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Swimming: Young Missouri girl earns league awards despite broken finger

Youth Swimming

Loren Carthey didn’t let a broken finger stop her from success in the pool.

Six-year-old Loren swims for the Fulton Fins, part of the 10-team Mid-MO Swimming Conference in Missouri.

The daughter of 2000 Kingsford grad Emily (Soderbloom) and Wrenn Cathey attended swim practice the first half of the season, but didn’t swim in any meets because she was playing softball.

“Once she finished up her softball season, she hit the pool with a huge force,” said her mother Emily, who played basketball and volleyball for the Flivvers.

In her first meet of the season in Marshall, Mo., Loren came away with blue ribbons in the 25 butterfly, 25 freestyle, 25 backstroke and 25 breaststroke in the age 6 and under races.

Fulton was the site of the second meet where she came in first in the 25 butterfly, 25 freestyle, 25 backstroke and 25 breaststroke.

Two days before the conference meet, Loren broke the pointer finger on her right hand while trying to catch her two-year-old sister Arwyn on a slide at the park.

Loren had to wear a splint and the first three fingers taped together.

“She also wore a vacuum sealed glove so the splint and wrap would not get wet,” said her mother Emily, daughter of Dave and Bev Soderbloom of Quinnesec.

Loren missed one day of practice and swam in the conference meet in Sedalia against the other nine teams in the Missouri conference. She collected two medals, a ribbon and personal best 25 freestyle time of 28.25 for first place.

She added a third-place medal in backstroke with a time of 34.56. Loren also swam a leg of the age 8-under 100 freestyle relay with her sister Taryn. They finished fifth overall.

Loren’s summer swim for the Fulton Fins is over. She will return to the pool with the competitive club team, YOCC Tide, in September.

Entering first grade in the fall, Loren’s three-week stint wearing a splint on her hand ends July 31.

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