Florissant Fish Claim Second Straight League Championship

For the second straight year, the Florissant Fish summer swim team won the North County Municipal Swim League (MSL) championship.

And this time, they did it in record-setting fashion. The Fish claimed gold medals in 35 of 70 events at the Splash at Wabash Pool in Ferguson last Tuesday, and won the meet by nearly 400 points over second-place Ferguson and third-place Hazelwood.

“We’ve always had a long tradition of great swimming in the Florissant area,” Fish co-head coach Jenoa Olson said. “There’s very good swimming talent here, and our coaches set a pretty high standard for our swimmers to meet.”

Florissant met, and exceeded, these standards last Tuesday, scoring 1,974 points in the Fish’s second straight conference championship. Last season, the team took the crown away from Ferguson, which had won 10 straight MSL North championships.

In fact, Florissant set seven team and meet records, and won the competition in every age group but one. The team took second place in the 13-14 girls group.

“It makes me really proud of our coaching staff,” said Olson, who is paired with close friend and long-time swimming colleague Amanda Eye as co-head coaches. “We have a large coaching staff, larger than most. So we’re able to be very one-on-one with our kids and really work with them on their (stroke and technique).”

One swimmer who stood out in particular for Florissant was 13-14-year-old boys competitor Michael Clark. He won four gold medals, including three individual honors in the medley, breaststroke and butterfly races and was on one of Florissant's winning relay teams as well.

The top female performer for Florissant was MICDS senior-to-be Christine Jackson, who won three gold medals, including the individual freestyle and butterfly races. She also participated in the Fish’s first place 15-18-year-old girls freestyle relay.

“Those two really swam well for us all year,” said Olson, who also serves as the girls head swim coach at Trinity Catholic High in Spanish Lake. “But the team really did well across the board.”

That was evident throughout the summer, and especially at the MSL championships. Seven other Florissant swimmers also won at least three races, and the team as a whole won 12 of the 18 relay events. Those seven include: Myles Carter, 13-14 boys; Brandon Cattoor, 9-10 boys; Amanda Hei, 9-10 girls; Nathaniel Hei, 11-12 boys; Annika Hofer, 11-12 girls; Ryan Porter, 15-18 boys; and Quiny Ung, 9-10 girls.

“The key is even though it’s a team sport, it really is an individual sport, too,” Olson said. “They can really work on improving their individual times and go for individual accomplishments as well. That’s what keeps it fun and has helped increase the interest.”