01/08/2026
BLOOMER SHARKS START THE YEAR STRONG AS THEY HEAD INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON
Coming off a strong showing at Ladysmith, the Sharks are heading into the second half of the regular season with momentum. Swimmers are beginning to settle into their specialty races, knowing that from year to year those strengths can shift as experience grows and goals evolve. The Sharks spend the first half of the season exploring different events, then use the second half to focus on refining and improving their strongest races.
This season, the Sharks continue to emphasize personal bests, while some swimmers are also setting their sights on qualifying for Wisconsin State meets and the Midwest Regional Championships in Minneapolis, which bring together teams from multiple states at the end of March.
At the Ladysmith meet, three swimmers improved their times to earn Midwest Regional qualifying standards: Cydney (100 Free), Tony (50 Free), and Trajon (200 Free). Trajon also added to his events for the WI State meet, qualifying in the 200 Freestyle by dropping over 40 seconds in the event.
So far this season, the following Sharks have met Midwest Regional qualifying standards for their age group based on their age at the end of March: Trajon (all events), Tony (50 Free), Cydney (50 Free, 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly),Izak (50 Free), Iris (50 Free, 50 Back, 50 Fly), Piper (50 Free, 50 Back), Mari (50/100 Back), Ella (50 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 100 Breast, 100 IM), Matilda (50 Free), and Sylvia (50 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly).
Several others are right on the edge and continue to chase qualifying times, including Nikolai (50/100 Breast), Emmy (50 Free, 50 Breast), Stella (50 Breast, 100 Breast), Xander (50 Free), Tenley (50 Back, 50 Free, 50 Fly), Bea (50 Breast), Reagan (50 Back, 50 Breast), Owen (50 Free), Gabrey (50 Free, 100 IM), John (50 Free), and Olivia-Bloomer (50 Breast).
As the Sharks head into the final stretch of the season, they’ll be staying closer to home while continuing to build momentum toward championship meets.
FAST & FIERCE: SHARK MOMENTS
🦈 8 & UNDER 🦈
• Rylan earned 1st place in the 50 Back and placed 2nd in the 25 Back (−0.60) while placing top 4 in all events throughout the meet.
• Olivia (Bloomer) swept the breaststroke events with 1st-place finishes in both the 25 Breast and 50 Breast.
• Chase finished 2nd in the 25 Fly, an event he has been working hard on at practice. He also had a 4-second improvement in the 50 Back, placing second.
• Lucy earned a ribbon in every event she swam this past weekend, highlighted by a 3rd-place finish in the 50 Back. She also dropped half a second in the 25 Free.
• Sawyer placed 1st in the 50 Back and also improved his 25 Back by 0.08 seconds.
The 8U mixed relay of Rylan, Olivia, Lucy, and Sawyer had an outstanding swim, finishing 2nd overall against both boys and girls relays and setting a NEW Bloomer Sharks 8U co-ed relay record.
🦈 9–10 🦈
• Ella placed top three in all of her individual events, earning third place in both breaststroke races. She also finished second in the 100 IM and came out on top in the 50 Free.
• Piper had an outstanding meet with first-place finishes in the 50 Fly, 100 Free, 50 Breast, and 500 Free. She set new personal bests in the 50 Fly—improving her own record—and the 500 Free, establishing a new age-group record.
• Mari placed top four in all of her events, earning second place in the 50 Fly, 100 Back, and 50 Back. She also dropped time in the 50 Fly with a new personal best of −0.36.
• Olivia (Cornell) placed third in the 100 IM and took second in both the 100 Free and 100 Breast.
• Tenley earned a ribbon in every event she swam, highlighted by a −2.65 drop in her 100 Free and a third-place finish in the 50 Back.
• Stella placed fourth in the 50 Breast and competed in the 100 Free for the first time.
• Bea posted a strong improvement in the 50 Free, dropping −0.60.
• Trajon won the 50 Fly and 100 Breast, but his most exciting races came in the 100 Free and 200 Free, where he placed second in both. His massive −41.26 drop in the 200 Free established a new state cut and a new team record. He is only two events away from qualifying in all events for the upcoming State meet.
• Nikolai earned top-three finishes in the 50 Breast, 50 Fly, and 100 Breast, along with a −3.44 improvement in the 50 Fly.
• Finn set personal bests in all of his individual events, improving in the 50 Free (−0.17), 100 Free (−3.87), and 50 Back (−3.44). He also swam the 100 Back for the first time, placing fourth overall.
• Warren set a new personal best in the 100 Free with a −1.78 improvement.
The 200 Medley Relay saw strong performances from both Sharks teams. The all-girls relay of Mari, Olivia, Piper, and Ella placed first overall, while the mixed relay of Tenley, Stella, Trajon, and Bea followed closely in second place, setting a new team record for the
9–10 co-ed relay.
In the 200 Free Relay, the boys team of Nikolai, Finn, Warren, and Chase finished second overall and added their time to the Top 10 performances for their age group.
🦈 11–12 🦈
• Edward had one of the biggest performances of the meet, winning the 200 Free with a massive −25.35 drop, then doing it again in the 100 IM with a −27.53 improvement. He also dropped 2 seconds in the 100 Back, totaling more than 55 seconds of improvement across three events.
• Jaxon placed top three in all four of his events, earning second-place finishes in the 100 Free, 100 Back, and 50 Fly, where he improved by −1.79.
• John won the 50 Back and placed second in the 100 Breast.
• Lucas placed second in the 100 IM and third in the 50 Breast, while also dropping nearly 8 seconds in the 100 Free.
• Emmy earned first place in the 50 Breast with a −0.09 improvement and placed third in the 100 Breast, dropping −3.06.
• Elly placed top four in all of her events, highlighted by a win in the 200 IM with a 2-second improvement. She also finished second in the 50 Free with a −1.36 personal-best drop.
• Gwen showed major improvement in backstroke, dropping nearly 7 seconds in the 50 Back and another 5 seconds in the 100 Back.
• Mia played a key role in relays, helping her teams place 5th overall in both the freestyle and medley relays.
The boys 11–12 200 Free Relay team of John, Jaxon, Edward, and Lucas placed first overall, while the girls also made key contributions across multiple relays, swimming up and competing alongside teammates in older age divisions.
🦈 13–14 🦈
• Iris placed top five in all of her events, highlighted by event wins in the 400 IM and 50 Back.
• Cydney earned first place in the 50 Breast, second in the 50 Free, and third in both the 50 Fly (−0.09) and 100 Free (−4.19).
• Sylvia placed top three in all of her events, including second-place finishes in the 200 Back and 50 Breast.
• Matilda finished top three in three events and dropped 3.52 seconds in the 50 Breast.
• Draya placed top six in three of her events, highlighted by a third-place finish in the 500 Free.
• Sophie placed fourth in the 50 Back and fifth in the 100 Back, improving her 100 Back by −3.42.
• Rylee went 3-for-4 on personal bests, dropping time in the 50 Fly (−6.87), 200 Breast (−9.37), and 100 Breast (−7.55), for a total of 23 seconds of improvement across three events.
• Taniya posted a new personal best in the 50 Breast, improving by −0.78.
• Natalie dropped −0.83 in the 50 Free, achieving a sub-36 time.
• Owen won the 200 Breast and continued his momentum with strong time drops across the board. He improved his 50 Fly by −2.26 and dropped over a second in the 50 Free, breaking the 30-second barrier for the first time in his swim career and moving even closer to a Midwest Regional qualifying time.
In the 200 Freestyle Girls Relay, Cydney, Iris, Elly, and Sylvia obliterated the team record, cutting an incredible 11 seconds off the previous mark to win the event. The performance was even more impressive as one swimmer lost her goggles mid-race, yet the team still delivered near–personal-best splits across the board.
🦈 15 & Over 🦈
• Tony had a dominant meet, taking first place in all four of his events while setting personal bests across the board. He won the 50 Free (−0.30), earning a new Midwest Regional qualifying time, the 400 IM (−20.44), the 200 Back (−2.95), and the 50 Back (−0.59). His 50 Free currently stands as the fastest 50 Free ever swam in Shark history.
• Izak placed top four in all of his events, earning first-place finishes in both the 50 Fly and 200 Fly.
• Xander placed top four in all of his events, going 3-for-4 on personal bests and continuing to inch closer to a Midwest qualifying time. He improved in the 100 IM (−0.84), 50 Back (−0.02), and 100 Free (−9.06).
• Hallie placed top four in all of her events, going 3-for-4 on personal bests, including the 50 Back (−0.89), 100 Breast (−3.70), and 100 IM (−6.62), where she finished second.
• Lily placed top three in all of her events, highlighted by wins in the 200 Breast (−1.17) and the 500 Free, where she dropped 11 seconds.
The boys 200 Freestyle Relay of Izak, Xander, Owen, and Tony shattered the team record, dropping an incredible 12 seconds. Every swimmer delivered a near-personal-best split, making it one of the most electric relay performances of the meet.
After a strong showing at the FAST meet in Ladysmith, the Bloomer Shark Swim Team will look to carry that momentum into their next competition in Eau Claire next Saturday at North High School. With swimmers continuing to build confidence, drop time, and sharpen their specialty events, the Sharks are set up for another exciting weekend of racing.
