Great first weekend of Districts!

We had a great first weekend! We don’t have all the official results in yet, but there were some terrific swims, with lots of best times--including some that were heartbreakingly close to the New Englands cut times.

The A boys and girls “looked so happy swimming,” says Coach Laura. She was really impressed with the effort of all of the swimmers. “They swam aggressively,” she said, “and that’s what made my day.”

Sam Foley of the B boys had a best time in his 50 free; Kevin Luu and Rowan Emerson also swam very well. And Aidan Kay had three best times! The B girls were excited and their enthusiasm paid off in their swimming: Alva Ronn dropped a second in her 200, Katie Regan took 4 seconds off her breaststroke, Bridget Kelly got a best time in her 100 free, and Cleverina Cong and Katherine Aristizabal swam well too.

The C boys placed 6^th with only 4 swimmers, which is really impressive! Chris Terranova dropped 4 seconds in his 200 free, and Todd Tringale broke 27 seconds in the 50 free.

Next weekend the C girls, E boys and girls, and D boys and girls will swim--remember, there's a pasta party on Friday night!

Stay tuned--we'll have more highlights once we get the results. 

Championships, Here We Come!

It's been a great season, and we are all really excited to start the championships.

We had an exciting last regular season meet last weekend in Quincy. Izzy Achab qualified for New Englands in the 200 free--and Ellie Walsh qualified for Age Groups (which, if you don't know, is very hard to do) in the 200 back. 

Lily DiNoto had bests in the 100 breast and 200 free, which she swam for the first time this season. Another swimmer who tried a new event was Natasha Brown, who swam the 100 fly (and did a best time in the 200 free). Catherine Curry took 2 seconds off her 50 back, Rowan Emerson took 5 seconds off his 200 breast, and Bridget took 6 seconds off of hers! Ellie Ferris took 2 seconds off her 100 free, Katie Regan took 3 seconds off her 100 breast, and Lily Wright got a 1.00.74 in her 100 free and took 3 seconds off her 200 IM.

And while it isn't related to a best time, this next fact is remarkable nonetheless: all 5 Kays swam in one session! Their parents must have been very happy.

Next up are the District Championships, held at the Kennedy School in Somerville. We are really excited with how many  (65!) of our swimmers qualified--it's a testament to everyone's hard work. And to those who didn't make it (some were so close!), we are really proud of your hard work too. Every swimmer made gains this year, and that's what really counts both in swimming--and in life. We have a great team, and each and every member makes a difference in their own way.

You can see the entries for Districts here--the coaches pick the events and relays, in an effort to get the most points. 

After Districts come Regionals--these are like Districts for USA Swimming (so only USA swimmers can go). The swimmers who will be going to Regionals are:

Jonathan Wright

Ian Gauch

Adam ho

Sean Kay

Todd Tringale

Calvin Yee

Rowan Emerson

Sam Foley

Aidan Kay

Ben Feisel

Brian Nelson

Hudson Rubbins

Jack Steinberg

Kyle Vanderhorst

Casey Duggan

Cecelia Kay

Abby LaFontana

Izzy Achab

Sara Ho

Natasha Brown

Cleverina Cong

Bridget Kelly

Andra Preda

Katie Regan

Alva Ronn

Lily Wright

Izzy Bates

Michelle Brienza

Holly Cohan

Bestine Cong

Alexandra Kay

Olivia Lloyd

Meghan McDaid

After Regionals is Age Groups, kind of like New Englands for USA swimmers--but with harder cut times. It's held in White River Junction, Vermont.  It is very impressive to make this meet, and we already have four swimmers who have done so:

Sean Kay

Catherine Curry

Julia Ho

Ellie Walsh

The New England YMCA Championships is for Y swimmers who have made the difficult cut times for that meet. It will be held at MIT in March. The swimmers who have qualified so far (swimmers could still qualify at Districts or Regionals) are:

Adam Ho

Sean Kay

Todd Tringale

Kevin Luu

Ben Fiesel

Chloe Gentile

Julia Ho

Izzy Achab

Natasha Brown

Ellie Walsh

Emma Wright

Lily Wright

Cleverina Cong

Olivia Lloyd

Best of luck to our swimmers at Districts this weekend and next!