Seattle Age Group Open Meet Recap

Colman Pool at Lincoln Park in West Seattle seemed to turn purple with the sea of Wave caps churning through the 50-meter saltwater pool. For many of our swimmers, it was their first experience racing the long lengths that Olympic athletes race in. We saw an impressive number of first-time swims and big time drops! A huge shout out to our “Last Chance” qualifiers for AG Champs, Bianca Stanciu, Yeim Jung, and Siena Stahlkopf. Well done, Wave!

Black Group

Great meet, and great experience for the Black Group athletes! From Day 1 to Day 2, both athletes and parents learned about how the meet works and how to better manage being outdoors in weather that was not optimal. The experience of swimming outdoors in a long course pool is valuable for them as well. Coach Misho and I were very excited for the kids to have this experience as well as see what they can do.

Backstroke especially is a challenge in an outdoor long course pool. No ceiling to guide you and the flags are 5 meters away from the walls instead of the 5 yards that they are used to. We let the kids know about the difference and spent some time in warm-up on Friday morning working on this. We were very pleased to see how many kids made the adjustment and were able to successfully pull off their backstroke turns on the 100 Back.

We had 18 swimmers from Black Groups qualified to swim in the meet, 13 of whom were able to attend, all from Black Group A; it’s hard for 6-7-8 year olds to make 10-year-old times!

Congratulations to Amelia Horng and Hudson Porter on earning their every first B times! They both work very hard at practice, so we are very happy to see these solid swims.

• Aadyant Agarwal had three excellent races but his best by far was his 100 Back where something clicked and he swam super straight. He’d been working on it at the Strattonwood Pool, but this was the best I’ve seen him do with that skill, which was really fun to watch.
• Julie Dong had six successful—all legal—races, which is awesome as this was her first ever long course meet. I thought Julie had some excellent swims, especially given all the conditions, and I’m very proud of how she did.
• Ryan Hu was also racing in his first ever long course meet and, as our lone 7-year-old in the meet, he was pretty darn awesome finishing all six races legally and earning his first long course B time.
• Daniel Rondel was tough all weekend, finishing six legal races, earning his first long course B time and completing his first-ever long course swim meet. He also did a great job of coming in on Day 2 much more prepared for the conditions, which was super helpful for him.
• Aavyan Wasuja had a good meet overall, and I was so excited to see how well he raced in his 100 Free, starting out strong and finishing it with effort and toughness. This was some of the best freestyle I’ve seen him do.

White Group

White Group had 33 swimmers qualify, including two from B Group. They braved the cold mornings well and raced even better. I’m super proud of all the White Group swimmers!

• Viyan Gupta had an excellent meet. He dropped an astonishing amount of time including a 33.12-second drop in his 100 Free and a 31.75-second drop in his 50 Breast. He dropped a total of 1:35.11 seconds at the meet. He has worked hard and proved it.
• Poppy Covington raced her heart out. She also posted her first B time in the 200 Free. I was very impressed by her focus on her goals and achieving them. Her motivation is contagious.
• Vladislav Kalyuzhin had an amazing meet. He dropped 32.17 seconds in his 100 Free and 30.45 seconds in his 100 Breast. He dropped a total of 2:01.16 at the meet, which seems borderline impossible, but he believes in the possible and did it!
• Maximillian Schrepfer made a White Group record for new BB times at the meet by achieving four new BBs. This speaks for itself, and reflects his commitment to hard work in practice.
• Bessie Jiang raced like never before. She made an impressive four new B times at the meet. She sets a great example for everyone. I can't wait to see more.

Purple Group

Purple Group had a super end to most of their Long Course season with 50 swimmers representing us and earning 18 new motivational time standards and tons of best times. The swimmers were flexible with the colder weather and still came in strong to crush their competition! Great finish to a great season, Purple Group!

A Group

• Lydia Liu had a fantastic meet, adding two more B times to her collection and earning four ribbons. Her highlight swim was her 100 Breast where she went out fast and held on to the speed the whole race!
• Elizabeth Luo showed a lot of grit this meet, being our only 13&O Wave swimmer to race the 200 Fly. She had a strong kick throughout and dug in deep to finish a challenging race.
• Michael Zhou was only able to race one day so he made the most of it dropping 14 seconds in his 50 Breast by being aggressive with the tempo and having a powerful glide. Great work Michael!
• Emma Lu excelled at collecting best times this meet with dropping in almost every event. She shaved off more than 10 seconds in her 100 Free getting a new B time. She did great at applying coach advice and receiving feedback.
• Ross Gawthrop had his first-ever LCM meet this past weekend and was victorious with every event he swam. He swam the last race of the meet with the 400m Free where he held steady and quick splits and finished well under the 6:00 mark with a 5:50.75.

B Group

• Diana Omusoru hasn’t been able to race in years but on her first meet back she crushed her 50 Free racing a 33.48 earning a BB time and being the fastest 50 Free of our girls this meet.
• David Li dropped time left and right throughout this meet, especially in his breaststroke. His 100 Breast was exciting to watch with a fast tempo from the beginning to end. He finished with a 10-second drop.
• Prisha Ahuja has been very focused in practice with perfecting her flutter and dolphin kick. This hard work paid off in all her races, especially in her 50 Fly where she blasted an 18-second drop and a very successful race. Great work Prisha!
• Victor Shirshov is always a great racer and did an amazing job in his 50 Back. He had a solid tempo and kick throughout most of the race and took the win while dropping time and receiving feedback well!
• Lucia Liu raced all the 50s at this meet and did great in every race. Her 50 Fly was especially impressive with the focus on quick arms and minimal breathing to get her hand on the wall fast!

Age Group 1

AG1 had a great weekend of swimming in the wonderful Colman Pool. This group has been able to get some practices at Colman on Tuesday evenings this year and they put that extra LC training to good use with some fantastic swimming. AG1 had several new motivational times, and lots of best times throughout the weekend. Great job to the whole group!!!

• Aaradhya Bharadwaj had a great weekend of swimming with tons of best times and some awesome time drops. Her standout swim was her 100 Back, where the sun in the sky couldn’t slow her down for a 2-second drop.
• Quinn Braun dominated the weekend with some great swims. Quinn’s standout swim was also his 100 Back where he had a strong kick both ways and finished the race with a great race and a 5-second drop.
• Raya Hari had a great weekend of swimming with some strong races and some great technique improvement over the meet. She had a 50 Fly where her strong kick carried her through the 50 with a big time 2-second drop.
• Remington Kalicinski had an awesome weekend of swimming with some big drops in multiple events. His standout was his 50 Fly, where his stroke kept together and he had a great 3-second drop.
• Aiden Ye had a great weekend of swimming with some strong swims for his single day of swimming. His standout was his 50 Breast, where he kept his stroke quick and came home strong for a 5-second drop.

Age Group 2

AG2 sent a large contingent to the meet. For several, it was the final tune up before Champs. For the swimmers below, it was their last meet of the season. Congrats to all of you for your consistent hard work both in the pool and in dryland. The payoff was huge! A big shoutout to Siena Stahlkopf, who qualified for Champs at the meet with an amazing 200 Breast!

• Stas Black went 4/6 best times, with three of the drops being massive and the fourth was a new motivational cut! His standout swim was his 50 Breast, which he took fast with perfect streamlines after every stroke to drop 10+ seconds and break 1:00 for the first time!
• Adele Bokach had two best times and narrowly missed (by mere tenths) in her other races. Her standout swim was her 100 Back where she used a fast tempo to jump out ahead of the competition and a strong kick on the second 50 to hold on and drop 2.6 seconds!
• Mira Erdim swam just one day and made the most of it with two best times. Her standout swim was her 200 IM where she showed off her skills in all four strokes to earn an outstanding time for her first-ever swim in this event in meters!
• Ella Gao had several excellent swims with her best being her astonishing 100 Free where she blasted off the blocks, showed tremendous kick the entire swim, and slashed 56 seconds off her best…a 38% improvement off her previous time!
• Olivia Horng has been really working hard this long course season and it paid off with several best times, highlighted by her 100 Free where she showed off outstanding consistent flutter kick to knock 6.3 seconds off her previous best and pick up a new motivation time!
• Ira Joshi works consistently hard day-in and day-out and earned three new best times as a result. Her highlight was her 100 Back where she nailed her start and flip turn with outstanding breakouts and finished aggressively to drop more than 10 seconds!
• Melanie King earned three best times, topped by her 200 Free where she showed off her improving technique and kicking skill to really bring it home on the final 50 and slash almost 8 seconds off her best time!

Senior Prep

SR Prep had a mixed number of kids at the meet. The 12&Unders swimming at Champs next weekend only competed in one day of the meet this weekend. The 13&Overs had a few swimmers using this meet as their end of season taper meet. Those swimmers had a great weekend with some awesome swims over the weekend. Great work to the whole group and excited to see the younger kids at Champs!!!

• Rihit Gandhi crushed the weekend with some great swimming and strong races. His standout swim was his 17-second drop in the 200 Breast. He kept his tempo up and crushed the back half with a strong split.
• Ilia Maksimchuk only had one day of swimming and had a great day with some strong races. His standout swim was his 100 Back, where his kick really showed the improvements that we have been working on.
• Karina Maksyutov had an amazing weekend of swimming with some great swims and nothing but best times. Her standout was her 100 Fly where her strength really showed and she had a great second 50 for an 11-second drop.
• Arjun Yadav had a great swim meet as he went 6/6 with best times, crushing every swim throughout the weekend. His standout swim was 100 Back where he shaved off a second in the event and got his first 13-14 A time.

New US Motivational Times

 AAA 

• Deniz Cankaya – 100 Fly
• Alex Wang – 50 Fly

 AA 

• Deniz Cankaya – 200 Breast, 50 Free
• Blakely Hansen – 100 Fly
• Lingyi Li – 50 Fly
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Back
• Aditeya Verma – 50 Fly

 A 

• Addy Clarke – 100 Back
• Vivian Hu – 200 IM
• Eva Kalicinski – 100 Free, 100 Breast
• Arvin Kandiah – 50 Breast
• Beatrix Pressman – 100 Back, 200 IM
• Owen Wilson – 50 Free
• Kenshin Yokoyama – 200 IM
• Ally Yuan – 100 Back

 BB 

• Aaradhya Bharadwaj – 50 Back, 50 Free
• Alex Bouianov – 100 Back
• Norah Braun – 400 IM
• Aaron Chakraborty – 100 Fly
• Leo Chen – 100 Back, 50 & 200 Breast
• Addy Clarke – 50 Fly
• Lucas Deng – 50 Free
• Kaito Falk – 50 Free
• Ross Gawthorp – 50 & 100 Free
• Abby Gray – 100 Fly
• Fiona Herman – 200 Breast
• Yeim Jung – 50 Breast
• Eva Kalicinski – 50 & 100 Fly
• Avery Lee – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Back
• Lingyi Li – 100 Fly
• Anika Lichtenberg – 400 Free
• Sophie Liu – 100 Fly
• Elizabeth Luo – 50 Free
• Elizabeth Lytvynenko – 50 Free
• Rinat Maksyutov – 400 Free
• Mia Mohr – 50 Free
• Albert O – 50 Free
• Diana Omusoru – 50 Free
• Benji Ovendale – 50 Free
• Thomas Ovendale – 50 & 100 Free
• Max Schrepfer – 200 IM, 50 & 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Siena Stahlkopf – 200 Breast
• Bianca Stanciu – 100 Back, 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Clara Stevenson – 100 Breast, 50 & 400 Free
• Max Sun – 200 Breast, 400 IM
• George Ursulenko – 200 Breast
• Margaret Ursulenko – 100 Back, 50 Breast
• Anna Ventura – 200 Back
• Maja Wang – 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Natalie Whitbeck – 200 Free
• Finley Wiegand – 200 IM
• Owen Wilson – 200 Back

 B 

• Abha Acharya – 50 Breast
• Kanav Acharya – 50 Breast
• Agastya Agrawal – 50 Back
• Anika Arvan – 50 Free
• Alex Back Righetto – 100 Breast
• Aaradhya Bharadwaj – 100 Back
• Aman Bhatt – 200 IM
• Julia Bouianov – 50 & 100 Breast, 200 IM, 50 Free
• Quinn Braun – 100 Back
• Miley Chen – 50 & 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Tony Chen – 50 Back
• Poppy Covington – 200 Free
• Braxton Davis – 100 Fly, 100 Free
• Ann Ding – 100 Breast
• Berit Dunn – 200 Back
• Avni Garg – 100 Back
• Ross Gawthrop – 200 Free
• Theodore Gerber – 50 Free
• Thomas Godbout – 50 Free
• Felix Henaire – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Free, 100 Breast
• Alexander Hor – 200 IM
• Amelia Horng – 100 Breast
• Olivia Horng – 100 Fly, 100 Free
• Ryan Hu – 50 Back
• Bessie Jiang – 50 Back & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Breast
• Haim Jung – 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Yeim Jung – 50 Fly
• Remy Kalicinski – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Atharva Koppal – 50 & 100 Breast
• Alex Korolis – 200 IM
• Mikhail Lavrov – 50 Free
• Avery Lee – 200 Free, 200 IM
• Lydia Liu – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Emma Lu – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Naomi Lynn – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Elizabeth Lytvynenko – 100 Back
• Miya Ma – 50 Back, 50 Breast
• Karina Maksyutov – 100 Back
• Rinat Maksyutov – 100 & 200 Breast
• Emmy Miller – 50 & 100 Free, 50 Fly
• Mia Mohr – 100 Back, 100 Free
• Albert O – 100 Back
• Andrew Ouyang – 200 Breast, 50 Free
• Thomas Ovendale – 200 Free
• Hudson Porter – 50 & 100 Back
• Tim Rakovchuk – 50 Free
• Daniel Rondel – 50 Back
• Daniel Sarana – 100 Breast
• Mudit Singh – 50 Free
• Kaitlyn Spooner – 50 & 100 Back, 50 & 100 Free
• Gabe Steijn – 50 Back
• Vedah Tuladhar – 100 Fly
• Isaac Xie – 50 & 100 Free
• Yifan Xu – 50 Free
• Avani Yadav – 50 Fly
• Aaron Yang – 50 & 100
• Alex Yang – 200 Breast
• Doyeol Yang – 50 Free
• Bella Zhang – 100 Back, 50 Free
• Maggie Zhou – 50 Free

WAVE ON 3!!