January 15, 2015 marked a very important date for the Rocky Mount Academy swim team as it was their first and only home meet for the season. The competition was definitely going to be a long and exciting event as seven other teams decided to enter. Even though there were a lot of people in a limited space, fun was had by swimmers and volunteers alike. As swim meets are broken down in to 22 different events, 11 for girls and 11 for boys, each event can result in multiple heats of swimmers if there are more participants than the number of lanes that the facility holds.

RMA got off to a lightning start with Claire Stanovich finishing first in the girls 200m Freestyle and Ashley Bissette coming in at a close second. Spencer Bullock also finished in ninth place for the boys 200m Freestyle. Next up was the 50m Freestyle. Claire Stanovich placed first overall for the girls and Trevor Graham and Spencer Bullock led the RMA boys team in this event with sixth and ninth place finishes respectively. Deanna Mayo entered the water for her first event of the night during the 100m Freestyle and finished in first place. Trevor Graham also excelled in the 100m Freestyle with a finishing place of sixth for the boys. Two swimmers braved the very grueling 20 laps for the 500m Freestyle. Gracie Cox and Mac Lord, both newcomers to the 500, finished their races in good standings with Gracie coming in fifth place and Mac finishing in fourth overall. To conclude the individual events for the night, Deanna Mayo finished off with swimming the 100m Breaststroke, adding another first place finish under her belt.

Everyone’s favorite part of the night, however, has got to be the relays! Swimmers get into teams of four and can enter up to two relays each. The girls A-team of Deanna Mayo, Gracie Cox, Ashley Bissette, and Claire Stanovich came in first place in the 200m Freestyle and set a personal best. This same team also placed second in the 400m Freestyle Relay. The boys team, Stephen Ward, Mac Lord, Trevor Graham, and Spencer Bullock, also placed third in the 200m Freestyle Relay and fourth in the 400m Freestyle Relay.
The final scores showed that all Rocky Mount Academy swimmers swam th
eir hardest. The girl’s team finished in third and the boy’s finished in fourth place. Both teams did an excellent job considering the low number swimmers on both girls and boys teams for RMA. This meet will most closely coincide with the conference meet held on Friday, February 6th, 2015 as the same exact teams will be competing.

A very special thank-you goes out to all of the faculty and students who volunteered their time to be runners and timers for the meet. The event would definitely not been possible without each and every one of you. We would also like to thank all of the people who came out in support for our team! Although swimming is often overlooked, the volunteers and fans showed the true meaning of the RMA family! Way to go Eagles!