Senior Sectionals

Senior Epic had a phenomenal Senior Sectionals meet in Phoenix! We had eight swimmers this year with everyone achieving at least both one best time and one tan line at the meet! We swam eight relays (Girls and Boys: 200 Medley, 200 Free, 400 Free and 400 Medley Relays) and among amazing relay swims, many swimmers got best times leading off. Highlights from our week:

• 1 Futures cut
• 1 Summer Sectionals cut
• 2 SwimStrong Dryland Elite Camp cuts
• 9 individual finals + 1 relay swimming at finals
• 98 team points

Enjoy some outstanding moments from each swimmer at Sectionals:

• Andrea Wu dominated the weekend going 4 out of 5 best times and grabbed a Futures cut for the first time in the 100 Fly! Andrea swam strong from the beginning demonstrating powerful underwater kicks and great form through the whole race! Besides that, Andrea broke the 53 seconds barrier in the 100 Free for the first time (and did it twice) and also got closer to another Futures cut in the 50 Free.
  Fun fact: Andrea designed the special Sectionals shirts for the group. We love it!
• Kyler Brumfield swam all three distance events and went a best time in three of them. She had a great performance in the 1000 Free with a 6-second drop on the first day. Then Kyler came stronger to swim an exceptional 1650 Free dropping 37 seconds and achieving her first Summer Sectionals cut! She also had fast Breaststroke swims in the medley relays.
  Fun fact: Kyler swam the Mile under 95 degrees and still performed her best. Turn up the Arizona heat!
• Grace Liu swam three individual events and went a best time in the 100 Free where she dropped a solid 0.81 tenths of second breaking the 55-second barrier for the first time. Grace also had a strong swim in the 50 Free where she swam right at her best time and the 100 Fly where she went a second off her best. Amazing relay swims!
  Fun fact: Grace assisted Andrea and together they tie-dyed all shirts for the group. Thank you!
• Ella Reedy came to swim three individual events and went a best time in the 100 Free where she dropped half second. In the Backstroke events, Ella went right at her time leading off the 200 Medley Relay (despite slipping her feet on the start), and in the 100 Back where she held a solid technique swimming strong until the end. Ella also had a great 200 Back going less than 2 seconds off her best time.
  Fun fact: Ella showed up on the Mile session and teamed up with Grace to time and cheer for the Mile swimmers, then went straight to the airport after their races. Great sportsmanship, Ella!
• Jaiden Sreenivasan had a very busy week swimming six individual races including all three distance events in his first Sectionals Meet. Jaiden went three best times and kicked off his meet breaking his first Team Open Record. The record came in the 1000 Free where he placed 9^th (almost went to the podium) and got the SwimStrong Elite Camp cut. The other outstanding swim was the 400 IM where he dropped almost 2 seconds and achieved the Elite Camp cut as well. Besides that, he dropped 1.25 seconds in the 100 Fly with great underwater dolphin kicks.
  Fun fact: Jaiden made all the boys dance a song before their warmups in finals for the 400 Medley Relay. it was hilarious!
• Fredrik Larsen was also busy at the meet with six individual events. He had a super solid meet going less than a second off his best times in four events and going a best time in the 50 Back leading off the 200 Medley Relay. Fredrik's underwater dolphin kicks were very consistent in all his events, especially in the 100 and 200 Backstroke where they looked really good! He placed 13^th in the former and 14^th in the latter. He also had a great swim in the 400 IM where he was just a second off his best time.
  Fun Fact: Fredrik brought a speaker to the meet and along with Jaiden, had songs playing all day at our tent. DJs of the week!
• Tyler Kong went to his first Sectionals Meet and did a fantastic job! He swam three individual events and led off the 200 Free Relay going best times in both Freestyle events. In the 100 Free he dropped half a second and in the 50 Free he went under 24 seconds for the first time! He also swam less than a second off his best times in the 100 Breast and 200 IM.
  Fun Fact: Tyler demonstrated his Master Chef abilities cooking his meals during the week. Yummy!
• Alex Werth also went to his first Sectionals Meet and added enormously value to the group cheering and supporting his teammates during the week. Alex swam three individual events and led off the 400 Free Relay. He had strong swims, specially the 100 Free where he went less than half second off his best time and the 200 IM where he had a much better backstroke leg than his normal and finished the race fast!
  Fun Fact: Alex changed his flight to the next day when we discovered that the boys 400 Medley relay would swim in finals on the last day. White caps on, boys!

Congrats, everyone! It was an Epic Meet!