The 2026 Tarheel Swim League season is off and running, with the Valdese Torpedo youth swim team having competed twice late last week.
During a season-opening tri-meet at Shelby City Park on June 12, the Valdese boys totaled 110 points to finish second behind the host Shelby Stingrays (129) and in front of the McDowell Mariners (32). The Torpedo girls also earned runner-up honors after tallying 83 points, with Shelby (190) and McDowell (30) finishing first and third, respectively.
Then on June 13, Valdese hosted a dual meet against the Granite Falls Sharks at the Valdese Aquatic Center, with the Torpedo boys winning by a 209-188 score and the Torpedo girls outscoring the Sharks 216-206.
In the season opener, which was held in a short course meters pool instead of a short course yards pool, Valdese won 20 individual events and three relay races, highlighted by 12 individual victories on the boys side.
Elym Reasoner led the Torpedo boys with three wins in individual races, touching the wall first in the 7-8 25 freestyle (23.67), the 8U 25 backstroke (26.47), and the 8U 25 butterfly (34.64), while three other male team members won twice apiece: Luke Gravel (9-10 50 free, 41.98; 9-10 50 breaststroke, 1:02.63), John-Mark Gagliardo (9-10 50 back, 58.70; 9-10 100 free, 1:48.85), and Boston Bollinger (11-12 50 free, 44.13; 11-12 100 free, 1:48.62).
Other individual wins for the Valdese boys came from Graham Gravel (8U 50 free, 1:05.10), Jethro Platt (11-12 50 back, 59.73), and Sam Jensen (15-18 100 fly, 1:13.48), with the 8U 100 free relay foursome of Reasoner, Tabor Parris, Graham Gravel, and Koen Kirk adding a first-place time of 1:59.91.
On the girls side, Ryan Watson paced the Torpedo with three individual triumphs, including a time of 33.19 in the 13-14 50 free, a time of 1:16.88 in the 13-14 100 free, and a time of 1:41.49 in the 13-14 100 fly.
The Valdese girls also received two individual wins from Saylor Watson (15-18 100 back, 1:26.74; 15-18 100 fly, 1:20.67), one win each from Lola Reasoner (9-10 100 free, 2:01.77), Adeline Parris (9-10 50 fly, 1:12.47), and Julia Gagliardo (11-12 50 back, 57.16), and relay race victories from the following quartets: Katie Childres, Reasoner, Alana Bristol, and Parris (9-10 200 free, 3:42.80) and Gagliardo, Ryan Watson, Tenley Turner, and Saylor Watson (15-18 200 free, 2:25.74).
The following day, the Valdese girls nabbed 22 individual victories and four relay wins, and the Torpedo boys collected 14 individual wins while also posting four first-place finishes in relay races.
The top individual performer for the Torpedo girls was Ryan Watson with three victories (13-14 50 free, 29.73; 13-14 100 back, 1:17.74; 13-14 100 fly, 1:27.18), with the following six teammates recording two wins apiece: Lauryn Turner (9-10 100 free, 1:35.97; 9-10 50 breast, 45.66), Desiree Gonzalez (11-12 50 back, 41.05; 11-12 50 fly, 35.68), Daynesa Gonzalez (13-14 200 individual medley, 3:13.48; 13-14 100 free, 1:10.17), Lilah Johnson (15-18 200 IM, 2:38.64; 15-18 100 breast, 1:18.93), Tenley Turner (15-18 50 free, 31.55; 15-18 100 free, 1:12.08), and Saylor Watson (15-18 100 back, 1:19.17; 15-18 100 fly, 1:12.85).
Seven other females earned one win each for Valdese, as Serenity Hollifield (8U 50 free, 1:14.12), Bristol (9-10 100 IM, 2:10.18), Annalyn Huffman (9-10 50 back, 54.08), Adeline Parris (9-10 50 fly, 1:00.78), Lyra Davis (11-12 50 breast, 50.04), Lydia Falls (11-12 100 free, 1:22.36), and Taylor Beaulieu (200 free, 3:00.76) all finished first.
Relay wins for the Torpedo girls came from the foursome of Parris, Bristol, Huffman, and Lauryn Turner in the 9-10 200 free (2:57.09); the quartet of Huffman, Lauryn Turner, Parris, and Bristol in the 9-10 200 medley (3:35.87); the foursome of Johnson, Beaulieu, Tenley Turner, and Saylor Watson in the 15-18 200 free (2:06.59); and the quartet of Tenley Turner, Johnson, Saylor Watson, and Beaulieu in the 15-18 200 medley (2:20.92).
Valdese’s Jethro Platt swims the first leg of a boys relay event on June 13 at the Valdese Aquatic Center.
JAMES LYNCH JR. / THE PAPERAs for the Torpedo boys, they had five competitors post two wins apiece, and they were as follows: John-Mark Gagliardo (9-10 50 free, 39.35; 9-10 100 free, 1:29.79), Luke Gravel (9-10 100 IM, 1:50.36; 9-10 50 breast, 58.58), Anthony Knox (11-12 100 IM, 2:11.55; 11-12 50 breast, 58.67), Mason Boice (13-14 50 free, 30.78; 200 free, 2:51.97), and Jensen (15-18 50 free, 24.42; 15-18 100 fly, 1:03.55).
Earning one win apiece for the Valdese boys were Truman Davis (6U 25 free, 38.17), Tabor Parris (8U 25 fly, 45.24), Andrew Harmon (11-12 50 back, 43.19), and Abdiel Gonzalez (15-18 200 IM, 2:51.33).
Finally, victorious relay squads for the Valdese boys included Davis, Darcy Henderson, Kirk, and Parris (8U 100 free, 2:20.41); Ezra Platt, Luke Gravel, Nash Greene, and Graham Gravel (9-10 200 free, 3:16.52); Gonzalez, Jacob Harmon, Noah Harmon, and Jensen (15-18 200 free, 1:51.43); and Nathaniel Talbot, Mazon Mayfield, Noah Clontz, and Jaron Davis (15-18 200 medley, 2:59.77).
Valdese visited McDowell on June 18 before hosting a tri-meet against Black Mountain and Forest City today (Saturday, June 20).
Morganton starts season with runner-up finish
The Morganton Marlins youth swim team hosted a four-team Western Carolina Swimming Association meet at the Collett Street Recreation Center outdoor pool on Tuesday, finishing second on both the boys side and the girls side with 233 and 192.5 points, respectively.
Catawba Valley Aquatic Club’s boys finished first with 294 points, and its girls were also first with 319. Meanwhile, Rutherford County (32 on boys side, 117.5 on girls side) came in third and Watauga (19 on boys side, 8 on girls side) took fourth.
Of the 16 event wins by the Marlins, 11 came on the boys side, including two individual victories apiece from Cole Bradshaw (8U 50 free, 45.43; 8U 50 fly, 1:15.25) and Joel Gomez-Andres (11-12 200 IM, 3:17.53; 11-12 50 fly, 38.92).
Fellow male competitors Abbott Hoover (8U 50 back, 1:01.53), Liam Bradshaw (14U 100 back, 1:34.75), and Sean Causby (15O 100 back, 1:13.91) added one victory each for Morganton, which also got wins from the following four relay squads: Hoover, Dean Olson, Logan Kulinski, and Cole Bradshaw (8U 200 free, 4:02.17); Tony Throneburg, Avery Patton, Graham Olson, and Gomez-Andres (10U 200 free, 3:05.08); Gomez-Andres, Aidan Lopez-Rodriguez, Carter Phillips, and Causby (15O 200 free, 2:01.57); and Graham Olson, Patton, Gomez-Andres, and Throneburg (10U 200 medley, 4:38.22).
Individual winners for the Morganton girls were Damaris Lopez-Rodriguez (10U 50 free, 37.44) and Miguel Lumina (14U 200 IM, 3:06.24), and relay victories came from the quartets of Lopez-Rodriguez, Jojo Jose, Claire St. Louis, and Ariel Dubrawsky (10U 200 free, 2:48.90); Lumina, Desiree Gonzalez, Daynesa Gonzalez, and Miguel Philomena (14U 200 free, 2:20.45); and Alyssa Chiota, Lumina, Philomena, and Daynesa Gonzalez (14U 200 medley, 2:44.78).
The Marlins are back in action on June 23 at the Collett Street Rec.
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