ST. HELENA >> Represented by Nick Dobusch and Diego Tejeda, the Lake County Channel Cats swim team competed against swimmers from more than 40 Bay Area teams at the recent Endless Summer meet hosted by the St. Helena Swim Club.
Dobusch, 13, led the Channel Cats, establishing a Junior Olympic (JO) time in the 50-yard freestyle. He set personal bests in each of the seven events he entered and nearly reached JO times in the 100 butterfly (missed by .06 seconds) and in the 100 freestyle (missed by .3 seconds). Dobusch still has more than a year to swim and post times in the 13-14 division.
“The kid is a beast,” dad Andy Dobusch said. “He works hard at everything he does. He”s self-motivated and wants to keep getting better. It”s pretty cool to watch. We are very proud of him.”
Tejeda, 15, also had a strong showing, swimming to personal-best times in six of the seven events entered while winning the 200 freestyle and 100 and 200 breaststroke in his age division.
The Channel Cats just finished their summer season with more than 180 swimmers in the water. They have now started the fall program and have 35 competitive and non-competitive swimmers in the water.
“It”s great to see the program growing and to get the kind of support we”re getting from the community,” coach Agustin Merodio said.
For more information on the Lake County Channel Cats call 263-3131.
