Astoria Fishermen Face Uphill Battle Against Tillamook Despite Strong Individual Performances
Table of Contents
despite a challenging meet against a dominant Tillamook team, Astoria’s swimming program showcased resilience and individual brilliance on Thursday, February 1, 2026, as they prepare for the upcoming Cowapa League Championships. The Fishermen, hampered by illness, demonstrated promising performances and a wave of personal bests despite falling to the Cheesemakers.
Tillamook Dominates, But Astoria Finds Silver Linings
The girls’ team concluded with a score of 110-57 in favor of Tillamook, while the boys’ team fell 94-71 to the Cheesemakers. Though, the absence of key swimmers due to illness created opportunities for others to shine. Four top swimmers were sidelined: Sam Reid and Toby Thomas for the boys, and twins Ruby and Lili Smith for the girls.
Young and Ero Lead the Charge with individual Victories
Despite the team’s challenges, Emery Young and John Ero emerged as standout performers for Astoria, securing the team’s only individual event wins. Young demonstrated her versatility by winning both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100-yard butterfly,also achieving personal bests in both events. ero mirrored this success,claiming victory in the 200-yard individual medley. Both Young and Ero also anchored their respective 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relays, contributing personal best splits.
A wave of Personal Bests Signals Future Promise
Beyond the individual victories, a remarkable number of fishermen swimmers achieved personal bests, signaling a positive trajectory for the program. A total of twelve astoria swimmers recorded new personal best times during the meet.
Freshman Vivien Bizzell led the charge in the 200-yard freestyle, shaving off over seven seconds from her previous best, finishing with a time of 3:17.01.Junior Elena Delgado also improved her time in the same event by five seconds, while sophomore Elizabeth Knap reached a significant milestone. According to the Fishermen coaching staff, Knap had only recently learned to swim at the beginning of the season and is now consistently completing laps.
The boys’ team also saw significant improvements in the 200-yard freestyle. sophomore Brody Giles reduced his time from 2:33 to 2:29, junior Tristan Schauermann improved from 2:38 to 2:30, and junior Rio Batsukh dramatically lowered his time from 3:05 to 2:50. Schauermann continued his strong performance with a personal best in the 100-yard breaststroke, and Batsukh also achieved a personal best in the 50-yard freestyle.
Additional personal bests were recorded by junior Paige Kindred in the 50-yard freestyle, and by Nolasco in the 100-yard freestyle. Freshmen Turner Boslar and senior Cruz Garcia both achieved personal bests in the 100-yard butterfly, with Boslar finishing third and improving his time from 1:36 to 1:31, and Garcia improving from 1:44 to 1:35. twins Konrad and roarke Struve both had impressive swims,with Konrad improving his time in the 100-yard backstroke by two and a half seconds,and Roarke improving by nearly nine seconds in the 500-yard freestyle.
Looking Ahead to Championships
The Fishermen will now focus on preparing for the Cowapa League Championships in Tillamook this week, hoping to have their full squad back and healthy. Following the League Championships, Astoria will host the District Championships over Valentine’s weekend. The team’s performance on Thursday, despite the challenges, provides a foundation of optimism as they head into these crucial competitions.
