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.”