Maya Olmstead, of Chunky, with her Mississippi Makos teammates, broke the state record for the 15-16 Girls 400 yard Freestyle relay at the Mississippi Swimming Short Course Championships held in Tupelo, Feb. 20-23.
Joining Olmstead were Megan Stempkovski, Arilyn Thomas, and Ella Thomas. Olmstead led off the relay with her personal best time of 57.01 and had the second fastest split of the relay. Olmstead also placed in 3 other relays: fifth in the girls 400-yard medley relay, sixth in the girls 200-yard freestyle relay, and eighth in the girls 200-yard medley relay.
Individually, Olmstead clocked personal best times in each of her events. Her A Final finishes include sixth in the 100-yard freestyle, seventh in the 500-yard freestyle, eighth in 100-yard butterfly, and eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke. She trains with Coach Brian Ware of Mississippi Makos in Jackson.
Her older sister, Marina Olmstead, who has joined the Taiwan National Team, swam in her first national swim meet at the Taiwan (2020) National Spring Meet. She quickly established herself as one of Taiwan’s top female swimmers, medaling and finishing in the “A” finals in almost all her swims. She has elected to stay in Taiwan through the summer before returning to the US to swim for the school year.
Marina Olmstead is excited about the opportunity to train with assistant coach/former olympian Yu-Cheng Tseng and head coach/president of the Chinese Taipei Swimming Association Cheng-Tsung Tseng.
Marina said about her coaches, “They are working very hard to make me faster, and I really believe in them. I am excited about swimming in future meets.” Marina’s next meet in Taiwan is the Taiwan National Championships.
