50-yard butterfly.

“I don’t think he expected to be dropping five seconds in his time,” Redmond said.

Cudal was one of 18 FAST swimmers and one of approximately 330 total swimmers at the meet.

“It was overall, I thought, a great meet,” Redmond said.

The meet allowed swimmers to post qualifying times for the Short Course Junior Olympic Championships meet as well as to gain experience.

“It went well,” Redmond said. “Our kids that swam in the meet had a number of fast times, and we also got some swimmers earning their JO cuts.”

Three of the FAST swimmers had Junior Olympic qualifying times, although Redmond isn’t disappointed that 15 of his swimmers did not have such qualifications since the meet also allows new swimmers to gain competitive experience.

“What it’s about at this age and this level is getting the experience,” Redmond said. “It kind of motivates them for the next one.”

The FAST 12 and Under ABC Meet had 8-and-under races for all 50-yard strokes and for the 100-yard freestyle event. In addition to posting a Junior Olympic qualifying time in the 50-yard backstroke Cudal also qualified for the Junior Olympic meet in the 50-yard freestyle, where his time of 33.82 seconds placed fourth in the 9-10 boys’ race.

Ten-year-old Brighton Richards swam the girls’ 10-and-under 100-yard breaststroke and qualified for the Junior Olympics in two events. Her overall time of 1:34.25 placed second, but the first 50 yards of that race can be used as a qualifying time for the 50-yard breaststroke and Richards’ time of 44.43 seconds for the first two laps will allow her to compete in the Junior Olympic 50-yard competition. Richards also qualified for the Junior Olympic meet in the 50-yard butterfly; she placed third in the girls’ 9-10 race with a time of 37.51 seconds.

Amelia Vorndam was FAST’s other Junior Olympic qualifier. The 12-year-old had a time of 5:56.66 in the girls’ 12-and-under 500-yard freestyle race which gave her third place.

Redmond emphasized times rather than positions for his swimmers.

“In order to finish in the Top eight they had to beat in some cases 30 or more swimmers,” he said.

None of the 12-and-under swimmers are currently in high school, but those who qualified for the Short Course Junior Olympic Championships meet will spend all or part of Feb. 8-10 at Granite Hills High School, where the CIF San Diego Section meet is held.

“I’ll point out to the kids that this is where the high school championships will be,” Redmond said.