KINGMAN - It's been a busy few weeks for the Kingman Dolphins' Patrick Webb. The 13-year-old represented Team Arizona at the 2010 Four Corners Championship meet in Farmington, N.M., March 26-28, and then traveled to Morgan Hill, Calif., for the 2010 Far Western Short Course Championship April 8-10.
"I'm very proud of Patrick," KDST coach Beth Mathe said. "He works extremely hard and is a great role model for the rest of the swimmers."
In New Mexico, Webb finished third in the 1,650-meter and 500 freestyle, fourth in the 100 butterfly, fifth in the 200 butterfly, sixth in both the 50 and 200 freestyles and ninth in the 100 freestyle.
"That was fun," Webb said. "I met a lot of swimmers from Arizona."
Webb qualified for four events at the Far Westerns - the 200 butterfly, 400 individual medley, 1,000 and 1,650 freestyles. His best showing was in the 1,000, where he placed 45th with a time of 10 minutes, 48.35 seconds.
"There were a couple of swimmers there that were just huge," he said. "I gained a lot of experience by racing against swimmers from different states."
Webb isn't a newcomer to the Far Westerns, as he has qualified for the event in the past. His next goal is to qualify for the Western Zone meet.
"Zone is the next step above Far Western," he said. "In the future, I want to qualify for sectional and nationals. I'm close to zone in the 1,650. I need another 10 seconds."
Mathe hopes his success would continue to inspire not only Webb, but also the other members of the Dolphins.
"He was able to swim with some of the top swimmers in the western states and learn from that experience," the coach said. "I have heard a lot of the Dolphins say, 'I want to make Far West like Patrick.'"
