Washington Open

More than 550 athletes made the drive to Federal Way for the first big non-champs meet in Puget Sound since the start of the pandemic! Most of the fastest swimmers in the state were there, and were joined by swimmers from other states, including Oregon, Colorado, and Idaho. This was a tough mid-season meet that our Senior swimmers swam through rather than resting, which is always a tough challenge not only physically but mentally as well. Congratulations to all the Wave athletes who qualified and participated!

Senior Epic

Senior Epic kicked off the year doing an excellent job at the WA Open Meet. We followed our training as usual during the week and swam through the meet. We focused on race strategies and being competitive when the swimmers are tired and heavy due to hard practices. It worked pretty well, and we had some amazing swims. Enjoy some highlights from our group:

• Fredrick Larsen came very strong to the meet and added one more event to his Senior Sectionals menu with a phenomenal 200 IM at finals. He also had an incredible 200 breast where he dropped almost 12 seconds making finals and missing a Sectionals cut by a mere 0.09 second! Besides that, Fred dropped 6 seconds in the 100 breast and another 3 seconds in the 200 Fly (at finals) demonstrating his versatility in the sport. Hello 400 IM!
• Lola Reynolds had an excellent weekend going a best time in two events: 100 breast and 100 free as well as getting closer and closer to those Zones Cuts! Let's go!
• Noah Sattari was determined to swim fast and demonstrated his power in the free events, going best times in the 50 and 200 free. He also swam less than half-second off in the 100 back and 100 fly. Dolphin kicks, here we go!
• Ella Reddy (100 fly), Tyler Kong (100 fly), Alexander Werth (200 fly), and Owen Ledrick (200 free) dropped time in some off events and went home with at least one personal best time this weekend. Always celebrate a best time!
• A special shout-out to Jenna Kimborowicz (200 back), Renee Yin (100 free), and Kaitlyn Blackmon (100 breast) for their solid performances in some of their strongest events. You were looking really good!

Senior 1

The Senior 1 group sent nine swimmers to the Washington Open this past weekend. This is typically a very big and very fast swim meet and this year proved to be no different. With well over 500 swimmers entered, it is the biggest meet we have attended in quite a while. We did not rest for this meet as I wanted the swimmers to get experience racing during the middle of a training cycle. The emphasis was on execution and effort. All the swimmers showed up with their game faces on and put in their best effort in all their races, many of them went at least one best time and a few recorded several new bests. It was a great experience for all who attended. I am looking forward to continuing our intense workouts and excited to see what they can do when they rest for end of season meets.

Highlight Swims

• Carr Chellis competed in his first meet since having surgery over the break. He is still partially recovering but competed very hard and looks to make big things happen moving forward.
• Ray Chen was only able to come to one day of the meet due to other plans. They made the most of their one day though, going a best time in the 50 free dropping almost half a second and breaking the 25 second barrier for the first time.
• Alex Claux has been working very hard in practice and it is starting to show in his racing. He managed to drop time in the 100 fly, 100 back, and 50 free. In the 50 free, he broke into the 23s for the first time.
• Grant Gallagher followed up his outstanding performance at PNS Champs just a month ago by dropping time in two more races. In his 50 free he dropped another 0.14 from his Champs drop and is so close to getting into the 22s. In the 100 free, he dropped almost a half second and dipped under the 52-second mark.
• Taryn Han was feeling the effects of a very intense week of practice both swim and dryland. She didn’t let that keep her down as she swam very hard and was right off her best times in several events.
• Aarjav Jain turned in four very good swims over the course of the weekend. In three of his events, he was, less than a second off his best time. In the 100 free, he managed to put it all together and dropped almost half a second. He is well on his way to some very fast end of season swims.
• Julia Larsen was unfortunately recovering from being sick earlier in the week. She didn’t let this stop her from putting her all into every race she swam. She had drops in the 100 breast, 200 free, and 200 IM. The 200 IM drop was the first time this season she has gone a best time. She was right on her best times in her other three events, being within a second of her best.
• Cameron Piepkorn continued to turn out amazing racing. Coming off going best times in six races at PNS Champs, he managed to do it again and dropped in five of his races this weekend. He repeated with drops in the 100 fly, 100 breast, and 50 free. He also scored drops in the 100 back and 200 IM. He is ready to keep swimming fast moving forward and looks to tear it up at the end of the season.
• Artur Sobol put his best foot forward and gave his best effort in all his races. He looks to increase his training load moving forward and is poised for success at end of season meets.

New Motivational Times

A

• Fredrik Larsen: 100 & 200 breast
• Alex Claux: 100 fly

Top 24 Finishes

• Fredrik Larsen: 17th in the 200 IM, 21st in the 200 fly, and 20th in the 200 breast