Wave Wins Big at Spring Finale!

Jay Pearson

Spring Finale Meet Recap

Wave swimmers finished the 2024-25 Short Course Season in style, handily winning the Division 3 Spring Finale with 593.5 points and showing team spirit that was off the charts! The team was represented by swimmers from every single group and was led by Lucy Broyles, who won 4 individual races, scored 38 points (most by a Wave swimmer), and earned a AA and two A times! Shoutouts also to Rinat Maksyutov, who won 3 races, and to Bianca Benson, Ann Dinh, Amelia Pletosu, and Anna Ventura, who all won 2 races! Awesome job to all of Wave on a fantastic SC Season!!!

Black Group

Our Black Group athletes only had four practices between the Marlin Madness Meet and the Spring Finale, but they showed up ready to race and did a fantastic job overall.

Aaradhya Bharadwaj had a great day of racing and finished 12^th Place in the 10&U Pentathlon. She brought lots of good intensity to all her races and earned her first BB time.
Mo Chen put in an outstanding effort in all his swims and really had a nice race in his 50 Free.
Arthur Dauletbaev has been steadily making improvements in practice, so it was great to have him qualify for this meet and even better to have him there racing. His best swim of the day was his 50 Breast with a solid effort and some improved skills.
Elizabeth Ellis does a fabulous job at practice and her improvements really showed with an excellent swim in her 100 IM
Raya Hari put together the 100 IM the coaches knew she could do, so it was fun watching her race tough in that one.
Amelia Horng does an awesome job at practices, so the coaches were super pumped for her to make this meet and come race. She dropped a little bit of time in her 50 Breast, and we can see lots more of that in the future for her.
Ryan Hu was the youngest Black Group swimmer at the meet and earned some good race experience getting to swim all five races.
Timothy Huang raced hard in his two races and will be racing all five at this meet next time.
Remington Kalicinski was able to race all five events and did an awesome job in each one of them!
Connor Li swam in four races with his best this day being his 50 Breast where we saw him really make good use of his arm strokes to be fast.
Martin Li raced in four events, did all four legally, and posted his best so far in his 100 IM.
Emilia Miller had just two races but did an awesome job in both, earning a new best time in her 50 Free and getting her first 50 Back on the board.
Hudson Porter had a nice meet, and the coaches were happy to see the improvements he’s been working on in his breaststroke and IM events.
Cora Sun raced all five events, posted a nice time in her 100 IM, and finished in 23^rd place for the Pentathlon – very good for being 8!
Avyaan Wasuja had two races and did a great job in both including a new best time in his 50 Back!

White Group

A Group

Maximilian Schrepfer had an exciting 50 Fly dropping more than 3 seconds and earning his first BB time! He powered through the race with a quick tempo and strong drive to get this new motivational cut!
Vihaan Mehrotra furthered improved his 50 Free time dropping 2.5 seconds and getting a time of 35.62. He is great at racing aggressively and cheering his teammates on at practice and meets.
Alexander Bouianov dropped in every event he swam at this meet. He had an especially impressive 50 Breast, dropping more than 2 seconds. He’s been working on having a smooth rhythm and technique in breaststroke earning him a solid time drop!
Hanna Nagpal had an overall amazing meet and really shined on her 50 Back, shaving off 5 seconds. She does great at listening and applying coach feedback and trying her best in every race!

B Group

Naomi Lynn had one of the best meets across the board for White Group. She not only dropped in every event but received her first-ever B time in the 50 Back with a 3.95-second drop. Fantastic job, Naomi!
Madeline Godbout shattered the :50 barrier, dropping more than 5 seconds and earning a new time of 47.71 on her 50 Free. Amazing focus and finish, Madeline!
Felix Henaire was coming back from an injury but still pushed himself to drop in all his races with the best being 6 seconds on his 100 IM. He was strong and quick for each stroke, resulting in an amazing race!
Emma Ter-Vardanyan had a few bumps with some DQs on earlier events but learned from them and came back stronger finishing this meet with a 4-second drop in her 50 free!

Purple Group

A Group

Shatadru Roy Choudhury achieved his long-held goal of getting a BB time in his 50 Free! He moved to A group this past season and has been working hard to lead the lane and learn from his teammates. Great work, Shatadru!
Claire Olsen is one of our best swimmers when it comes to coachability and applying advice for races. She had an amazing 100 Free swimming it exactly as we had discussed and dropped more than 2 seconds, crushing her competition.
Ross Gawthrop was our Purple representative for the 13&Overs session. He did great keeping up with the older swimmers both in warm ups and his races. He kept pace with his competition in the 200 Free and cut 3 seconds off his time swimming smart and strong.
Elizabeth Lytvynenko was coming back from on-and-off illness but still destroyed this meet. By having an aggressive tempo and smooth form, she dropped more than 15 seconds off her 100 IM and collected another B time.

B Group

Prisha Ahuja swam on Saturday for both the 50 Breast and 200 Breast. She did great on her turns and is working on keeping a level head before races to ensure fast swims. Great job, Prisha!
Julia Bouianov had an amazing 200 Free, dropping 13 seconds from her time. She was pretty nervous going into the race, but she swam it smart and fast and did absolutely amazing!
Thomas Godbout swam both days with one race in particular standing out. He demolished his 50 Back, dropping more than half a second and having a much smoother form. He’s been working hard in practice to perfect his technique and it really showed at this meet!
Joshua Hunter had a bumpy 50 Breast but came back stronger and smoother on his 100 Breast, shaving off 4 seconds and learning how to get into a powerful glide.

High School

We didn’t have a ton of swimmers at this meet but we had a ton of time drops! We’ve been training hard and working on being the best versions we can be in the pool.

Dima Leonov-Vendrovskiy had some great races! His best race was his 50 Fly. He had the biggest time drop there. His second-best race deserves a notable mention: his 100 Free. He has been working so hard on bettering his mechanics and trying to get under a 1:00. He almost got it!
Roshni Padmanabhan had a really great swim in her 100 Free. Her goal is to get her first A time in that event. She is so close. She should be there soon!
Leyla Wallace was the only High School swimmer who was there both days! Kudos for just that! She asks questions at every practice and tries to perfect the stroke. Her result was time drops in everything, a perfect 6/6! She’s been working extremely hard on her 100 Free, and she dropped 2 seconds, just missing the 1:10 barrier.
Jonathan Yu is always working on breaststroke and whip kick in practice and earned a best time in his 50 Breast, dropping 1.3 seconds.
Kennedy Trembley’s best race was in the 100 Back. Backstroke doesn’t come natural for her and she has been working on getting better endurance and better all around in the event. It showed with a great 2.2-second drop!

Age Group 1

AG1 sent a large group of swimmers, all of whom had great races to brag about after the meet! Way to end the season, AG1! Some highlight swims:

Theodore Gerber had great swim after great swim, topped by an outstanding 50 Fly, holding his stroke together very well and leading his heat from start to finish for a 10-second drop and shattering the :50 mark easily to earn a new B time!
Otis Lloyd was just two heats after Theodore and he too blasted his 50 Fly with strong kicks and breakouts, dropping 7 seconds and breaking the :40 for the first time as well as picking up a new BB cut!
Steven Wang turned in an amazing 100 IM, hitting all his turns beautifully and staying strong on all four strokes to drop almost 8 seconds and earn a B time!
Quinn Braun went out fast on her fly leg of her 100 IM and never let off the gas pedal, dropping 14.5 seconds from a 2:03 to a 1:49! What a swim!
Margaret Ursulenko showed everyone how hard she’s been working on her breaststroke and left the crowd gasping as she not only broke the 1:00 mark for the first time, but broke the :50 as well, going 49.50 for a massive 12.5-second drop!

Age Group 2

AG2 had a good number of swimmers attend the meet. We’ve been training hard since September and it was great to watch all that hard work pay off. Congrats on a great season, AG2!

Rinat Maksyutov had an amazing meet with four best times and winning three races. He’s a backstroker, but his best race came in the 100 Free, where he went out FAST, pushed through that tough third 25, then finished strong to drop almost 3 seconds. The 1:00 barrier is now a realistic goal for him!
Anna Ventura has worked about as hard as anyone in AG2 all season, and wow, did it payoff this meet as she won both her butterfly races. The 100 Fly was incredible as she took it out quick, left everyone well behind, and won by 15 yards. The best surprise was looking up at the scoreboard and seeing she’d earned her first A time as an 11-yr-old by 0.02!
Katelyn Chen has worked exceedingly hard since joining Select in January. She was right on her best times all weekend and proved you don’t have to actually get a best time to have great swims. Her 50 Breast was a good example where she matched her best time to the hundredth, but did so with far better technique than just three months ago. She’s now poised for a big breakthrough this summer during long course!
Siena Stahlkopf picked up three best times and two new motivational cuts, with her biggest swim coming in the 100 Breast. She’s really applied herself in practice to improving her glide and the payoff was huge as she raced past several swimmers on the second 50 to drop more than 6 seconds and earn a new B time!
Tim Rakovchuk had the Wave team stoked (check out the attached picture!) with his astonishing 200 Fly as he pushed his tempo the entire way, rarely letting his stroke falter, and blasting his way to winning and dropping 6 seconds!

Senior Prep

We had a strong showing at the Spring Finale meet. The group had 12 kids make the journey up north to Anacortes to compete and wrap up their Short Course Season. They absolutely crushed it with best times all weekend and several kids taking some big steps forward. Stand Out Swims of the Meet:

George Ursulenko had a tremendous week taking a huge step forward in all four strokes and dropping time all weekend long. His standout swim was his 50 Fly to kick off the meet where he had some great tempo and dropped more than 6 seconds in the event. Go George Go!!!
Rihit Gandhi returned from being injured over the past few weeks and hit the ground running with a great weekend of swimming. He crushed several events, but his standout had to be his 50 Fly where he was out strong and finished the race well. Rock on Rihit!!!!
Lucy Broyles had a great weekend of swimming with time drops all over the place. Her standout swim was her 50 Free where she broke :30 seconds for the very first time!!! Great Job Lucy!!!!
Nika Svirydovich had a great weekend as well, dropping time all weekend long. Her standout swim has to be her 50 Free as well where she finally broke :30 seconds for the very first time as well!!! Nice Work Nika!!!
Karina Maksyutov has been grinding away at practice all SC Season long, being consistent at practice and in applying herself. She rocked this weekend with a number of best times and some great swims. Her standout swim was her second drop in her 200 IM where all four strokes looked fantastic.

Senior 1

Kirsten Hau had a solid weekend of swimming performing well in her longer events. She had a strong 200 IM going right at her best time splitting the race well.
Kirill Kadach was excited to swim some shorter events and worked on his speed leading up to the meet. It paid off as he tied his best time in the 50 Fly and followed it up with a best time in the 50 Free.
Rahul Purkayastha swam right at his best times all weekend. He had a great showing in the 100 Fly giving him a best time in the event.
Gahl Ami ad raced tough all weekend, with all his breast and fly races looking really good. His 100 IM was extra fun to watch as he and that event reunited after several years apart.
Jiesse Shi’s best races of the weekend were his 50s where he sprinted his way to a couple of new personal bests in the 50 Fly and 50 Free.

Senior Epic

Bianca Bensen looked strong all weekend and was a competitor in all her races, highlighted by her 50 Free where she was right on her best time.
Iris Huang did an excellent job of taking all her races out strong and challenging herself and competitors at the front of her races. Her 50 Free was her top race where she was also right on her best time.

Top 6 Finishes

Top 6 Finishes scored points for Wave

Gahl Ami ad – 1^st (200 Breast), 3^rd (100 IM), 4^th (100 Breast), 5^th (50 Breast), 6^th (100 Fly)
Akira Andhare – 2^nd (50 Fly), 3^rd (50 Free), 4^th (100 IM)
Mira Arora – 4^th (100 IM)
Bianca Bensen – 1^st (100 & 200 Back), 2^nd (100 Free, 200 IM), 3^rd (50 & 200 Free)
Ahana Bhattacharya – 2^nd (200 Back), 3^rd (50 Back), 5^th(100 Back, 100 IM)
Aman Bhatt – 3^rd (50 Free), 6^th (100 Free)
Arya Bhatt – 3^rd (200 Fly)
Alex Bouianov – 3^rd (50 Free)
Norah Braun – 2^nd (100 IM), 3^rd (50, 100 & 200 Breast; 50 Back; 200 IM)
Lucy Broyles – 1^st (200 Free, 100 Back, 100 & 200 Breast), 2^nd (50 Free, 50 Breast)
Arifin Capiral – 1^st (50 Breast), 4^th (100 IM), 5^th 50 Back)
Katelyn Chen – 3^rd (50 Breast)
Braxton Davis – 4^th (100 Fly)
Lucas Deng – 3^rd (100 Fly)
Evan Deng – 1^st (50 Breast), 3^rd (200 Breast), 5^th (100 Breast)
Ann Dinh – 1^st (50 Breast, 50 Fly), 3^rd (100 IM), 5^th (50 Free)
Tyler Fernandez – 2^nd (50 Fly), 3^rd (50 Back), 5^th (50 Breast, 100 IM)
Rihit Gandhi – 1^st (100 Free), 2^nd (50 Free), 3^rd (50 Back, 50 Breast), 4^th (50 Fly), 5^th (100 IM)
Ella Gao – 2^nd (50 Back)
Kirsten Hau – 2^nd (100 Breast), 4^th (200 Breast, 200 IM)
Penelope Hepkin – 2^nd (200 Breast), 6^th (100 Breast, 200 IM)
Olivia Horng – 5^th (50 Fly)
Iris Huang – 1^st (100 Fly), 2^nd (50 Free), 3^rd (100 Breast), 6^th (200 Breast)
Joshua Hunter – 6^th (100 Breast)
Yuzuki Ishizuka – 4^th (100 Fly), 5^th (50 Fly)
Jennifer Ji – 5^th (50 Fly), 6^th (100 IM)
Kirill Kadach – 2^nd (200 Back), 4^th (200 Free)
Justin King – 1^st (200 Free)
Cora Ledrick – 1^st (200 Free), 2^nd (50 Breast), 3^rd (100 Free), 4^th (50 Free, 100 Back), 5^th (100 Breast)
Otis Lloyd – 4^th (50 Fly)
Patrick Long – 2^nd (200 Free)
Elizabeth Lytvynenko – 5^th (100 Back)
Rinat Maksyutov – 1^st (50 & 100 Back, 100 Fly), 2^nd (50 Fly), 4^th (100 Free)
Vihaan Mehrorta – 3^rd (50 Breast)
Lainey Meyer – 5^th (100 Back)
Albert O – 2^nd (100 Breast), 5^th (50 Breast)
Amelia Pletosu – 1^st (200 Fly, 200 IM), 2^nd (200 Free), 4^th (100 Free), 5^th (100 Fly), 6^th (50 Free)
Tim Rakovchuk – 1^st (200 Fly), 2^nd (100 Fly), 6^th (50 Fly)
Shatadru Roy Choudhury – 5^th (50 Free, 100 Breast)
Asmi Sarkar – 4^th (50 Breast), 5^th (100 IM), 6^th (50 Free)
Max Schrepfer – 5^th (50 Fly)
Siena Stahlkopf – 5^th (100 IM), 6^th (100 Breast)
Gabriel Steijn – 1^st (50 Fly)
Clara Stevenson – 4^th (200 Free, 50 Back)
Dan Sun – 1^st (200 Back), 3^rd (50 & 100 Back)
Max Sun – 1^st (50 Free), 2^nd (50 & 100 Back), 3^rd (100 Free), 5^th (200 Breast)
Nika Svirydovich – 1^st (50 Breast), 2^nd (200 Free, 100 Breast), 4^th (50 Free), 5^th (100 Free), 6^th (200 Breast)
Kennedy Tremblay – 3^rd (100 Fly), 4^th (50 Fly), 6^th (100 Back)
George Ursulenko – 2^nd (200 Breast), 4^th (50 & 100 Breast), 6^th (100 IM)
Bella Vasilescu – 3^rd (200 Fly), 4^th (200 Back)
Anna Ventura – 1^st (50 & 100 Fly), 2^nd (100 Free, 50 Back), 3^rd (50 Free, 100 Back)
Steven Wang – 3^rd (50 Fly), 4^th (50 Breast)
Alex Yang – 2^nd (200 Back), 5^th (50 Back), 6^th (100 Back)