Three Brownsville swimmers travel to Atlanta for prestigious age group meet

Three swimmers from the Brownsville Aquatics summer program will be in Atlanta this week to compete in the U.S. Southern Zone Age Group Championships.

They are Victoria Salinas, Natalie Castillo and Brianna Morales. Next month, Salinas begins her senior year at Pace, while Castillo and Morales will be a junior and sophomore, respectively, at Hanna.

To be chosen to compete at the meet Tuesday through Saturday at Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, swimmers must have certain qualifying times plus be nominated to participate. There are four zones in the U.S. with the Southern Zone composed of states from Texas to Florida. At the meet, the Brownsville swimmers will be representing the South Texas team. Warmups are scheduled today with competition to begin Wednesday.

"It's a big thing," said Brownsville Aquatics coach Ryan Shea, who also coaches the Rivera swim team. "It's rare (for a Brownsville swimmer to be selected to participate). Jonathan Castillo, Natalie's older brother, swam in the meet about three or four years ago.

"These girls are very deserving," he added. "They've been putting in a lot of hard work, practicing three to four hours a day for five days a week. This meet will be a good experience for them because they'll be going against some very good competition."

All three girls have advanced to the UIL state meet at their respective high schools. Last February, Salinas competed in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly at state, finishing eighth in the 50 freestyle. Also at state earlier this year, Castillo swam on Hanna's 200 medley and 400 freestyle relays while competing individually in the 500 freestyle. Morales also swam for Hanna on the two relays.

"It's pretty exciting to go out of Texas for a meet and come all the way over here to see what it's like," said Morales, who traveled to Atlanta with the other two girls on Monday.

Each girl is scheduled to swim six events while at the Southern Zone meet.

"It should be a learning experience for us," Castillo said. "I would like to place. We've been practicing pretty hard. I hope we can do well."

Added Salinas, "It should be a good experience for all three of us. Hopefully, we can come out on top (in our events)."

Monica Rosales, Margaret M. Clark Aquatic Center coordinator, said the girls' selection for the prestigious meet should help promote summer swimming programs in Brownsville.

"This is quite an honor (for them)," she said.

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com