Ashley Cox, one of the NCS Open Water Zone Team coaches, wrote the following article, which appeared in SwimSwam:
“Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash. Be water my friend.” -Bruce Lee
Throughout the weekend of June 2-4, the waters at Lake Echo in Pinehurst, North Carolina, crashed and churned as the Southern Zone open water teams fought their way to the top of the podium.
Coming into the weekend as the reigning two-time champions, the North Carolina team sought to defend their title and achieve another win as other Southern Zone teams chased them down. But North Carolina, led by 2005 Open Water Swimmer of the Year Chip Peterson and 2017 10k Open Water Nationals champion Ashley Twitchell, focused on their team goals and strategies, culminating the weekend in another Zone victory. Winning the weekend with an overall score of 474 points (24 points over 2nd place), the North Carolina team accomplished what no other Southern Zone team had achieved before — a three-year consecutive win in the Southern Zone Open Water Championships!
North Carolina’s open age group men’s and women’s teams both dominated in their individual races, as each teams’ 4 members placed in the top 8 of their 5k races. The 15-16 boys’ age group saw a 1-2 finish by 2016 Olympic Trial qualifier Ross Dant, followed closely by Thomas Brentzman (2nd) and Owen Lloyd swimming in 5th. The 13-14 teams commanded their age groups, as Sydney Morgan and Isabel Pennington both placed in the top 3 for the girls, and Jared Carter, Connor Hughes, and Danny Qaqish achieved top 8 points for the boys.
Throughout the weekend, head coach John Payne and team manager Jonathan Bescher promoted atmospheres of camaraderie and fun as well as strategic and technical approaches to each of the teams’ individual and team pursuit races. The coaches’ encouragement to work together in line-ups, starts, and pacing was clearly evident as these swimmers from across NC came together to secure a historical win for North Carolina Swimming.
Complete race results are linked below, and you can follow the North Carolina Zone Team’s updates and photos via their Facebook and Instagram pages.
https://www.racetecresults.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ncop
https://www.facebook.com/NCOpe
Top 3 Teams & Overall Scores:
North Carolina, 474 points
Florida, 450 points
Southeastern Swimming, 362 points
11-12 Girls 2k
Makenna Topp, 7th
13-14 Girls 5k
Sydney Morgan, 1st
Isabel Pennington, 3rd
13-14 Boys 5k
Jared Carter, 1st
Connor Hughes, 2nd
Danny Qaqish, 7th
15-16 Girls 5k
Faith Hefner, 6th
15-16 Boys 5k
Ross Dant, 1st
Thomas Brentzman, 2nd
Owen Lloyd, 5th
Open Women 5k
Ashley Twitchell, 1st
Anna Durak, 5th
Emmaline Peterson, 6th
Ellie Marquardt, 8th
Open Men 5k
Chip Peterson, 1st
Ben Fenwick, 3rd
Alan Hudgens, 4th
JD McCray, 5th
14 & U Girls Team Pursuit 2k
Isabel Pennington, Sydney Morgan, Amanda Ray, Caroline Pape, 3rd
Open Women Team Pursuit 5k
Faith Hefner, Emmaline Peterson, Anna Durak, 3rd
Open Men Team Pursuit 5k
Chip Peterson, Ross Dant, Thomas Brentzman, 1st
NC Open Water Zones Coaches
Head Coach: John Payne
Team Manager/Asst. Coach: Jonathan Bescher
Asst. Coach: Chick Ciancanelli
Asst. Coach: Ashley Cox
Asst. Coach: Chip Peterson
Asst. Coach: Ashley Twitchell
Swimming news courtesy of Ashley Cox.
