Marco Plebiscito of the SHAPE Seals takes a breather after capturing the 400 freestyle for boys ages 17-19 on Saturday at the European Forces Swim League Championships in Berlin. Plebiscito came from behind to win with a time of 4 minutes, 32.65 seconds. He won two events on the day. (Charlie Coon / S&S)
Marco Plebiscito of the SHAPE Seals takes a breather after capturing the 400 freestyle for boys ages 17-19 on Saturday at the European Forces Swim League Championships in Berlin. Plebiscito came from behind to win with a time of 4 minutes, 32.65 seconds. He won two events on the day. (Charlie Coon / S&S)
Alaina Scifo, left, and her brother, Dominic Scifo, of the Lakenheath Barracudas relax after hauling in five first places between them on Saturday at the European Forces Swim League Championships in Berlin. Dominic set a league record in the 200-meter freestyle for boys ages 8 and under with a time of 3 minutes, 10.56 seconds. (Charlie Coon / S&S)
BERLIN — Marco Plebiscito knew he was losing.
His competitor in the next lane led by a half-body length going into the final turn, and after a poor flip, Plebiscito found himself even farther back.
“But I said, ‘I still have power, I can still finish,’” Plebiscito said. “I could feel the energy coming and was saying, ‘Come on, go, Marco, go!’”
And so he went. To victory. Plebiscito, of the SHAPE Seals, won the 200-meter freestyle for boys ages 17-19 and later won the 400 meters, also coming from behind, to highlight Saturday’s action in the European Forces Swim League Championships.
Plebiscito was one of 18 swimmers to capture at least two races. League records were broken in 19 of the 48 events.
Lilly Thomas was one of the record-setters. The Kaiserslautern Kingfish swimmer finished with a time of 2 minutes, 22.80 seconds in the 200-meter freestyle for girls ages 13-14.
“My lungs were burning and my legs were full of lead,” Thomas said. “But I knew I was so close to the finish that I picked it up even more than I thought I could.”
Nearly 500 swimmers from 17 teams are competing at the Olympic-sized pool in the two-day meet to determine individual girls and boys champions in eight age groups.
It’s the first time the meet has been held in Berlin since the league formed in 1975.
The 50-meter pool at the Europa Sportpark is a fast one, according to Martin Seidel, a swim coach from Geilenkirchen, Germany, and the league’s statistician.
Seidel said the pool’s even depth of 1.8 meters throughout, and with its edges submerged and the pool surrounded by drains to catch the overflow, minimizes the waves in the pool, giving the swimmers smooth sailing.
The meet’s top swimmer, Will Viana of the Stuttgart Piranhas, blew away the competition in his three events. Viana, 16, who qualified for last summer’s Junior National Championships in Indianapolis, has his heart set on making the 2012 Olympics in London.
On Saturday, Viana set league records in the 200- and 400-meter freestyles for boys ages 15-16 and also won the 50 meters.
“Not a large step forward but it felt good,” Viana said after clocking 1 minutes, 57.64 seconds in the 200. “I liked it.”
It was not only teens competing and setting records in the vast pool. Age categories ranged from swimmers 8 and under to ages 17-19.
The sister-and-brother team of 10-year-old Alaina Scifo and 8-year-old Dominic Scifo of the Lakenheath Barracudas captured five first places between them, with Dominic winning three of them.
“It seems shorter,” Alaina said of the big pool. “I get to stretch out my stroke.”
Dominic was asked what he was thinking as he stood on the platform, about to dive into the pool for his events.
“That I’ve got to go fast,” he said, proving that 8-year-olds don’t need a lot of strategy.
The championships conclude Sunday with a parade of swimmers in the morning, a speech by William R. Timken Jr., the U.S. ambassador to Germany, and 88 races.
