May Flowers Meet Recap

Well, that was fun! Watching all our young swimmers walking into KCAC, some of them for the first time ever, and seeing their eyes get huge at the length of a 50-meter pool, then to hear them say after their races how much they enjoyed swimming long course for the first time. We saw loads of excellent swims and possibly a record number of best times, since most swimmers had either never swum long course before or hadn’t swum that distance in a long time.

Our star of the meet was also our youngest swimmer at the meet: Adi Beibit, who broke two team records (8&U Boys 50 Free and 100 Back). Not to be outdone, Alex Popov qualified for Sectionals for the first time ever in the 100 Breast and will be joining the Sectionals Team in July while Claire Gao became our latest first-time AAA cap winner, earning her cap in the 50 and 100 Frees.

White Group Report

White Group had an epic long course meet this last weekend. Eyes were opened, jaws were dropped, Legends were made - in a pool with stadium seating for thousands. Some well-deserved kudos are due:

• Adi Beibit landed his first four BB times and shattered two team records!
• Vedah Tuladhar only made it for the 50 Back, but she poured everything into it for her first BB time!!
• Emily Dong polished off her first decade, with two B times in her 50 & 100 Breast and BB in her 50 Back!
• Maria Kokhan swam her 200 IM goggle-mouthed! A 200 IM is long and technical in a 25-yard pool. In a 50-meter pool it feels death-defying, even when you can see and breathe!
• Karina Maksyutov landed all six events legally and fast, B-timing all but one of them!
• Fiona Herman powered up her 50 Back and 50 Fly for B times in back-to-back events for back-to-back B times. It also means she’s no longer a one-stroke-wonder! And her 100 Free was just a second away.
• Eleanor Lopez was every kind of legal in all three events, B timing her 50 Back, and making it look fun!
• Lucy Broyles gained another stroke in her B-time bag, finishing her 100 Breast well under the cutoff (-4 seconds). Her 50 Back was so smooth that she touched just 0.5 from a BB cut! I smell a ‘breakthrough’ soon!
• Emma Henry’s laser focus carried her to B times in all three events, including two she hasn’t yet B-timed in short course: 50 Back and 200 Free!
• Emily MacDonald’s first-ever long course event was the 50 Fly, and fly feels death defying in long course!! She was going strong, but ran out of gas, and almost finished it legally. She finished out her 100 Free and 100 Breast legally and smiling - so she won.

Senior Epic Report

Senior Epic had a strong week of practice training hard through the meet and the results were exciting! On Friday our distance swimmers managed their swims in the 50 meters pool really well and we had many great swims that day. Saturday and Sunday, all swimmers were more adapted to the long course pool, and we had some really solid swims and a number of best times!

A special shout-out to the swimmers who broke the 1:00 barrier in the 100 Meter Free for the first time: Alex Popov (58.96) and Alex Werth (59.30). Welcome to the club!!

Enjoy some great performances from our group:

• Alexandru Popov was inspired and brought home a personal best time in all the 7 events he swam. He put together a phenomenal 100 Breast and after missing the Sectional cut in March for less than half-second, Popov finally qualified for his first ever Sectionals Meet (Summer Sectionals) going almost a full second under the cut!
• Melis Gursoy had a phenomenal meet going a best time in all seven events. Her biggest achievement was qualifying for the Summer Senior Zones in the 200 Free. She came to the meet determined to make this cut and so she did!
• Andrea Wu had many strong swims during the meet and earned three new personal bests, including a fantastic 100 Fly, one of Andrea's best events.
• Alexander Werth had an excellent 1500 Free where he dropped 40 seconds swimming strong the whole race. He also had another great swim in the 100 Free and earned five personal best times during the weekend.
• Julia Larsen swam five events and got a best time in all of them. In one of her best events, the 100 Back, she had an unconventional strategy for a short race, swimming a negative split. She still managed to drop 5 seconds and set a new personal best.
• Kyler Brumfield has been swimming really well in all her freestyle events and this meet was no different. She dropped 4.25 seconds in the 400 Free swimming strong from beginning to end.
• Aarjav Jain went 7 of 7 personal bests and demonstrated great versatility improving in all his strokes during the meet. One of his best events was the 200 Back where he dropped 10 seconds.
• Jenna Kimborowicz did a great job in the 1500 Free with a very consistent pace during the race and was happy to see a best time on the scoreboard at the end.
• Owen Ledrick looked really good during the meet and earned four best times. His outstanding swim was the 100 Breast where he earned an A Time.
• Blake Nilsen had many huge drops during the meet, going a best time in five events. The 100 Free was one of his strongest swims where he dropped 5 seconds.

Senior 1 Report

The Senior 1 group had 19 swimmers compete at the May Flowers meet this past weekend. The performances from the group were off the chart. Everyone showed up focused and ready to put their all into all their races. This group has been training very hard and we didn’t really rest heading into the meet as we are focusing on swimming fast even when they are tired, and they absolutely crushed the expectations. They were able to execute race strategies incredibly well and added on some really fast swimming to boot. I am so excited to see what this group can accomplish moving forward.

Highlights

• Anouk Balog came into the meet off a couple of tough weeks, but she did not let that affect her performance. She went out with a positive attitude, raced, had fun, and swam super fast. She dropped time in all her races coming in the 400 Free where she dropped 11 seconds.
• Boston Borg has been really working hard in practice and it showed through his races over the weekend. He started the meet off with a huge swim in the 400 Free going under 5 minutes his first time out and closing in on the Zones cut in the event. He continued with three more amazing swims in the 100 Free, 200 Free, and 50 Back, achieving an A time in the 200.
• Nik Brusilovsky got off to a white-hot start at the meet with a monster swim in the 400 Free posting an AA time in the event and chasing down several of the other swimmers in his heat the last 50. He rode the wave from his early success throughout the entire meet posting fast times in all his remaining races, AA times in the 100 and 200 Free.
• Rik Brusilovsky also started the meet off on a high not swimming a wonderful 400 IM posting an A time his first time out. He continued to step up race after race over the course of the weekend and continued to perform well in all of them. He finished the meet with A times in all but one race.
• Ray Chen has been absolutely crushing butterfly sets at practice and it really showed at the meet. First in the 100 Fly they posted amazing splits with relatively no fade at all, something that is incredibly difficult to do in long course. They then followed that up with an absolutely monster 200 Fly dropping over a minute, splitting near perfectly, and rapidly closing in on the Zones cut. It was amazing to see all the work put in pay off.
• Alex Claux has been incredibly busy the last two weeks with academic pursuits. He did not let this stop him from going out and racing as hard as he could, turning in some pretty fast swims in the process. He had a fantastic 100 Free where he dropped 4.73 seconds and was almost under the 1-minute barrier.
• Hailey Crawford had a splendid meet, she raced hard, swam fast, and showed great improvement in her backstroke events. She turned in best times in all but one race over the weekend. Her biggest swim came in the 200 free where she dropped 13 seconds. She is ready to keep working and getting better at more and more races.
• Henry Geitz competed at his first ever long course meet and absolutely crushed it. He put up awesome times in all his races and is closing in on the summer champs cuts. He finished the meet with six strong times posted, many of them BB or better.
• Peter Hansen is coming off an illness that sidelined him for about a week, but he did not let that stop him from putting up some strong times. He had monster drops in the 50 Breast, 100 Breast, 50 Fly, and 50 Free. His most incredible showing was in the 200 Fly going under 3 minutes his first time ever swimming it in long course.
• Spandana Kannam has been very busy with academic pursuits and wrapping up her senior year. She still came to the meet with a positive attitude and her game face on ready to race to the best of her ability. She was right on her best times in her races and achieved an official personal best in the 50 Breast.
• Kyle Li has been working hard to improve all his events. This work has clearly paid off as he had a monster 33 second drop in the 200 IM. He had great swims across the board at the meet. He is ready to keep training and dropping time in his freestyle events as well as some other races.
• Vidhi Mehrotra was completely prepared to dominate the pool. She had an awesome attitude and it really showed in her racing, she turned in best times in all 6 races she swam. Her biggest drop of 13.7 seconds came in the 200 IM getting some redemption for losing her goggles in the race her last time out.
• Ethan Na is coming off a hot performance at the IMX meet and rolled that right into an awesome performance at this meet. He had some monster drops in the 100 Free, 200 IM, and 50 Fly. He shattered the 30-second barrier in the 50 Free going 28.26. He is ready to keep working hard and keep improving as the season goes on.
• Vincent Ngo has reignited his spark and has been training super well since the beginning of the season. He blasted his way to a 26.82 in the 50 Free just missing the summer champs cut in the race. He had an awesome 100 Free as well going 1:00.49 just missing going breaking that 1:00 barrier.
• Boris Shakov showed up ready to rock and roll. He started the meet off with a great 400 Free, breaking 5:00 his first time out and really never looked back, turning in fast time after fast time. He finished the meet with a phenomenal 200 Free dropping a huge 42.36 seconds and achieving an AA time in the event.
• Arlene Shergill has spent most of the year recovering from an injury, but she hasn’t let that stop her from training hard and swimming fast. She had a great meet achieving best times in all her races. Her highlight race was the 50 Free where she dropped 7 seconds and achieved an A time.
• Shaur Shrivastava had a strong showing at his first long course meet. He went out and put everything he had into all his races and did a wonderful job of executing the race strategies that we talked about. He had great swims in the 50 and 100 Free going sub-30 his first-ever 50 Free and coming close to 1:00 in the 100.
• Artur Sobol had some strong swims at the meet. He had great success in some of his shorter races such as the 50 free and 100 fly. He is prepared to get back to training and work on his endurance for some of his longer races.
• Dylan Vu had some dynamite swims at the meet. He did an excellent job preparing for the meet training hard and missing very few practices. All his swims were best times. He turned in an awesome 200 free dropping more than 1 minute in the process. His most wild swim was the 100 Free where he went 59.76 going under 1:00 for the first time and winning the event for his age group.

Age Group Select

We had another outstanding meet, with Claire Gao earning her first-ever AAA time and Prisha Parikh, Bimu Beibit, and Ellen Feng all earning their first-ever A times, as well as Ally Yuan earning her first BB time. To top it off, Alex Lobdell earned four new AA times. We also had very few DQs as most of the swam in their first long course meet. For some of the swimmers, it was their first time at KCAC, so that was also fun.

Kamilla Bugaitsova and Alex Lobdell were our only swimmers who had previously swum long course. Both had five best times, and each swam two more events for the first time.

Special shout outs to the athletes who came down to swim their first-ever 400 free: Claire, Alex L, Kamilla, Beata Sobol, and Kyra Yuan.

Special shout outs to those who braved the 100 fly, which can be truly terrifying in a long course pool for the first time: Nora Herman, Yuzuki Ishizuka, Sanvi Shrivasatava, Beata, and Kamilla.

Purple Sport

The Purple team sent six swimmers to the meet, all of whom not only had outstanding performances, but every swimmer earned at least one new motivational time! Gahl Ami ad and Oliver Wang were the only two who had swum long course previously, with Gahl dropping 9 seconds in his 50 Free, 15 seconds in his 50 Breast, and a whopping 35 seconds in the 100 Back! Meanwhile, Oliver dropped 7.5 seconds in his 50 Free and almost 21 seconds in his 100 Back!

For US Motivational Times, Oliver led the way with four BB and three B times followed closely by Cassy Nguyen, who earned two BB and three B times. Jane Robinson earned a BB time in the 50 Free, while Gahl, Kirill Kadach, and Jasmine Shi each earned a B time.

High School Sport

The High School Sport team sent just two swimmers to the meet, and they both swam awesome!

• Aarohi Gandhi swam five excellent races, although she had to be talked into what a great job she did as all her times had no frame of reference when compared to yards times. She has such a beautiful butterfly, and held onto her tempo and rhythm for most of the race. Her 100 Free was also a standout swim where she looked strong the entire race.
• Leo Zhu is so stoic after his races! He would ask for feedback but did not seem worried about times. He had several outstanding swims, with the highlight being his 50 Free. He had awesome arm tempo and blasted his legs the entire race. His other freestyle races were well done too.

Senior Prep

We had an amazing May Flowers meet for Senior Prep with 159 successful swims! Because many in the group have not had the opportunity to swim long course meters (LCM) in a couple years, we only had 31 events where a swimmer already had a LCM time. Of those swims, we had 100% time drops with an average time drop of 6.97 seconds per race! I have to say this was the first meet in 25 years of coaching where I can say we had 100% best times! We had 128 new swims where they had never swum the race before. We also had a ton of new PNS qualifiers and swimmers who added to their count of PNS qualified events.

Here are the top 15 time drops from the meet!

• Sophia Gorveatt dropped 15.42 seconds in the 200 Free and 11.51 seconds in the 100 Free!
• Lasya Viswanadham dropped 12.95 seconds in the 200 IM and 10.61 seconds in the 100 Breast!
• Adrian Juco dropped 12.12 seconds in the 100 Free and 9.97 seconds in the 50 Breast!
• Anton Mazepa dropped 10.85 seconds in the 200 Back, 9.57 seconds in the 100 Back, and 7.86 seconds in the 100 Free!
• Cora Ledrick dropped 9.83 seconds in the 200 Free and 9.3 seconds in the 200 IM!
• Deming Gates dropped 9.36 seconds in the 200 Free, 8.75 seconds in the 200 Breast, and 8.08 seconds in the 100 Breast!
• Kirsten Hau dropped 8.38 seconds in the 200 IM!

We also had 128 new swims where swimmers raced a new event (too many to list out). Really impressive meet results, Sr. Prep!

New US Swimming Motivational Times

AAA

• Oleg Arlouski: 400 Free
• Kyle Fontelera: 50 Fly
• Claire Gao: 50 & 100 Free
• Andrea Wu: 50 Free

AA

• Oleg Arlouski: 50 & 100 Free, 50 & 100 Fly
• Anouk Balog: 100 Free
• Nik Brusilovski: 100, 200 & 400 Free
• Thomas Claux: 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Hailey Crawford: 50 & 100 Free
• Lena Duryee: 50, 100, 200 & 400 Free
• Kyle Fontelera: 50 & 100 Free, 100 Fly
• Claire Gao: 50 Fly, 200 Free
• Melis Gursoy: 200 Free
• Adrian Juco: 50 & 100 Breast
• Julia Larsen: 50 Free
• Cora Ledrick: 50 Free
• Alex Lobdell: 50, 100 & 400 Free, 50 Back
• Alex Popov: 100 Breast, 50 Free
• Boris Shakhov: 200 Free
• Dylan Vu: 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Andrea Wu: 100 Fly

A

• Oleg Arlouski: 200 Back
• Anouk Balog: 100 Fly, 200 IM
• Bimu Beibit: 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Boston Borg: 200 & 400 Free
• Nik Brusilovski: 100 & 200 Back
• Rik Brusilovski: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 200 & 400 IM
• Raymond Chen: 100 & 200 Fly, 50 Free
• Alex Claux: 50 & 100 Free
• Thomas Claux: 100 Fly, 100 Free, 200 IM
• Hailey Crawford: 200 Free
• Lena Duryee: 50 Back, 200 IM
• Ellen Feng: 50 Back
• Kyle Fontelera: 100 Back
• Claire Gao: 400 Free
• Deming Gates: 50 Free
• Melis Gursoy: 400 Free, 200 IM
• Lauren Hizzey: 50 Free
• Adrian Juco: 200 Breast, 400 Free
• Tyler Kong: 50 & 100 Free, 200 IM
• Julia Larsen: 100 & 200 Back
• Cora Ledrick: 100 & 200 Free
• Owen Ledrick: 100 Breast
• Alex Lobdell: 200 Free, 200 IM, 100 Back
• Anton Mazepa: 50, 100 & 200 Back, 100 Fly, 400 IM
• Vincent Ngo: 50 Free
• Prisha Parikh: 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Alex Popov: 100 Free, 200 Breast, 200 & 400 IM
• Ani Purkyastha: 100 Back
• Boris Shakhov: 50, 100 & 400 Free
• Arlene Shergill: 50 Free
• Dylan Vu: 100 Back, 200 IM, 400 Free
• Alex Werth: 50, 100, 200 & 1500 Free
• Leo Zhu: 50 Free

BB

• Oleg Arlouski: 200 Breast
• Adi Beibit: 50 & 100 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Bimu Beibit: 400 Free, 50 Breast
• Nik Brusilovski: 200 IM
• Rik Brusilovski: 100 Back
• Kamilla Bugaitsova: 400 Free
• Deniz Cankaya: 50 & 100 Back
• Daniel Chen: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 50 & 200 Breast, 400 IM
• Raymond Chen: 200 Free, 200 IM
• Hailey Crawford: 100 Back
• Olivia DeAmacis: 50, 100, 200 & 400 Free, 50 Back
• Emily Dong: 50 Back
• Ellen Feng: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 100 Back
• Kyle Fontelera: 200 Back
• Aarohi Gandhi: 50 & 100 Free
• Claire Gao: 50 Breast, 200 IM
• Deming Gates: 50, 100 & 200 Breast, 400 Free
• Bennett Geitz: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 50, 100, & 200 Breast
• Henry Geitz: 100 & 200 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Sophia Gorveatt: 100, 200 & 400 Free, 50 Fly
• Melis Gursoy: 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Peter Hansen: 50 Free, 100 Breast
• Kirsten Hau: 50 & 400 Free, 200 IM
• Olivia Henaire: 50 & 100 Free, 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Back
• Nora Herman: 100 & 200 Free
• Lauren Hizzey: 50, 100 & 200 Back, 100 & 400 Free
• Iris Huang: 50 & 100 Free, 100 & 200 Breast, 200 IM
• Yuzuki Ishizuki: 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back
• Aarjav Jain: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 100 & 200 Back, 200 IM
• Adrian Juco: 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Dami Jung: 50 & 100 Breast
• Maria Kokhan: 50 Back
• Tyler Kong: 200 Breast, 200 Free
• Julia Larsen: 100 Breast
• Cora Ledrick: 400 Free, 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Owen Ledrick: 50 & 400 Free, 200 IM
• Kyle Li: 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Olivia Liu: 50 Breast
• Anton Mazepa: 50 & 100 Free
• Vidhi Mehrotra: 50 & 100 Free, 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Ethan Na: 200 Breast
• Shir Netz: 200 IM, 50 & 100 Back, 50 Free
• Vincen Ngo: 100 Back, 100 Free
• Cassy Nguyen: 50 Brest, 50 Free
• Blake Nilsen: 100 Free
• Prisha Parikh: 200 Free, 50 Breast
• Vien Pogue: 50 Back
• Alex Popov: 200 Free
• Ani Purkyastha: 50 & 100 Free
• Irene Qu: 100 Breast, 50 Back
• Elizabeth Reedy: 400 Free
• Lola Reynolds: 400 Free
• Jane Robinson: 50 Free
• Rachael Rose: 50 & 100 Breast
• Navya Sainani: 50 & 100 Breast, 50 & 100 Free, 200 IM, 50 Back
• Boris Shakhov: 100 Fly
• Arlene Shergill: 100 Back
• Radha Shriram: 100 Back
• Sanvi Shrivasatava: 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Fly, 50 & 100 Free
• Shaurya Shrivasatava: 100 & 200 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Artur Sobol: 50 Free
• Beata Sobol: 50, 100 & 400 Free, 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Fly
• Max Stevenson: 100 Free, 50 Back
• Bailey Tang: 50 Free
• Vedah Tuladhar: 50 Back
• Ella Tulanon: 100, 200 & 400 Free, 100 Back
• Lasya Viswanadham: 50, 100 & 200 Breast
• Dylan Vu: 200 Back
• Oliver Wang: 50 & 100 Fly, 50 & 100 Free
• Alex Werth: 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Andrea Wu: 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Daniel Xia: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Renee Yin: 100 Back, 200 IM
• Isshin Yokoyama: 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free, 50 Breast
• Ally Yuan: 50 Back
• Kyra Yuan: 50 & 100 Breast
• Leo Zhu: 100 Back, 100 Free

B

• Gahl Ami ad: 50 Back
• Adi Beibit: 50 & 100 Back
• Lucy Broyles: 50 Back, 100 Breast
• Kamilla Bugaitsova: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 50 Fly, 200 IM
• Alex Claux: 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Emily Dong: 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Fly
• Ellen Feng: 50 Breast
• Aarohi Gandhi: 200 Free
• Henry Geitz: 100 Fly
• Sophia Gorveatt: 50 & 100 Fly, 200 IM
• Peter Hansen: 200 Breast, 200 Fly
• Kirsten Hau: 100 & 200 Free
• Tommy Henderson: 50, 100 & 200 Breast, 50 & 200 Back, 50 Free
• Emma Henry: 100 & 200 Free, 50 Back
• Fiona Herman: 50 Back, 50 Fly
• Nora Herman: 50 & 100 Fly, 50 Free, 200 IM
• Lauren Hizzey: 200 IM
• Yuzuki Ishizuki: 50 & 100 Fly, 50 Breast
• Dami Jung: 50 & 100 Free, 50 & 100 Back
• Kirill Kadich: 50 Back
• Maria Kokhan: 50 Breast, 100 Back
• Kyle Li: 100 & 200 Back, 200 IM
• Yihan Li: 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Breast, 50 & 100 Free
• Olivia Liu: 50 Free, 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Eleanor Lopez: 50 Back
• Karina Maksyutov: 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast, 50 & 100 Free
• Lainey Meyer: 100 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Shir Netz: 100 & 200 Free
• Vincent Ngo: 100 Fly
• Cassy Nguyen: 100 Breast, 100 Free, 50 Back
• Theresa Nguyen: 50 Back
• Blake Nilsen: 100 & 200 Back, 100 & 200 Fly, 200 IM
• Karolina Pastusiak: 400 Free
• Amelia Pletosu: 200 & 400 Free, 50 Fly
• Vien Pogue: 50, 100 & 200 Breast, 200 IM, 200 Back
• Ani Purkyastha: 200 IM
• Rahul Purkyastha: 200 Free
• Irene Qu: 100 Free
• Rachael Rose: 50 & 100 Back, 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Jasmine Shi: 50 Back
• Radha Shriram: 50, 100 & 200 Free, 50 Fly
• Artur Sobol: 100 Fly, 200 Back, 200 Free
• Max Stevenson: 100 Back, 50 & 200 Free, 50 Breast
• Ella Tulanon: 200 Back, 200 IM
• Lasya Viswanadham: 100 Free, 200 IM, 50 Back
• Oliver Wang: 100 Breast, 400 Free
• Kailyn Wing: 50 Back, 50 Free
• Liya Wu: 100 Breast, 100 Free, 50 Back
• Andy Yang: 50 & 100 Breast, 100 Free, 50 Back
• Renee Yin: 100 Fly
• Isshin Yokoyama: 100 Breast
• Ally Yuan: 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free, 50 Fly
• Kyra Yuan: 50, 100 & 400 Free, 50 & 100 Back
• Grace Zhang: 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Leo Zhu: 200 Back

WAVE ON 3!!