SSCD Autumn Open Meet Recap

The Select Team kicked off the new season with a great weekend of swimming. We had time drops all weekend long and the athletes left the meet with new best times, new cuts, and a good feeling for where they are starting the season. The groups are off to a great start and we will keep the grind going to hit some new milestones this year!!! Wave was led by Irene Qu, who earned four new AAA times!

Senior 1

Senior 1 had 31 swimmers compete at our first meet of the season, which we used as a great training tool and practiced hard all the way up to the meet. The athletes did a fantastic job of stepping up and racing super well. Even though they were swimming on no rest, we had swimmers crushing their best times and turning in awesome swim after awesome swim. We had several swimmers achieve big breakthroughs and many picked up AGI and Champs qualifying times. It was wonderful to see the hard work we have been putting in pay off in such a big way. I’m looking forward to more fast swimming as we continue the season.

• Phoebe Anderson has been working hard since joining the group in September. Her hard work paid off in a big way as she turned in several strong swims and dropped time in almost all her races. She has been working hard on butterfly and that paid off. She had an awesome 100 Fly, dropping almost 3 seconds and going under 1:10 for the first time. She showed off some pure speed in the 50 Fly going under :30 for the first time and getting her 15-year-old Gold time.
• Tanay Boda has stepped up his training big time this season. He was very excited to race and see his hard work pay off as he went a perfect 6/6 best times. He looked strong in all his races, swimming with great confidence to go along with some newfound speed and endurance. He had a huge swim in the 200 Free, going out quickly and then using his training to hold on well during the back half of the race resulting in a huge 4-second drop.
• Lauren Hizzey had a great time at the meet showing that she is a very versatile swimmer. She showed off great speed in her sprint races while showcasing her solid endurance in the longer events. She had a monster swim in the 100 Free, swimming the race strong all the way to the end and breaking the 1:00 barrier for the first time. She also showed off some endurance in the 200 Back, splitting the race incredibly evenly, giving her a nice time drop and a 1^st place finish.
• Aditi Kandiah is coming back from an illness and working hard to improve her speed and stamina. She has been working to improve all her strokes and that work showed big time. She had a phenomenal 200 IM, getting off to a great start then turned in one of the best breaststroke legs she has ever had, then finished strong resulting in a huge 5-second drop.
• Jiesse Shi joined Wave in September. He has quickly worked his way into the group and is thriving. He had fantastic performances across the board to join the 6/6 best time club. He put his height and wingspan to great use in the sprint freestyle events, smashing his old best times in both the 50 and 100, dropping 2 and 3 seconds respectively.
• Edi Vasilescu put his game face on and got down to business, dropping time in all six events. He has been working hard in practice and has been getting much stronger and that really showed in his racing. He started the meet off crushing the 100 Back, dropping 5 seconds and earning a Champs consideration time. He followed that up with a blisteringly fast 100 Free, not just breaking the 1:00 barrier for the first time but breaking it by 3 seconds.

Age Group 1

AG1 group had an excellent start to the new season with some great swims and great times. Mmore importantly, we saw some tremendous positive steps in their technique development for all four strokes. It was great to see the kids get to race hard and put their new skills to the test in a meet. Great job to the group!!! Standout Swims:

• Nolan Gu had a very strong weekend of swimming, completing his first 100 Back, 100 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly, and 50 Free in a meet. It was great to see him competing and knocking out some great times at the meet. His standout swim was his 100 Free where his flip turn work has really shown and improved.
• Vivian Hu had a great meet. She rocked 6/6 in the best times department and had some tremendous swims over the weekend. Her standout swim has to be her 18-second drop in the 100 Breast, where her kick really showed through and helped finish the race with a strong last 25.
• Sophia Liu had a very fast weekend with five best times and dropped more than 30 seconds between those 5 events. Her standout swim must be her 11.5-second drop in the 100 Free where she kept her stroke long smooth throughout and had a great race home on the last 25.
• Steven Wang had a great swim meet, with excellent times throughout (four best times and his first 200 Free). His standout swim was a 16-second drop in his 100 Free where the improvements on his technique showed through and helped him finish with a strong back half.
• Owen Wilson had a great weekend of swimming with 5/5 best times and completing his very first 500 Free. His best race was his 200 Free where he dropped 37 seconds by keeping his stroke smooth and had a great back end of the swim to rock that big time drop.

Age Group 2

AG2 spent the first month doing a lot of technique work and slowly building up training strength. All the hard work on improving their strokes, streamlines, turns, strategy, and dolphin kicks resulted in a boatload of best times and new cuts. A huge shout out to our 23 first-time 500 Free swims and our 11 first-time 400 IM swims. Well done, AG2!

• Aman Bhatt dropped 72 seconds, going 5/5 in best times as well as racing his first 500. His best race was his 200 Free, where he not only crushed his previous time by 50(!) seconds, but split the race just as we’ve practiced, building the 3^rd 50 beautifully and using a strong six-beat kick on the final 50.
• Tim Rakovchuk was our only first-time 200 Fly swimmer, and he raced beautifully, keeping a long, smooth level stroke for the first 150, then blasting his final 50 with an incredible burst of speed. He also swam his first 200 Breast and 500 Free and averaged a drop of 5 seconds in his other three races.
• Olivia Horng just joined the group in September and has quickly proven to be a very hard worker, which paid off big time as she earned her first-ever A times in the 100 Fly and 100 Free, which included dropping 15 seconds in her 100 Fly. She went 5/5 over the weekend and picked up a BB time in her first-ever 500 Free.
• Addy Clarke was oh-so-close last season to breaking the :30 in her 50 Free, and at SSCD she accomplished the challenge with a well-executed race where she hit each breath exactly where she planned and used excellent breakouts at both ends to barrel into the finish with her first :29! She went 6/6 over the weekend and earned five new motivational times.
• Fiona Herman hovered in the mid :29s in her 50 Free all last season. At this meet, however, she used her tremendous kick and executed her breathing plan perfectly, smashing the :29 barrier easily as she cruised to a 28.38 and earning an A time. She also swam her first 400 IM and earned an automatic Champs cut.

Senior Prep

Sr Prep had 49 swimmers compete and we saw tons of outstanding swims and best times thanks to all their hard work in practice. Standout Swims:

• Arjun Bhate had a tremendous meet with 6/6 best times and really showing those older 14&Ups what he can do in the pool. It was great to see his hard work in training pay off. His standout swim was his 4+ second drop in his 100 Free where he really brought home the second 50 with some strong kick and great breakouts.
• Yuzuki Ishizuka rocked the meet with 6/6 best times at the meet. She had several great swims with some big times drops throughout. Her standout swim was her 8.5-second drop in her 200 Free, where she hung on for a well split race.
• Maria Kokhan had a great meet going 5/5 in best times and completed her very first 200 Fly. The 200 Fly was awesome as she kept her stroke strong the whole way through, but I’ve also got to shout out the 18-second drop in her 100 Fly. Both fly events showed the work she has been putting into her technique at practice in that stroke!
• Victor Lyakhovitski had a tremendous first meet with Wave. He went 6/6 best times and knocked all his events out of the park. His standout swim must be his 6.5-second drop in his 100 Breast, where he kept his pullouts strong and tempo up on the back half of the race.
• Lainey Meyer had a fantastic weekend of swimming, also going 6/6 in best times. She rocked all her swims with some big time drops in the 100 and 200 Breast. The 200 Breast was her standout swim as she kept her stroke forward in the water and her hips up behind her. She had some great pull outs throughout the race.

Senior Epic

Senior Epic had a strong start to the season with many fast swims and lots of best times in our first meet. I was pleased to see the Epic swimmers being able to get up and race despite the heavy week of training we had before the meet. Good job to everyone who tried to implement the underwater dolphin kicks we have been working at practice. This was just the beginning of the season and we will continue to work hard to get stronger, faster and better. Enjoy some highlights from our group:

• Daniel Xia came back strong for his short course season, going 5/6 best times. He swam two new AAA Times in both freestyle sprint events (50 and 100 Free), and broke the :22 barrier for the first time in the 50 Free (21.97).
• Anderson Quinn had a great meet and went five best times with outstanding swims in the 400 IM and the 500 Free. He dropped 9 seconds in the former and 26 seconds in the latter, demonstrating good consistency in the longer events.
• Peter Hansen went back home with four new personal bests. He was able to drop time in his main events and also in some off events. Besides a gigantic drop in the 400 IM (-22.54 seconds), he also dropped 0.60 in the 100 Free, one his strongest events.
• Amaris Rus had a solid meet, swam three best times, and was very close to his personal bests in the other events. His outstanding swim was the 200 Free where he had a solid race strategy, dropped 3.35 seconds, and broke the 2:00 barrier for the first time.
• Logan Downing swam only three events at the meet and went two best times. He has been working on his fly technique at practice and was able to see a huge improvement in the 100 Fly dropping 14 seconds and getting very close to the 1:00 mark.

New US Motivational Times

 AAA 

• Addy Clarke – 100 Free
• Ellen Feng – 100 IM, 50 Back
• Olivia Henaire – 200 & 500 Free, 400 IM
• Dami Jung – 100 IM
• Irene Qu – 50, 100 & 200 Breast; 100 IM
• Owen Wilson – 200 Free
• Daniel Xia – 100 & 200 Free
• Andy Yang – 100 Breast, 100 & 200 IM

 AA 

• Oleg Arlouski – 200 Free
• Addy Clarke – 200 Free, 50 Breast
• Ellen Feng – 200 IM
• Sophia Gorveatt – 100 Free
• Elaina Jiang – 50 Breast
• Dami Jung – 100 Back, 200 IM
• Maria Kokhan – 100 Back
• Lingyi Li – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 IM, 500 Free
• Ethan Lin – 200 IM, 200 Free
• Irene Qu – 100 Free
• Max Sun – 100 Breast, 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Alex Wang – 100 Back
• Owen Wilson – 100 Back
• Andy Yang – 100 Back, 100 Free
• Isshin Yokoyama – 100 Free

 A 

• Quinn Anderson – 200 & 500 Free, 400 IM
• Ahana Bhattacharya – 200 Back
• Adele Bokach – 50 Free
• Deniz Cankaya – 100 & 200 Back
• Daniel Chen – 200 Breast
• Addy Clarke – 50 Fly
• Ann Dinh – 50 Breast
• Ellen Feng – 100 Breast
• Blakely Hansen – 50 Fly
• Olivia Henaire – 200 Back
• Fiona Herman – 50 & 100 Free
• Nora Herman – 100 Free
• Lauren Hizzey – 100 Back
• Olivia Horng – 100 Fly, 100 Free
• Vivian Hu – 100 Breast
• Elaina Jiang – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Free
• Kirill Kadach – 100 Free
• Maria Kokhan – 100 Free, 200 IM
• Lingyi Li – 100 Fly
• Yihan Li – 100 Back, 500 Free
• Olivia Liu – 100 & 200 Breast, 100 Free, 100 IM
• Andy Nguyen – 100 & 400 IM
• David Rondel – 100 Back
• Jiesse Shi – 50 Free
• Dan Sun – 100 Back
• Max Sun – 100 Free
• Gabe Traina – 200 & 500 Free
• Alex Wang – 100 Free, 200 IM
• Piper Wiegand – 200 & 500 Free
• Owen Wilson – 100 Fly, 200 Free
• Daniel Xia – 100 Fly
• Isshin Yokoyama – 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 IM
• Grace Zhang – 100 Breast

 BB 

• Gahl Ami ad – 100 Fly, 50 Free
• Phoebe Anderson – 100 Fly
• Akira Andhare – 50 Back, 50 Fly
• Alex Arlouski – 50 & 100 Back, 100 IM
• Oleg Arlouski – 100 Back
• Aman Bhatt –100, 200 & 500 Free; 100 Back
• Tanay Boda – 200 Free
• Adele Bokach – 200 Free
• Lucy Broyles – 100 & 200 IM
• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 400 IM
• Arifin Capiral – 100 Breast
• Aaron Chakraborty – 100 Free
• Hayley Chou – 50 & 100 Free, 100 IM
• Addy Clarke – 50 Free, 100 Fly
• Rhea Dawani – 200 Breast
• Evan Deng – 100 & 200 Free, 200 Breast, 200 IM
• Ann Ding – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Fly
• Logan Downing – 100 Fly, 500 Free
• Berit Dunn – 200 Breast, 400 IM
• Mira Erdim – 100 Back
• Tyler Fernandez – 50 Back
• Rihit Gandhi – 50 Breast
• Abby Gray – 100 Breast
• Caden Gray – 100 & 200 Back, 100 Free
• Nolan Gu – 50 Breast
• Blakely Hansen – 200 IM
• Peter Hansen – 400 IM
• Fiona Herman – 100 Breast, 400 IM
• Olivia Horng – 50 Fly, 500 Free
• Yuzuki Ishizuka – 50 & 200 Free
• Elaina Jiang – 200 Free
• Eva Kalicinski – 100 Breast
• Maria Kokhan – 100 & 200 Fly
• Yihan Li – 100 Breast, 400 IM
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Back, 100 Free, 200 IM
• Sophie Liu – 100 Breast
• Victor Lyakhovitski – 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Free
• Emily MacDonald – 50 Free
• Karina Maksyutov – 100 Back, 100 IM, 50 Breast
• Rinat Maksyutov – 100 Back
• Lainey Meyer – 200 Free, 200 IM
• Andy Ngueyn – 100 Free
• Andrew Ouyang – 50 & 100 Fly, 100 IM, 50 Free
• Beatrix Pressman – 100 Back, 200 IM, 50 Breast
• Anika Razdan – 200 Free, 200 Breast
• Maya Razdan – 100 Back
• Jiesse Shi – 200 Free
• Clara Stevenson – 200 Free
• Dan Sun – 100 Breast, 200 Free
• Max Sun – 500 Free
• Edi Vasilescu – 100 & 200 Back, 100 & 200 Free
• Aditeya Verma – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Free
• Alex Wang – 100 Breast
• Maja Wang – 100 Free, 200 IM
• Natalie Whitbeck – 100 Fly, 100 & 200 Free
• Finley Wiegand – 100 & 500 Free
• Owen Wilson – 500 Free
• Kenshin Yokoyama – 100 Back, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Ally Yuan – 200 Back, 400 IM, 50 Breast
• Landon Yuan – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Grace Zhang – 50 & 100 Back
• Maggie Zhou – 100 Fly

 B 

• Alex Arlouski – 100 Breast
• Mira Arora – 500 Free
• Esha Bhatia – 100 Back
• Aman Bhatt – 50 Fly
• Ahana Bhattacharya – 200 Breast, 200 Fly
• Tanay Boda – 100 Back, 100 Fly
• Norah Braun – 200 Breast
• Kamilla Bugatisova – 200 Breast
• Aaron Chakraborty – 100 Back, 100 IM
• Leo Chen – 50, 200 & 500 Free; 50 & 100 Fly; 50 Back
• Hayley Chou – 50 Fly
• Ann Ding – 200 Free
• Berit Dunn – 200 Back, 50 Free
• Mira Erdim – 200 Free, 200 IM
• Kaito Falk – 50 & 100 Free
• Tyler Fernandez – 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Ella Gao – 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Dario Giuliani – 100 & 200 Back
• Abby Gray – 50 & 100 Fly, 50 Breast
• Caden Gray – 100 Fly
• Nolan Gu – 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free, 50 Fly
• Yuzuki Ishizuka – 100 & 200 Back
• Zhizhi Ji – 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Haim Jung – 200 Free
• Yeim Jung – 50 & 100 Breast
• Eva Kalicinski – 100 Back, 100 IM
• Adam Kantor – 100 Back
• Yihan Li – 100 Fly
• Bryan Lin – 100 Back, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Breast, 50 Fly
• Sophie Liu – 100 Free, 100 IM, 50 Breast
• Victor Lyakhovitski – 100 Fly
• Yuna Ma – 100 & 200 Free, 100 Back, 200 IM
• Emily MacDonald – 100 Back, 100 Free
• Karina Maksyutov – 200 Back
• Rinat Maksyutov – 200 Back, 200 Free, 500 Free
• Lainey Meyer – 100 Back, 100 & 200 Breast
• Melissa Nguyen – 100 IM, 50 Free
• Maksim Nikitenko – 100 & 500 Free, 200 IM
• Beatrix Pressman – 200 Free
• Tim Rakovchuk – 50 & 200 Fly
• Anika Razdan – 200 Back, 50 Fly
• David Rondel – 200 Free
• Jiesse Shi – 200 IM
• Max Smagley – 200 IM
• Siena Stahlkopf – 200 Free
• Leo Steijn – 100 & 200 Free, 200 & 400 IM
• Vedah Tuladhar – 100 Breast
• George Ursulenko – 100 Back
• Anna Ventura – 100 Back, 500 Free
• Aditeya Verman – 100 Breast, 500 Free
• Maja Wang – 500 Free
• Steven Wang – 50 Breast
• Natalie Whitbeck – 500 Free
• Avani Yadav – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back
• Aiden Ye – 200 Free
• Landon Yuan – 100 Back, 200 IM
• Bella Zhang – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Breast
• Maggie Zhou – 100 Back, 100 & 200 Free

WAVE ON 3!!