CSC Fall Classic Meet Recap

Wave Aquatics’ Select Team kicked off the 2025–26 season with an impressive showing at Helene Madison Pool. Each workout group entered the meet with a specific focus, and their early-season success reflected the hard work they’ve put into refining technique and building endurance. Leading the way was Deniz Cankaya, who earned five new AAA times and one new AA time, setting a strong tone for what promises to be an exciting season ahead.

Age Group 1

Our group focused on swimming all five 100s at this meet. This was a big ask this early in the year with a big majority of the kids finishing some of these events for the very first time. The group absolutely crushed it with some great swimming and some awesome times throughout the weekend. I was very happy with how the group raced and cheered each other on throughout the weekend. Great work Age Group 1 athletes!!!!

Highlights:

• Naomi Zhao had a tremendous weekend of swimming, going 6/6 in both B times and best times. Her standout swim was her 27-second drop in the 100 IM where she went out strong on the butterfly and really attacked the middle 50 with some strong splits.
• Max Schrepfer had a great weekend of swimming, also going 6/6 in best times and knocked out a BB time in the 100 Breast as well. His standout was his 26-second time drop in the 100 Back, where his improvement on his back turns really showed through.
• Hudson Porter had a great weekend of swimming with some strong swims, and some great time drops. His standout swim was his 100 Back where he dropped more than 10 seconds and really showed his improvement in his flip turns.
• Sofia Minchev rocked the meet with some great times and picked up some new BB times. Her standout swim was her 100 Free where she shaved off 12 seconds in the event while showing off her improvements with her kicking throughout the race.
• Sophia Liu had a strong weekend of swimming going 6/6 in best times in her last 10&U Meet. She crushed all her swims, and her standout race was her 9+ second drop in the 100 Fly, where her gains in her kicking and turns showed up big helped her finish the race well.

Age Group 2

We have been focusing on technique and lots of kicking for the first part of the season, with many of the kids swimming first-time races of 200+ yards and almost no 50s. I’m super proud of how well the kids stepped up to race some challenging races. Shout out to Natalie Whitbeck, who swam all five 200s, three of them for the first time!

Highlights:

• Siena Stahlkopf had a monster meet, as she crushed her time in all six races, picking up BB times in five of them. This is a reflection of how much her workout habits have improved since the start of Long Course season last spring. Her standout swim was her first-ever A time in the 100 Breast, where she held a challenging tempo for the entire race and never faltered.
• Vivian Hu raced her first meet as an 11-year-old and quickly earned her first three 11-12 A times. Two of them – the 200 Breast and 400 IM – were the first time she’d ever swum either race and she placed 3^rd in both races. She also swam her first 200 Back and went 3/3 in her other races.
• Andy Wu swam his first meet for Wave and went 3/3 best times and swam three new races. He earned motivational times in all six races. His highlight was a stunning 200 Free where he executed the strategy perfectly to drop 20 seconds and destroy the 3:00 mark.
• Harvey Zhang also swam his first meet for Wave and earned his first four A times ever as well as going 6/6 best times and finishing first or second in all his races. His standout swim was a huge 100 Fly where he dropped 12 seconds with a strong back half to earn one of his new A times.
• Katelyn Chen has really stepped it up in practices and we got to see the payoff at the meet as she picked up four best times with some monster drops. Her highlight was her first-ever 400 IM. She has worked very hard at getting her butterfly timing right, which led to a very successful IM and a B time on her first try.

Senior Prep

Our group has spent the first part of the season focused on improving our technique and kicking, like kicking A LOT. It really showed up at the meet with tons of time drops throughout the weekend and tons of great swims built around the improvements. It was great to see the progress the group has made, and I’m excited to see where the group goes over the next month with some higher intensity training.

Highlights:

• Michael Zhou had a great weekend with five best times, including three B times. His standout swim was his 13-second drop in the 200 IM where his improvement over all four strokes really shined.
• Olivia Sellhorn had a great first meet with Wave. She crushed all six events with her standout swim in the 200 Free where her improvements in her endurance helped carry her into a very strong back 100 and a great finish.
• Lillian Podolski had also had a great first meet with Wave. She rocked all her events and crushed her 200 IM, dropping more than 7 seconds. Her technical improvements were evident and her improved endurance allowed her to sustain a fast pace from start to finish and unleash a powerful sprint in the final stretch for a great time in the event.
• Albert O had a great meet, going best times in most of his events. His 200 IM was his standout swim, where he dropped 18 seconds in the event. His investment in improving his butterfly and flutter kick at practice really propelled his massive drop.
• Andy Nguyen had a great weekend, dropping time in all six events. He really showed his improvement in endurance over the past month with some very strong 200s, especially in his 200 Free. He dropped 6 seconds with a great kick and some solid kick outs off all the walls. In addition, he broke the :30 for the first time in the 50 Breast.

Senior 1

While I was off battling for the fate of a galaxy far far away, 31 swimmers from Senior 1 took to the blocks and competed at the meet. While I was not there in person, I was guided by the Force and was able to follow along as the swimmers turned in solid race after solid race. I had a blast looking at Meet Mobile updates between games and seeing big time drops. This group has put in some very serious work already this season and I was happy to see it pay off so quickly for them. We got off to a hot start, and I anticipate many more great meets and swims from the group moving forward.

Highlights:

• Phoebe Anderson has really stepped up her training to start off the season. She has been crushing dryland and pushing herself in the pool. It was fantastic to see her efforts pay off as she turned in four big time drops. She started the meet off with an incredible swim in the 200 IM. She started super strong on the fly leg, then did a great job fighting through the back and breast legs before using her improved endurance to finish strong giving herself a huge 5-second drop.
• Caden Gray has been on point since the beginning of the season. He has been pushing himself at every practice he attends and rarely misses. He was rewarded for his hard work with drops in every race he swam. After his success in long course, he has been working really hard on his breaststroke, that work showed up big time in the 200. He had a strong first 100 then locked in and even split the back 100 for a monster 18-second drop and breaking 2:20.
• Kirill Kadach has one goal at every practice he attends and that is to work hard. He does just that pushing himself to his limit every single day. He is always trying to improve and that really showed in his race performance. He went best times in five races over the weekend. He has been working hard on his middle-distance training and that really showed in his 500 Free. He executed his race strategy well going out fast then being able to hold off the fade the final 100, resulting in a 2.5-second drop and almost breaking 5:20 for the first time.
• Lainey Meyer has been training like a beast. She’s taking full advantage of her first year of high school swimming combined with club practices to really take off. She went a perfect 6/6 on best times over the weekend. While she hadn’t swum the race for quite some time, she absolutely destroyed the 500 Free. She had a solid start followed by a very methodically split middle 300 before coming home strong at the same time as her opening 100. This resulted in her bsreaking 6:00 for the first time with a spectacular 61-second drop.
• Alissa Nesterenko joined Wave at the start of the season. Since joining, she has proven to be a hard worker and over the weekend she proved to be a racer as well, turning in five solid time drops. She fancies herself to be a sprint freestyler but proved she could do more than just that by turning in a stellar performance in the 200. She showed off her speed early then proceeded to split a great middle 100 and came home strong to give herself a 2.5-second drop.

Senior Epic

At our first meet of the season, we did a great job with many solid and fast swims. Our focus was on executing well the skills we have been working on in practice instead of best times. The athletes did a great job pushing themselves regardless of their heavy training and we had lots of best times.

Highlights:

• Daniel Xia swam only one day and went 2/3 personal bests. He crushed his 400 IM with a massive 18-second drop getting so close to a new Futures cut and earning a AAA Time.
• Lauren Hizzey finished her first meet in Senior Epic with two lifetime bests and many solid swims. Her breaststroke technique has improved and she was able to drop time in both the 100 Breast and the 200 IM with a monster drop in the former (-11 seconds).
• Ethan Lin started off the season strong by picking up four best times. His outstanding swim was the 100 Fly where he dropped almost 3 full seconds. He has been working on his underwater dolphin kicks technique and was able to get some good speed off his walls during the race!
• Cora Ledrick swam only one day and did a great job, getting a best time in the 200 Back. She has been working on her backstroke technique, pushing herself at practice, and her efforts paid off with a solid 2.88-second drop.
• Amaris Rus had a great weekend and went four best times. In the 500 Free, he was consistent and held his pace to finish the race with a huge 17-second drop. That was also a new A Time.

New US Motivational Times

 AAA 

• Alex Belkin – 50 Fly
• Deniz Cankaya – 100 Back, 100 & 200 Fly, 100 Free, 200 IM
• Elaina Jiang – 100 Fly, 100 IM, 50 Back
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Free
• Andy Nguyen – 50 Breast
• Irene Qu – 50 Fly
• Daniel Xia – 400 IM

 AA 

• Alex Belkin – 100 Fly
• Roman Byelykh – 200 Free
• Deniz Cankaya – 100 Breast
• Aaron Chakraborty – 50 Fly
• Leon Chen – 200 IM
• Berit Dunn – 100 & 200 Breast
• Caden Gray – 100 & 200 Breast, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Jennifer Ji – 100 Fly, 100 IM
• Elaina Jiang – 100 Breast
• Dami Jung – 200 Free, 50 Fly
• Lingyi Li – 200 IM
• Ethan Lin – 100 Fly, 200 Free
• Jonathan Liu – 100 Back, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Alissa Nesterenko – 200 Free
• Irene Qu – 200 IM
• Aditeya Verma – 100 Fly
• Piper Wiegand – 50 Fly
• Andy Yang – 200 IM, 50 Breast
• Kenshin Yokoyama – 100 Breast

 A 

• Ahana Bhattacharya – 200 Back
• Lucy Broyles – 200 IM
• Roman Byelykh – 100 Free
• Aaron Chakraborty – 50 Free, 200 IM
• Kim Cui – 50 Breast
• Berit Dunn – 200 & 400 IM
• Abby Gray – 200 Free
• Fiona Herman – 100 Fly
• Vivian Hu – 100 Back, 200 Breast, 200 & 400 IM
• Jennifer Ji – 50 & 100 Back
• Ethan Jin – 100 Breast
• Adrian Juco – 100 Fly
• Dami Jung – 200 Back
• Eva Kalicinski – 200 Free, 200 & 400 IM
• Lingyi Li – 100 & 200 Back, 100 Breast, 200 Free
• Yihan Li – 50 Breast
• Anika Lichtenberg – 100 Back
• Sophie Liu – 100 Breast
• Lainey Meyer – 50, 100 & 500 Free
• Alissa Nesterenko – 500 Free
• Zachary Paulen – 100 Fly
• Maya Razdan – 50 Fly
• Amaris Rus – 500 Free
• Siena Stahlkopf – 100 Breast
• Edi Vasilescu – 200 Fly, 50 Free
• Lasya Viswanadham – 200 IM
• Finley Wiegand – 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Owen Wilson – 100 Fly
• Andy Yang – 200 Breast
• Kenshin Yokoyama – 100 IM, 200 Free
• Harvey Zhang – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly

 BB 

• Gahl Ami ad – 100, 200 & 500 Free
• Phoebe Anderson – 200 Free
• Sasha Arlouski – 50 Fly
• Mira Arora – 100 Back
• Aaradhya Bharadwaj – 100 Breast, 100 IM
• Aman Bhatt – 100 & 200 Breast
• Adele Bokach – 100 Back, 100 Free
• Alex Bouianov – 100 IM, 100 Back, 100 Fly, 100 Free
• Norah Braun – 200 Back, 400 IM, 500 Free
• Lucy Broyles – 50 Fly
• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Aaron Chakraborty – 100 & 200 Fly
• Daniel Chen – 200 Back
• Katelyn Chen – 100 Breast
• Leo Chen – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Mo Chen – 50 Back
• Addy Clarke – 200 Back
• Cloris Cui – 100 Breast, 100 IM
• Ann Ding – 100 Breast
• Logan Downing – 400 IM
• Berit Dunn – 200 Free
• Theodore Gerber – 50 Back
• Kirsten Hau – 200 Free
• Olivia Horng – 400 IM
• Vivian Hu – 200 Back, 200 Free
• Kirill Kadach – 100 Fly
• Eva Kalicinski – 200 Back
• Arvin Kandiah – 50 Breast
• Alina Karptsova – 50 Fly
• Maria Kokhan – 50 Breast
• Avery Lee – 100 Breast
• Lingyi Li – 200 Breast
• Anika Lichtenberg – 200 Free
• Sophie Liu – 100 Back, 100 Free, 50 Fly
• Elizabeth Luo – 50 Free
• Emily MacDonald – 200 Free
• Karina Maksyutov – 50 Breast
• Lainey Meyer – 100 Breast
• JoJo Miller – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Sofia Minchev – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 Free, 50 Back
• Andy Nguyen – 200 Free, 50 Back, 50 Fly
• Maksim Nikitenko – 200 IM, 200 Free
• Albert O – 200 IM
• Lilian Podoloski – 200 IM
• Vien Pogue – 500 Free
• Anika Razdan – 50 Fly
• Max Schrepfer – 100 Breast
• Olivia Sellhorn – 200 Free, 200 IM
• Siena Stahlkopf – 100 Back, 100 Free, 100 Fly, 200 & 400 IM
• Bianca Stanciu – 100 Fly, 100 IM
• Gabe Steijn – 100 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM, 50 Back
• Leo Steijn – 100 Free
• Clara Stevenson – 100 Back, 200 Breast, 200 IM
• Dan Sun – 200 Back
• Han Sun – 50 Breast, 50 Free
• Max Sun – 100 Fly, 200 Back
• Vedah Tulahdar – 50 Fly
• George Ursulenko – 50 Breast
• Aditeya Verma – 100 & 200 Free, 200 & 400 IM, 100 Back
• Alex Wang – 200 Back, 400 IM
• Maja Wang – 100 Breast, 100 Free, 200 & 400 IM
• Steven Wang – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 IM
• Natalie Whitbeck – 100 Breast, 200 Back, 200 IM
• Finley Wiegand – 200 Back, 200 Breast, 200 & 400 IM
• Owen Wilson – 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Andy Wu – 100 Breast, 200 Back
• Arjun Yadav – 200 Breast, 200 Free
• Avani Yadav – 50 Back
• Alex Yang – 200 IM
• Isshin Yokoyama – 200 Back
• Bella Zhang – 100 Back
• Claire Zhang – 100 Breast
• Grace Zhang – 200 Free, 50 Fly

 B 

• Shreyan Acharya – 100 Back, 100 Fly
• Akira Andhare – 100 & 200 Back, 100 & 200 Breast, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Sasha Arlouski – 200 Breast
• Mira Arora – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 & 200 Free, 200 IM
• Aaradhya Bharadwaj – 100 Back
• Ahana Bhattacharya – 50 Breast
• Adele Bokach – 100 Breast, 400 IM
• Arifin Capiral – 100 Fly
• Katelyn Chen – 100 Fly, 100 Free, 400 IM
• Mo Chen – 100 Back, 100 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM
• Henry Cheng – 50 Fly
• Hayley Chou – 200 Back, 200 & 400 IM
• Cloris Cui – 100 Fly
• Arthur Dauletbaev – 50 Back
• Braxton Davis – 100 Back, 100 Breast, 200 & 500 Free, 200 IM
• Lucas Deng – 100 Breast, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Ann Ding – 100 Fly
• Julie Dong – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 IM
• Ziad ElGamal – 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Elizabeth Ellis – 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Joseph Foster – 50 & 200 Free, 200 IM, 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Rihit Gandhi – 200 IM
• Ella Gao – 100 Breast, 200 IM
• Russ Gawthorp – 100 Breast
• Theodore Gerber – 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 IM
• Raya Hari – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM
• Felix Henaire – 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM, 50 Back
• Lauren Hizzey – 100 Breast
• Olivia Horng – 200 Back
• Ethan Jin – 100 Back, 100 Fly, 100 Free
• Haim Jung – 100 Back, 200 Breast, 400 IM
• Remy Kalicinski – 100 Fly, 100 Breast, 100 IM, 50 Back
• Arvin Kandiah – 200 Breast, 200 Free, 200 IM, 50 Fly
• Avery Lee – 200 Back, 200 Free, 200 IM
• Martin Li – 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Jonah Lynn – 200 Free
• Emily MacDonald – 50 Breast
• Karina Maksyutov – 200 Back
• Finley Meier – 100 Breast, 100 Free
• Emmy Miller – 100 IM, 50 Back
• JoJo Miller – 100 Free
• Maksim Nikitenko – 100 Fly
• Lillian Podolski – 50 Breast
• Hudson Porter – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Free
• Beatrix Pressman – 200 Back, 200 Free
• Shatadru Roy Choudhury – 50 Breast
• Max Schrepfer – 100 Back
• Olivia Sellhorn – 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Timur Shafigulin – 100 IM
• Aadhya Sirimamilla – 50 Back, 100 Breast
• Gabe Steijn – 100 Back
• Clara Stevenson – 200 Back, 200 Fly
• Dan Sun – 200 Breast
• Kennedy Trembley – 100 & 200 Breast
• Margaret Ursulenko – 100 IM
• Evelyn Wang – 100 IM
• Alex Wang – 200 Breast
• Maja Wang – 200 Free
• Natalie Whitbeck – 200 Breast
• Andy Wu – 100 Free, 200 Breast, 400 IM
• Avani Yadav – 100 Fly
• Alex Yang – 100 Breast, 100 Fly
• Claire Zhang – 100 Back, 100 IM
• Naomi Zhao – 50 & 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM
• Maggie Zhao – 100 Back, 100 Breast
• Michael Zhao – 50 & 200 Free, 200 IM

WAVE ON 3!!