The Marshalltown Blue Wave Swim Team won the Division 3 section of the 2017 YMCA State Swim Meet on March 5. The BWST scored 316 points on its way to tallying six team records and 32 lifetime bests.

Beginning with Marcus Barker, he swam a 2 minute, 39.90 second breaststroke(13-14-year-olds), topping the old 2009 record by nearly 14 seconds.

Shakira Herrera, who was first in the 100-yard butterfly (12 and over) and the 50 freestyle (15 and over), broke the 100 butterfly time with a 1:05.94.

Averie Wittkop (9-10) broke the old 2012 record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:31.72, which was set by Herrera five years ago.

The 9-10 girls’ 200 medley relay of Alexis Crouch, Lesli Waltermire, Elise Imsland and Wittkop, set a new record with a time of 2:24.35, besting the old time that was set in the late 90s by Beth Muckler,Sara Allen, Whitney Sondall and Becky Wildman.

The 9-10 girls’ 200 freestyle relay of the same four swimmers also broke that record with a time of 2:10.56.

Of the 43 swimmers competing in the state meet, 32 of them swam lifetime bests. For the girls, Waltermire was the leading scorer with 34 points. She was first in the 50 breaststroke and the 100 breaststroke, as well as a member of the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams.

Wittkop and Herrera shared runner-up honors with 30 points apiece.

For the boys, Barker scored 24 points with second-place finishes in the 200 medley relay and 100 breaststroke. Jacob Seberger had 20.5 points, Bryce Edens had 19 and Lincoln Barker had 18.

During the course of the weekend, 16 state records were broken among 918 competing athletes. More than 2,000 fans attended the Linda Bloom Natatorium for the event. The Bedell YMCA Barracudas were second in Division 3 with 276 points and the Washington Watersharks were third with 272.