DCST swimmers had an excellent meet at the ISI Age Group Championships on July 31 – August 2. DCST was led by Daniel Hein who was crowned state champion in the boy ages 11 – 12 50 butterfly. In addition to his state title, Hein add a 2^nd in the 100 butterfly, a 5^th in the 50 backstroke, and a 12^th in the 100 backstroke. His times in the 50 butterfly, 50 backstroke, and 100 backstroke were all DCST team records. Since Daniel is only 11 years old, he will be able to come back next year to defend his title.

                Alexa Miller’s 5 top 16 place finishes were the most for any DCST swimmer. In the 9 – 10 year old girl division, she claimed 4^th place in the 100 butterfly, 7^th in the 200 freestyle, 11^th in the 50 butterfly, 11^th in the 200 individual medley and 13^th in the 100 freestyle. Her time in the 200 freestyle was a new DCST team record.

                Michael Carlson and Marc Dubrick had impressive swims with a 15^th place finish in the 11 – 12 year old boy 100 breaststroke and a 16^th place finish in the 13 – 14 year old boy 1500 freestyle events respectively. In relay events, Carlson and Hein teamed up with Tyler Schultz and Dylan Powers to finish 12^th in the 400 medley relay and 15^th in the 400 freestyle relay.

                For the meet, DCST had 19 lifetime best swims out of a total of 32 swims. Swimmers with over a 50 percent improvement rate were: Michael Carlson (2 for 2), Daniel Hein (5 for 6), Alexa Miller (4 for 6) and Kristina Frohlich (2 for 3).

                Kristina Frohlich, Daniel Hein and Alexa Miller will all be competing for Team Illinois at the Zone Championship in Noblesville, IN on August 6 – 9. Team Illinois will be competing against other teams from Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Oklahoma and Missouri.