The balance of power continues to shift in the Municipal Swim League North Conference.
Ferguson won the end of the season meet 10 straight years before Florissant broke that streak in 2010. Now the Fish are all the rage and could be on the verge of starting a dynasty of their own.
Led by Michael Clark, who won four gold medals, the Fish overwhelmed all their competitors in this year's meet which finished up Tuesday at January Wabash Pool in Ferguson. Florissant scored 1,974 points to easily beat Ferguson, which totaled 1,579 points.
Fish co-coach Jenoa Olson said the win was even more special than last year's.
"I think so because it was definitely a team effort," she said. "We won all the age groups except for one. Last year we had holes. This year we were pretty good across the board so it's a little more satisfying. We won by 395 points instead of sneaking by (Ferguson) with a 100. We felt like it was a solid victory."
Clark for sure was solid. Competing in the 13-14 age group, he won the 100-yard individual medley (1:06.30), the 50 butterfly (31.87) and the 50 breaststroke (34.28). He also teamed up with Miles Carter (2:06.76), Alan Scheibel and Frederick Schaljo to win the 200 medley relay in a time of 2:06.76.
"He's a beautiful swimmer, he has great strokes," said Olson of Clark. "He's a great kid with a great attitude. He was out ther doing what he loves to do. In the 50 fly he was almost three seconds faster than the kid who took second."
Clark was pleased he accomplished his goals at the meet.
"I put in as much effort as possible to achieve the goal," he said. "I had a mindset to win four golds at the beginning of the summer. I think my team also put in as much effort as possible."
The Fish had eight other swimmers who did nearly as well as Clark by winning three golds, Included in that group were Amanda Hei, Myles Carter, Brandon Carter, Nathaniel Hei, Annika Hofer, Christine Jackson, Ryan Porter and Quiny Young.
"We had a few strong families," said Olson. "Five of the Hei kids placed in the top six. And three of the six Schaljo kids (Frederick, Hannah and Tori) took gold."
The Fish had four swimmers break meet records. Included in that group were Annika Hofer in the 11-12 girls 50 breast (36.47), Christina Jackson in the 15-18 girls 50-yard freestyle (26.73) and the 50-yard butterfly (29.90), Meghan Hei in the 13-14 girls 50-yard breaststroke (37.50) and Amanda Hei in the 10U individual medley (1:21.79).
The Fish also set three team relay records. The 13-14 girls free relay team of Katie Geerling, Meghan Hei, Emmalie Keating and Erin McHugh clocked a 1:59.44, the 15-18 girls 200 free relay squad of Delaney Callan, Sarah Dawson, Jennifer Flynn and Jackson clocked a 1:56.28 and the 11-12 boys 200 medley relay team of Matthew Gantner, Rami Hanin, Nathaniel Hei and Griffin Jones were timed at 2:35.47.
"We won 12 of 18 relays," said Olson. "That was by far our strongest event. We also won seven of 10 in the breast.
"Ninety of our kids got at least one personal best," added Olson. "That shows it wasn't just a couple of kids. It was a lot of our kids swimming hard and dropping their times."
Hazelwood's Juliana Geiser was the only other swimmer to win four events other than Clark.
Others in the meet who won three events included Hazelwood's Jessica Nichols, Ferguson's Sam Howell and Amir Pascal and Bellefontaine Neighbors swimmer Ellen Klasing.
