Spring Age Group Championships Recap (March 16-19, 2023)

Spring Age Group Championships @ Rose Bowl (March 16-19, 2023)
Congratulations to all of our athletes on an outstanding performance in Pasadena last weekend!  Everyone made big contributions to an overall 4th place team result (Women 6th, Men 3rd).  To put it into perspective, the three teams ahead of us were 3rd (SAND), 12th (NOVA) and 26th (MVN) in the 2022 USA Swimming Club Excellence standings.  This is a huge accomplishment!  In addition, we were 439 points clear of our team total at last year’s competition, which was more than a 33% leap.  WOW!

Special shout-out to our relay athletes who showed up for Finals every night and cheered for their teammates in their individual races, before knocking it out of the park themselves with some big relay swims. On that note, our 13-14 Boys set four team relay records last weekend!

And another big shout out to all the fans in the grandstand throughout the weekend!  Way to go, BCS!


Beach 1
Isabella Antunes (7-10 Girls)
Miss Antunes stepped up in a big way to fill in as the anchor of the 16th place 200 Medley Relay on Saturday, throwing down a monster split of 36.4, which was almost 5 seconds faster than she went in the 50 Free at the Finale just two weeks prior.  Huge swim, Isabella!

Fiona Cooley (7-10 Girls)
Miss Cooley also popped off a big split of 46.0 as the Breastroker on the 16th place 200 Medley Relay, racing more than a second faster than her best in the 50 Breast.  Way to go, Fiona!

Capri Pierce (7-10 Girls)
Miss Pierce has worked really hard to improve her Butterfly technique, after struggling with a frustrating string of DQs in the stroke.  All she did was blast a split of 42.5 in the Fly leg on the 16th place 200 Medley Relay, which was 4 seconds faster than she has ever gone in the 50 Fly.  She also split 35.2 as a member of the 14th place 200 Free Relay, which was about 2 seconds faster than her best 50 Free.  Outstanding racing, Capri!

Lucy Song (7-10 Girls)
Miss Song stepped up (and then some) on the 14th place 200 Free Relay on Friday to drop a split of 37.5, which is an insane swim for someone whose best time in the 100 Free is 1:38.  Congratulations, Lucy!

Hudson Wolfe (7-10 Boys)
Mr. Wolfe was Mr. Breaststroke for the 12th place 200 Medley Relay on Saturday, splitting a very respectable 47.48, which was right on his best in that event.  Well done, Hudson!


Beach 2
Alysha Annamalai
Alysha went to Pasadena to swim in the 200 Freestyle Relay and gave it her absolute best. She led off the relay with a 35.52 and set a new personal best (-1.45)! Great job, Alysha! A fantastic long-course season is coming your way!

Nina Haubner
Nina went to Pasadena and swam in the 200 Freestyle and Medley Relays. In the Freestyle relay, she went a speedy 32.44 to anchor the team away, almost 5 seconds faster than her official time! In the Medley relay, she led off in the Backstroke leg and helped the team place in  scoring position. Way to go, Nina! This long course season is going to be great for you!

Brett Wisniewski
Like Nina, Brett went to Pasadena to swim in the 200 Freestyle and Medley Relays. The 200 Freestyle relay did not go to plan but that did not stop him and his teammates. They bounced back in the Medley Relay where Brett had a monster Freestyle leg - he entered the water 4th and sprinted all the way into 2nd with a quick 31.56! It’s never over until it’s over! Great job, Brett! Onto long course!

Zack Wisniewski
Zack came to Pasadena with his brother and swam with him in the 200 Freestyle Relay. An unfortunate situation happened in the swim and the team got disqualified. While it was a quick meet, thank you for coming up and helping, Zack! Let’s have a great long course season!


Beach 3
Talia Cistone - Talia had a really great time on those 11/12 girls relays. She also nabbed some fast times along the way.. She dropped in the 50 back by 1.82 and she cracked 59 in the 100 free for the first time going 58.39 and went 26.8 in the relay, breaking 27 for the first time. Those relays brought in three 1st place finishes. Way to go Talia!!!!

Penny Chiu - Penny had the meet of her life. Dropping in all her races and adding some real heat to the 11/12 girls relays. She went 26.3 in the 50 Free on the relay and her most notable swim was her 100 breast relay leg, going from a 1:17 from WAG to a 1:13. Well done Pennelope!!!!

Patrick Kipp - Patrick was one of the relay men on deck this past weekend for the 10 and under boys.. He brought tons of value to his teammates and swam his heart out on all three relays, scoring 12th on the 200 Medley Relay, and running down NOVA for the win on the 200 Free Relay (even though we DQ’d, it was a fun race to watch). Way to go Sully!!!!

Koji Konishi - Kojiiiiiiiiiii - Straight out of our Summer Squad and into Spring Age Group Champs, amazing trajectory. He swam on all four of the 11/12 boys relays, swimming super fast times on all of them. 26 from a 29 on 50 free and most impressive 1:02 100 Fly, down from a 1:10. Those relays brought valuable points to the team. Great job Koj!!!!

Barrett Poole - Barrett swam on all the 11/12 boys relays as well and was the Freestyle man. Barrett /Koji /Sam/Max Wang brought the heat to the field on all those relays, placing 6th, 7th, 8th and 8th. Bringing home some nice points for the team. Great job Barrett!!!

Patrick Wang - Patrick had a full slate of swims this weekend along with all of the 10 and under boys relays. He powered through them all even though he was sick. Patrick was just on or slightly off of his best times in his individual swims, but managed to make it to finals in all of them and score 60 points for the team. Way to be a trooper Patrick. Big time drops on the horizon.


Beach 5
Eryn Arnold (13-14 Girls)
Miss Arnold can now say she is a Futures qualifier, after blazing to a 1:05.79 (-0.95) in the 100 Breast to claim 3rd place in the event.  She also secured a podium finish (3rd) in the 200 IM with a time of 2:09.53, which was 0.06 from her best time just two weeks earlier at Sectionals.  She bagged 4 personal bests in her 6 individual events, as well as a 5th PB in the 200 Free as the leadoff swimmer on the 7th place 800 Free Relay.  She also contributed solid splits on the 6th place Medley Relays, the 7th place 200 Free Relay and the 10th place 400 Free Relay.  Oh, and she consistently achieved “speed before air” off her last wall in the 100 Free throughout the weekend.  Congratulations, Eryn!

Gabi Brito (11-12 Girls)
All Miss Brito did was win every individual event she entered, exploding for 5 personal bests in her 6 individual races.  Her biggest leaps came in the 100 Fly (58.53, -1.23), 100 Free (53.29, -0.72) and 200 Free (1:56.57, -1.46).  Huge weekend for her, as she also demonstrated the ability to consistently go for “speed before air” in her short Freestyle races, which was a breakthrough.  As a member of the four relays in her age group, she and the rest of the 11-12 Girls swept their way to victories in all four.  Yes, she came out on top in all 10 of her races and broke three team records in the process (100/200 Free, 100 Breast)!  Always fun to watch her lock in, as this young lady continues to demonstrate a winner’s mentality at all of her practices and competitions.  Outstanding weekend, Gabi!

Meagan Gordon (13-14 Girls)
Miss Gordon fought valiantly throughout the weekend in Pasadena, as a missed week of practice made it difficult for her to finish her races the way she would have liked to.  Despite that setback, she was within 3% of her best times in almost every race, even popping off a new best in the 100 Fly at 1:01.80 (-0.65).  Her relay swims included a monster anchor leg on the 7th place 800 Free Relay (2:04.47) and she also contributed solid efforts to the 6th place 400 Medley Relay, 7th place 200 Free Relay and 10th place 400 Free Relay.  Way to go, Meagan!

Avalon Kim (13-14 Girls)
After her 200 Back didn’t go exactly as she planned, Miss Kim rocketed to a 1:01.10 (-2.13) in the 100 Back to win the Consol Final (11th place).  Her time in that event was also a SCS Sr Dev cut, which unlocks that next level of racing for her.  To boot, she raced very well on three relays: the 7th place 800 Free Relay and the 6th place 200/400 Medley Relays.  Kudos, Avalon!

Alejandro Safa (13-14 Boys)
Mr. Safa came out hot on day 1 with a monster 1650, claiming 13th place in the event with a time of 17:30.48 (-19.75) and unlocking the next level of swimming by snagging a SCS Sr Dev cut.  By “came out hot,” I am referring to his 500 and 1000 splits in that same event, which were both personal bests at the time.  He went on to post another PB in the 500 Free later in the meet at 5:09.01 and also scored with his 19th place finish in the 1000.  In addition, he scored points as a member of three relays (200/400 Free and 200 Medley), finishing as high as 8th in the 200 Free Relay.  Fantastic racing, Alejandro!

Kayla Sun (11-12 Girls)
Miss Sun had a fruitful weekend, Finaling in four individual races, with her best finish coming in the 100 Free (3rd).  She posted 3 new personal bests (100 Back, 200 Free, 50 Free) and made significant contributions on the four victorious relays.  Her biggest improvement came in the 200 Free (2:02.38, -1.85).  Watch out for her this Long Course season.  Congratulations, Kayla!

Max Wang (11-12 Boys)
Mr. Max Wang raced his heart out, overcoming some nerves to bust out four new PBs (100 Back, 100 Free, 200 Free, 50 Back), with his biggest improvement coming in the 100 Back (59.23, -1.28).  He finished 2nd in three events (100 Back, 100 Free, 50 Back) in a very competitive 11-12 Boys age group and dropped some great swims on the four relays, finishing as high as 6th (200 Free Relay), but no lower than 8th (400 Free Relay).  Strong showing, Max!

Sam Wang (11-12 Boys)
Mr. Sam Wang flexed his muscles after his victory and new team record in the 200 Free (1:53.13) and finished on the podium in three other races (100/200 IM, 500 Free), with his biggest improvement coming in the 100 Free (53.36, -1.57).  He, too, was fantastic on the four 11-12 Boys relays, helping the team finish as high as 6th (200 Free Relay), but no lower than 8th (400 Free Relay).  Well done, Sam!


Senior 3
Mikki D’Adamo
Mikki was Senior 3s only athlete with individual events for the Spring Age Group Championship

meet. She swam in the Mile dropping 18 seconds for 18:40, and the 200 Free going right on her

best time. Mikki also swam in the 800 Free relay. Keep up the hard work.

Maddy Fu

Maddy is always willing to help the team out and swim on relays for championship meets.

Maddy swam the 200 Free relay going right on her best time helping the team score points as

well. Thank you for your commitment Maddy Fu!


Senior 4
Senior 4 sent all six 13/14 athletes to SPAG. All were great contributors for valuable team points and relay swims. Ian, Kevin and Evan all had relay swims that were new team records. And everyone grabbed at least one Final swim which was amazing! Super proud of this group wrapping up short course season with a solid showing at this meet.

Evan Brutscher - Evan started Friday with a small drop in his 100 Breast going 1:03.45 and then grabbing a spot in the B Final of the 50 Free where he finished 17th. That evening he had a terrific 100 Free Split for the 400 Free Relay that finished 1st and broke a team record. Saturday Evan had a .6 drop in the 100 Fly to grab a spot in the A Final and finish 8th with a 53.9 and also had a solid prelim swim in his 400 IM dropping 7.6 seconds. Sunday Evan started with a small drop in his 100 Free to grab a B Final spot and finished 20th and also had a really nice 100 Back dropping .7 in the morning then 1.1 in the evening to grab 12th. Evan also helped the 200 Free relay grab 2nd and also break another team record. 

Jake Everitt - Jack kicked off his meet with a the 50 Free with a small add but turned that quickly around with a stellar 500 Free dropping .6 going 5:02 and just missing out on Finals. He also had a solid 100 Free split to help the B relay grab 13th. Saturday Jake put together a small drop in his 200 Free going 1:52.0 and then dropped a second in his 100 Fly to qualify for A Final where he finished 7th going 53.9. Sunday Jake dropped 4 seconds in the 200 Fly to finish 7th and then 18th in the 1000 Free to grab 18th. Jake also helped the 200 Free B relay finish 8th.

Kevin Han - Kevin started off Friday with a small drop in his 100 Breast going 1:03.5 and then was right on his best time in the 50 Free. He did grab a B Final swim in the 200 Back dropping 1.1 and finished with a 2:03.0. Kevin also had a solid 400 Free relay swim that evening to help the B relay finish 13th. On Sunday Kevin dropped more time in his 100 Free going 51.5 and then nabbed an A Final swim in the 100 Back dropping 1.4 and finishing 9th. Kevin had a great 50 split on the 200 Free relay to help the B team finish 8th and a really solid 50 Back leadoff leg for the 200 Medley Relay to finish 2nd with a new team record. 

Gabby Nicholas - Gabby grabbed her cuts just a few weeks before at Pac Champs and managed to put together a really good meet despite a really long taper. She kicked off Friday by dropping another 1.5 seconds in her 100 Breast and grabbed a B Final swim. She ended up 16th with another drop at finals going 1:09.6. Gabby also had a really good 100 Free split on the 400 Free relay going 56.5 to help that relay grab 10th. On Saturday Gabby dropped another .4 in her 100 Fly to finish with a 1:02.00. Sunday Gabby swam the fly leg of the 200 Fly relay finishing 6th.

Andi Taylor - Andi was coming off a week of vacation as well as Sectionals so she was a bit off her seed times but that didn’t stop her from being a huge asset on relays. Friday Andi grabbed a second swim in the 50 Free to finish 15th with a 25.05 and then split a 55.4 on the 400 Free Relay where they finished 10th. On Saturday Andi added a bit in her 200 Free but came back that night to anchor the 400 Medley relay where she split an impressive 53.9. Sunday she was right on her 100 Free Seed time and then helped both 200 Relays to a Top 10 finish.

Ian Tumamak - Ian had a bit of a rough start on Friday with a small drop in the 200 Back going 2:08 and then swam right off his seed time in the 500 Free going 5:14. That night he had a solid 400 Free relay split to help the B relay grab 13th. Saturday was better with a drop in the 100 Fly going 57.3 and then a really nice drop in the 400 IM to grab a Final swim. That evening he moved up 5 places and dropped more time to finish 15th with a 4:27.3. He also led off the 400 Medley relay that evening which finished 2nd and also grabbed a new team record. Sunday Ian had a small drop in 200 Fly where he qualified for the B final and finished 17th. That evening Ian had an impressive 22.8 split in the 200 Free Relay B relay that finished 8th and also lead off the 200 Medley relay that finished 16th.


HP/Senior 5
The group took 3 swimmers to Spring Age Group Champs, Kotaro Bell, Peyton Kuo, and Adriel Sun all competed at Rose Bowl and represented Beach Cities with pride!

This was the boy's last Spring Age Groups, they will all be turning 15 this year, and they went out with a bang! They helped Beach Cities finish 4th overall, and 3rd place in the men's standings. Only losing out to the heavy hitters of SCS! Kotaro, Peyton, and Adriel were also instrumental in their relay swims with the help of Evan, Ian, and Kevin from Senior 4 they were all able to break every 13-14 boys' BCS relay records! Congratulations boys, now let’s see what you can do this Long Course Season!

Kotaro Bell

Kotaro had a very impressive weekend at Spring Age Groups, he walked away with five finals swims, qualifying for the A final in all of them. He also walked away with 2 new best times one in the 50 free and the other in the 200 Free. This was a huge accomplishment after coming off a successful sectionals weekend and a busy high school meet schedule. Some of Kotaro’s biggest swims of the weekend came in the relays. In the 400 Fr Kotaro Anchored the relay and out-touched the competition for a 1st place finish splitting 47.03 in the process! Now Kotaro’s sights shift to Long Course, and I’m excited to see what he can do this Summer!

Peyton Kuo

Another Successful championship meet is in the books for Peyton! After a full weekend of racing at Sectionals and SBI, it was incredible to watch Peyton race at his best again. Peyton was 6 for 6 in qualifying for A finals, and he only finished outside the top 3 once! Peyton also walked away with 2 new best times, his first in the 200 Fr and the second in the 100 Fly. His 200 Fr was the highlight of the weekend for me. After racing to a blistering 1:42.82, he came back with a plan to go even faster next time! Peyton keep up the hard work, summer 2023 is going to be exciting for you!

Adriel Sun

Adriel also had a very successful Age group champs, just like Peyton he came off a busy sectionals weekend and South Bay Invite for high school, but that didn't deter him from racing hard in Pasadena! Adriel was 6 for 6 on qualifying for finals, scoring valuable points for the team! Adriel’s biggest swim came in his 200 Breast finals swim on Saturday night, he walked away with a new best time of 2:08.95, dropping 2s from his prelims swim and narrowly missing his first Futures cut! Summer is looking very bright for Adriel and his teammates!