Locals fare well at Northwest Regionals

Sandpoint swimmers Emily Deitz and Payton Bokowy, both 14,  recently traveled with coach Mike Brosnahan to Federal Way, Wash., for the Northwest Age Group Regional meet at the Weyerhauser King County Aquatic Center.

More than 1,300 swimmers  from six states attended the meet, and in order to attend, swimmers needed to qualify with tough time standards. Deitz dropped 1.66 seconds to finish 12th in the 100  backstroke with a time of 1:00.2, no small accomplishment with fields boasting more than 30 of the fastest youth swimmers from the region.

Bokowy finished fifth in the 100 free, dropping nearly a second off her personal best for a 52.61, seventh in the 50 free by dropping .46 for a time of 24.73, and 15th in the 200 free, dropping .45 to finish at 1:59.47.

“They’ve been to a handful of meets, and they keep dropping time,” said Brosnahan, noting it’s extremely tough just to get invited to the meet. “These qualifying times are really, really fast.”