Joe Drennan
Sports EditorIt was a family affair at the Minnesota State Long Course Championships for Mary and Andy Knaak at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center Aug. 5-8.
The brother and sister duo from Forest Lake competed in the event as part of the Tsunami Swim Club with Mary, 8, placing first among girls eight and under and Andy, 14, third for his age group.
Mary, a Scandia Elementary School student, was competing in her first meet and swam several different events including the 50-meter backstroke, freestyle, butterfly, breast stroke and was a member of a successful relay team.
ěShe kind of got up there and did her own thing,î Andy said of his sister.
Being her first meet, Mary said she was pretty confident in her abilities to swim well so she wasnít too worried. Now that she has a meet under her belt Mary says she is a little scared for her next meet though because itís going to be harder.
Swimming in the 200-meter individual medley, 400-meter individual medley, 100-meter breast stroke, the 200-meter breast stroke, 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter backstroke, and 100-meter freestyle Andy placed third. Andy, a ninth grader to be at Century Junior High, won the 400-meter individual medley and took second in the 200-meter backstroke and freestyle races.
Andyís performance earned him a trip to the national regional competition in Kansas City this past weekend. Andy won the 200-meter breast stroke and placed second in the 100-meter breast stroke and fourth in the 400-meter individual medley.
ěThere are really a lot of great swimmers around the country so it was a lot of fun to swim against them,î Andy said. ěThe team from Minnesota was made up of the best kids in the state so we had them competing in relays together and that was a lot of fun too.î
Andy will return to the Forest Lake High School boys swimming team this winter as they try to defend their section title.
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