SwimRVA Finishes 8th out of 204 Teams at First Ever Age Group Zones!

Rapids Finish 8th out of 204 Teams at Age Group Zones Debut!

Webster, NY…..When our coaching staff made the decision to attend the Age Group Zones meet this year, we had several things in mind that we were hoping this meet would accomplish. After nearly a week of racing in upstate New York, it's safe to say that we achieved each and every one of those team goals and are so excited for what an amazing meet our Rowdy Rapids swimmers and families put together! From the comaraderie in between sessions, to the positivity during the meet, the insanely fast relays, great swims and attitudes, it was one heck of a spectacular post-season meet for SwimRVA and we are thrilled to get to share some of it with you!

In addition to providing a great post-season environment that was more conducive to fast swimmer, we also looked forward to the opportunity to connect with and race against teams that we do not always get to see and race. Many of our new friends from the Northeast share countless compliments of the great job we are doing down here at SwimRVA and how noticeable it is all the way up north! That has to feel good for each of our coaches and staff members because it means that your brightness is shining far beyond the streets of Richmond. The NATION is noticing and learning more about what makes the Rowdy Rapids so special.

Even though our top athletes were split amongst Age Group Zones and Shamrock Showdown, we still managed to set new team records, earn new qualifying times, and even finished in the Top 8 overall out of over 200 teams!!! That's amazing Rapids and you should be exeptionally proud of yourself!!

Final Overall Scores from Age Group Zones! (204 Teams Participated!)
Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics 2,274 points
Scarlet Aquatics 1575 points
Metro Area Life Time 1160.50 points
Stamford Sailfish Aquatic Club 918.50
Bluefish Swim Club 846 points
Phoenix Aquatic Club 784.50 points
Nation's Capital Swim Club 674.50 points
SwimRVA 655.50 points
Lakeland Hills YMCA 583 points
Whitewaters Swimming 582.50 points

Trey Young Captures Two New Senior Champs Qualifying Times at Age Group Zones!
When Trey Young swims......people take notice.....because you know that at any given time, something really special is going to happen! In New York, Trey went into "Trey Mode" several times by not only making finals three times, but also earning two new Senior Champs cuts even though he doesn't turn 15 until October! His 200 back and 200 IM were some of the fastest 200's in SwimRVA history and his new qualifying times were well-deserved because of all the amazing hard work he has put into his training throughout the season. A huge congratulations also goes out to Nolan Feighner who's :53 in the 100 fly was a new Senior Champs cut even though he is still only 13y old!

New Senior Champs Qualifying Times
Elizabeth Cribbs: 100 Free
Nolan Feighner: 100 Fly
Barrett Sanders: 200 Breast
Trey Young: 200 Back, 200 IM

New Age Group Champs Qualifying Times
Caleb Cohen: 50 Free

Ashlyn Keith & 13-14 Relays Set New Team Records in New York!
It has truly been a pleasure getting to watch Ashlyn Keith perform this year! The road to the top is never easy for anyone. Over the years, Ashlyn has shown levels of perseverance and maturity that have to make her folks proud because we know she makes her coaches proud! You don't just go 2:05.2 in the 200 back at 14 years old by accident. Ashlyn has worked her tail off the entire season and has grown so tremendously as an athlete and a young lady, resulting in some pretty historic performances. In New York, she cut off another 1.5 seconds from her previous team record set only a few weeks earlier at Age Group Champs. Amazing job Ashlyn because you should be super proud of yourself!

If you remember back to Age Group Champs, SwimRVA led an assault on the 13-14 team relay records by smashing nearly every single one. So for us to go up to Age Group Zones and blast three more records is truly incredible! In fact, two of our relays (400 free relays), absolutely DEMOLISHED the previous record from Age Group Champs, making arguably the fastest or 2nd fastest 13-14 group in the state now!! Amazing job to each of you who got fired up for those relays!

New 13-14 Girls SwimRVA Individual Team Records
Ashlyn Keith: 200 back (2:05.25)

New 13-14 Girls SwimRVA Relay Team Records
400 Freestyle Relay (3:37.13) Ashlyn Keith, Sierra Durrette, Elizabeth Cribbs, Madison Walker

New 13-14 Boys SwimRVA Relay Team Records
400 Freestyle Relay (3:22.56) Charlie Duerson, Ayden Greer, Barrett Sanders, Trey Young
200 Medley Relay (1:40.78) Ayden Greer, Trey Young, Charlie Duerson, Barrett Sanders

CLICK HERE for an updated list of SwimRVA Team Records

New All-Time Top 10 Swims from Age Group Zones!
Congratulations to the following swimmers who are among the best we have ever seen!  If you check out the All-Time Top 10 swims for each age, you’ll see this incredible group of swimmers amongst the greatest athletes in SwimRVA history!

Swimmers Who Earned New All-Time Top 10 Swims
Lexi Hynst, Sierra Durrette, Ashlyn Keith, Elizabeth Cribbs, Caspian Cohen, Ayden Greer, Nolan Feighner, Trey Young, Charles Duerson, Caleb Cohen, Barrett Sanders

CLICK HERE for the full All-Time Top 10 list

Cribbs Paces SwimRVA as 6 Total Swimmers Earn Top 10 Individual Performances at Age Group Zones!
Nobody ever said swimming was easy! There are challenges left and right that sometimes present themselves at the worst times. When Elizabeth Cribbs learned she would not be able to compete at Age Group Champs due to an injury, she was understandably devastated. With the rest of the season in peril, she chose to lean into her teammates by taking the trip to Christiansburg anyway just so she could cheer on her friends and teammates! From there, she did what she was able to do until she got clearance and was able to make the trip to New York while and made finals three different times while also being a critical part of our legendary relays!! As special of a swimmer Elizabeth has always been, it is the character on the inside that has shined the brightest this season and is what we are most thankful here with her Rapids family. Congratulations to you for battling your way back to being able to compete at such a high level at Age Group Zones!

A bonus shout-out also goes to our three 13y old swimmers, Sierra Durrette, Nolan Feighner, Ayden Greer, who made finals at a meet that was even faster than Age Group Champs!  Keep doing what you're doing and you will continue to climb to the top!  And Ashlyn Keith, who led the entire team with 5 different Top 10 performances.  Truly amazing!

Age Group Zones Top 10 Finalists
Elizabeth Cribbs: 13-14 Girls 100 Back (7th), 200 Back (7th), 100 Free (4th)
Sierra Durrette: 13-14 Girls 200 IM (10th)
Nolan Feighner: 13-14 Boys 200 Fly (8th)
Ayden Greer: 13-14 Boys 200 Breast (10th)
Ashlyn Keith: 13-14 GIrls 100 Fly (6th), 100 Back (2nd), 50 Free (9th), 200 Back (3rd), 100 Free (6th)
Trey Young: 13-14 Boys 100 Fly (6th), 200 Back (9th), 100 Free (5th)
13-14 Girls 400 Free Relay: Ashlyn Keith, Sierra Durrette, Elizabeth Cribbs, Madison Walker (3rd)
13-14 Boys 400 Free Relay: Charles Duerson, Ayden Greer, Barrett Sanders, Trey Young (2nd)
13-14 Boys 400 Medley Relay: Ayden Greer, Trey Young, Nolan Feighner, Barrett Sanders (3rd)
13-14 Girls 400 Medley Relay: Elizabeth Cribbs, Sierra Durrette, Ashlyn Keith, Madison Walker (6th)
13-14 Girls 200 Free Relay: Ashlyn Keith, Sierra Durrette, Elizabeth Cribbs, Madison Walker (3rd)
13-14 Boys 200 Free Relay: Charles Duerson, Trey Young, Ayden Greer, Barrett Sanders (5th)
13-14 Boys 200 Medley Relay: Ayden Greer, Trey Young, Charles Duerson, Barrett Sanders (2nd)
13-14 Girls 200 Medley Relay: Ashlyn Keith, Chloe Clemmons, Elizabeth Cribbs, Sierra Durrette (4th)

Top 11-20 Finishers
Chloe Clemmons: 13-14 Girls 400 IM (13th)
Caspian Cohen: 11-2 Boys 200 Fly (11th)
Elizabeth Cribbs: 13-14 Girls 100 Fly (19th), 200 Free (16th), 500 Free (13th)
Charles Duerson: 13-14 Boys 100 Fly (18th), 50 Free (14th)
Sierra Durrette: 13-14 Girls 50 Free (18th), 200 Breast (15th)
Nolan Feighner: 13-14 Boys 100 Fly (11th) 
Ayden Greer: 13-14 Boys 200 IM (17th), 100 Back (11th), 200 Back (15th)
Lexi Hynst: 10&U Girls 500 Free (19th), 100 Breast (18th), 50 Free (11th)
Ashlyn Keith: 13-14 Girls 200 Free (14th)
Barrett Sanders: 13-14 Boys 200 IM (15th), 200 Breast (15th)
Madison Walker: 13-14 GIrls 1000 Free (15th)
Trey Young: 13-14 Boys 100 Breast (17th), 200 IM (11th), 50 Free (11th)

Barrett Sanders & Caspian Cohen Drop Ginormous Bombs at Age Group Zones!
You should have seen these two swims!! Barrett Sanders absolutely destroyed his 200 breast to not only drop a 5 second GINORMOUS DROP, but also to earn Senior Champs and crack the 2:20 barrier. It's been so fun watching Barrett grow from a 50 free, 100 breast swimmer to a full well-rounded athlete who is competiting successfully and at an elite level in all strokes and disciplines! And speaking of a tough discipline..... how about Caspian Cohen and his relentless, fearless pursuit of excellence in the 200 fly?? This young man had already put together some of the best 200 butterfly swims in the state this year and his over 4 second GINORMOUS DROP at Age Group Zones took that the an entirely new level. Amazing job both of you and congrats to each of our swimmers who posted some crazy good new best times!

Ginormous Drops

Caspian Cohen: 200 Fly (-4.07)

Elizabeth Cribbs: 100 Free (-1.80)

Nolan Feighner: 100 Fly (-1.48)

Barrett Sanders: 200 Breast (-5.04)

Kensie Toepp: 100 Fly (-1.72)

Trey Young: 200 IM (-3.27)

Shout-Outs to Rowdy Rapids!
Congratulations to the following Rapids swimmers from the various training groups who did something truly special and unique over the weekend!  You deserve a shout-out category of your own!

• Shout-out to Charles Duerson for splitting a 23.82 on his Fly during the 2nd place 200 Medley Relay!
• Shout-out to Elizabeth Cribbs for winning her prelims 100 free heat by 4 body lengths!
• Shout-out to Caspian Cohen for winning the B final of the 200 Fly!
• Shout-out to Lexi Hynst for battling back from illness to go 2 best times!
• Shout-out to Nolan Feighner for telling the world "it’s better to butterfly than to buttercry."
• Shout-out to Rapids Relays for having all 8 relays finish in the top 8!