SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month: October
Catfish
Mercerwood Shore Club: Cathy Xu
October CATFISH SMACTASTIC swimmer for MSC is Cathy Xu. Cathy comes to practice with a positive attitude ready to listen to instructions and is set to go! Cathy will ask questions if she doesn't understand a concept and this has helped her grow as a swimmer. Way to go Cathy.
Mt. Rainier: Warren Thompson
Warren has done an amazing job this season. He is there everyday, with the best attitude and is always excited to be at practice. He is always the first one in the pool, is always on task and is very eager to learn that day. He has become a group leader, as well as a lane leader, trying to set the example of what needs to be done. I am excited to see the continued improvement and positive attitude he brings to practice.
Kent/KCAC: Mele Keanini
The October Catfish SMACtastic swimmer of the month is Mele Keanini. Mele has had a strong month, with consistent attendance and great effort to learn new skills at practice. She has developed into a leader of the group, able to keep her lane on sendoff. I am excited to see how she does in her first swim meet coming up! Great job Mele!
View Ridge: Elif Kasap
As a new Catfish team member, Elif has quietly and quickly grasped the mechanics of all four strokes, with an especially good grasp of her butterfly stroke and freestyle flip turns (evident from her winning the “roley poley” contest this week), which we have focused on lately. Elif is one of the SD Groups leader in "smiles per practice” and of late, she has been called on to demonstrate good stroke mechanics to her teammates. We look forward to Elif competing in her first swim meet for SMAC. In the meantime, we look forward to watching Elif develop the kind of confidence that comes when a swimmer becomes aware they are ready to lead the lane at practice and take further steps toward improvement.
Central/MIBC: Quinn Kulasekara
Quinn Kulasekara is the Central CF SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for October. Quinn has already grown so much during this past month. He is extremely selfless in helping out teammates by arriving early to help me set in lane lines and is becoming more of a leader in his lane by relaying what coach is saying to his lanemates. Good job Quinn!!
Evergreen: Winnie Dinh
Winnie has been working hard to improve in all four strokes. She often demonstrates skills and has become a leader of the group. I am excited for the SMAC Mini Meet! Keep improving, Winnie.
Fife: Presley Passarini
Presley is our SMACTastic Swimmer of May for the Fife Catfish group. Presley is always focused and asking questions at practice to make sure he can get the most out of every practice. With this, he has been learning a ton since joining the team this season. Presley has made big improvements on his breaststroke this month, especially with his breaststroke kick. I’m excited to see him swim in his first meet this weekend!
Stroke Development
Mercerwood Shore Club: Evelyn Zhang
October Stroke D. SMACTASTIC swimmer for MSC is Evelyn Zhang. Evelyn Swam at the VAST Meet and demonstrated perfect streamlines off of each start. Evelyn showed she was listening during practice by implementing skills during her races. Fun to watch you race! Keep it up, Evelyn!
Mt. Rainier: Adam Kozhemiako
Adam comes into practice everyday with a great attitude and is happy to be at practice. He loves swimming and does an amazing job of wanting to learn. Adam has seen consistent improvement at swim meets due to his focus and work that he does at practice. It is an absolute pleasure to work and I am very excited to see how his season goes.
Kent/KCAC: Kamilla Langelo
The September Stroke Development SMACtastic swimmer of the month is Kamilla Langelo. Kamilla has been a great addition to the group in her first month on SMAC. She is quick to answer questions, is a reliable lane leader, and always has a positive attitude with her teammates. Great job Kamilla!
View Ridge: Alex Chen
Alex is a pleasure to coach because he quickly grasps new concepts and seeks to always understand his swimming. Alex has excellent practice attendance, consistent meet attendance and has shown a willingness to swim many races at meets where he has demonstrated that he’s well on his way to achieving an IM Ready Score. At every practice, Alex shows maturity beyond his years by approaching his coach and thanking him for the day’s practice. Alex consistently leads the group during practices and routinely races to be first to the wall.
Central/MIBC: Ira Varshavsky
Ira Varshavsky is the Central SD SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for October. Ira has been the essence of what a SD Swimmer is this past month. He is fearless in learning new concepts and trusting the process of progressions, he is always quiet when coach is giving explanations, and he is also reflecting on what he did then by asking what he can improve on. Really great job to Ira!!
Evergreen: Andy Tran
Andy loves working hard and racing. He is working on leading his lane in practice, and it helps that he always pushes off the wall with a great streamline. Hard work pays off, because Andy will be racing on the SMAC Championship Team this December! Have fun, Andy.
Fife: Merrick Ogden
Merrick is the SMACTastic swimmer of the month for the Stroke Development group at Fife. Merrick had a couple of great meets this month to start out her competition this season. This month she has also come to me multiple times to ask what she needs to work on and improve on our skills chart. She comes to practice every day ready to lead the lane through sets, race her teammates, and focus on what she needs to improve.
Age Group
Mercerwood Shore Club: Zach Brayfield
October AGE GROUP SMACTASTIC swimmer for MSC is Zach Brayfield. Zach showed his leadership skills we aspire to have in our Age Group. Zach was always the first to volunteer to remove the lane lines and pull the tarps at the end of practice. The coaches appreciate this initiative!! Keep stepping up and showing your positive energy.
Mt. Rainier: Joey Rinker
Joey has had an incredible season this year. He has shown a tremendous amount of growth and improvement this season. He has turned into a lane leader, not only demonstrating his willingness to work. Because of his work in practice it has translated into great performances in meets.
Kent/KCAC: Dean Simmons
Dean Simmons is the Kent AG SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for October. Dean has recently moved up to Age Group and has quickly adjusted to the increased workload. Dean’s effort and competitiveness in practice has raised the level of effort of those around him. I have also enjoyed watching Dean’s growth as he starts to set goals and relate his effort to achieving those goals. Congratulations Dean!
View Ridge: Louise Addanki
Relatively new to Age Group herself, Louise has grown into an excellent example for all the younger and newer members of the group. She follows instructions to the letter, always knows where she's at in the set, takes corrections when corrections are given, and is consistently an asset to the group –– everything goes more smoothly when Louise is at practice.
Central/MIBC: Ezzy Liffmann
Ezzy Liffmann is the Central AG SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for October. Ezzy is one of the kindest people in the water. When the season first started, she was the one to reach out to new swimmers introducing herself, giving tips and advice to those new swimmers to help calm nerves. Ezzy has also been a great leader in the group by making sure that she stays on top of intervals so that her teammates also know when to leave and leads by example through her work ethic. Good job Ezzy!!
Evergreen: Porter Dysart
Porter has been practicing consistently, leading the group, and pushing himself to race any of the speedy teammates he has next to him. He is also comfortable racing underwater, which will take him as far as he wants to go in this sport. Thank you, Porter.
Fife: Irina Cromer
Irina is our SMACTastic Swimmer of May for Age Group at Fife. She’s been going faster and working more than ever before in practice, and it’s been paying off for both her and the rest of the group. Irina is consistently focused on the set in practice, and has been great for the new members of the group this year to see and follow. Her hard work paid off this month with some great swims at meets, and a big improvement from last year on her test set.
Age Group Performance
Mt. Rainier: Violeta Prieto
Violeta from the start of the season has inserted herself as a leader of the group. She is consistent with her practice attendance, but more importantly what she is doing at her practices. She is eager to learn and apply skills that she works with. I can always count on Violeta to come to practice with a great attitude and an eagerness to learn. I am very excited to see all of her hard work pay off as the season progresses.
Kent/KCAC: Brayden Monahan
Brayden Monahan is the Kent AGP SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for October. Brayden demonstrates a level of effort daily that sets a great example for the rest of the group. Brayden is always training at meet speed and is showing a greater ability to make stroke corrections. Brayden has set high goals this season and is putting in the work required to achieve them. Congratulations Brayden!
View Ridge: Linus Chang
Both in practice and in competition, Linus has shown incredible growth as a swimmer this month. He's really begun to practice with intention, push outside his comfort zone, and consistently apply corrections. It's been such a pleasure to watch him train and compete this month, and I can't wait to see him continue to improve in November and December.
Central/MIBC: Jed Eliasen
Jed is the SMACtastic swimmer for the central/MI AGP for the month of October. Jed has been an example of what a good teammate does in practice and how to help teammates be successful. In practice Jed is always taking the responsibility of leading the lane and finishes sets strongly. Jed has also been focused on achieving his goals this season, knows his goal times, and works on improving what he does in practice to hit his goal pace. Jed has had a great start to his season with a lot of best times and champs cuts. Keep it up Jed!
Senior
Kent/KCAC: Gus Lucht
The SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Senior group is Gus Lucht. Gus has shown great perseverance at practice throughout difficult sets, as well as a desire to improve technically across all four strokes. This improvement has paid off with many big drops in his last meet. I am excited to see Gus continue to drop time, great job Gus!
Viewridge: Michael Charles
New to the group and absolutely thriving, Michael makes visible progress every single day. He's done an excellent job of learning how to function on this team, in this group, and within the sets and progressions he's given. He's achieved a new level of swimming intelligence this month, and I can't wait to see that translate into fast swims at meets.
Fife: Traysen Guymon
Traysen is the SMACTastic swimmer of the month for the Senior group at Fife. Trayson started his racing for the season with a couple of good meets, surprising himself with some of his performances and taking on some new events. He’s done especially well in practice this month of pushing himself on long freestyle sets, while still remaining focused on improving his technique and making a point to get his breaths better.
View Ridge: Keaton Jewsbury
Keaton has demonstrated to his coach and teammates that he is “all in” when it comes to his commitment to setting high level goals and doing what it takes to consistently make the tough choices in training. He has demonstrated a healthy balance of a good attitude and a “never being satisfied” attitude, knowing there is always something that can be done better. He made his first Senior Sectional cut at the Western Zones meet this summer and hit the ground running this fall with nearly perfect practice attendance so far, quickly becoming a training leader and aggressive racer who often challenges his teammates both in and out of the water. Keaton has shown his coachability and commitment to “the process” by improving many stroke technique aspects of his swimming as well as committing to improving his weaker strokes.
Central/MIBC: Alex Guan
Anyone who swims with Alex understands why in any given month, he can earn this. For Oct 2025, he’s the officially the man. High levels on focus, 98% practice attendance for the year, willing (mostly) to be put on the spot by coach and demo. And he’s doing some really impressive things in practice. Well deserved.
Central/MIBC: Dane Bendiksen
Dane is a new member of the group and has worked hard to adapt to the standards and demands placed on the athletes in the National Group. He has come to every workout with enthusiasm and has been intentional and deliberate in trying to get better every session. Dane has shown tremendous potential as an athlete and with continued hard work, he will have numerous opportunities over the next few months to see that potential fulfilled.
