Owensboro Marlins swimmers Vince Coyne and Bellah Bowman will represent Kentucky in the Mid States All-Star Championships in Indianapolis, IN. The competition is to be held over January 6-7 where Team Kentucky, Team Indiana, Team Ohio, Team Wisconsin, Team Michigan and Team Minnesota will all compete against each other.
Bowman will be competing in five events and Coyne will be competing in six. They will both be competing in the 11-12 age group.
The Mid States All-Star Championship is hosted by Indiana Swimming in Indianapolis, and is an All-Star meet for swimmers ages 14 and under where the best swimmers from across the Midwest compete against each other. To be eligible for selection, an application must be filled out ahead of time. Once a swimmer has applied, their results and times from the qualification period are reviewed and the best swimmers are selected to each states’ team.
Marlins coach Patsy Elliott said she makes sure to encourage all of her swimmers to sign up for the competition as it is a great opportunity to compete in a high-level meet.
“I always encourage my kids to apply for it,” she said. “It’s a good opportunity for them. They get to meet other people around the state, branch out, compete in a high-level meet. They get to compete with other top kids around the state. Any kind of exposure I can give my swimmers to higher-level meets, I try to do that. I’m excited to see how they do.”
Last year the Marlins had four swimmers on Team Kentucky, and this year Bowman and Coyne are the only two to make the team. Elliott said the two are ranked in the top 8, so she anticipates them performing well.
“They both have been really dedicated and practiced really hard,” she said. “I’m glad to see their hard work paying off and get to see a higher level of competition where they get to see other states and swim against top kids from other states. Last year we had I think four kids qualify to be on the team. This year it is just these two. They’re ranked in the top 8, so I anticipate them doing really well.”
