Killer Whales sting Omak Manta Rays

By Mike Maltais
    As their summer competition nears its conclusion in the next few days, the Methow Valley Killer Whales’ five-season win streak shows no signs of fatigue.
At the Iron Man Classic, hosted by Omak last Sunday (July 24), the Killer Whales cruised past the Manta Rays to continue their unbroken string of county victories.
    “I was surprised we did as well as we did,” said coach John Caesar, commenting on the Omak invitational’s longer swim distance requirements. “We swim less practice yardage than any other team in the county so I was very happy with our performance. If we had anything going for us it was efficiency.” Caesar has adopted a “no garbage yardage” philosophy to his training regimen to compensate for the different competition requirements. “This type of meet is new to our league,” he said. “Since we are only a summer program, our distances have traditionally been limited to shorter sprints.”
    This weekend the Methow team travels to Brewster to meet the powerful Bearacudas for the county championship. “The last time we were there for a championship was five years ago when we defeated the defending champion Brewster for the first time,” Caesar said. “They would like nothing less than to take back the county title. They have a proud athletic tradition in Brewster and they love to win.” Competition gets underway at 9 a.m.

Photo by E.A. Weymuller: Derek Oliver, 18, does his best Mark Phelps impression during last week’s dual meet against Omak at the Twisp pool.