Western Zones Senior Zones Meet Recap

Wave sent 18 swimmers to the Western Zone Senior Championships in Fresno, California, competing against athletes from 102 teams across the western US. With prelims at two sites and combined finals each night, Wave swimmers qualified for finals daily and earned new Spring and Summer Sectionals cuts. The 800 Free Relay team—Megan, Molly, Cora, and Amelia—secured the team's top finish, placing 11th. Congratulations to all on a strong season finish.

High School

This meet was fast! We only had two swimmers entered this meet, but we had a total of five qualified.

• Alex Belkin had some great races. He qualified with his 50 Free and got his 100 Free as a bonus swim. He was in a few relays: 200 free relay, 200 medley relay as anchor, and 400 Medley swimming as fly. He also swam two Time Trials for 50 Free.
• Feynman Chen swam his 50 Free and 100 Fly. He participated in the A 400 Medley Relay swimming fly, the A 200 Free Relay, and the 400 Free Relay. He also time trialed his 50 Fly twice.

Senior 1

Senior 1 sent five swimmers to Zones. It was a great meet for the group as everyone turned in some incredible swims. Two swimmers qualified for Summer Sectionals, one qualified for Spring Sectionals, and one picked up a new Zones qualifying time. I had a blast watching them compete all week and really put everything they had into their swims. They have all worked incredibly hard this season and were rewarded for those efforts in a big way. Looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish next season. Highlights:

• Gahl Ami ad qualified for this meet at 13&Over champs. He worked very hard to achieve those cuts and wasn’t satisfied with simply qualifying. He put in solid training leading up to the meet and showed up ready to race. He was able to duplicate a strong swim in the 200 Breast. He swam the race very smart, starting out strong then building up through the middle and sprinting home to the finish. He was right at his time from Champs, which was a 3-second drop, and moved up several places to finish just outside of finals.
• Roman Byleykh once again wanted to take on all the longest races. He rose to the challenge of swimming all the meters. He saved up his best performance for the last day of the meet, absolutely crushing the 800 Free. He went into the race with a plan and was able to dial it in right away and hit the pace he wanted to be at. This resulted in a huge 10-second drop from Champs and his first Summer Sectionals qualifying time.
• Lauren Hizzey had a fantastic meet going best times in most of her races. She was excited to be competing in California and took in the intense sun in great stride. She also saved her best performance for the final day, deciding to time trial the 800 Free. She got off to a great start then settled into a very solid pace for the middle 400 before attacking the final 200 and finishing incredibly strong. She entered the race without a qualifying time and finished under the Zones qualifying time in the event.
• Gabe Traina turned in strong swims every day. He turned in a fantastic 200 Back but just missed the Sectionals cut. Determined to get some vengeance for just missing the cut, he finished the meet with a statement swim in his 800 Free. He raced hard all the way from start to finish. He did a fantastic job of staying on pace and brought it home incredibly strong, putting him 4 seconds under the Spring Sectionals qualifying time.
• Piper Wiegand was a freestyle champion throughout the week swimming every single freestyle event from 50 to 1500. She had solid swims in all, but the shortest one turned out to be her biggest moment. 254 girls competed in the 50 Free and Piper finished prelims in 18^th, qualifying her for the C Final. She had a stellar swim using a great dive, planning her breaths accordingly, then a great surge to the finish. She was rewarded with a trip to finals and her first Spring and Summer Sectionals cuts all in the span of 28 seconds. Piper scored 1 point for Wave.

Senior Epic

Senior Epic sent 11 swimmers to Senior Zones and we had many amazing swims with several best times (again!!), with some swimmers coming back for finals and everyone having lots of fun at the meet! A special shout-out to Amelia who got her first Summer Sectionals cut in the 1500 Free. Enjoy some highlights from each swimmer:

• Molly Traina swam six events at Zones and qualified for finals in three of them: 100 Back, 100 Free, and 200 Free. She had massive drops in all these events at Champs, so it was very positive for her to come to Zones and be able to swim Finals in these events. Besides that, she had a great swim in the 400 Free with a monster 13.99-second drop to earn an AA Time and another two time drops in the 50 and 100 Fly during time trials. Molly scored 8 points for Wave.
• Megan Traina had a full meet swimming many freestyle and backstroke events. At Champs she went best times in all her backstroke events, so at Zones she tried a few different strategies in her races. She was happy with her results in the 100 and 200 Back where she qualified to swim Finals in both and went less than a second off of her best times in both races, always swimming faster in the evening. This was her last swim meet with Wave. She is heading off to her college adventure soon. Good luck, Megan! Megan scored 13 points for Wave.
• Maya Surugiu swam three events at Zones and went a best time in the 200 IM, dropping almost a full second. In the other two events, 100 and 200 Breast, after having huge time drops at Senior Champs two weeks ago, she was able to qualify for Finals in both events at Zones and went very close to her newly achieved times.
• Amaris Rus had a very strong meet and went lifetime bests in three events. His outstanding swim was the 200 Fly (again)! He’s been dropping time in this event in every long course meet this year and he wrapped up the season with another time drop of -1.11, getting even closer to the Futures cut. Besides that, he achieved two new AA Times in the 50 and 100 Free and swam two finals, 100 and 200 Fly. Amaris scored 6 points for Wave.
• Amelia Pletosu had a busy week swimming all the distance events and crushed her races! She went a best time, by a lot, in both the 1500 Free and the 800 Free! In the 1500 Free she dropped time again (12.21 seconds) and got her first Summer Sectionals cut! In the 800 Free she went 13.93 seconds faster than her lifetime best. She was feeling good overall and also destroyed her 200 IM time with a massive 8.18-second drop to qualify for finals and earning a AAA Time in the process. Amelia scored 12 points for Wave.
• Sam Merriam swam the 50 and 100 Free and time trialed the 100 Fly, and she was very happy to go best times in all her three events! She had a great swim in the 100 Free swimming way faster than Champs and dropping 0.76. In the 50 Free, she went under :30 again, shaving off another 0.11 from her best time. She finished her meet with a strong time trial in the 100 Fly where she dropped half a second. It was also her last swim meet with Wave. She is heading off to her college adventure soon. Good luck, Sam!
• Cora Ledrick swam 50, 100, 200 Free and time trialed the 400 Free, which turned out to be her strongest swim. She was able to go out strong and hold her pace to drop 1.09 seconds from her previous time. She had strong swims during the season, especially in the 100 Free when she dropped time and qualified to swim at Zones during the Seattle Open Meet. Cora scored 8 points for Wave.
• Adrian Juco qualified to swim three events and went a best time in the 50 Free leading off the 200 Free relay with a solid 1.17-second drop to achieve an AA Time. Another strong swim for him was the 200 IM where he swam right at his time looking consistent in all his four strokes.
• Peter Hansen came motivated to Fresno and went personal best times in both sprint events he swam at Zones. In the 100 Free, he dropped 0.78 and in the 50 Free he shaved off another 0.36 to wrap up a strong season. He also time trialed the same events to get a second swim and more experience going almost the same times again.
• Caroline Bryant swam three events at Zones and went less than a second off her best times in the 50 and 100 Free. This was her last meet with Wave and she had a great time cheering for her teammates and hanging out with them all week in Fresno. Good luck in your new journey, Caroline!
• Anouk Balog had another great meet and went a best time in her favorite event, the 200 Fly! She had a solid swim in prelims and came back for finals determined to swim faster. And that’s what she did! She dropped 1.16 seconds in her second swim getting closer to the Spring Sectionals cut.

Congrats to everyone at Zones and to the entire group for your great Champs Season! There is way more coming in the fall!

Top 24 Finishes

Top 24 Finishes all scored points for Wave!

• Cora Ledrick – 11^th (800 FR)
• Amelia Pletosu – 11^th (800 FR), 21^st (1500 Free)
• Amaris Rus – 19^th (200 Fly)
• Megan Traina – 11^th (800 FR), 20^th (200 Back)
• Molly Traina – 11^th (800 FR)
• Piper Wiegand – 24^th (50 Free)

New US Motivational Times

 AAA 

• Amelia Pletosu – 200 IM
• Piper Wiegand – 200 Free

 AA 

• Adrian Juco – 50 Free
• Amaris Rus – 50 & 100 Free
• Gabe Traina – 200 Free
• Molly Traina – 400 Free

 A 

• Peter Hansen – 100 Free
• Lauren Hizzey – 50 Free

WAVE ON 3!!