Hannah Botkin has spent hundreds of hours in a swimming pool without getting hurt, but she suffered a painful shoulder injury in August while simply changing her clothes.

Botkin, a junior at Kennedy, suffered a subluxation of her right shoulder, a temporary and partial dislocation of the shoulder joint that can be serious if not treated properly.

"I was like, seriously?," she said Saturday, still trying to comprehend what happened. "I've trained all this time, but it's changing my clothes that injures me?"

Botkin had to stop swimming for awhile, all due to a painful encounter with her jacket.

"Bizarre," said John Ross, her coach at Kennedy.

Botkin undergoes daily therapy on her shoulder, but she's competing again and looked good Saturday at the Cougar Invitational in a tough field.

Botkin won the 50-yard freestyle in 25.62 seconds and swam a strong opening leg on Kennedy's 200-yard freestyle relay that finished second. She posted her best time in the 50 free this season and defeated swimmers from second-ranked Cedar Falls and fourth-ranked Johnston.

"As of now I'm undefeated in the 50, and I'd really like to keep that up," she said.

Botkin helped the seventh-ranked Cougars finish third in the team standings. Cedar Falls won eight out of 12 events and grabbed the title with 570 points. Johnston won three events and finished with 545.5 points.

Botkin was Kennedy's only winner as the Cougars scored 418. Linn-Mar placed fourth and Jefferson finished eighth.

Botkin is just glad to be swimming again. She originally thought she could keep going after she got hurt, but her doctor delivered some sobering news.

"I thought I'd just work it off," she related. "He said if you do that, you could dislocate your shoulder and not be able to swim ever again.

"So it was that ultimatum when I said, 'OK, I have to take care of it.' I've never experienced an injury before, so it's kind of new.

"It hurt so bad."

The timing was unfortunate, because Botkin had to skip Kennedy's dual meet against Linn-Mar on Aug. 28 and the Lions beat the Cougars by a few points, 96-90.

"When the word 'rivalry' comes to mind, I think of Linn-Mar right away," she said. "I know all their girls, because we all swim for the 'Y' together in the winter. So that's like my favorite dual, and when I had to sit that dual it was really, really hard.

"It's a healthy rivalry," she added. "There's no hard feelings or anything."

Botkin placed at the state meet as a freshman and sophomore in relay races, but now she'd like to stay healthy and qualify for state in the 50 freestyle.

"I really, really hope I make it to state," she said. "Now that I'm a junior, I want that individual event. I think it would be awesome to march onto the deck and have an individual event."

Ross thinks Botkin has a good chance, but noted the 50 freestyle can be a tricky event that goes by in a flash.

"That's kind of high stakes," he said. "It's really the start and the turn. Everybody says that. That's the reality.

"With a good start and a good turn, you've got a chance. If you mess either one up, there's no chance because there's no time to make it up."

Sam Jacobsen had a good day for the Cougars on Saturday. She finished second in the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke and helped Kennedy place second in the 200 freestyle relay with Lydia Yang, Jessica Schmeiser and Botkin.

Lauren Dalecky finished second in the 100 breaststroke for Linn-Mar.

COUGAR INVITATIONAL

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Cedar Falls 570, 2. Johnston 545.5, 3. Kennedy 418, 4. Linn-Mar 318.5, 5. (tie) Decorah & Dubuque Wahlert, 148; 7. Williamsburg 86, 8. Jefferson 54, 9. Davenport North 37

WINNERS
Diving - Emily Moore, Johnston, 356.85
200 medley relay - Cedar Falls 1:53.29
200 freestyle - Brittany Moffatt, Cedar Falls, 1:57.05
200 IM - Aftin Phyfe, Cedar Falls, 2:14.77
50 freestyle - Hannah Botkin, Kennedy, 25.62
100 butterfly - Catherine Sell, Cedar Falls, 1:01.44
100 freestyle - Aftin Phyfe, Cedar Falls, 54.40
500 freestyle - Brittany Moffatt, Cedar Falls, 5:10.79
200 freestyle relay - Cedar Falls 1:42.08
100 backstroke - Victoria Trost, Johnston, 1:00.52
100 breaststroke - Catherine Sell, Cedar Falls, 1:11.20
400 freestyle relay - Johnston 3;43.16

KENNEDY RESULTS
Top 6
1st - Hannah Botkin, 50 free, 25.62
2nd - Sam Jacobsen, 200 free, 2:01.24
2nd - 200 freestyle relay (Hannah Botkin, Lydia Yang, Sam Jacobsen, Jessica Schmeiser) 1:42.41
2nd - Sam Jacobsen, 100 back, 1:01.39
3rd - Jessica Schmeiser, 100 free, 56.22
3rd - 400 freestyle relay (Sam Jacobsen, Lydia Yang, Carly Kenney, Jessica Schmeiser) 3:49.52
4th - Kirsten Seibenga, 50 free, 26.37
4th - 200 freestyle relay (Kirsten Seibenga, Michele Wasta, Megan Berst, Amanda Jacobsen) 1:46.45
5th - Jessica Schmeiser, 200 free, 2:03.10
6th - 200 medley relay (Larkyn Aldrich, Kirsten Siebenga, Taylor Golden, Megan Berst) 2:02.60
6th - Hannah Botkin, 100 free, 58.38
6th - Katie Ferguson, 500 free, 5:45.56
6th - Amanda Jacobsen, 100 breast, 1:14.55

LINN-MAR RESULTS
Top 6
2nd - Lauren Dalecky, 100 breast, 1:12.20
3rd - 200 medley relay (Lizzie Adams, Lauren Dalecky, Paige Broghammer, Samantha Fitzgerald) 1:58.33
4th - Alyssa Deuso, diving, 315.55
5th - Mikaela Lengwin, diving, 295.80
5th - Lauren Reynolds, 100 breast, 1:13.84
6th - Georgia Sanderson, diving, 293.80
6th - Lauren Reynolds, 100 fly, 1:05.73
6th - 200 free relay (Lizzie Adams, Paige Broghammer, Lauren Dalecky, Samantha Fitzgerald) 1:46.93