Sigonella's Andrew Linares, 13, swims in the boys 13-19 200-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Check out this link and this one to view the top three finishers and their times in every race during the two-day event.
LIGNANO SABBIADORO, Italy – American youth and their counterparts from NATO allies have been competing in swimming pools around Europe for 50 years now.
Yet that still wasn’t long enough to stop 11 competitors from setting 19 new records Saturday and Sunday at the European Forces Swim League’s Long Distance Championships.
Spanish national Martina Rey Ruiz of the Rota Tiburones led the onslaught by establishing new marks in the girls 800-meter freestyle, 1,500 free, 200 breaststroke and 200 butterfly for 13-year-olds. Kaiserslautern Kingfish 10-year-old Adeline Pierre-Louis “only” broke three over the weekend – 400 free, 100 breast, 100 butterfly – but she now holds 17 EFSL marks.
“I’m going to try to go to the Olympics,” she said after her last race Sunday.
That presumably would be at least a few years away. And a lot can happen in that time. Might she get interested in other activities? Or sports such as soccer to lure her away from multiple practices every week year-round?
“No,” she said, with a grin and a shake of her head.
Pierre-Louis, who goes to a German elementary school and also swims for a German club, swims one widely followed lane among top EFSL swimmers: an older sibling who was very successful in the past.
In this case, that’s older brother Leon – who also excelled in several other sports at Ramstein before deciding to finish high school in Florida.
Leon has topped the Kingfish record books and has his photo hung up to prove that, organization President Tina Tarpen said. But his younger sister now has 43 club records and her photo will replace her brother’s soon.
Stuttgart's Gabriella Ferrer, 9, swims in the girls 12-under 400-meter freestyle event Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern’s Aria Esquivel, 9, swims in the girls 12-under 400-meter freestyle event Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League’s Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Adeline Pierre-Louis, 10, nears a record setting finish in the girls 12-under 400-meter freestyle Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lakenheath's Jack Tomic, 9, swims in the boys 12-under 400-meter freestyle event Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Sammy Risvanoglu, 9, swims in the boys 12-under 400-meter freestyle event Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Raiden Spencer, 10, swims in the boys 12-under 400-meter freestyle event Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Edwin McDonald, 11, swims in the boys 12-under 400-meter freestyle event Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Pierre-Louis and 12-year-old Benthe de Beer had several close battles in the pool over the weekend.
The younger Dutch national also looked up to older sisters who swam for the EFSL. Most notably Hylcke, a college student who’s currently swimming for her country’s junior national team.
The younger de Beer didn’t break any records over the weekend but had five long-course marks entering the event. Some of those are in Pierre-Louis’ sights now.
And like Pierre-Louis, she’s not interested in pursuing any other sport.
“I’m pretty good at it, so that motivates me,” she said. “When I was a little baby, I was around the pool because of my sisters. So, I started very early and I’m just really comfortable in the water.”
Like de Beer, Kaiserslautern’s Raylan Benton didn’t set any records during the event. But he finished first as a 10-year-old in every race he entered and holds eight EFSL marks. He also has broken a few of Leon Pierre-Louis’ club marks.
The backstroke is his favorite.
“I like it because I can lay on my back, still breathe and not see where I’m going,” he said.
Rey Ruiz represents another path taken by other EFSL standouts through the years: swimmers who took up the sport a little later than others.
She attended a clinic put on by the Tiburones three years ago and liked what she saw. So she doesn’t own the records that Pierre-Louis and de Beer are currently targeting, but her new ones will be under attack by them soon.
In the meantime, Rey Ruiz has a goal of her own: a spot competing in her age category in the Spanish championships.
Tiburones coach Justin McCormick said she’s one of four Spanish nationals on the team. The language barrier occasionally comes up, he said. But through a combination of gestures and translating help from some multi-lingual members, the message usually gets across.
Even when it doesn’t, Rey Ruiz seems to improve her times with just about every race.
Rota's Martina Rey Ruiz, 13, is on her way to breaking an age-group record in the girls 13-19 200-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Jake Jennings, 16, swims in the boys 13-19 200-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Rota's Elianna Rice, 8, swims in the girls 12-under 100-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
The NATO Marlins' Timofiy Ivaniuta, 11, swims in the boys 12-under 100-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Teddy Campbell, 11, swims in the boys 12-under 100-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Raylan Benton, 10, swims in the boys 12-under 100-meter butterfly Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Three athletes broke two records apiece.
Stuttgart’s Olivia Thomas set records in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke for 8-year-old girls, Lisbon’s Madeline Sexton established new bests in the 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke for 12-year-old girls and Rota’s Jake Jennings put his name in the books for the 1,500 freestyle and 200 butterfly for 15-16 boys.
One-time winners ranged from 8-year-old Seth Robinson of Kaiserslautern in the 100 breaststroke to 17-year-olds Nick Antolinez of Wiesbaden in the boys 200 breast and Reese Robbins of Stuttgart in the girls 200 back. They also included Kaiserslautern’s Julia Obergell, 10, in the 100 backstroke; Brussels’ Sofia Petkova, 12, in the 100 butterfly; and Brunssum’s Cesar Ona, 14, in the 200 breast.
Jennings, a sophomore at Rota High, has participated in cross country and track for the Admirals and may try boys volleyball next.
But he said that doesn’t mean he’s going to be leaving the pool anytime soon. He has taken off a week in the summer in recent years. But other than that, he’s in the pool multiple times during the week. He also swims for a Spanish club and practices before and after school most days.
Jennings said he loves to swim. But all that work is necessary.
“The goal is college,” he said. “I’ve already got some interest from some Division II schools.”
He’d like to swim at the D-I level, but he said those schools aren’t allowed to make contact until his junior year.
Jennings said he understands why the EFSL membership tends to trend younger. He’s taken advantage of opportunities to play more sports at the high school level and said he knows others have chosen to cut back on competitive swimming and pursue different activities.
That’s not his plan, though. He and his sister, Jill, have competed in the EFSL from Sigonella, Bahrain and now Rota. And he thinks he’ll probably keep swimming in the organization until he graduates.
With a few more records to his credit, of course.
Rota's Siena Spencer, 13, swims in the girls 13-19 200-meter backstroke Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Stuttgart's Olivia Thomas, 8, middle, swims in the girls 12-under 100-meter backstroke Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern's Emmalyn Crouch, 9, swims in the girls 12-under 100-meter backstroke Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Lisbon's Madeline Sexton, 12, swims in the girls 12-under 100-meter backstroke Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Kaiserslautern’s Sammy Risvanoglu, 9, swims in the boys 12-under 100-meter backstroke Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League’s Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Brunssum's Benthe de Beer, 12, won her age group in the girls 100-meter breaststroke on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Competitors in the first heat of the mixed 13-19 400-meter freestyle relay jump into the pool to start the race Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025, at the European Forces Swim League's Long Distance Championships in Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
