SMACtastic Swimmers of the Month: March 2024

 

Catfish

 

Evergreen: Samuel Brown

Samuel has been swimming consistently and steadily improving all season long, which led to him swimming all four strokes legally at the WAVE 10 & Under Champs!  We will continue to strengthen those new skills and move up to SD very soon.  We look forward to seeing you continue to improve while having fun the entire time.  Keep up the good work, Champion!

 

Mercerwood Shore Club: Wesley Wei

It's exciting to see Wesley move to Stroke Development this April. His dedication and effort towards making his strokes legal have not been overlooked. We have seen vast improvements in his ability to focus and accomplish goals.

 

Mt. Rainier and Kent/KCAC: Quinn Ellison

Quinn displayed leadership skills through the resilience exhibited at practice. Even when challenged with new techniques, she gives her full effort. Quinn has made great progress in developing her endurance since joining SMAC a few months ago.

 

View Ridge: Logan Ko

This month we are recognizing Logan Ko for his hard work and development. Logan consistently works hard, listens, and focuses on our skills of the day. He is making tremendous progress as a swimmer and is going to enjoy long-term success in the pool if he chooses to. I enjoy the opportunity to work with him and cannot wait to see what he’s going to do in the future.

 

 

Stroke Development

 

Evergreen: Julianne Ambrozic (SD1) and Montse Ortega Guerrero (SD2)

Julianne is full of character, and she pushes her teammates to improve every day in practice.  She is fun to have around, she works super hard, and she is going to have a big summer because of it.  Keep up the good work, Champion!  We look forward to having you lead every group you are in over the years.

Montse has been pushing herself to lead a lane every day and she loves competing with the best in the group.  She is our strongest kicker, which allows her to turn on the jets to get to the wall first.  She is a great example of leg driven swimming, which is what we all want to accomplish in practice.  This should pay off big time in long course racing!

 

Mercerwood Shore Club: Saanvi Gonggadi

Saanvi's active listening skills earned her this month's SMACtastic award.

We are thankful to watch her leadership skills and her growth within our stroke development group. Her steadfast determination will take her the distance. Congratulations Saanvi making finals in her first swim meet ever at the WAVE 10& under meet.

 

Mt. Rainier and Kent/KCAC: Raphael Troncales

Raphael is one of the newest members of SMAC. He has exhibited a strong effort within freestyle sets. Raphael displays a desire to make improvements with his consistent attendance.

 

Tukwila: Sylvi Short

Sylvi does an excellent job in her attention to detail. She takes physical instruction incredibly well and aims to do every drill and skill set as perfectly as she possibly can. This month, she's done a particularly good job of swimming fast when the practice calls for it, which has made her technical prowess shine that much brighter. 

 

View Ridge: Helen Echelbarger

Helen is a competitor and works with focus to get better. Every day she asks for feedback and does her best to put that feedback into practice. She’s a strong leader for the group and a great example to the new swimmers who have recently joined Stroke Development. And she finished off the month with multiple finals swims at the Wave 10 & Under Finale. She’s going to be missed by the group when she moves up to Age Group.

 

 

Age Group

 

Evergreen: Hutch Uydess (10 and under) and Sheyne Martin (11 and over)

Hutch has been swimming consistently and steadily improving all season long, which led to him swimming all best times at Regionals!  He learned that he can usually catch his opponents at the end of a 200, and at Regionals he challenged himself to get in front and stay in front.  This strategy paid off, and we cannot wait to see him apply this to long course racing!

Sheyne has been swimming consistently and steadily improving all season long, which led to her swimming all best times at Regionals!  She stretched in Breaststroke to qualify, and she got faster in every stroke at the same time.  Sheyne and her friends are poised to have a great summer of racing the IM's!

 

Kent/KCAC: Emily Lopez

Emily is the Kent Age Group SMACtastic swimmer of the month for March. Emily has recently joined the group and is quickly adapting to and meeting expectations. Emily listens to feedback and quickly makes the corrections needed. Emily comes to workout everyday with an amazing attitude and leaves at the end of the day with a big smile, even if she may be a little tired. The attitude and work ethic that Emily displays daily will lead to quick improvement and success. Congratulations Emily!

 

Mercerwood Shore Club: Eunice Wei

A standout and a role model, Eunice holds herself to a high set of standards that has inspired others in our age group practices. Turning 9 this March has only accelerated her drive and will for success. Her super-fast kick and underwater work separate her from her peers.

 

Mt. Rainier: Brewer Bekkerus

Brewer has always come to practice with a smile on his face. He portrays leadership characteristics through his ability to push through tough sets. Brewer's grit has lifted those who are around him.

 

 

Age Group Performance

 

Central/MIBC: Bradley Nick

In March Bradley had a big impact on practices by leading his lane, persevering and staying in difficult sets, accepting challenges, and making significant improvements across all 4 strokes as he prepared to swim at the Regional meet. More significantly, Bradley consistently did all the previously mentioned things throughout the month and consistency is a big part of working towards improvement and success.  At the Regional meet Bradley dropped time in every race and it was great to see him step up to swim in a relay when he was needed. 

 

Kent/KCAC: Tai Manning

Tai is the Kent Age Group Performance swimmer of the month for March. Tai leads by example with his work ethic. The effort that he puts into workouts daily has led to his personal development as well as raising the level of training of those that are around him. Tai is always encouraging other members of the group, promoting a great training environment. Congratulations Tai!

 

Mt. Rainier: Zack Wahlborg

Zach has excelled at bringing a positive attitude to practice. His sense of humor lifts up his teammates creating a fun environment. Zack continues to exhibit leadership characteristics through his competitive nature and outstanding race.

 

 

Senior

 

East: Lova Holmgren

Lova continues to work through an injury from over a year ago and continues to push herself on the road to recovery.  Injuries are one of the hardest things an athlete can experience in their career and Lova has taken it in stride and knows it isn’t an easy task to accomplish.  She continues to be driven in the pool and is motivated by the goals she’s set for herself.  Every day she puts her best foot forward and continues to find her limits with a smile on her face.

 

Mt. Rainier: Michael Roney

Michael has taken his training to the next level since returning from his high school season. He constantly pushes himself to improve and makes every effort to surpass the demands of the sets he's given. I have no doubt that his efforts will continue to show up in his results.

 

 

Senior Performance

 

View Ridge: Charles Cancelmo

By any metric, Charlie is a great swimmer. He is focused, disciplined, and deliberate in practice and he pushes himself and his teammates to be the best they can be. When combined with his “baguettes for feet” at meets this results in historically high performance. Since September 1, 2023, Charlie has set SCY team records in 12 individual events, PNS records in 2 individual events, and swum 4 times that appear in USA Swimming’s All Time Top 100 for 13-14 boys. Over the next six months, I expect Charlie to follow the example set by the swimmers who came before him as he blazes his own trail towards his larger goals. It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch.

 

 

National

 

Central/MIBC: Sophie Pham

Sophie put together a really good Senior Sectional meet. She has been very attentive with feedback and applying it to her training and her races. Some of her best races were on the relays which is a great reflection of her character and how great of a teammate she is.