J. EDDMUND BARNES

PHOTO 1: Swimmers dive into the pool as the girls’ 13-14-year-old 100-meter medley relay goes into the third leg at Sundays 2001 River Parish Invitational Swim meet. (Staff photo by J. Edmund Barnes) LAPLACE – For the seventh straight year, the Larayo Barracudas have won the River Parishes Invitational Swim Meet. This year the meet was hosted by Riverlands Golf and Country Club. The tiki-themed event was titled “Survive the Heat 2001.” The Barracudas not only survived the meet, they prospered by winning the meet by a huge margin. The Barracudas scored 554 points in 74 events. By contrast, the second-place team Belle Terre scored 446 points. “I felt very good about it,” said Larayo coach Michelle Jensen. Jensen said their strength came from a streak of sweeps the Barracudas had in the 7-8-year-old boys and the 13-14 year-old girls. Neil Schexnayder, Peter Vicknair, and Garret Gist racked up a total of 41 points for Larayo, while Mallory Brooks, Jamie Jones, Paige Braud, Chelsea Gist and Rachel Kot placed first through fifth, earning a whopping 76 points. PHOTO 2: Swimmers line up and wait for their events at the 2001 River Parishes Invitational swimmeet hosted by Riverlands Country Club Sunday. (Staff photo by J. Edmund Barnes) The meet also saw a number of long-standing records broken. On Saturday, Jared Rodrigue of Hill Heights broke the boys’ 9-10 year-old 100-meter individual medley record with a time of 1.19:38. On Sunday, Alexis Bailey of Belle Terre broke a pair of records: the girls 9-10 year-old 100-meter individual medley record with a time of 1.13:38 and the 50-meter backstroke with a time of 33.47 seconds. Chris Dixon of Riverlands broke the boys’ 15-18 year-old 50-meter backstroke record with a time of 26.45 seconds. Finally, the Hill Heights girls’ 10-under 100-meter medley relay team of Montz, Hutchins, Waguespack and Marosits broke the record in their catagory with a time of 1.10:13. Amber Brady of Larayo competed on Saturday in the 13-14 year-old girls’ freestyle and breaststrokes. Brady, a rising freshman at St. Charles Catholic, has been swimming for Larayo for three years and likes swimming. “(Swimming) is just something I enjoy,” said Brady. “It gives me something to do during the summer.” Brady isn’t sure if she is going to be swimming year round, but said: “I’ll swim for Larayo until I can’t swim anymore. Or at least I’ll try.” Cindy Klibert is the mother of Larayo swimmer Kaila Klibert. Kaila came in second all-around in the 9-10 year-old girls catagory, placing first in freestyle, second in the breaststroke, and second in the backstroke. Klibert said she was very proud of her daughter, who swims year round with the Crescent City Swim Club. “It’s awesome being the parent of a swimmer,” said Klibert. She said her parents had coached at Larayo when she was a girl, and added she had swam there, like her daughter. The main difference Klibert could see was excitement. “(Swimming is) more exciting with your own child.” Klibert said Kaila’s swimming keeps her very busy. “But I love every minute of it. I’m very involved. I wouldn’t do it any differently.” Klibert went on to praise the program that Larayo has established. “(There are) great people on the team. Great coaches. One big happy family.”