Garcia places in top 20 twice against nation’s best swimmers

Present and past Lady Eagles from Boulder City High School’s girls swim program participated in the Los Angeles Invite July 12-15, finding success against the nation’s top swimmers.

Heading into her senior year with the Lady Eagles, Aimee Garcia found the most success over the weekend, placing in the top 20 in the 800- and 1500-meter freestyles.

“I had a great experience at the LA invite, just like I always do,” Garcia said. “I had tons of fun with my team being able to watch and meet some Olympians.”

Making the best of her opportunity to swim against the country’s top competition, Garcia finished 17th in 800-meter freestyle with a time of 9:19.87, while finishing 19th in 1500-freestyle with a time of 18:11.75.

“There was really tough competition, with a lot of fast swimmers being there from all over the world,” Garcia said. “I think the tough competition helps keep me motivated to work even harder. It makes me want to swim at even more meets with tougher competition and be able to meet more Olympians.”

Swimming in six events, Garcia rounded out the LA invite with a 32nd-place finish out of 76 in 400-meter individual medley (5:13.00) and 65th-place finish out of 98 in the 200 breaststroke (2:49.13). Garcia placed 67th out of 114 in 400-meter freestyle (4:36.13) and 77th out of 100 in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:19.64).

Finishing inside the top 30 at the LA Invite, former Lady Eagles Abby Sauerbrei (class of 2017), Montana Lloyd (class of 2017) and Alex Hubel (class of 2015) each found their own success.

Sauerbrei placed 20th in 800-meter freestyle with a time of 9:25.40 and 30th in the 400-meter individual medley with a time of 5:12.07.

“I placed decently in most of my events,” Sauerbrei said. “I unfortunately didn’t make it to finals in any events, but I am not upset with it. For the shape I am in right now, I am very pleased with how I raced this weekend in my individual events and the relay I was a part of. I am happy that I was able to compete at a meet that has a high status.”

Lloyd finished 24th in 200-meter backstroke with a time of 2:24.42, while Hubel finished 26th in 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1:04.48.

Overall Sauerbrei finished 82nd out of 120 in the 100-meter backstroke (1:09.93) and 115th out of 150 in the 200-meter individual medley (2:33.09), while Lloyd placed 55th out of 120 in 100-meter backstroke (1:08.18), 98th out of 150 in 200-meter individual medley (2:31.67) and 166th out of 174 in the 50-meter freestyle (29.63 seconds).

Hubel places 100th out of 175 in the 50-meter freestyle (28.22) and 102nd out of 195 in the 100-meter freestyle (1:00.77).

Rounding out Boulder City’s effort, current senior Annika Freiburger placed 62nd out of 76 in the 400-meter individual medley (5:21.63), 86th out of 100 in the 100-meter breaststroke (1:21.16) and 94th out of 98 in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:56.35).

Contact Robert Vendettoli at BCRsports@gmail.com.