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Local swimmer medals at State meet

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HARTINGTON - Ayden Rosener loves to swim, and he is rather good at it too.

Rosener has been swimming for the Vermillion Area Swim Team for the past ve years.

He has made it to the State Meet every year except for his very first year of competition.

This year’s State meet was held in March, and Rosener put on a phenomenal effort in the 11-12 Boys Division.

At 11 years old, Rosener says he has a love for sports, but the individual spotlight with swimming is something different than other sports.

“Swimming is really fun,” said Rosener. “It is different from everything that I have done like football, baseball, and basketball.”

At the 2019 State A Championship Meet, Rosen- er competed in the 50 Yard Butterfly, 50 Yard Freestyle, 50 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Butterfly, and 100 Yard Individual Medley (IM).

The only stroke he doesn’t compete in is the Breaststroke, but that is part of the IM. Rosener says his favorite stroke is the Butterfly.

“It is harder than all the other strokes and it takes a lot of energy,” said Rosener.

Rosener earned the Vermillion Area Swim Team 65.50 points by finishing 6th in the 50 Yard Butterfly, 7th in the 100 Yard Freestyle, 4th in the 100 Yard Backstroke, 8th in the 100 Yard Butterfly, tied for 3rd in the 50 Yard Backstroke, and 8th in the 100 Yard IM.

“My goal was to get first place in State,” said Rosener.

His 65.50 points were enough for Rosener to finish tenth in individual scoring for the 11-12 Boys Division. He is one of three top-scoring 11 year-olds that will return to compete in the same division next year.

Swimming is a year-round sport, with Rosener traveling to Vermillion throughout the year for practice.

Competing in South Dakota, he is one of the few Nebraska athletes at the competition.

“I like that I get to compete against different people that I don’t know and that it is hard. You have to practice a lot to get good at it.”

Another Hartington-Newcastle student who swims is Shawn Pinkelman.

Competing in the 15-16 Boys Division, the high schooler competed in the 50 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Breaststroke, 100 Yard Backstroke, 100 Yard Butterfly, 100 Yard Freestyle, and the 200 Yard Breaststroke.

Pinkelman swims for the Yankton Swim Team.

He did not place in the top 20 of Individual Scorers, but he did finish 6th in the 100 Yard Breaststroke, 8th in the 200 Yard Breaststroke, 13th in the 100 Yard Butterfly, 13th in the 100 Yard Backstroke, 13th in the 100 Yard Butterfly, and 16th in the 50 Yard Freestyle.