Futures Championships Meet Recap

This year’s Futures Championships took place in Sacramento, CA, from July 23-26. Wave had seven swimmers qualified for individual events at the meet, our biggest crew in a long time and we also had a couple relays qualified, the 400 Free and the 400 Medley relay. Our team had such a fun week in Sacramento crushing their races, cheering for their teammates, hanging out with their friends and myself in our tent, and watching and observing some pretty fast swims in the evenings.

Before diving into our swimmers' results, I would like to explain how the USA Swimming National Meets are built to follow a progressive tier of cuts. The goal of having different tiers of National Meets is to help swimmers stay motivated to move up to the next level while still offering a very competitive environment for young swimmers. The National Meets are divided into the following meets:

• Futures Championships (LCM): This is the first tier of the National Meets with pretty fast qualifying times (way faster than Sectionals) and it is held in five locations across the country. Swimmers of any age can swim this meet, but there is a specific cut and rule to swim finals for swimmers over 19 years old.
• Winter Junior Nationals (SCY): This is the second tier with faster qualifying times than Futures and is held in only two locations (one West and one East). Only swimmers 18&U can swim this meet.
• Summer Junior National (LCM): Similar format to Winter Juniors but in the long course pool and cuts are the fastest cuts for the Junior level.

Cool Note: one of our swimmers, Daniel Xia, just got two cuts for this meet while swimming at Futures last week!

Besides these three tiers of Junior National Meets, there are also Open Meets where the cuts are the fastest cuts in the country and where Olympians and the fast college swimmers show up and race. A few examples of these meets are US Open (SCY- winter), TYR Pro Series (LCM- spread throughout the year), Summer Nationals (LCM), and Olympic Trials (LCM once every 4 years). Any swimmer who achieves a cut for these Open Meets can participate regardless of their age.

Now, let's dive into each swimmer’s results:

• Daniel Xia dominated the week and was able to swim even faster than his swims at PNS Champs the week before and brought home five lifetime bests. He got his first (and second) Summer Junior National cuts at Futures. The first one came in the 100 Breast where he was so close to the cut at Champs and made it in Sacramento shaving off another 0.22 for an Open Team Record. The second cut came in the 200 Breast with a fantastic swim in finals where he adjusted his strategy from prelims going out faster, dropping 2 full seconds, achieving one more cut and the 15-16 Team Record. He scored 13 points for our team in three events, all in the B Finals. Besides the breaststroke, he also scored points in the 200 IM going a lifetime best, dropping a few more tenths of second from the time he did at Champs and getting a Winter Junior National cut in the process.
• Oleg Arlouski went a best time in all four events after dropping his times at PNS Champs the week before. He swam the 50, 100 and 200 Fly at Futures, making the C Final in the 200 Fly and dropping time in both prelims and finals with a total drop of 1.71 seconds and a new AAAA Time in long course. This is also a new 15-16 Team Record for him. Another great swim was his 800 Free where he felt strong and crushed his time with an excellent race and a solid 15-second drop.
• Anton Mazepa had a very strong PNS Champs meet the week before Futures where he dropped time in all his main events and was able to swim very close to those times at Futures. He qualified to swim the D Final in the 200 Back and did a great job managing his speed and strategy in his second swim going only 1.84 seconds off his best time achieved the week before. Besides the back events, he also swam the 1500 Free and had an excellent race, dropping 15 seconds in his first Futures meet.
• Henry Geitz got his Futures cut during PNS Champs swimming a fantastic 400 Free in finals and he came to Sacramento hungry for more. On the first day, he went a best time in the 200 Free with a full second drop from his time a week before. Then he swam very close to his best time in the 400 Free and on the last day, he put together a phenomenal 800 Free going out strong and racing his heat to drop 17 seconds, earn a AAA Time, and get super close to another Futures cut.
• Bennett Geitz got his first Futures cut two days before the Futures meet and was on fire in Sacramento going 5/5 personal bests, including the races he went best times during PNS Champs. At Futures, he qualified to swim two C Finals. In his first one, the 400 IM, he had very strong back and breaststroke legs and got another Futures cut. In the 200 IM, he had an aggressive strategy, and the result was an amazing race and time drop for him. He dropped another 4.30 seconds in the 400 IM and 1.62 seconds in the 200 IM which was also a AAAA Time. Bennett came to the meet with one Futures cut and went back home with two cuts.
• Logan Downing came to Futures with a big smile on his face after a dramatic week at PNS Champs where he swam the 100 Breast three times to make his first-ever Futures cut (he did the cut in his first attempt and was disqualified)! At Futures, he went a best time in three events: 50 Breast (-0.08), 50 Fly (-0.66) and 50 Free (-0.05). All those races were a new drop after dropping his times a week before at PNS Champs, with the exception of the 50 Fly.
• Ethan Lin also got his first-ever Futures cut at PNS Champs swimming a very fast 50 Free and was excited to swim in Sacramento. He swam five events and had solid swims in all of them going right at his best times, most of them achieved the week before at Champs. He had a strong 100 Free and got a personal best in the 50 Breast, dropping 0.33.

Congrats to the Futures group! Your extraordinary results reflect your commitment and dedication season after season. Believe, be consistent with your work and keep dreaming big!!

WAVE ON 3!!