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Published on 08/14/1995 All articles from this issue

LA-MV Aquatics makes big splash at Far Western

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By Alex Valdes

It has been a year of rapid growth for the Los Altos-MountainView Aquatics Club, which doubled its membership and capped a prosperous long-course season with a solid performance at last week's Far Western Championships.

At the meet, which took place Aug. 2-6 at the Santa Clara Swim Club, 12-year-old Los Altos resident Geoff Patterson finished fifth in the 50-meter backstroke and sixth in the 100 backstroke and also helped out on the 200 freestyle relay, which placed eighth. Gaylen Hafner-Biltchik also set a club record in the 50 freestyle.

"We had a great meet," said head coach John Dussliere, who brought a contingent of 10 swimmers to the event. "The kids swam really well."

The Far Western Championships, the finale to the long-course season which began in April, featured more than 1,500 kids _ ranging in age from 11 to 18 _ from throughout the country, some from as far away as Baltimore, Md., and Canada. To qualify for the meet, athletes had to meet rigid time standards and thus formed the top 5-10 percent of swimmers in the country.

It was an outstanding way to showcase the continued progress of Patterson, a 12-year-old Los Altos resident who is the No. 2-ranked backstroker among 11-12-year-olds in the Pacific Swimming ratings, which encompasses all Northern California swimmers.

"He's been with the club for a little more than two years, which is when he started swimming," said head coach John Dussliere of Patterson, who is the No. 2-ranked backstroker in Pacific Swimming, which encompasses Northern California athletes. "He's really done very well. He's a very coachable kid. He's also 6-feet tall, which doesn't hurt. But Geoff would be that fast regardless of his size because of how talented he is."

Also at Far Westerns,12-year-old Hafner-Biltchik's time of 29.54 was good for 10th in the 50 free and was the all-time best in the 35-year history of the Los Altos-Mountain View Aquatics Club for 11-12-year-olds. Moreover, club members Nate Cooper, David Spires, Andy Wiener and Patterson finished eighth in the 200 freestyle relay.

Other Los Altos-Mountain View Aquatics swimmers competing included Catherine Dunwoodie, Kacey Cottrell, Andrea Pavic, Carin Dunwoodie and John Hsih.

"The kids did lifetime best swims in all events," Dussliere said. "It's quite a feat to even get into the meet (Far Western Championships). It's getting to be a really tough meet, so doing the necessary time standards and getting in is great."

The development of Patterson and his teammates mirrors that of the club, which had 65 kids registered when Dussliere took over for outgoing head coach Gordon Collet in October. Now, thanks to a vibrant advertising campaign and an aggressive membership drive, that number is 130.

"We've taken on a new attitude," said Dussliere, who formerly was a club head coach in Illinois for five years and was an age-group coach at Los Altos-Mountain View Aquatics before assuming the head coaching position. "We want the kids to have fun in the pool. The kids can learn to work and train when they get older, but fun is the key right now...The club used to be a national-caliber team, and my goal is to get it back there in a couple of years."

Dussliere's staff consists of Pat Yost and Peter Krieg, the husband of Angie Wester-Krieg who swam in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, and who captured her fifth national title at the Seniors Nationals in Pasadena recently. She sometimes helps out with the kids after she finishes her training "which is really exciting for the kids," Dussliere said.