Pacific Committee Championships Recap (July 14-16, 2023)

Summer Pacific Committee Championships (July 14-16, 2023)
This meet had a different feel this year, as there was no maximum time standard in any event (historically, this was an AG Champs max meet) and there were several events with no minimum time standard, for the first time ever.  Nevertheless, our team of 88 athletes made beautiful music in the pool, much like the 88 keys on a piano, to claim a podium team finish in 3rd place overall (Women 2nd, Men 3rd).

Congratulations to all of our athletes who competed in Torrance last weekend.  On to the highlights!


Beach 1
Angelo Calungcagin (9-10 Boys)
Mr. Calungcagin always races with confidence and had some strong swims last weekend, with his best finish coming in the 50 Breast (26th place).  He was also a member of the 12th place 200 Free Relay and 200 Medley Relay.  Great work, Angelo!

Edison Cheng (9-10 Boys)
Mr. Cheng became an Age Group Championships qualifier with an outstanding effort in the 100 Breast (3rd, -3.98).  He also dropped in the 50 Back (10th, -2.47), 50 Fly (14th, -5.07), 100 Back (13th, -1.28), 50 Breast (14th, -1.34) and 100 Free (-2.38).  He, too, was a member of the 12th place 200 Free Relay and 200 Medley Relay.  Congratulations, Edison!

Brynn Danner (9-10 Girls)
Miss Danner was en fuego, dropping in every event, including ~2.5 second improvements in both the 50 Back and 50 Breast.  Relay swims were also very good, where she contributed to a 16th place finish in the 200 Free Relay and a 16th place finish in the 200 Medley Relay.  Way to go, Brynn!

Devin Davis (11-12 Boys)
Mr. Davis raced to three best times in three individual races (100 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly), with his best performance coming in the 100 Free (-9.89).  Happy to see such big improvements in his biggest meet of the season.  Well done, Devin!

Sohum Kulkarni (9-10 Boys)
Mr. Kulkarni also joined the ranks of Age Group Championships qualifiers for the first time, with some quick Breaststroke races (50/100).  He posted best times in 5 of his 6 individual races, with the biggest improvement coming in the 50 Back (-8.56).  He, too, was a member of the 12th place 200 Free Relay and 200 Medley Relay and he is very excited to have another opportunity to race this weekend at SAG Champs.  Great effort, Sohum!

Lilia Priester (11-12 Girls)
Miss Priester raced very well last weekend, dominating her previous best times in each of her three individual swims (100 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly).  Her biggest improvement came in the 50 Fly (-4.61).  She also swam the Butterfly leg on the 11th place 200 Medley Relay.  Her positive energy is her secret weapon and we are looking forward to her continued progress in the new season.  Onward and upward, Lilia!

Ella Rances (11-12 Girls)
Miss Rances dropped in for two very strong races, cutting nearly 2 seconds off her previous best time in the 50 Back to go 49.02.  She’s got some skills in the water and we are looking forward to seeing her race more in the new season.  Congrats, Ella!

Anya Saracino (11-12 Girls)
Miss Saracino bagged three new best times in the 50 Back, 50 Breast and 50 Free, with her biggest drop coming in the 50 Back (-6.88).  All in all, a very strong performance for this young athlete.  Kudos, Anya!

Ryson Tomongin (11-12 Boys)
Mr. Tomongin raced to two new best times in three individual races, with his biggest drop coming in the 50 Breast (-2.34).  He also threw down some strong relay swims on the 6th place 200 Medley Relay (including a dramatic entrance :-) and the 8th place 200 Free Relay.  Great effort, Ryson!

Elise Wang (11-12 Girls)
Miss Wang had a strong performance, especially in the 100 Free, where she cut almost 2 seconds off her previous best time.  She also threw down a solid relay split on the 18th place 200 Free Relay.  Way to go, Elise!

Harper Ward (11-12 Girls)
Miss Ward was 100% best times in her three individual races (100 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly), with her biggest drop coming in the 50 Breast (-0.99).  She also raced well as the leadoff leg of the 18th place 200 Free Relay.  Well done, Harper!


Beach 2
Beach 2 was on their A-game and put up some fantastic swims over the course of 3 hot days. This group put in a lot of work building up to this meet (going back to February) and it was so awesome to see it pay off. Lots of fast swims, personal bests, smiles, lessons, and fun!

Alysha Annamalai

Alysha swam in 5 individual events and qualified for finals in all 5! She set personal bests in the 100 Back (-1.32), 50 Breast (-0.10), and the 50 Fly (-1.83). Her biggest drop came in the 200 IM where she dropped a whopping 13.25 seconds! On the relay side, she swam in the ‘A’ 200 Medley (8th overall) and the ‘A’ 200 Freestyle (16th) relays. You had a fantastic meet, Alysha!

Liana Awai

Even though she was away from the pool for some time, Liana still came in and swam without fear. She swam in 2 individual events - the 50 Breast and the 100 Free (-4.96). She also swam in the ‘C’ 200 Medley relay (11th) and the 200 Freestyle relay (18th). Way to be there for the team, Liana!

Luca Boots

Mr. Boots entered this meet with 7 individual events and finaled in 3. He set personal bests in the 100 Back (-3.37, 15th), 100 Breast (-1.34, 15th), 100 Free (-5.33), 50 Back (-3.39, 12th), and the 50 Breast (-2.78, 15th). For relays, he was on the 6th place ‘B’ 200 Medley relay and the 8th place ‘B’ 200 Freestyle relay. Way to go, Luca!

Theo Haubner

Theo swam in 6 individual events: 50 Back (-2.21), 100 Breast (-1.75), 50 Free (-0.02), 50 Fly (-0.24), 50 Breast (-0.21), and the 100 Free. He returned for finals in the 100 Breast and almost made it into a top-10 finish (11th overall). He swam a big-time breaststroke leg in the ‘A’ 200 Medley relay to help his team get 3rd overall and swam in the 8th place ‘B’ 200 Free relay. Let’s go, Theo!

Tyson Imai

Tyson had another great meet, where he swam in 8 individual events and qualified for finals in all of them! He set personal bests in the 50 Back (-2.19), 50 Fly (-0.82), 100 Back, (-0.08), 50 Breast (-0.77), and the 100 Free (-3.32). His best race came in the 100 Breast, where he got first place overall! Tyson also played a big part in the relays, helping his team to 3rd place in the ‘A’ 200 Medley and a 12th-place finish in the ‘A’ 200 Free relay. What a season, Tyson! 

Colin Ionescu-Macri

Colin has had a solid finish to the long course season, which showed at Pac Champs. He set personal bests in the 50 back, 50 Free, and 100 Free. He teamed with Luca to a 6th place finish in the ‘B’ 200 Medley relay and an 8th place finish in the ‘B’ 200 Free relay with Theo and Luca. Well done, Colin!

Tori Jyo

Another one of our swimmers who is having a fantastic season, Tori put another successful meet in the books. She kicked things off with a fantastic 400 Freestyle relay where she went a full 2.03 seconds faster than her flat start time. From here, she set 4 new personal bests: 50 Fly (-0.70), 200 IM (-6.86), 50 Breast (-0.65), and 50 Free (-2.17). She swam in the 7th place ‘B’ 200 Medley relay and the 4th place ‘B’ 200 Free relay. Another great weekend for you, Tori! 

Kavya Kachhadia

Kavya swam in three individual events and set 2 personal bests in the 50 Fly (-5.61) and the 100 Free (-3.30). She also swam on the ‘C’ 200 Medley relay where they placed 11th overall. Great job, Kavya!

Capri Pierce

Capri had a fantastic meet with some big-time swims throughout. She swam in 8 individual events and returned for finals in 7. Capri also set personal bests and placed in the 50 Back (-1.85, 7th), 100 Breast (-7.08, 9th), 50 Free (-1.10, 12th), 200 Free (-10.10, 9th), 50 Fly (-2.55, 22nd), 100 Back (-8.36, 6th), 50 Breast (-1.65, 11th), and the 100 Free (-2.48, 13th). The 100 Free was a great way to end the meet as Capri was 1st alternate in finals but then got called up to swim! She was on the ‘A’ 200 Medley relay (8th) and the ‘A’ 200 Free relay (16th) for relays. Your hard work has paid off, Capri!

Bailey Stubbs

3 individual events, 3 new personal bests for Bailey. She swam the 50 Back (-2.44), 50 Free (-5.97), and the 50 Fly (-2.85). Great season, Bailey!

Bridget Sullivan

Bridget came to Pac Champs with 5 individual events and set personal bests in every single one. She swam the 50 Back (-0.13), 50 Free (-0.28), 50 Fly (-1.89), 50 Breast (-2.05), and the 100 Free (-0.16). What a way to cap off a great season, Bridget!

 

Keni Visistsri
Keni had a fantastic meet as she dropped in every single one of her events. She swam in the 50 Back (-5.50), 50 Free (-1.60), 50 Fly (-14.94!!!), 50 Breast (-0.60), and the 100 Freestyle (-10.14!!!). She was also on the ‘C’ 200 Free relay that earned a top 20 finish (18th). Your hard work has paid off, Keni! Congratulations on a fantastic meet and season!


Beach 3
What a fantastic meet. We got off to a bit of a slower and quiet start, as I believe Summer and JG’s took some gas out of the tank for some of these athletes. By day 2 we were cranking and athletes were making new cuts, best times and lets not forget, some really exciting relays. Way to go Beach 3! 

Santi Baranda - Santi had a great meet. He was swimming his heart out in an effort to make champs. He swam a challenging schedule and helped out his relay mates with some fast swims. He dropped time in the 100 Breast, 50 Free, 100 fly and 400 Free. Great job Santi! 

Olivia Chi - Olivia came into this meet being new to this group and learning some new ways of doing things.. She has embraced it all, and brings some good natured fun to the group. She swam really tough in all her events and was unable to compete in our relays at this time due to being unattached. Great start to a new team Olivia!

Nina Haubner - Nina swam well and made a new cut at this meet. New to my group as well, she has had to make a lot of adjustments. She is headed to Summer Champs, which is great for a 9 year old. She had a big schedule and dropped time in 50 Free, 50 Fly, 50 breast, and was a big hitter on her relays. Way to go Nina! 

Hana Imai -Hana swam really well at this meet. She swam a 200 Breast for the first time, made finals and won the event. Yeah Hana! Had a super tough race schedule. She dropped in the 50 free, 200 free, 50 breast, 200 breast, and added her speed to all the relays. Congrats Hana! 

Aria Kim - Aria charged hard, but came up a little short on some of her goals due to some early summer trips away from the pool. She still did her very best and helped the team to the best of her ability. She had drops in the 200 IM and 50 Fly and 50 Breast. She also added her strength to all the relays. Nice job Aria! 

Koji Konishi - Koji (famous for coming out of Summer Squad last year) missed a few opportunities, but charged hard all weekend. With recent age up into teenage land, he is realizing the jump to the next age group. Changes the landscape for swimmers at that level is pretty dramatic. Koji had drops in 50 fly, 50 free, 100- back, 200 IM, 100 free and added value to all his relays. Great first year Koji!!! 

Hailey Kuo 

Hailey coming off of an age up and big JG’s week, ending with Taplin, showed up and helped the team out in a big way. Always with a smile and ready to go hard. Hailey dropped time in the 100 back, 50 breast and added depth and speed to the relays. Great job Hailey!

Madison Manalo-Pavach 

Madison had a really nice meet. She has had to make some pretty big adjustments in my group and she is fighting her way through all the changes. This weekend showed her that when she puts her mind to it, anything is possible. She had really nice drops 50 back, 50 free, 50 fly, 100 back, and 100 free. Way to turn it around Madison:) 

Hudson Menke 

Hudson had some really strong swims and is proving to have a gift/niche for those longer events. I am proud of his progress and looking forward to watching his improvements. He had drops in 50 free, and all the relays. Way to go Hudson!!! 

Helena Morgan - Helena had a really strong showing and made her way to Age Group Champs at this meet. I was just getting a chance to see her shine at the end of the season and looking forward to her races at Age Group Champs. She had drops in 50 back, 100 fly, 50 breast, 100 free, and added great value on the relays. Way to go Helena! 

Barrett Poole - Barrett had the meet of his life “to date”. He really made some changes in the LC season and it paid off in his swims. He had drops in 100 breast, 100 fly, 50 fly, 100 back, 50 breast and 100 free. Barrett also was a key player on his relays. Kudos Barrett! 

Matteo Sanchez- Sanchez may be the MVP of the weekend. Went from not having any cuts early season and sidelined with a concussion, to a full schedule at age group champs. Way to go Sanchez, super proud of you! Sanchez dropped in 50 back, 100 breast, 50 free, 200 free, 100 back and 200 IM. He also had some killer relay legs for his team. Yeah Sanchez! 

Piper Sootkoos - Piper is the consummate teammate and cheerleader! She brought some energy and some heat to her races and all her relays. Piper dropped 200 free, 100 back, 50 breast, and crushed it on all her relays. Awesome job Piper!

Mateo Trombley - Trombley is a fighter and had some ups and downs and some really close races this weekend. He made new cuts and killed it on the relay for his team. He dropped in 50 back, 100 fly, 50 fly, 100 free, and was part of those exciting relays at the end of each day. Way to go Mateo!!!!


Beach 4
Mackenzie Brock: Kenzie qualified for the 50 and 100 free dropping 1.7 seconds from the 100 and .5 from the 50.

Annie Coyne: Annie had a full slate of events swimming 3 relays and 100, 200, 400 and 1500 meter freestyle events.  She placed 4th overall in the 1500. Her Medley Relay placed 2nd overall.

Avery Ehrmann: Avery swam 4 events at Pac Champs. Dropping a whopping 13 seconds in the 50 fly and 2 seconds in the 100 free. Avery also represented Beach Cities in 3 relay events placing 7th 4th and 5th respectively. Avery was on track to PB in the 100 free but a slight miscalculation for the wall DQ'd her. a great learning experience.

Mykah Gibson: 3 individual and 2 relay events qualified Mykah giving her an opportunity to drop 2 seconds in the 100 free and 4 seconds in the 200. Mykah also did the 200 IM improving her position by 3 places over her peers.

Tristan Hickmon: swimming the 50/100/200 free as well as the 100 breast Tristan dropped time in all but 1 event. With great dramatic fashion she came in to swim the anchor of the 400 free relay seconds after arriving to the pool, going a personal best. 

Willamena Hodson: Willa came to Pac Champs for the first time with 8 individual events and 3 relays. She dropped significant amounts of time in every single event placing herself in top 10 for her age group in all but 1 event. Her relay team placed 1st in the 200 Medley Relay and 2nd in the 200/400 free relays respectively. 

Adam Kim: With 6 races over the course of the weekend Adam came in aggressively seeking success in the 100 and 200 Breast events. Adam managed to final in both and drop his 200 Breast time by 3 seconds placing him 4th overall in the event. Adam was a few seconds shy of an AA cut in both breast events.

Kate Lanzdorf: The 200 backstroke highlighted Kate's progress with a 14 second drop placing her 6th overall in her age group, followed by a 7 second improvement in the 200 IM. There were half second improvements in all 4 of her other individual events as well as 3 relays she placed 2nd and 3rd in overall.

Keira Lyman:  Keira managed to go within a few milliseconds of her best time in all the events she swam over the weekend however time drops were elusive. Her 200 Medley Relay placed 2nd overall in the event, her breaststroke leg being instrumental to the lead the created.

Sheenah Mahindra: Capturing a spot in finals for the 100 breast, Sheenah managed to go a best time twice in one day. Her 200 IM performance and 100 free both had big drops as well. She represented BCS in 3 relays placing high in all 3.

Alex Miyashita: Alex performed substantially this meet dropping 2 seconds in the 100 free  200 free and 100 breast. Alex swam the 50 free 3 times in an attempt to get a SAG time but just barely missed official timing by .2 His performance on the relays was pivotal to the teams success.

Jameson Mui: Jameson competed in 2 BCS relays placing 8th in both 

Lillian Reynolds: Having the biggest percentage time drop of the team Lillian dropped a combined 23 seconds in 3 50s events and matched her best time in the 100 free, and represented BCS in 2 relays.

Juliette Tymick: Having just arrived from a state championship in softball, Juju came in like a wrecking ball smashing her 100 freestyle by 15 seconds!!! She also anchored a relay to 2nd place.


Beach 5
Mazie Adams (13-14 Girls)
A tired Miss Adams raced her guts out all weekend, seeing improvement all over the board in her Freestyle races (50, 200, 800, 1500), as well as her 200 IM.  Her best finish was 3rd in the 1500 Free, with a huge drop of more than 33 seconds.  She also showed up big time on all four relays, with her teams finishing as high as 2nd (400 Free Relay), but not lower than 5th (400 Medley Relay).  Outstanding effort, Mazie!

Sarah Diethelm (13-14 Girls)
Miss Diethelm put the finishing touches on the final racing of her season before a European tour with her family, racing to new best times in all but one individual race.  She placed 2nd in the 100 back, 400 Free and 50 Free and finished no lower than 4th place in her individual events.  She, too, showed up big time on all four relays, with her teams finishing as high as 2nd (400 Free Relay), but not lower than 5th (400 Medley Relay).  Well done, Sarah!

Raya Lluz (13-14 Girls)
Miss Lluz popped in on day 3 of the competition for a quick tune-up, prior to racing this coming weekend at SAG Champs.  She Finaled in the 100 Free (13th place) and swam the Backstroke leg of the 5th place 400 Medley Relay.  Solid racing, Raya!


Senior 2
Penny Chang: Penny's first championship meet for BCS was a blast dropping 10 seconds in the 100 free and 5 seconds in the 50 free. She also represented her team in a relay placing 6th overall

Taryn Chao:  Taryn qualified for two individual events dropping 1.5 seconds in the 200 free and going at her best time in the 100 back. She represented BCS in 3 relay events placing top 10 in all 3.

Cierra Garcia:  With a huge roster of events at Pac Champs Cierra managed to drop 15 seconds in the 100 fly and improvements across the board in 7 other events. She then also swam 3 more relay events helping her teammates place 6th overall.

Lucas Hott:  Swimming the 50/100/200 free and IM his swims were just shy of best times though there was a noticeable improvement in stroke and race strategy. 

Matthan Lu: Having spent some time working on his backstroke, Matthan came in with a impressively quick stroke rate giving him a 2 second drop in the 100 back. Matching his best times in all of his other events and representing BCS in 3 events.

Thatcher Olsen: Having dropped 10 seconds in the 200 breast thatcher qualified for finals placing him 13th overall in his age group. Best times with marginal improvement in all of his other events and impress relay performances for his team. 

Ranna Payamfar:  Having qualified for the 50 free and 100 back Ranna dropped a whopping 3.5 seconds in the 50 free and 1.2 in the 100 back and 3 big performances in the relays.

Joseph Scallon: With new and improved fly abilities Joseph cruised his way into a 2 second drop in the 100 fly and a 4 second drop in the 200 IM. Yet again a 1.5 second drop in the 50 free for an all around solid performance throughout the meet. Including 3 relays.

Mayank Shenoy: Just shy of best times throughout the meet Mayank did a solid performance in 3 relays with some really high caliber breaststroke. 

Dylan Vo: Having taken some time off from swimming Dylan was feeling the lack of endurance however despite that the strokes looked rejuvenated and strong keeping up with previous best times and even going a PB in the 50 free.

Wren Wical: finally seeing the fruits of her labor in the training pool Wren had an exceptional performance at Pac Champs dropping 5 seconds in the 200 free and a second in the 100 free. She was instrumental to her teams success in all 3 relays she represented.


Senior 3
Aya Olzsewski had been training exceptionally well and had a stellar meet. She swam a full state and was integral on all of the relays. Aya went best times in all of her events the best of which being the 100 Free and 50 Free. She even swam a time trail in the 50 Free and was very close to the Summer Age Group cut. Keep working hard and you'll get all the cuts you want! 

Aiden Barrett is swimming in one of his last meets of the season right before his send off to Santa Cruz. Aiden swam in the all of the distance events to prep for his performance at Summer Age Group Championships.

Amelia Tucker always finds a way to impress at a meet. Even though she was sick right before Pac Champs she had a great 200 I.M. and went right on best times in the 100 Free. 

Bella Tieman swam  really well. She showed she can be aggressive on her 100 Free and had a stellar 200 I.M. swim in finals going a best time as well. 

Cayden Garcia is another one of our distance oriented athletes who also swims the 200 Fly, in which he went a best time of 2:30.5. He also had best times and stellar swims in all of his distance events. Dropping over 20 seconds in the and 5 seconds the 800 M Free. Cayden was also the highest point warning member for Beach Cities with 116 points! 

Sebastiano Bystedt had a phenomenal meet this weekend winning the 400 IM and 200 Breast. He dropped 10 seconds in the 400 I.M. and 8 seconds in the 200 BR. Sebastiano is 2 seconds of his Sectional Bonus cut. Seb was also one of the highest point earners for BCS  with 96 points. 

Maddy Fu swam the 100 Free and 50 Free as well as the 100/200 Breast events going right on her best times from JAG. Great job Maddy!

Daniel Huang is one of our newest members to the team and this was his first event with Beach Cities. He dropped time in all of his events including swimming some events in long course for the first time like the 200 Fly. 

Derek Huang swam one day of this event in the 50 Free 100 Breast and 100 Fly as well as the 400 Free Relay. He went a best in the 100 Breast with a 1:21.15. We hope to see you more often in the future. 

Ameli Iwai had a game changing meet grabbing her 100 Fly Summer Age Group cut after swimming a time trial. We are super proud of you Amelia!

Jewell Lluz has been making major changes to her strokes and they all paid dividends at Pac Champs. She swam the best she has ever swam at a meet. She is showing us how much potential she really has. 

Kaia Weiss learned that she has a lot more grit than she thought she did. Finaling in the 200 Breast which she did not want to swim but ended dropping another second for a 3:20.05. Great job Kaia!


Senior 4
Senior 4 had 3 athletes attend Pac Champs and all 3 achieved several new best times and were super helpful on relays. This group has worked really hard all year and it was exciting to watch the first few races, which sets up everyone else nicely for SAG. 

Ben Schlehuber - Ben dropped in for Friday prelims to swim a few off events. He started with the 400 IM where he dropped 8.5 seconds to grab a new SAG time. Ben added a bit in the 50 Free but finished out his meet with a nice 4.6 second drop in the 100 Fly. 

Bennett Sootkoos - Bennett started Friday with a small drop in the 100 Breast and came back to finish 8th at Finals in the event. Bennett had a nice drop in the 50 Free going 28.1 and then a small drop in prelims in the 100 Fly. Finals that night he finished 11th with another solid drop in the event. Saturday morning he dropped 2.7 in the 200 Free to grab a spot in the A final where he finished 7th. Bennett had a really nice 10 second drop in the 200 Fly but unfortunately missed his finals swim. He was able to still race his 400 Free to finish 6th with another small drop. Bennett was a huge help all 3 nights on A relays.

Marcus Syring - Marcus kicked off his meet with a small drop in the 200 Back just missing the SAG time. That evening he made great adjustments to finish 3rd and grab his cut with a 2:29. Marcus also had a small drop in the 50 Free. Saturday Marcus grabbed a spot in the A final for the 200 Free and dropped almost 4 seconds to finish 3rd with a 2:11. He also grabbed 6th in the 100 Back with a 1.2 drop going 1:09. Sunday Marcus dropped again in his 100 Free dipping under that 1:00 mark for the first time. He improved more at Finals dropping 1.9 total going 59.3 to finish 6th. Marcus was also super helpful on all the A relays.


Senior 5/High Performance
High 5 only had 2 swimmers attend Pac Champs, as our group focus is Summer Age Group Champs, Futures and Junior Nationals. Sammie Hall and Ethan Hott were our two representatives and they had a full weekend of great racing and they have set themselves up to finish the season on a very high note!

Sammie Hall

Sammie attended Pac Champs to get a few races under her belt before we leave for futures towards the end of July. After feeling under weather and taking a fun family trip to Greece, Sammie is primed to have a great end of season. During Pac champs she only swam prelims but she was right off her best times. She left the meet feeling fresh and confident for the rest of the season!

Ethan Hott 

Ethan attended Pac Champs to try and add to his Summer Age Group schedule. He unfortunately didn’t get any cuts but he walked away with a new best time in the 50 Free dropping a whopping 1.6 seconds! Once again, Ethan proved himself to be a world class teammate as he had some truly great swims during the relays. He helped his teammates finish in the top 5 for all three of their relays. Ethan will be back in action at Summer Age Group Champs!