by Barbara Machaiek
Amelia Stacy represented Ipswich in the MIAA Division 2 State Swim Meet at Boston University on Saturday 2/26. Amelia arrived at the meet pumped to compete against the premier competition in Massachusetts and ready to make her mark at the meet. After an impressive MIAA North Sectional meet where she broke two 15 year old IHS school records she had her sights set to reach one more of her goals by the end of the season. She chose the 200 IM and 500 Freestyle both are considered the most grueling in the program. She was psyched to be swimming both.
Amelia’s meet started with the 200 Medley where she was seeded 23rd,out of 36 swimmers. Competing in the third of five heats, Amelia started out strong, in 6th position after the butterfly. She picked off one of her competitors in the backstroke and another two after a strong breaststroke. All of the swimmers put it on the line in the last and fast 50 free. Amelia almost got one more competitor, but was 0.19 seconds off. She finished her swim in 2:15.95, a full 4.58 seconds better than her previous best time! She finished 14th in the state and earned team points which put Ipswich on the scoreboard.
Onto the 500 free, where she was lucky enough to swim in the final (and fastest) heat of the night. Not to be outdone by her 200 Medley, Amelia finished in 6th place, earning an MIAA medal and a new best time. She shattered her seed time (5:31.62) with an incredible 5:23.91. “Watching Amelia swim the 500 free was a highlight for me. At the beginning of the season Amelia set a goal to go under 5:25. She had an impressive 7 second drop. It was so rewarding to see her determination and hard work pay off! I was thrilled to see her on the podium receiving her medal.” said Coach Machaiek.
For the season, Amelia broke three IHS records (100 fly, 100 breast, 500 free), represented Ipswich in the Sectionals and State Meets, and had personal best times in the 100 fly, 100 breast, 200 IM and 500 free.
Coach Barbara Machaiek says “She’s had an incredible season and this is just a great ending to all she’s accomplished this year. She’s a talented athlete that is always working hard to improve her strokes and races. She trains hard all year long and puts in extra pool time each week. I’m looking forward to looking up at the record board and seeing her name next to three different events!” “I’m excited she’ll be back competing with us next year. She is always encouraging others and is a great role model. She’s just an all around great person and leader”
Amelia is looking forward to next year when she’ll be a leader of the team. It was a great end to a a fantastic season for the IHS Swim and Dive team. The team and their families are excited to be celebrating a successful season at their banquet this week. We encourage anyone who might have interest in swimming and/or diving next year for IHS to reach out to coach Barbara Machaiek-barbaramachaiek@yahoo.com.
