13 proves to be lucky number for Manta Rays

by Submitted Manta Ray Aquatics
| March 29, 2017 1:00 AM

FEDERAL WAY — 13-year-olds Cole Lindberg and Zachary Washburn both competed at the elite Age Group Regional Championship meet recently in Federal Way.

Close to 2000 athletes traveled to the King County Aquatic Center from seven western states to compete in this meet that has difficult qualifying time standards.

This was Lindberg’s first time competing at this event after qualifying during the recent Inland Empire Swimming Championships. He has been progressively becoming one of the fastest male butterfly stroke competitors in the Inland Empire.

Lindberg’s first event was the grueling 200-yard butterfly on Friday where he moved up three positions from where he was seeded going into the meet. Lindberg then went a personal best time on Sunday in his 100-yard butterfly, dropping half a second and coming closer to his goal of qualifying for Age Group Zones this summer in Roseville, Calif.

This was Washburn’s fifth trip to this meet, where he has enjoyed great success and this year would be no different. On Friday, he qualified for finals in the 100-yard backstroke as the sixth seed and the 50-yard freestyle as the first seed.

Dropping over a second and a half, Washburn moved up one spot to finish fifth in finals of the 100 backstroke and dropped a half second in the 50 freestyle to win the event. On Saturday, Washburn qualified for finals as the No. 1 seed for the 100-yard freestyle, as well as the 200-yard individual medley as the seventh seed. He went on to win the 100-yard freestyle with an impressive 48.31, dropping almost a second and a half from prelims.

Washburn would drop almost three seconds and climb five positions to finish second in the 200 individual medley. Feeling exhausted on the last day of the meet, Washburn struggled in prelims of the 200 freestyle and qualified for finals as the fifth seed. He dug deep and overcame his exhaustion and went onto to win the 200 freestyle event dropping five and a half seconds to finish with a 1:47.11, setting a new Manta Ray team record.

Both Lindberg and Washburn will join the rest of their teammates in competition at the IMX Dual Pentathlon to be held in the Tony St. Onge Pool of Dreams late next month.