Dominic Brown poses with his medals at the 14U Central Zone Championship.
Submitted Photo
GREENFIELD — Two local swimmers competed at this year’s 14U Central Zone Championships.
Both members of the Greenfield Community Aquatic Team (GCAT), Dominic Brown and Kaylie Butler, represented both Greenfield and Team Indiana at the four-day event in Elkhart from August 3-6
Team Indiana, Team Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Lake Erie competed in the event. Team Indiana took home first place in both boys and girls meets.
“Absolutely, the biggest event that he’s swam in. The pool up there is amazing,” Dominic’s father Devon Brown said. “As far as the quality of meet and fast times, this was the most competitive.”
The zone championships, a national-level meet, came just a few weeks after the pair competed at the Indiana Championships at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
The two qualified for state at the divisional meet. The state championship meet was where both qualified for the zones.
To compete at zones, swimmers must meet a triple-A standard national time for their respective age groups. Although the times can be met at any point in the season, it typically comes in the bigger meets late in the season, such as state.
“You’re eligible to make it at any time throughout the year, but most kids only meet at that time at the state meet,” Devon Brown said. “In an individual sport like swimming you try and peak at the very end, so they didn’t qualify until the very last meet.”
The trip to zones was the first time competing in the event for both Dominic and Butler and at their age groups the event is as big as it gets.
“This is it for their age group,” Devon Brown said. “When you get a bit older you’re talking about specialty invites to future events, but at this age group you just stop there.”
In the 10 and under age group, Dominic met the qualifying time in the 50-meter breaststroke and chose the 100 breaststroke as his bonus event. He also competed in the 400-meter freestyle.
Butler qualified for the 100-meter breaststroke and 200 breaststroke in the 13 and 14-year-old age division. Her bonus event was the 50 breaststroke.
Dominic helped contribute 38 points to the boys’ team score with two sixth-place finishes and one seventh-place finish.
In the 50-meter breaststroke, he placed sixth with a time of 41.84 seconds. The time earned him top 25 in the nation, and a 10-and-under GCAT record.
His time of 1:33.95 in the 100-meter breaststroke was another sixth-place finish, another GCAT record, and was top 50 in the nation.
“It’s just amazing to see because all of these smaller sports like swimming give the individual athletes the chance to excel and see a bigger world,” Devon Brown said.
In the 400-meter freestyle, Dominic placed seventh with a time of 5:37.29, which was good enough for another top-50 time in the nation, and another GCAT record. He also set GCAT records throughout the year in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyles, the 50 and 100 backstroke, the 200 individual medley, and as a member of the 200 medley relay team.
Butler set GCAT records in her two events with a time of 1:19.25 in the 100 breaststroke and 2:33.43 in the 200 breaststroke.
