Small but Mighty! Williston Sea Lions Take Home First Place Finishes in National Meet

Williston, ND (KEYZ) Small but very mighty, the Williston Sea Lions Swim Club returned home from Central Zones Championships recently with several firsts in the win column.

"We're definitely the smallest team that goes," said Sea Lions Coach Cam Elmer.  "[That's just] the simple population of North Dakota compared to let's say a Minnesota or Illinois."  Despite its smaller team size, the Sea Lions were nonetheless a force to be  reckoned with in the water.

"For being the smallest team there, we were in the top four as far as swimmers that came in first."

Elmer says several of his young swimmers returned from competition with a number of personal bests, new team records, and new state records; one such competitor is backstroke swimmer Kara Hansen who, among other achievements, broke one of the Sea Lion's own records.

"In my 50-back, I broke our own team record.  Going from a 34:06 to a 33:69," said Hansen.

Another 14-year-old Sea Lion swimmer smashing all kinds of records over the summer is Kambree Draper.  At Zones, Draper took first in both the 100 and 200 meter breaststroke events while also taking the state titles in both, held previously by swimmers in Bismarck.

As Elmer and his coaching staff begin the recruitment process for next season, he points out that his Sea Lions are doing big things for such a small community which, for some, may open doors to swimming competitions on an even higher national level.

" Kambree, she's less than a second off a Junior Nationals cut which is a huge meet held in California which is your whole nation competing.  So, we're doing big things here for such a small community,"

If you want to be part of a swim club doing big things in the Bakken, consider trying out for the team next month, Saturday, September 10th or Saturday, September 17th.  For more details, checkout the flier here and/or contact the Williston Sea Lions directly at willistonsealions@gmail.com.