May Flowers Invitational Meet Recap

Our Select Team traveled down to the King County Aquatic Center for the first long course (50 meter) meet of 2025! Besides an ocean of best times and new motivational cuts, we were led by two new Team Records from Alex Wang (10&U Boys 100 Back) and Daniel Xia (15-16 Boys 50 Free) as well as Ellen Feng’s three new AAAA cuts! The meet also included a special 50 Free prelims/finals with Wave represented by at least one swimmer in each finals heat. Way to go, Wave!

Age Group 1

The AG1 kids crushed the weekend. The group did an amazing job of learning some new skills with the positive check-in process and getting the heat sheet during the meet. I know that is new for many of the younger kids, and I was very impressed with how well they did with adjusting. It was also awesome to see the kids swimming and they had tons of best times throughout the weekend with some great Long Course swimming. great job to the whole group. Stand out swims of the meet:

• Akira Andhare had a tremendous meet weekend with three best times and three first-time events in long course. Her standout swim was her 100 Fly where she dropped 18 seconds in the event and did an amazing job keeping her stroke together.
• Alexander Bouianov had his first long course meet ever and went 6/6 in legal, strong swims, which is impressive for his first long course meet. His stand out swim was the 100 Breast, where he kept his insweep strong and quick and maintained a strong kick on the second 50 for a great swim.
• Theodore Gerber also had his first long course meet and went 6/6 in legal and fast swims. He had a great weekend of swimming with a standout in his 50 Fly where he kept his hips up in his kick and arms long on his stroke for a great B time!
• Raya Hari had an amazing weekend of swimming, going 6/6 in best times over the weekend. She crushed several events, with her standout being her 25-second drop in the 100 Breast. She kept her glide consistent through both laps and was able to keep the power in her kick to finish strong.
• Maya Razdan had a great weekend with some fast swimming and great time drops. Her standout swim was her 100 Free where she crushed her underwaters and kept her stroke long and smooth throughout the swim for a 30-second time drop!!!

Age Group 2

After a month of challenging workouts (especially lots of flutter kick!) to get ready for the long course season, AG2 smashed this meet with loads of best times and motivational cuts. What was especially exciting to watch was how many of the kids earned their first-ever Champs cuts. We already have a large majority of the kids qualified for Champs at the end of July. A huge shoutout to Norah Braun, who was our only 1500 Free swimmer as she earned a B time and is close to the Champs cut on her first-ever 1500! Shout outs to Elaina Jiang, Vivian Hu, Haim Jung, and Alex Wang, who all made finals in the 50 Free.

• Adele Bokach had a fantastic weekend with 5/5 best times, four new motivational cuts, and a first-ever swim in long course. Four of her best times were massive, topped off by her 100 Free where she went out strong, built to the middle, then powered her way home on the second 50 just like we practice to drop 12+ seconds.
• Ella Gao just moved up to the group and has brought an awesome work ethic to the group. She went 4/4 best times with huge drops and two new swims (and earned motivational cuts in both!). Her highlight was her 50 Back where she went out blazing, kept her kick strong and her body position perfect, then dove into the wall to earn her first-ever A time.
• Ira Joshi also just moved up to the group and never backs off from a set, even if she misses a sendoff! That hard work paid off with 6/6 best times and four new motivational cuts. Her highlight was her 100 Free, where she blasted off the blocks, built to max on the first 50, then sprinted back for a 21+ second drop and a new BB time!
• Haim Jung is another new swimmer in the group and he saw his hard work pay off with 4/4 best times (and massive drops) and BB cuts in two first-time swims. His standout swim was his 50 Free, where he dropped 4 seconds in prelims, earning a new A time, then coming back the next morning to drop another half second in finals.
• Maksim Nikitenko had an outstanding meet, going 5/6 best times (he missed one time by only 0.4) and earning three new BB times to go with several Champs cuts. His standout swim was his 100 Free, which he took out fast and never looked back. He used great pacing and strong kick to drop more than 8 seconds off his previous best.

Well done, AG2! I can’t wait to see the rest of the Long Course Season!!

Senior Prep

What a great fast and fun weekend to start off the Long Course Season for the group. It was awesome to see the kids start off with Friday’s distance event, where almost the whole group qualified in something. The kids rocked the 400s and we had some amazing miles. That was followed up with the rest of the weekend being focused more on the 50s each day, where it was great to be able to see the kids shift gears and turn on some speed. Great job to the group overall. I am very excited to see where we go from there. Stand out swims of the meet:

• Mira Arora had a great weekend of swimming, going 5/5 in best times and completing her first 50 Breast in long course. Her standout swim was her 100 Free where the hard work on kicking at practice showed strong for a 6-second time drop.
• Aaron Chakraborty had a great weekend with five best times and two first-time swims over the weekend. His standout swim was his 400 Free where the endurance that he has been improving and gaining over the past season really showed and he was able to finish strong in the event, easily winning his heat.
• Yihan Li had a great weekend with 7/7 best times. She had several swims to highlight but I would like to highlight the focus she brought to the meet. Knowing she turns 13 before Champs, she was focused and driven to pick up her 13&O cuts early and was able to do so with some gritty strong swims.
• Jonathan Liu had a great weekend of swimming with several incredibly fast swims and big time drops, going 6/6 in best times with one first-time swim in the 400 Free. His standout swim had to be his 50 Frees, where he was able to make the Finals Heat on Sunday for the event and come back the second day with a 1-second time drop.
• Leo Steijn had a great weekend of swimming, going 7/7 in best times. His standout swim was his 400 Free where his endurance improvements from the last few weeks of training showed and he had a great back half to the swim keeping his kick up and pull strong.

Senior 1

The Group had 29 swimmers compete at the meet. Everyone did an incredible job of rising to the challenge of the long pool and turned in some very impressive swims. It was exciting for me to watch them implement what we have been working on in practice and see their hard work pay off. We had a fantastic time racing while also learning a lot of lessons and finding areas of improvement. I am looking forward to getting back to the pool to train and seeing what we can do moving forward. Stand out swims of the meet:

• Gahl Ami ad has been really locked in and training well coming off the break. He put that training to good use over the weekend, turning in best times in all his races. He has been working hard on his breaststroke, and he had a huge breakthrough swim in the 200. He got off to a great start then swam a strong back 100 to give him a huge 20-second drop.
• Lauren Hizzey has been training very diligently and that really paid off over the weekend as she was able to parlay her training into six best times. She got off to a great start taking on the 400 Free. She opened the race with a strong first 100 then held her pace well through the middle 200 before sprinting into the finish the final 100 giving her a solid 4-second drop and putting her right at the 5:00 barrier. She’s excited to break through that the next time she races!
• Ethan Lin is a big fan of fast swimming over short distances and that is exactly what he did. He was excited to get to swim mostly sprint events and really made the most out of it. He had an incredibly strong swim in the 50 Free prelim earning himself a spot in the final, he took that opportunity to clean up his finish and turned in an even faster swim in finals.
• Lainey Meyer is new to the group and competed in her first meet since moving up. She really made the most out of her first meet dropping time in all her races. She has been working hard and it really paid off. While all her races were strong, her 1500 Free was absolutely incredible. She was able to find the pace in the second 50 of the race and then swam like a metronome, hitting her pace every single 50.
• Piper Wiegand is another newcomer to the group who turned in best times in all her events. She got off to a super-hot start in the 1500 Free, dropping a full minute to finish just off the Senior Zones qualifying time. She was able to ride the momentum she created for herself and showed that she could hang in the sprint events as well as she turned in best times in several 50s and 100s.

Senior Epic

Senior Epic had many fast, solid swims and a number of best times despite a very intense week of practice before the meet! A huge shout-out to Jaiden Sreenivasan who requested an 800 split time during the 1500 Free and after racing his 800 strategy and recovering for a couple laps was mentally strong to come back to the pace he was holding before and still sprinted his last 100. Enjoy some highlights from our group:

• Daniel Xia had a great start to the season, going five best times. His outstanding swim was the 50 Free where he got his Futures cut, broke the 15-16 Boys Team Record, and won the only event that had prelims and finals. The new record is also a AAAA Time (24.45).
• Logan Downing was feeling fast and went 6/6 best times. He had a big improvement in his 200 IM opening his race with an efficient butterfly, holding it together on backstroke, going strong on breaststroke, which is his best stroke, and closing the race with a solid freestyle at the end. He dropped 8.26 seconds in this race.
• Molly Traina had an excellent meet and brought home five lifetime bests. Besides getting the Senior Zones cut in the 100 Free and a AA Time, she also crushed her 200 Free going out fast with attitude and holding her pace until the end to drop 5.79 seconds from her previous time.
• Adrian Juco had a strong meet, going five personal bests. His outstanding swim was the 400 IM where he dropped almost 11 seconds demonstrating good improvement on the butterfly and backstroke legs. With a strong first half and a naturally fast breaststroke, he was able to swim strong the other second half and crushed his time.
• Anton Mazepa swam three best times and earned two new AA Times last weekend. He was very happy with his 1500 Free where he dropped almost 38 seconds and earned the Spring Sectionals cut in the long pool. He started off the race strong and did a good job racing his heat and holding his pace until the very end.

New US Motivational Times

 AAAA 

• Ellen Feng – 50 & 100 Fly, 50 Back
• Daniel Xia – 50 Free

 AAA 

• Deniz Cankaya – 1500 Free
• Ellen Feng – 400 IM
• Vivian Hu - 100 Breast, 50 Back
• Elaina Jiang – 50 Free
• Jonathan Liu – 50 Free
• Jaiden Sreenivasan – 50 Free
• Alex Wang – 100 Back
• Daniel Xia – 200 Free

 AA 

• Oleg Arlouski – 50 Free
• Roman Byelykh – 1500 Free
• Deniz Cankaya – 50 Back, 50 Fly
• Henry Cheng – 100 Breast
• Berit Dunn – 50 Breast
• Ellen Feng – 200 Fly
• Olivia Henaire – 1500 Free, 200 Breast
• Vivian Hu – 100 Back, 100 Fly, 50 Free
• Elaina Jiang – 50 & 100 Back
• Dami Jung –100 Breast, 50 Free
• Heim Jung – 100 Breast
• Maria Kokhan – 50 Fly
• Yihan Li – 50 Free
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Free, 50 Back
• Olivia Liu – 50 Free
• Anton Mazepa – 50 & 1500 Free
• Andy Nguyen – 100 Breast
• Beatrix Pressman – 100 Fly
• Molly Traina – 1000 Free
• Alex Wang – 50 & 200 Free, 200 IM
• Piper Wiegand – 50, 100 & 1500 Free
• Kenshin Yokoyama – 100 Fly

 A 

• Norah Braun – 200 Breast
• Lucy Broyles – 50 & 100 Free, 200 Breast, 50 Back
• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 100 Free
• Roman Byelykh – 100 Free
• Deniz Cankaya – 50 & 200 Breast, 50 Free
• Aaron Chakraborty – 50 Free
• Daniel Chen – 200 Breast
• Henry Cheng – 200 Breast, 50 Back, 50 Free
• Evan Deng – 100 Breast
• Berit Dunn – 200 Breast
• Ella Gao – 50 Back
• Abby Gray – 50 & 100 Free
• Blakely Hansen – 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Olivia Henaire – 50 & 800 Free
• Nora Herman – 1500 Free
• Lauren Hizzey – 400 Free
• Vivian Hu – 200 Free
• Elaina Jiang – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 200 & 400 Free
• Adrian Juco – 400 IM
• Dami Jung – 400 IM
• Haim Jung – 100 Fly, 50 Free
• Kirill Kadach – 200 Free
• Maria Kokhan – 1500 Free
• Yihan Li – 400 Free, 50 Back, 50 Fly
• Ethan Lin – 100 Back
• Jonathan Liu – 50 Fly
• Olivia Liu – 400 IM, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Yuna Ma – 100 Breast
• Rinat Maksyutov – 50 Back
• Lainey Meyer – 50 Free
• Andy Nguyen – 200 Breast
• Beatrix Pressman – 100 Free
• Irene Qu – 100 Free, 100 Fly
• Amaris Rus – 50 & 200 Free
• Leo Steijn – 50 Breast
• Dan Sun – 50 Back
• Max Sun – 50 & 100 Free
• Nika Svirydovich – 50 Breast
• Vedah Tuladhar – 50 Back
• Anna Ventura – 100 Fly
• Aditeya Verma – 50 Back, 50 Free
• Lasya Viswanadham – 200 & 400 Free
• Alex Wang – 100 Breast
• Maja Wang – 50 Back
• Piper Wiegand – 100 Fly
• Owen Wilson – 400 IM, 50 Back
• Andy Yang – 100 Free, 400 IM
• Isshin Yokoyama – 50 Free
• Kenshin Yokoyama – 400 Free, 50 Back
• Ally Yuan – 50 & 400 Free

 BB 

• Gahl Ami ad – 100 & 200 Breast, 200 & 400 IM
• Akira Andhare – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Back; 100 Breast; 100 Fly
• Mira Arora – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back
• Aman Bhatt – 50 Free
• Adele Bokach – 50 & 100 Free
• Alex Bouianov – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back
• Norah Braun – 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Quinn Braun – 100 Breast
• Lucy Broyles – 50 Fly
• Roman Byelykh – 100 Fly, 50 Free
• Aaron Chakraborty – 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Katelyn Chen – 100 Breast
• Leo Chen – 50 & 100 Fly, 50 Back
• Henry Cheng – 50 Fly
• Braxton Davis – 50 Back
• Lucas Deng – 100 Back
• Evan Deng – 200 Breast
• Berit Dunn – 400 Free, 50 Fly
• Tyler Fernandez – 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Joseph Foster – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free, 50 Breast
• Ella Gao – 100 Back, 200 IM, 50 Breast
• Avni Garg – 100 Breast
• Abby Gray – 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Caden Gray – 400 Free
• Nolan Gu – 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Blakely Hansen – 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Alex Hor – 100 Free
• Olivia Horng – 50 Free
• Yuzuki Ishizuka – 100 Fly
• Jennifer Ji – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Back; 100 Breast; 100 Fly
• Ira Joshi – 100 Free
• Dami Jung – 100 Fly
• Haim Jung – 200 & 400 Free, 50 Back
• Eva Kalicinski – 50 & 200 Breast, 50 & 400 Free
• Arvin Kandiah – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Avery Lee – 100 & 200 Breast
• Anika Lichtenberg – 50, 100 & 200 Back; 50 & 100 Free
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Fly, 50 Breast
• Sophie Liu – 100 & 200 Free, 100 Breast
• Yuna Ma – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Back; 100 Fly
• Emily MacDonald – 400 IM
• Ilia Maksimchuk – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back, 50 Fly
• Karina Maksyutov – 100 & 400 Free
• Rinat Maksyutov – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Fly, 200 Back
• Lainey Meyer – 1500 Free, 200 Breast
• Andy Nguyen – 400 IM, 50 Free
• Maksim Nikitenko – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back
• Albert O – 100 & 200 Breast
• Benji Ovendale – 100 & 200 Free
• Beatrix Pressman – 50, 200 & 400 Free; 100 Breast
• Irene Qu – 400 Free
• Anika Razdan – 50 & 100 Free
• Maya Razdan – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Back; 100 Breast; 100 Fly
• Amaris Rus – 100 Back
• Asmi Sarkar – 100 Back, 100 Breast, 50 & 100 Free
• Max Smagley – 100 Fly
• Gabriel Steijn – 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Free
• Leo Steijn – 100 Breast, 50 Back, 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Clara Stevenson – 50 & 100 Back, 50 Free
• Cora Sun – 50 Breast
• Dan Sun – 100 & 200 Back, 50 Free
• Han Sun – 50 & 100 Free
• Max Sun – 100 & 200 Back, 100 Fly
• Nika Svirydovich – 200 Breast, 50 Back
• Kennedy Trembley – 400 Free
• Vedah Tuladhar – 100 Free
• Ella Tulanon – 50 Free
• George Ursulenko – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast
• Margaret Ursulenko – 100 Breast
• Isabella Vasilescu – 200 Free
• Anna Ventura – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free, 400 IM
• Aditeya Verma – 50 Back, 100 & 200 Fly
• Maja Wang – 100 Free, 200 Back
• Steven Wang – 100 Breast
• Natalie Whitbeck – 200 IM, 50 & 400 Free, 50 Back
• Finley Wiegand – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Breast, 100 & 400 Free
• Owen Wilson – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Fly, 100 Breast
• Arjun Yadav – 50 & 100 Free
• Avani Yadav – 100 Back, 100 Free
• Alex Yang – 50 & 100 Back
• Andy Yang – 100 Fly, 50 Free
• Aiden Ye – 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Ally Yuan – 200 Breast, 50 Fly
• Bella Zhang – 100 Breast
• Grace Zhang – 100 & 400 Free
• Maggie Zhou – 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free

 B 

• Phoebe Anderson – 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Mira Arora – 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Aaradhya Bharadwaj – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back, 50 Breast
• Aman Bhatt – 50, 100 & 200 Back; 100 Free; 400 IM
• Arya Bhatt – 100 & 200 Fly
• Adele Bokach – 50 Back
• Alex Bouianov – 100 Back, 50 & 100 Breast
• Norah Braun – 50, 100 & 1500 Free; 50 Back
• Arifin Capiral – 100 & 200 Free
• Katelyn Chen – 50 Breast
• Leo Chen – 200 Fly, 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Lola Cheng – 400 IM
• Hayley Chou – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Braxton Davis – 100 Back, 50 Free
• Rhea Dawani – 100 Free
• Lucas Deng – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Mira Erdim – 50 Free
• Tyler Fernandez – 100 Fly
• Joseph Foster – 50 Fly
• Rihit Gandhi – 100 Free
• Ella Gao – 200 Free
• Avni Garg – 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Theodore Gerber – 100 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Dario Giuliani – 100 Back
• Nolan Gu – 100 Back, 100 & 200 Free
• Raya Hari – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free, 100 Breast
• Olivia Henaire – 200 Fly
• Alex Hor – 200 Free
• Olivia Horng – 100 Back
• Yuzuki Ishizuka – 100 Breast
• Ira Joshi – 50 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Yeim Jung – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Back; 100 Breast; 100 Fly
• Avery Lee – 50 & 100 Free
• Anika Lichtenberg – 100 Fly
• Sophie Liu – 100 Back, 100 Fly, 50 Free
• Emily MacDonald – 200 Fly
• Ilia Maksimchuk – 50 Back, 50 Breast
• Karina Maksyutov – 200 Breast
• Finley Meier – 50, 100 & 200 Free
• Heidi Mensching – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 & 200 Free
• Jocelyn Miller – 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Albert O – 100 Free, 400 IM, 50 Back
• Andrew Ouyang – 100 Breast
• Benji Ovendale – 50 Back
• Anika Razdan – 200 Breast, 400 Free
• David Rondel – 100 Free
• Asmi Sarkar – 200 Free
• Timur Shafigulin – 50 Back, 50 Free
• Aadhya Sirimamilla – 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Back
• Siena Stahlkopf – 50 & 100 Breast, 100 Free, 50 Back
• Gabriel Steijn – 100 & 200 Free
• Clara Stevenson – 100 Breast, 50 Free
• Cora Sun – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back
• Dan Sun – 100 Fly, 100 Free, 400 IM
• Han Sun – 100 Fly
• Nika Svirydovich – 50 Fly
• Vedah Tuladhar – 400 Free, 50 Breast
• Ella Tulanon – 100 Back
• George Ursulenko – 50 Fly
• Margaret Ursulenko – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back
• Anna Ventura – 100 Breast
• Claire Wang – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Fly; 50 Breast
• Maja Wang – 200 IM
• Steven Wang – 50 & 100 Free, 100 Back, 100 Fly
• Natalie Whitbeck – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Finley Wiegand – 200 IM
• Arjun Yadav – 200 Breast, 400 Free
• Avani Yadav – 200 Free
• Alex Yang – 100 Free, 200 & 400 IM, 50 Breast
• Aiden Ye – 100 & 200 Free
• Isshin Yokoyama – 100 Fly
• Bella Zhang – 100 & 200 Free
• Naomi Zhang – 50 & 100 Breast, 50 Free

WAVE ON 3!!