Grandson competes in championships
Gaston Glenn, son of Jeff and Claudette Glenn of Valley Center and the grandson of James and Carmen South of Peabody, took high honors in the elite Central Zone swimming championship held Aug. 9-11 in Wichita.
Glenn competed for the Missouri Valley Zone Team in the 11-12 age group in three individual events and three relay events.
Individually, he placed 6th in the 50-meter breaststroke, 11th in the 100-meter breaststroke, and 27th in the 50-meter freestyle. His 50-meter breaststroke time of 37.10 seconds was a AAAA (quad "A") time, among the top percentage in the nation and the fastest time recorded by a Missouri Valley swimmer this year.
His four-man team for the 200 medley relay took 2nd place with a time of 2:07.92, just .3 of a second behind the Ohio team. Although they fell short of the gold medal by the wink of an eye, their recorded time was still good enough to rank them among the best in the nation. He also competed in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, placing 7th and 8th, respectively.
There are only four zone championships held in the nation, which are the top-level competitions for age-group swimmers. The Central Zone championship meet hosted nearly 700 swimmers from Wisconsin, Lake Erie, Ohio, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and the Missouri Valley.
Gaston swims year-round for the Wichita Swim Club. The zone championship concludes a summer of competition for Gaston. He recently competed in the Missouri Valley championships, where he won eight medals.
