Photo by Will Cornelius – Hundreds of swimmers competed on Saturday at the Berthoud Break the Ice Invitational at Mountain View Aquatic Center in Loveland.

This past Saturday, Berthoud High School (BHS) hosted the second annual Berthoud Break the Ice Invitational at the Mountain View Aquatic Center. With nearly 500 swimmers competing and supporters traveling from all over the state, the energy was electric inside the building.

The invitational was hosted by Berthoud with an emphasis on ‘breaking the ice’ on the season. BHS swim coach Matthew Goldsmith helped launch the event last year to give smaller schools a chance to showcase their talents. “I gave the girls the opportunity to choose their events,” said Goldsmith. The meet lets swimmers try new races or compete in events they don’t typically race in.

Results from Break the Ice were promising for the Spartans’ swim season. “Things are good, things are looking really good for us right now considering how small we are,” said Goldsmith reflecting on how the meet went. “We’re going to have a little bit of competition even between our own kids on who’s going to get to go to state,” he added.

One of those talented swimmers on Saturday was BHS sophomore Corinne Roberts. Roberts won the 100-meter breaststroke, beating out 63 other swimmers with a time of 1:08.57. The winning time was a new personal best for Roberts and broke the BHS school record of 1:10.01 she set last year as a freshman.

“I never saw her swim with the hand speed that she had,” said Goldsmith about Roberts’s race in the 100-meter breaststroke. She continued her strong performance in the 100-meter butterfly, where she came in 8th with a time of 1:04.83. “It’s exciting to see what she’s going to do moving forward. I know she has her sights set on a number of the team, the school records,” added Goldsmith.

Berthoud’s relay teams also had a strong showing. Starting with Roberts on backstroke, Jennifer Conlon, Natalie Major and Olivia Gravestock propelled the team to finish 6th in the 200-meter medley relay. The Spartans also finished 7th in the 200-meter freestyle relay with the same team except for Audrey Gravestock replacing her older sister.

The younger Gravestock placed 8th in the 50-meter freestyle with a time of 27.72. She also surprised Goldsmith with a 1:10.75 time in the 100-meter backstroke. Conlon further contributed with a 9th-place time of 1:21.55 in the 100-meter breaststroke. “They’re all stepping up. They want a chance, they want a chance to prove themselves,” said Goldsmith about the team rising to the occasion.

In addition to giving swimmers an early season chance to compete, the invitational also provides a financial boost to the BHS swim program. Proceeds from ticket sales, entrance fees and concessions will help fund BHS’s swim program.

“It was certainly successful from a fundraising standpoint. We’ll be pretty set for the next year or two in terms of anything that we need to get for the girls whether it be equipment or apparel,” said Goldsmith.

Before the Christmas break, Berthoud will compete in the city meet on Dec. 16 at the Mountain View Aquatic Center. The meet starts at 3 p.m. and will feature all four high schools Loveland and Berthoud. “Looking across those teams’ times, there’s going to be some tight races in relays,” said Goldsmith. “If everything goes right, we can pull the upset,” he added.