Barracudas win club championships

For the fourth year in a row, the Bower Hill Barracudas captured the South Hills Swim Club championships. Held at the Woodland Hills Swim Club, the Barracudas won the title by a mere 10 points.
“Overall it was a great meet,” said coach Alex Hardwick. “Our kids came here with a winning attitude.
“There is nothing more special that we do (at Bower Hill) as coaches or at practices that makes the difference. It’s the great attitude of our swimmers. They expect to do well and they did do well.”
Out of the 24 events, Bower Hill won its share of races, but depth proved the difference as the Barracudas also collected a plethora of second and third places. Those silver and bronze medals added up to valuable points for Bower Hill.
“Team is what really mattered. We made sure that from top to bottom we had a great team,” explained Hardwick.
Hardwick contributed to the team effort, himself, with a gold-medal performance in the 50-meter freestyle race among those in the 15-18 age category.
The other victors included: Sophia Donati and Maddie Dorish in the 50 free for their age divisions; Tanner Donati, Reagan Murdoch and Addison Murdoch in their respective age group’s 25 free races.
Ashley Barnett, Kate Borza, Julia Chung and Reagan Murdoch combined for a victory in the 100 free relay in the 9-10 age group.
Hardwick also noted the performances of Dylan Mira in his individual event as well as Leandra Mira, Sophia Donati, Lexi Ribstein and Noel Awad in their age division relay.
“We have good talented kids that devoted their time these past few months that when championships rolled around we had them ready for the challenge,” said Hardwick.
The competition was prepared as well. Hence the close contest. Woodland Hills, located in Upper St. Clair, followed Bower Hill in second place while Elmhurst of Washington took third. Hunting Ridge in South Fayette and Rose Garden in Peters Township followed. The combined YMCA teams from the Cloverleaf in Pleasant Hills and South Hills also competed in the meet.
“It was another good season,” said Hardwick. “One of the nice things is that it is a competitive league but it’s nice to see the respect the swimmers have for each other. There is great sportsmanship.
Nice atmosphere. It was a good year for the whole league.”
Lori Deluca agreed with Hardwick’s assessment. She belongs to the Bower Hill Swim Club.
“Some of the South Hills most accomplished and talented swimmers are members of the league,” DeLuca said. “It is a thrill to watch the best and brightest in aquatics compete all in one place every year.”