BLACKSBURG – On Oct.16 and 17 two Hokies traveled to Henderson, Nevada for the West Coast Open Water Championships.
Sophomore Brooke Travis and Freshman Chase Travis have been racing open water for a few years now, and the sisters were able to compete at a high level in the open water. Chase Travis currently represents the United States on the USA Swimming National Junior Team. She was selected for the team as one of the fastest swimmers under the age of 18 in open water. Brooke started racing in this type of venue around the same time as her sister, Chase.
The two have made a big name for themselves in the world of open water and it was great to see them back in action for the Hokies.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity we had to race in Las Vegas over the weekend," sophomore Brooke Travis said. "I'm so thankful to have coaches and teammates that are so supportive and helped make this trip possible. I had so much fun racing again. There were a lot of positive things to take away from both races, which has me excited to get back to training. I can't wait to see what the rest of the season holds. Go Hokies!"
Brooke raced to a sixth-place finish in the 10k on Saturday and a second-place finish in the 5k on Sunday.
Chase was happy to be traveling again since the official start of COVID and to be racing with other competitors on the west coast. "I think it went pretty well. It was great to be back racing again," freshman Chase Travis said. She placed fifth in the 10k on Saturday and won the 5k event on Sunday.
Both races were hard fought battles with the other competitors in the meet. The 10k had some of USA Swimming's most well-known swimmers currently representing the United States. The men's and women's 10k saw competition from current U.S. open water Olympians Ashley Twitchell, Haley Anderson, Jordan Wilimovsky and American record holder Kieran Smith.
"I'm very proud of Chase and Brooke for their performances at the West Coast Open Water Championships," head coach Sergio Lopez Miro said. "Open water swimming isn't an NCAA event, but many swimmers are interested in competing in it at a high level. We made a commitment to create an open water team, and Brooke and Chase are the perfect start. We're just beginning the season and we're not sure when the next open water meet is, but I couldn't be more excited for them and for the Hokie Swim and Dive Team to have Chase and Brooke representing us at such a high level."
"I'm also very proud of Jacy who coaches the distance group here at VT. She did a great job this past season and is doing well with this new challenge with open water. She's done a great job and her athletes have responded very well to that."
Up next for Virginia Tech is their third Hokie Belt Challenge Intrasquad Meet this Saturday followed by their first official dual meet against Duke in Durham on November 7th.