Indian Hills Country Club made it two in a row, winning the Country Club Swim Association of Kansas City (CCSAKC) title with 1,273 points last Friday at Kansas City Country Club.

Host KCCC finished second with 1,171 points, followed by Hallbrook Country Club with 1,137.5 and Leawood South Country Club with 1,079.

There were a huge number of competitors and fans watching the finals. And the swimmers have a lot of stories to tell.

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Marston Fries was a three-year swimmer for Shawnee Mission East High School. She won the 200-yard individual medley and 100 freestyle as a junior. She was looking forward to her senior year for the three-time defending 6A state champion, but she was unable to compete.

“I was sick with mono,” she said.

She will be a freshman swimmer at the University of Connecticut in the fall majoring in exercise science, but she did have a last chance to swim for Kansas City Country Club.

“It is about the friendships,” she said. “It was my childhood. I love the environment and the friendships I’ve made.”

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Jack Haverty is a graduate of Shawnee Mission East and swam the sprint freestyles for the two-time 6A state champion. He will attend the University of Kansas in the fall and major in business. He swims for Milburn Country Club.

“I have been in this program since I was six,” he said. “My mom had me in lessons and then on the team.

“Since I was six, I have won championships here,” he said. “I love country club swimming.”

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Olivia Vance swims for Leawood South Country Club and will be a seventh grader at Leawood Middle School. She has been swimming since the age of four.

“You can’t beat all the excitement here,” she said. “I have made a lot of friends in other clubs.”

Vance won the 50 backstroke in the 11-12 age group.

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Paige McClelland with Mission Hills Country Club got her start in competitive swimming because of her sister, Claire, who is two years older.

Paige has been swimming for six years and will be a seventh grader at Indian Hills Middle School.

“It’s fun, and I’ve made a lot of new friends,” she said. “And I am having a good time.”

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Fairway resident Catherine Watkins swims for Mission Hills Country Club. The 12-year-old will be a seventh grader at Indian Hills Middle School.

She has been swimming competitively since the age of five.

“I get to meet with my friends,” she said. “It’s so much fun and is not all about winning.”