The Bowling Green Swim Club continues to make history, winning its 45th Greater Northwest Ohio Aquatic Conference dating back 51 years to 1971.

The Gators ran away with the title, scoring 2,513 points, followed by the Bryan Swim Team (1,636), Napoleon Aquatic Club (1,387½), Putnam County YMCA Swim Team (1,240), Wauseon Wahoos (652½), and the DAYS Piranhas representing the Defiance and Ayersville communities (301). The competition was in Ottawa on July 9-10.

During the course of two days, nine separate BG teams won age group championships and the combined scores of all age groups led to the GNOAC championship.

“We did not have an age group that did not do the best that they could the entire weekend,” BG coach Carolyn Strunk said.

Strunk, a former Bowling Green State University assistant coach who currently coaches at multiple area high schools, has been heading up the BG club since 1997. She is in her fourth decade as a swimming coach.

Strunk said it took a combined effort from 103 swimmers as young as 4-years-old to graduated high school seniors to secure the title.

For the Gators, it started with the youngest and the momentum continued until the high school seniors competed.

“To really pinpoint one or two would be a disservice to the rest of the team. But all of our 13-14, 15-16, and 17-18-year-old age group swimmers really stepped up and raced, and did a great job, making sure that they were in the top six to score the greatest number of points during finals,” Strunk said.

“In addition, our 8-and-under and 9 and 10-year-olds started the meet for us on Saturday morning because they scored points in that session, and they did not swim finals on Saturday or Sunday.

“So, by the end of the 8-and-under session on Saturday morning we were in third place and first place was only 22 points ahead of us. So, that was a good start to our meet,” Strunk continued.

“Our nine and 10 age groups scored points on Saturday morning and Sunday morning. They really stepped up to set us up for finals each day by making sure that they swam legally. and they raced their hearts out and did everything they needed to do as part of the championship title.

“Obviously, not to leave out the 11- and 12-year-olds, we had some amazing swims. Some of the swimmers in that age group had never made it to finals before, so they really stepped up in prelims so they could swim in finals,” Strunk said.

“Not just in finals itself, but many of them made the top six, which is where you score more points than you can in the 7-12 places (consolations).

“But once you’re in the top six, no matter what your time is, you cannot get bumped into the bottom six, or the consolation finals.”

There were dozens of BG placers but getting first place in the 9-10 age divisions were the boys 200-meter relay, Josh Hildebrand (50 backstroke) and Jamie Donald (50 freestyle).

BG’s 8-and-under winners were Joanna Lopez (25 butterfly) and Kolten Doust (50 freestyle), who Strunk said had a breakout meet.

In the 11-12 age categories, BG winners were Macy Gottschalk (50 backstroke and 100 individual medley), Jash Patel (100 freestyle and 50 breaststroke), and Jennifer Lopez (200 freestyle).

BG winners in the 13-14 age groups were Avery Sharp (100 backstroke), Max Gottschalk (100 backstroke, 200 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, and 100 butterfly), Alayna Mahan (100 freestyle and 50 freestyle), Ella Sigman (100 butterfly, 200 IM, and 100 breaststroke), Colleen Hildebrand (200 freestyle), and the girls 200 freestyle relay team.

Gators winning in the 15-16 and 15 and over categories were Emily O’Brien (400 freestyle), Ewan Fisher (400 freestyle and 200 freestyle), Tyler Foster (100 backstroke), Kate Hildebrand (100 freestyle and 200 freestyle), Alex Xu (100 butterfly), the 200-medley relay team, and Aaron He (200 IM).

In the 17-18 and 17 and over age divisions, BG winners were Allie Barasch (100 backstroke, 100 butterfly, 50 freestyle, and 200 freestyle) and Haley Gano (100 freestyle and 200 IM).

The mixed 600-meter freestyle relay team also won a championship.

Strunk also had three senior graduates playing a role, including Gretchen Germann and Brynna Gaines from Bowling Green and Calvin Price from Eastwood.

Germann has been with the program since she was 3 years old and started as a Sooner or Later Gator. Gaines is a more recent addition to the swim club but became a key leader for the younger swimmers.

“She’s only been part of our team for two years, but she really embraced the idea of being part of the swim team and really stepped up to be a great leader of cheers during the last 10 days of practices and at the meet, just swimming her heart out,” Strunk said.

Price, a state qualifier for Eastwood, will continue at the next level, swimming for Drury University in Missouri.

Drury was the NCAA Division II national runner-up in swimming last winter and was ranked first in the nation at one point in the season. However, before Price heads there, it is all about the BG Gators this summer.

“Calvin Price has been with our program for 11 or 12 years, and just his leadership in the pool during practices, during the meet itself, and just really stepping up to help inspire the team is something that he really embraced this summer,” Strunk said.

The BG Swim Club’s season is not over. Any swimmers who have finished their freshman year in high school are eligible to compete at the Ohio Swimming Senior Championships this weekend.

Next weekend, four BG swimmers are headed to the Junior Olympics and five will be going to the Junior Nationals in Indianapolis the weekend after that.

Strunk is grateful for assistant coaches Sophie Holt, Leah Schumacher, John Burnard, Grace Coggin, Emma Coleson and Catherine Haynes. They often do more than coach.

“Being at the championship meet for two days can often be a selfless task and they don’t get to see many of their kids compete because they are trying to make sure every swimmer is behind the blocks when they need to be and making sure that they stay there and don’t disappear,” Strunk said.