CARY - Dominick Glavich won five races and placed second in two more at the Raleigh Swimming Association's Summer Sizzle meet last weekend.

Glavich swims for the YMCA of the Triangle and Green Hope High School, where he will be a senior next year.

"I feel good about my performance," Glavich said after winning the 200-meter individual medley, his last event of the meet. "... My goal was to just get back in the pool and race."

Glavich, who was named The Cary News' male athlete of the year, is now preparing for national competition in California next month.

The meet, hosted by the Triangle Aquatic Center, was one of the smaller ones involving year-round swimmers with 460 athletes competing from four different states.

"Our goal was to provide a convenient competition opportunity for our athletes during this busy time of year for competitive swimmers," said RSA coach Kit Raulerson.

Several local swimmers had impressive performances at the meet. Glavich's younger brother Jonathan won four events in the 11-12 year old age group.

Another rising senior that swam well was Henriette Stenkvist, who attends Panther Creek High School and swims for the Raleigh Swimming Association. Stenkvist won both the 100 and 200 meter backstroke events, as well as the 100-meter freestyle. She also was a part of the victorious 200-meter freestyle relay for RSA.

A pair of young swimmers showed promise and could lead Apex High to new heights of success in the pool. Mitch DeForest (YOTA) and Marisa Martinez (RSA) both scored points for their respective teams despite being near the bottom of their 15 and older age group.

DeForest placed third in the 200-meter backstroke and 400-meter IM, and Martinez placed third in the 100-meter freestyle and fifth in the 400-meter IM. DeForest is a rising junior and Martinez is a rising sophomore. Their solid performances in year-round swimming competitions bode well for their high school swimming careers.

"The competition is a lot harder for year-round swimming," said Martinez. "RSA is a great team, and everyone tries their hardest even in a small meet."

Like Glavich, Martinez is looking forward to participating in large-scale national meets. By recording a time of 4:47.28 in the 400-meter freestyle, Martinez qualified for the Swedish National Cup.

Raulerson expressed satisfaction at his team's performance in the Summer Sizzle.

"We were right where I expected us to be," he said. "There were a lot of positives to take away from the team's performance."

He also said that most of the participants looked at the weekend's meet as a warm-up for larger, upcoming meets.

The Junior Olympic meet will be held in Charlotte from July 15-18, while TAC will host the Senior Champs meet from July 22-25.