Austin’s Heimark takes 15th at state swim meet

Published 6:02 pm Saturday, November 19, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS — Austin’s Helen Heimark placed 15th on Saturday in the 200-yard freestyle at the Class A meet at the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center.

A day after swimming a personal best, Heimark, a junior, finished seventh in the consolation final in two minutes and 1.33 seconds.

Heimark was in 14th after Friday’s preliminaries in 1:59.91.

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“In prelims I finally broke two minutes for the first time so I was really pleased with that,” Heimark said. “I didn’t quite finish where I wanted to today but you know, that’s OK.”

Heimark was seeded 16th coming into the state meet and was happy she was able to swim on the meet’s second day.

“I had a lot of fun with my team,” said Heimark, who was also part of Austin’s 200-yard freestyle relay team that didn’t qualify for the consolation finals. “I think it’s safe to say we all had fun which is really important.”

Heimark said her goal is to break the top eight during her senior year and reserve a place on the podium.

“I think that’s a very achievable goal,” she said. “It’s nice to get the experience here today and know next year I will do better.”