Western Senior Zone Championships Meet Recap

Western Zone Senior Championships was Wave’s final meet of the 2023-24 season, and we finished the year with yet another strong performance. Wave had an awesome week at Senior Zones! The senior group came strong and ready to swim fast and that’s what they did In Fresno. We had lots of best times, many exciting races, new cuts achieved, swimmers coming back for finals and tons of fun! The group did a fantastic job cheering on their teammates, supporting each other and being accountable during the meet. Congratulations to all our swimmers at the meet, and congratulations to everyone on Wave for such a fantastic, successful year!

Senior 1

The Senior 1 group had 11 swimmers compete at the Western Zone Senior Championships. Everyone who came to the meet did an awesome job of stepping up and racing hard. These swimmers were all coming off very successful champs meets and it was amazing to see them get excited and post super fast swims for one last time this season. Every swimmer who attended the meet put in an incredible amount of hard work this season and they were rewarded for their efforts.

• Bradley Barkans qualified for the meet at the last possible meet and was eager to take on the challenge of such a big meet and race at his absolute best. He proved to be a valuable member of several relays. He entered the meet in the 100 Free with the exact bonus time standard, got off to a fast start, then was able to hold on and come home strong in the event breaking 1:00 for the first time and dropping 0.5 in the process. Bradley scored 2 points for Wave.
• Lena Duryee continued to show her dominance in the shorter sprint events. She posted the 3^rd fastest time on the team in the 100 Free and the 4^th fastest in the 50 Free. She stepped up big time and was a member of several relays, posting solid swims on all of them. Her most exciting race came in the 100 Fly, which she decided to time trial. She took the race out well looking strong and smooth the first 50, she then stayed tough and brought it home well the second 50 resulting in a solid best time in the event.
• Bennett Geitz came into the meet riding some huge swims at Champs. He kept the momentum going, turning in several big swims at the meet and being a valuable member of the relay teams he swam for. He made us wait until the final race of the final day of the meet to turn in his best performance. His first time swimming the 800, he attacked the race exactly the way we talked about beforehand. He executed his race strategy to near perfection and turned in a huge swim going right at the Sectionals cut.
• Peter Hansen was another swimmer who was able to qualify for the meet with some monster swims at Champs. He was determined to make the most out of the first big meet he attended and he did exactly that. He was super strong on all the relays he was in, going right at his best time. He had a great 100 Free, dropping for the second time in two weeks. He got off to a rocket start then was able to hold on until the finish to go his best time and get under 1:00 for only the second time ever.
• Cora Ledrick has been focusing more on distance swimming but shifted towards the end of the season to some more sprint-focused training as most of her qualifying events were shorter. She responded well to the new training and looked incredibly strong in her relay swims, she was a member of both the 400 and 800 A relays. She had a strong 100 Free going right at her best time with a strong first 50, going out just a tiny bit slower than planned, then turned on the jets to come home strong and see very little fade. Cora scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Amelia Pletosu entered the meet as one of the youngest swimmers and took on a tough schedule of events, swimming all the freestyle races except the 50. She made the most out of her swims going right at her best time in the 100 and 200 Free. She also waited until the final event of the meet to make her biggest splash. She dialed it in and swam an incredible 800 Free, hitting her pace incredibly well and getting into a dead race to the finish with another swimmer in her heat, which she won, almost breaking the 10:00 barrier for the first time.
• Ani Purkayastha had a blast coming to a big meet with her teammates and getting the opportunity to cheer them on as well as swim super-fast. She works incredibly hard day in and day out at practice and she has earned every bit of success that she has enjoyed. Her hard work continued to pay off. She has been super strong underwater and has worked on keeping her tempo high above the water in her backstroke. She used a strong start and turn as well as improved arm speed between the walls to post a solid time in the 100 Back, going her second fastest time ever.
• Josh Rus like some others took on the distance freestyle events at the meet. He also posted a solid 800 Free to end the meet but he didn’t make us wait nearly as long to see some fireworks. He kicked off the meet with a huge swim in the 1500 Free. He was able to find his pace early and just went from there on his way to a massive 40-second drop.
• Maya Surugiu entered the meet also riding high off a very successful Champs meet. She was determined to ride out the taper and turn in some even more solid swims. She has been eyeing the Sectionals cut in the 100 Breast. She dropped twice at her last meeting putting her incredibly close to the cut. Once again, she produced a stellar swim, dropping in the race for the third time in as many swims putting her right at the edge of the qualifying time.
• Gabe Traina did a lot of sprint freestyle at the event, so much so that he wants to get some backstroke cuts for next year to add some variety. He did an amazing job of racing, turning in best times in all but one of his swims. His best race came as the lead off leg of the 800 Free Relay. Ready for some redemption from his last 200, he blasted his way to a major 4-second drop in the race.
• Molly Traina continued to show off her sprint speed. She does a wonderful job attacking each race and swimming hard from start to finish. She turned in a solid swim in the 50 Free, coming very close to breaking :29 for the first time. Her biggest swim came in the 400 Medley Relay. Looking to improve on her individual 100 Fly, she stepped up and crushed her race, getting off to a super-fast start then she came home super well, much better than in her individual race, staying long and keeping good tempo the whole way to drop 2 seconds and go under 1:10 for the first time.

High School

The High School Group had two swimmers compete at Western Zone Senior Championships. Both boys put in tons of hard work in the pool this season to qualify for this meet. This was the highest level meet either of them has attended so far and they both stepped up and did an amazing job racing. The hard work they put in really paid off as they turned in some spectacular swims.

• Feynman Chen had strong swims in the 100 Fly and the 100 Free, going right at this best time in both events. He did a great job executing his race strategies and is eager to get back to work to improve upon the successes he had this season. He had a blast watching finals and learning new tricks to help him with his races.
• Andy Wang made the most out of the few days he attended the meet. He had a super strong 100 Free, dropping from his time from just two weeks ago and putting himself so close to breaking 1:00 for the first time. He swam a very strong anchor leg of his 800 Free Relay, putting up a personal best.

Senior Prep

• Sophia Gorveatt was the lone Senior Prep swimmer and one of the youngest swimmers at the meet. She didn’t let the moment get too big for her though as she started the meet off with a bang. She swam a strong 200 Fly, fading just a little bit down the stretch but qualifying herself for the C final in the biggest meet of her life. In finals, she put up an even better swim staying strong down the stretch going 2 seconds faster and her moving up four places from her prelims swim. Sophia scored 3 points for Wave.

Senior Epic

Enjoy some highlights from Senior Epic:

• Oleg Arlouski was on fire at Zones. He got his first-ever Futures cut in the 200 Fly and went a best time in every event he swam. In the 200 Fly, he went a best time in prelims dropping a second and came back for finals to swim a fantastic race where he dropped another 3 seconds and got his well-deserved Futures cut. Another spectacular swim was his 400 Free where he dropped the hammer in the last 50 meters and won the D final with an exciting finish. He smashed his personal best time (again!) by 7 seconds. He dropped 19 seconds in the 400 Free in the past two weeks! Oleg scored 7 points for Wave.
• Megan Traina came strong to Fresno and went a best time in all her freestyle events (50, 100 & 200) and the 200 Back. Her outstanding swim was the 200 Back where she dropped 3 seconds in the morning and punched her ticket to swim in finals. Then she was able to go even faster in her second swim and shaved off another few tenths from prelims with a total of 3.66 seconds drop. Kudos for her consistent underwater dolphin kicks during her races. Megan scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Nik Brusilovski had an amazing meet and went lifetime bests in all freestyle events he swam. He qualified for three finals, including the A final in the 800 Free where he finished in 7^th place and went a best time this season, again getting very close to the Futures cut. The other two finals he swam were the 400 Free where he managed to swim strong for the entire race and had a total drop of 3.60 seconds, and the 200 Fly that turned out in an amazing swim and a surprising 6.5-second drop in this new event for him. Nik scored 41 points for Wave.
• Jenna Kimborowick was enjoying every moment of her last meet with Wave and having fun with her races! She started the meet going a best time in the 1500 Free on the first day and had great swims during the week. She went best times in the 200 & 400 Free two weeks ago at Senior Champs and swam right at her times again at Senior Zones. She also had amazing relay swims and swam her fastest 100 Free anchoring the 400 Medley Relay! Jenna scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Anton Mazepa went best times in the 14 & Under Champs a few days before Zones and was able to go even faster at Senior Zones. H3 qualified for finals in both 100 & 200 Back and crushed it! He dropped another second in the 200 Back after a huge drop at Champs and smashed his 100 Back time dropping a full second in finals. H3 also had an excellent 800 Free and missed the Spring Sectionals cut by only 0.44!
• Anouk Balog was very excited with her meet, her swims and feeling pretty good before her races. She went best times in both 100 and 200 Fly and went right at her times in the freestyle events. In the 200 Fly, she qualified for finals after a solid swim in prelims, then she came back in the evening for a stronger race where she managed to finish stronger than the morning and go a best time! Anouk scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Kieran O’ Gorman had an excellent meet, his last one with Wave, and got his first-ever Spring Sectionals cut in the 100 Breast dropping almost 3 seconds from a time he got two weeks before at Senior Champs and missed the Summer Sectionals cut by only 0.01! He demonstrated great versatility going best times in the 50 & 100 Free, 100 & 200 Back as well as the 100 Breast, finishing his season in great style!
• Samantha Merriam had an amazing meet and went best times in all her events! She has been kicking a lot at practice due to a shoulder injury and has been doing an excellent job to stay in shape with her kick training. It worked well and she was happy to see her time in the 100 Fly where she had a solid 3-second drop holding strong kicks throughout the entire race. She also broke the :30 barrier for the first time in the 50 Free.
• Henry Geitz got six best times and crushed his freestyle events at the meet! His outstanding swims were the 1500 Free where he dropped almost 14 seconds with an excellent closing speed and the 200 Free where he had a huge 6-second drop by demonstrating a solid race strategy and a strong finish.
• Rina Yuan was prevented from her normal training routine for many weeks due to an illness and was more focused on executing solid race strategies than going best times. She did a great job in her last meet with Wave and was satisfied with her 100 Free and especially with her 50 Free where she was surprised to go only a few tenths of second off her best time.
• Adrian Juco swam best times at the 14 & Under Champs a few days ago and came to Senior Zones to race the 100 & 200 Breast. Last week, he smashed his time in the 200 Breast dropping 7 seconds and getting another Summer Sectionals cut. At Zones, he was able to qualify for finals in the 200 Breast with solid swims in both prelims and finals going just a bit slower than the prior week.
• Caroline Bryant swam two individual events and two relays at Zones. Her main goal was to work on her stroke tempo and technique, and she did a great job executing those skills. She was excited to cheer on her teammates and had a blast with the girls during the week.
• Boston Borg had a solid meet and managed to swim really well in all his events. In the 100 Free, he went a best time, dropping 0.61 tenths of second and he was very happy to swim right at his times in the 200 Free after a long period not being able to swim so close to his personal best. Boston scored 2 points for Wave.
• Iris Huang swam three events at Zones and went lifetime bests in all of them. Her strongest swim was the 50 Free where she broke the :30 barrier for the first time and was excited with her achievement. In the 100 Free and 100 Fly, she dropped 0.5 from the times she recently achieved during this long course season.

Top 24 Finishes

Individual

• Oleg Arlouski – 20^th (200 Fly)
• Nik Brusilovskyi – 7^th (800 Free), 11^th (400 Free)
• Sophia Gorveatt – 21^st (200 Fly)

Relay

• Male 800 Free Relay – 21^st (Oleg, Nik, Boston Borg, Bradley Barkans)
• Female 800 Free Relay – 22^nd (Megan Traina, Jenna Kimborwicz, Cora Ledrick, Anouk Balog)

New US Motivational Times

 AAA 

• Anton Mazepa – 200 Back

WAVE ON 3!!