Montana Firecracker Invitational Meet Recap

For the third year in a row, Wave won this big invitational that features swimmers from several states! 96 swimmers and 3 coaches from Wave arrived at Splash Montana in Missoula, Montana with two common goals: swim fast and defend our title. Over the course of four beautiful days Wave accomplished exactly what we set out to do. The swimmers were on point all weekend turning in tons of fast swims then stepping up and racing well in finals. Wave won the meet in a clean sweep: men, women, and team titles. It was an absolute thrill to see the hard work our swimmers have been putting in really pay off. This is the third year in a row that Wave has won the Firecracker Meet, making us officially a dynasty.

A huge shout to Daniel Xia, who made his first-ever Winter Junior Nationals cut!

For this report, the coaches who attended (Kyle and Carlie coached the 11&Overs while Erin coached the 10&Unders) each picked some swimmers to highlight.

Coach Kyle's Report

• Norah Braun had a busy weekend turning in a slew of best time swims and qualifying for finals in one of her races. She showed off some of her speed dropping time in two 50s and one 100. Her most exciting race came in the 100 Breast where she swam right at her best time in prelims and got herself a lane in finals. She came back that evening and crushed it, dropping time and scoring 11 points for the team.
• Caden Gray was a swimmer on a mission over the weekend. Coming off a shoulder injury, he turned in several very good swims and qualified for finals in all seven races. Finals was where he really shined as he put his racing skills on display, finishing first in five events and scoring 129 points for Wave. The most exciting was his 200 IM, which he swam for the first time in long course. After a close race for the first 150, he left the final turn and blasted his way home, leaving his competitors in his wake.
• Alina Karptsova competed at her first long course meet ever. It was a roaring success as she turned in solid times in all eight events, including taking on some of the more challenging races. One such race was the 200 Fly. She turned in a great first-time swim in prelims that qualified her for finals. Excited to race again, she came back that night and put on a phenomenal show, dropping 12 seconds from her swim earlier in the day and scoring 16 points.
• Amelia Pletosu has been training like an absolute beast and that training certainly paid off at the meet. She produced several best times and qualified for finals in three races. To kick the meet off, she put up a huge swim in the 200 Free breaking 2:20 for the first time. Really eying the Age Group Zones qualifying time, she put everything she had into her 400 Free and after a very gutsy swim and exciting race to the finish, she achieved her goal. Amelia scored 26 points for the team.
• Daniel Xia was ready to continue his breaststroke dominance and was excited to see what the meet would bring. On the second day of the meet, we saw fireworks. In prelims, he swam a very clean and relaxed 200 Breast finishing second. He returned for finals ready to put on a show, got off to a super-fast start going only a second slower than his best 100 time. After that he never relented and turned in a very strong third 50 setting him up to race his way home with a huge lead in the last 50. He swam hard all the way to the end and won the race by 4 seconds, achieving his first ever Winter Junior Nationals qualifying time. Daniel scored 93 points for Wave.

Coach Carlie's Report

• Feynman Chen had a fantastic meet! He raced his way into two A times for 100 Free and 100 Fly and a AA time in his 50 Free. He qualified for Long course champs in his 100 fly! He dropped -2.23 in his 100 Fly. -2.78 in his 100 Free and -0.52 in his 50 Free. He swam his heart out in those races! Feynman scored 38 points for Wave.
• Bennet Geitz had some fantastic swims! He also had a few brother showdowns that he came to race and not let Henry win! -9.25 in his 200 Breast for an A time. -4.45 in 200 Fly for a monster swim for another A time. -1.97 in his 200 IM. -1.04 in 50 Free. Bennett added 23 points to Wave’s score.
• Sophia Gorveatt is always ready to swim, she has a smile on her face before she races and after all her events! She’s always driven. -53.73 in her 1500 for AA times! -7.53 in her 200 Fly for another monster swim with another AA time. She really raced this and got competitive on her last 50 and wanted to bring it home strong! -10.00 in her 200 IM for an A time. Sophia ended up with 68 points for Wave.
• Maria Kokhan was ready and eager to swim! She may have not dropped time in everything, but she had some fantastic swims, and she had a heart of gold walking up to that block. She was ready! –3.56 in her 200 Back. She was walking around thinking about the times that she was going to drop and she was going to get it in her 200 Back all day! -4.11 in 50 Back for an A time. -0.95 in 50 Breast. Maria finished with 86 points for Wave.
• Bryan Lin was ready to go out there and race, qualifying for finals in five races himself. He showed off his skills in non-freestyle events, rocking his way to finals in the 50 and 100 Fly, 50 Back, and 50 Breast. He raced fiercely in finals, moving up spots in most of his events. He capped off the meet with second place finishes in both the 50 Breast and 100 Fly. Bryan scored 75 points for Wave.

Coach Erin's Report

• Madeline Godbout swam long course for the first time and handled everything like a pro. She is an experienced athlete when it comes to swim meets, so aside only the pool length was new for her. In the pool she did a great job with all her races, with her 50 Breast standing out as the swim of the meet for her. She has worked to develop her breaststroke skills and she put a really good effort into her race, resulting in a 7^th place finish. Her 100 Breast was also a good effort swim - and her first time completing the race - finishing 6^th overall. Madeline earned 34 team points for Wave!
• Amelia Horng was another first timer for long course and she did great! She swam several races faster long course than her best short course times, showing how much she has worked to improve her swimming; both her 100 Free and 50 Breast were faster than her best yard times! In addition, she finished 4^th in her 50 Breast. Amelia earned 31 team points for Wave!
• John Tang- John worked on lengthening out his freestyle and looked super good in his freestyle races- both the 50 and 100 Free -with his 100 Free long course faster than his short course, and his 50 Free was only .04 seconds slower than his best short course time. Like Madeline and Amelia above, this was his first long course meet as well. John also completed the 100 Back and the 100 Breast at this meet for the first time.
• Zoey Harmetz also swam her first long course meet, and she did a terrific job both in and out of the pool! She completed all eight of her individual races legally and anchored one of our relays that finished in 8^th place overall. She now has four AGSO qualifying times in the 100 Back, 50 Back, 50 Free and 50 Breast.
• Otis Lloyd has come a long way since joining Wave, and his efforts at practice showed in the meet. He completed all eight of his races legally despite it being his first long course meet. He anchored both B relays for the team. Otis earned 10 team points for Wave!
• Ostap Lytvynovskyi was unable to attend the first couple days of the meet but came and raced Sunday! Despite this being his first long course meet and not being able to swim the first two days, Ostap earned 3 team points for Wave!
• Aman Bhatt swam hard in all his races over the weekend! With five new best times, including a BB time in his 100 Free, he placed no lower than 6^th place in all his races and earned 115 team points for Wave!
• Hayley Chou looked so improved in the water, and she swam really hard on her races. One of her best races over the weekend was her 50 Breast, and she also swam really well on the Medley Relay, helping her relay to a 4^th place finish. Hayley earned 4 team points for Wave!
• Beatrix Pressman made sure to keep me on my toes all weekend, with lots of verbal sparring. In the pool, her best swim was her 100 Fly, with a new long course BB time to go with her nice time drop in the race. She did a great job of using her kick to help her stroke out. Beatrix earned 14 team points for Wave!
• Evangeline Kalicinski posted three new best times over the weekend, anchored the freestyle relay that finished 4^th, and manned the breaststroke on the 1^st place Medley Relay. Eva earned 61 team points for Wave!
• Aditeya Verma looked awesome in his freestyle and backstroke races, while posting some new best times in those events. In the 100 Back, he went in seeded 11^th but finished 3^rd! Aditeya earned 89 team points for Wave!
• Timothy Rakovchuk did an awesome job over the weekend with some really strong butterfly swims. Tim along with Aman, Aditeya, and Max Sun finished 1^st in both the 200 Free Relay and the 200 Medley Relay. Tim earned 104.5 team points for Wave!

New US Motivational Times

 AAA 

• Oleg Arlouski – 200 Fly
• Nik Brusilovski – 200 Free

 AA 

• Nik Brusilovski – 200 Back
• Feynman Chen – 50 Free
• Addy Clarke – 100 Free
• Berit Dunn – 100 Breast
• Bennett Geitz – 1500 Free
• Sophia Gorveatt – 1500 Free, 200 Fly
• Caden Gray – 100 Back, 50 Free
• Ethan Lin – 200 Free
• Amelia Pletosu – 50 & 400 Free

 A 

• Quinn Anderson – 100 Fly
• Oleg Arlouski – 200 IM
• Nik Brusilovski – 200 Fly
• Feynman Chen – 100 Fly, 100 Free
• Addy Clarke – 200 Free
• Bennett Geitz – 200 Fly, 200 Breast
• Sophia Gorveatt – 200 IM
• Caden Gray – 200 Back, 200 IM
• Kirill Kadach – 50 Free
• Maria Kokhan – 50 Back
• Bryan Lin – 50 & 100 Fly, 50 Breast
• Ethan Lin – 200 Breast
• Joshua Rus – 800 Free
• Maya Surugiu – 200 Back, 200 Breast
• Gabe Traina – 200 & 400 Free
• Edi Vasilescu – 200 Back

 BB 

• Bradley Barkins – 200 Back
• Aman Bhatt – 200 Free
• Lucy Broyles – 50 & 200 Breast
• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 200 Free
• Roman Byelykh – 200 Back
• Daniel Chen – 100 Fly
• Addy Clarke – 200 IM
• Berit Dunn – 50 & 100 Fly
• Dario Giuliani – 50, 100 & 200 Free, 100 Fly, 200 IM
• Abby Gong – 200 Back
• Devon Gordon – 100 & 200 Breast
• Caden Gray – 200 IM
• Olivia Horng – 50 & 100 Breast
• Evangeline Kalicinski – 200 IM
• Maria Kokhan – 200 Free
• Bryan Lin – 200 Free, 50 Back
• Michael Nikitenko – 50 Free
• Kieran O’Gorman – 200 Breast
• Vien Pogue – 200 Free
• Beatrix Pressman – 100 Fly
• Tim Rakovchuk – 100 Back
• Amaris Rus – 1500 Free, 200 Back
• Max Sun – 200 Free
• Megan Traina – 200 Fly
• Edi Vasilescu – 200 Free
• Isabella Vasilescu – 50 & 200 Free, 200 Fly
• Aditeya Verma – 50 & 100 Back, 50 Fly
• Natalie Whitbeck – 100 Breast
• Finley Wiegand – 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Back
• Piper Wiegand – 50 & 400 Free, 400 IM
• Arjun Yadav – 200 Free, 50 Breast
• Alyssa Yang – 50 & 100 Breast

 B 

• Gahl Ami ad – 200 Breast, 200 Fly
• Alex Arlouski – 100 Breast
• Aman Bhatt – 100 Free
• Arya Bhatt – 200 IM
• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 100 Breast
• Roman Byelykh – 200 IM
• Feynman Chen – 100 Back
• Daniel Cho – 100 Back
• Hayley Chou – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Kevin Flannery – 200 Free
• Dario Giuliani – 200 Breast
• Thomas Godbout – 50, 100 & 200 Free, 100 Back
• Devon Gordon – 50 Free
• Blakely Hansen – 100 Free, 200 IM
• Zoey Harmetz – 100 Back
• Kirsten Hau – 200 Back
• Roohi Indurkar – 50, 100 & 200 Free, 100 Breast
• Kirill Kadach – 100 Fly
• Priyadarshi Lahiri – 50 Free
• Bryan Lin – 100 Back
• Otis Lloyd – 50 Back
• Lainey Meyer – 200 & 400 Free, 50 Back
• Maksim Nikitenko – 200 Back
• Michael Nikitenko – 200 IM, 400 Free
• Tim Rakovchuk – 100 Breast
• Miranda Range – 100 Free
• George Ursulenko – 200 Free
• Aditeya Verma – 200 IM
• Natalie Whitbeck – 100 Back, 200 IM
• Finley Wiegand – 100 & 200 Free, 100 Back, 200 IM
• Alyssa Yang – 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Ally Yuan – 200 Back, 200 Breast

WAVE ON 3!!