Summit High School swim and dive coach Jenny Wischmeyer basked in the fun, excitement and togetherness of the Tigers first road trip of the season on Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Glenwood Community Center versus Aspen, Moffat County and Glenwood Springs high schools.

While the Summit swimmers and divers certainly found some success in the pool in Glenwood, more important to Wischmeyer was that every single swimmer and diver was able to make the trip and avoid novel coronavirus quarantines. She said each of the team’s “big sister-little sister” duos cherished a special sporting opportunity amid the pandemic.

“I think that they were just really excited to swim, it’s good to have them all back. They all wore their speedsuits because they are just trying to take advantage of every opportunity to go fast,” Wischmeyer said. “The girls were excited to swim in a new pool, a different place, and we had some really fast relays and swims. The girls, I feel like, are just taking every opportunity to go all out.”

Wischmeyer was particularly impressed with Ashley Leidel’s showing in the 500-yard freestyle. Leidel registered a time of 6 minutes and 11 seconds. That’s four seconds under the state-qualification standard of 6:15, and Wischmeyer is hopeful it could be enough to get Leidel in. This year state qualifications won’t take place on meeting a time alone though — only the top 20 swimmers will qualify.

Leidel is one of several swimmers Wischmeyer said is racing well enough right now to be in contention for a state spot. Along with Leidel in the 500-yard freestyle, that list includes Abby Anderson in the 100-yard freestyle and Karlyn Frazier and Taylor Lee in the 50-yard freestyle.

“But the 50 free is so hard,” Wischmeyer said. “It’s super competitive.”

Wischmeyer credited Anderson for her dedication to the team by only racing in one individual event and opting for three relays. The coach said Anderson understands the team’s strongest swims are in freestyle relays, so the 100-yard freestyle ace is willing to do what’s best for the team, particularly in the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyles.

The team continue to drop a lot of time in those freestyle swims week over week. This week’s 200-yard freestyle clocked in at 1:54 on Saturday, shedding four seconds off last week’s time of 1:58.

“I feel like I was really impressed with how they swam today,” Wischmeyer said.

The Tigers are next scheduled to jump in the pool for competition at 4:45 p.m. Friday, once again at the Glenwood Community Center, the final meet for swimmers before the Western Slope Leagues meet at a to-be-determined location March 5 and 6. Tigers divers will compete next in Gunnison at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23.