So many championship qualifiers and best times!

It’s been a great week for the Sharks. Between the very chilly SSYS Thanksgiving Invitational in Quincy (that gym was so cold!) and the slightly chaotic meet with Malden (poor Vicky was pretty hoarse when she got home), the swimmers have been busy—and have made tremendous progress.

Coaches Mary and Kate were very proud of the 8 and under swimmers. At the SSYS meet, both Emily Giovanardi and Sarah Hitchman qualified for Districts. Thomas Butler, Francesca D’Amato, Gabriel Diaz, Casey Duggan, Grace Fronteiro, Drew Hebert, Adam Ho, Julia Ho, Madeleine Ungashick and Matia Kaliris all swam best times. Both Ho’s, Brian Nguyen and Diaz tackled the 100IM for the first time. At Malden, Julia Ho qualified for the New England Championships in the 25 fly, Liam Brown and Daniel Ferris qualified for Districts, and Diaz, Duggan,  Chloe Gentile, Mariana Kay, Abby LaFontana, Nguyen and Ungashick all had best times—some of them better than just a couple of days before!

The 9-10 swimmers had three District qualifiers at the SSYS meet: Catherine Curry (50 breast and 50 fly), Kieran Dunn (who took 13 seconds off his 50 fly) and Natalia Kay, who swam her best meet yet with 4 best times. Eleanor Ferris, Aysha Lakacha, Eva Rhinelander, Randy Sullivan and Milania Saggese all swam best times too; Saggese had a very impressive performance in the IM. At the Malden meet Dunn added another Districts event, and Gianna Defrancesca qualified in the 50 free. Lindsay Collar, Curry, Ferris, King and Randy Sullivan swam best times.

There were two New England qualifiers among the 11-12’s at SSYS: Sean Kay qualified in the 200 free, and Ellie Walsh swam a big best to qualify in the 200 IM. Chris Terranova, who had some great turns in his 200 free, qualified for Districts. Frankie Biggs, Emily Boutchia, Courtney Casey, Lillian DiNoto, Devin McDaid, Sameera Qureshi, Allison Stoelzel, Todd Tringale all turned in best times, some of them remarkably big improvements. At Malden, Natasha Brown qualified for Districts in the 100 free and 50 fly, and Izzy Achab, Biggs, Casey, Andra Prada, Katie Regan, Stoelzel and Walsh had best times in their races.

Katherine Aristizabal of the 13 and overs qualified for Districts in the 200 free at SSYS and swam a best in the 50 free as well. Lauren Giordano, who had a great meet, qualified for Districts, as did Bridget Kelley, who had 6 best times. Isabel Bates, Holly Cohan, Sam Foley, Delia Frederick, Aidan Kay, Alexandra Kay, and Alva Ronn (who also had 6 best times, including an 11 second improvement in her 200 free in 1 week!). There weren’t any championship qualifiers in this age group at Malden, but Rowan Emerson, Bates, Ben Fiesel, Foley, Frederick, Megan McDaid and Hudson Rubbins all turned in best times.

“I’m really proud of all my swimmers,” said Coach Laura. “Everyone has been working hard in the pool, and that hard work is paying off!”

Monumental Swims at Marblehead

The Sharks had a great afternoon on November 16^th when they swam a dual meet at the Marblehead YMCA.

The 13 and over swimmers brought home an amazing number of 1^st and 2^nd place finishes. Isabel Bates was 2^nd in the 200 free, Holly Cohan won the 100 free, Cleverina Cong was 2^nd in the 100 breast, and Olivia Lloyd took 2^nd in the 100 free. The boys were equally impressive: Brian Nelson won the 50 free and 100 breast and was 2^nd in the 100 free, Ben Fiesel won the 100 free (in a very impressive time of 53.98 seconds) and was 2^nd in the 100 back and 200 IM, Jack Steinberg was 2^nd in the 100 breast and Kyle Vanderhorst was 2^nd in the 200 free. Coach Laura was impressed that Hudson Rubbins broke a minute in the 100 free, as she was with the performance of Fiesel and Alva Ronn in the grueling 500 free.

Lily Wright of the 11-12’s came in 1^st and 2^nd in their 50 free races, each beating their best times and coming in at under 28 seconds. Tringale won the boys’ 100 free and 50 back, and Wright came in 2^nd in the 100 free and 50 breast. Other top-2 finishes for the girls included Izzy Achab who won the 200 free and came in 2^nd in the 50 free, Natasha Brown who came in 2^nd in the 200 free and 50 back, and Ellie Walsh who won the 50 back. Sean Kay won the boys’ 200 IM and came in 2^nd in the 50 fly. Both Walsh and Kay swam the 500 free, Walsh for the first time, with remarkable times of 6:10 and 6:06 respectively.

Gwneth Kirby of the 9-10’s won the 50 back and took 2^nd in the 200 IM; Kieran Dunn won the 50 breast and was 2^nd in the 50 free, and Jim Sweeney took 2^nd in the 50 breast.

Adam and Julia Ho of the 8 and unders had an outrageous meet, with the two of them winning all three of their individual races (Adam swam the 25 back, 25 fly and 25 free, and Julia swam the 25 free, 25 fly and 50 free). Daniel Ferris won the 50 free, and Cameron Dunn took 2^nd in the 25 free, 50 free and 25 back. Despite the fact that nobody told 8-year-old Emily Giovanardi that it was her turn to swim in the 50 free, she jumped up on the block just in time, won her heat and finished with a personal best time of 54.84 seconds!

Coach Vicky said, “One thing you can definitely see during our dual meets is the camaraderie between the older swimmers and the younger ones. Both benefit—the younger ones have mentors, and the older ones learn leadership and responsibility. They look forward to working together.”

Scary Great Swims at the Great Pumpkin Mini-Meet!

The results of the Great Pumpkin Mini Meet finally arrived, and it’s downright terrifying how great our youngest swimmers swam!

The Great Pumpkin Mini Meet is a meet only for swimmers 8 and under, run by the West Roxbury YMCA. It’s lots of fun—but it’s also busy and chaotic, and held at UMass Boston, a big venue. But our swimmers weren’t fazed; they all turned in great swims.

The meet is divided up into three age groups: 6 and under, 7 and under, and 8 and under.

Swimming for the 6 and unders were Marianna Kay and Veronica Hill, who both did very well; Hill finished second in the 50 free, a long race for a swimmer this young.  Kay was caught off guard by the starter being more quick than usual—but jumped up on the blocks, dove in and won her heat in a come-from-behind victory. When not swimming, Hill was a great cheerleader for her teammates.

Cecilia Kay of the 7 and unders had a fantastic day, taking 2^nd in the 25 fly, 3^rd in the 25 back and 4^th in the 25 free, qualifying for District Championships in all three events. She wasn’t the only Districts qualifier in that age group: Grace Fronteiro, Theodore Thomas, and Daniel Ferris also swam times that qualified them. Ferris’ qualifier was in the 25 back, which he won! Drew Hebert swam some big bests and placed in his races, and Thomas Butler had a terrific performance in his first official competition.

 Our 8 and unders shone as well. The coaches were impressed with Sarah Hitchman as she took on her first official competition and with the remarkable improvements from Francesca D’Amato. D’Amato’s improvements were even more impressive given that she wasn’t feeling well that day. Chloe Gentile won the 25 back and took 6^th in the 25 free with a big best, qualifying for Districts in both events. Casey Duggan, Emily Giovanardi and Abby LaFontana also had best times and Districts qualifying times. Swimming for the boys, Brian Nguyen swam his first ever 50 free and came very close to Districts, as did Liam Brown and Gabriel Diaz in their great swims in the 25 free and 25 back. Brown, who was very focused in his races, stepped up and swam an extra relay for a missing swimming.

“All in all, it was a great meet,” said coach Katie. “It’s going to be a great season!”

The Red and Blue meet was a great success!

The Red and Blue meet was a great success!

The Blue team edged out the Red team 188 to 170, but there were lots of great swims from both teams—and, as seen in the tattoos, spray-painted hair and the way everyone helped, encouraged and cheered each other, lots of great team spirit.

From my vantage point as an official, I was very impressed by the effort of each and every swimmer. For many of our swimmers this was their first meet; while a few were clearly nervous, everyone did a terrific job. You could see how the hard work at practice was paying off!

We had the most new swimmers in our 8 and under swimmers. Among the girls, returning swimmers Chloe Gentile, Casey Duggan, Lindsay Collar, Julia Ho and Cecilia Kay all swam best times and earned points for their teams. There were also great swims from Francesca D’Amato, Aysha Lakacha, Matia Kaliris, Sarah Hitchman, Abby LaFontana, Grace Fronteiro, Veronica Hill and Marianna Kay. Cameron Dunn, Theodore Thomas, Daniel Ferris, Drew Hebert and Adam Ho all swam best times in their races, and Ian Gauch did a great job in the butterfly and breaststroke. Special kudos go to Thomas Butler, Dunn, Hebert and Liam Brown, who swam a 200 free relay at the end. Coach Laura had meant it to be a 100 free relay, but it was entered into the system as a 200 by mistake—but the boys took the extra lap in stride!

There were some great swims in the 9-10 group. Catherine Curry, Courtney Casey and Milania Saggese took the top spots in the 50 free, with Curry and Casey pulling off best times. Tony Luu, Kieran Dunn, Natalia Kay, Randall Sullivan and Eleanor Ferris all had best times as well, and Ellie Walsh had impressive wins in her events. Christina Autilio had a terrific swim in the 100 free that she swam with Paige Rocha, and Sabrina Botthof impressed Coach Laura by deciding to swim the 50 fly just for fun. Swimmers Kerri Stoelzel, Gianna DeFrancesco, Sophia Catalano and James Sweeney all showed great potential!

Results from the 11-12’s were also promising for the season. Girls first: Izzy Achab continued to show her strength in the freestyle, winning both the 50 and 200. Fiona Dunn made a great effort in the 200 free despite losing her goggles, and came back to win the 100 free. Natasha Brown had a best time in the 200 IM and won the 50 back and 50 breast. Katherine Aristizabal, Andra Preda, Lillian DiNoto and Sara Ho all had best times, and Abigail Federici, Sameera Qureshi, Emily Boutchia and Alison Stoelzel turned in great swims too. Now, the boys: Todd Tringale got off to a great start with wins in the 100 free and 50 back. Chris Terranova and Jim Frederick had best times, and Sean Kay, Aidan Kay, Devin McDaid and Calvin Yee added points for their teams.

The oldest (13 and over) swimmers had a good meet too.  Holly Cohan, Alexandra Kay, Olivia Lloyd, Bestine Cong, Courtney Ingersoll, Brian Nelson, Kevin Luu, and Bridget Kelley turned in wins, and Alva Ronn, Isabel Bates, Delia Frederick, Nelson, and Lauren Giordano all turned in best times. Kelley swam her first 100 fly, and Sam Foley tackled his first 200 IM. Megan McDaid and Jack Steinberg were terrific with the younger swimmers, and Kyle Vanderhorst and Alex Lloyd showed great effort in their swims.

“We’re off to a great start,” said Coach Laura. “I’m really excited about this season.”