PNS Fall Divisionals, Division 3 Meet Recap

Wave athletes kicked off the Fall Champs season with incredible energy, showcasing not only impressive speed but also outstanding sportsmanship throughout the meet. It was a thrill to watch swimmers drop huge chunks of time and rack up a boatload of new USS motivational standards. Leading the charge were Rhea Dawani, Theodore Gerber, and Vedah Tulahdar, each of whom capped the weekend by earning Last Chance Champs cuts—a fantastic start to an exciting championship stretch!

Black Group

Black Group had 66 swimmers competing at the meet, keeping the coaches busy and bringing a lot of energy to the pool deck. Special thanks to Coach Maya, Coach Denise, and all the families that did the staging, as that was a huge help in managing a large number of swimmers and getting them to their races. Also, thank you to all the parents who brought their kids to the pool on time and prepared for the meet. We had a few late arrivals, but they mostly let us know in advance, which we appreciate.

We had fun watching ALL the kids race this weekend. Each of them showed many positive things in the pool, and they absolutely brought an infectious energy that made for a fun pool deck. Standout swims of the meet:

A Group

• Bode Boone showed up to RACE AGNB (All Gas No Breaks). This dude completed his first-ever 25 Fly with a very strong time. He finished 3^rd in all four 25-yard races and 6^th in his 50 Free. We loved watching him race!
• Robert Gilmore looked super good over the weekend. The coaches were very impressed with how he looked in his freestyle and butterfly events. He also showed huge improvement in his breaststroke.
• Felix Jiang had all best times, and some really excellent swims in his two freestyle races, including going 17.5 in his 25 Free using long and strong strokes and excellent kicking in that race that powered him to 1^st place.
• Amy Yu keeps making solid improvements at practice, so as always, we enjoyed watching those pay off for her with some excellent swims at this meet. Really excited to see how well she looked in her freestyle races and the improvements in her breaststroke!
• Aurora Zhou works really hard at practice, and watching her tear it up at the meet was awesome to see. Excellent freestyle and breaststroke races, along with some nice improvements in the other two strokes. An all-around fantastic day of racing for her!

B Group

• Ashay Deshmukh brought his A Game to the meet, and we loved the energy he raced with; it was very impressive! He showed big improvements across the board.
• Walter Huang had an excellent first meet with Wave, finished all five races legally, and looked strong doing it. We look forward to seeing how he continues to work and progress!
• Inara Jumani made the coaches really proud for remembering to do all the details of her 25 Breast correctly and get a first-time swim in that race!
• Aveer Negi showed massive improvements in his races and did his best breaststroke kick we’ve seen him do so far. It was noticeable how much he focused on that!
• Vibha Sriraman was able to complete four new races for the first time and looked very good with her freestyle races. With her positive practice habits, she will keep improving in those races.

White Group

White Group had a great swim meet. Everyone came to race and demonstrated what Wave sportsmanship is all about. Standout swims of the meet:

A Group

• Miley Chen raced exceptionally well. In the 50 Fly, she dropped from 54.07 to 40.69, earning a new BB time. In the 50 Free, she dropped from 43.62 to 35.15, getting another BB time. She also dropped more than 10 seconds in her 100 IM, getting yet another BB time. Amazing.
• Vyom Singh demonstrated his hard work with significant drops. In the 100 IM, he dropped more than 20 seconds, and then another 8.61 seconds in his 50 Free and 7.46 seconds in his 50 Breast. Keep it coming!
• William McDonald came ready to race. He improved from 53.59 to 46.03 in his 50 Back to get a new B time. He dropped 11.98 seconds in his 100 IM and 6.58 seconds in his 50 Free. Impressive!
• Aaron Yang achieved big improvement. He dropped more than 8 seconds in his 100 IM to earn a new B time. He made another B time in his 50 Back and dropped 10.88 seconds in his 50 Fly. Plus, he dropped 3.4 seconds in his 50 Free.
• Arvaan Deshmukh had a perfect meet with 100% best times and dropped more than 3 seconds in every race. He also made a new B time in his 100 IM. Outstanding!

B Group

• Annabelle Gerber dropped massive time. She dropped more than 9 seconds in her 100 IM and 12.46 seconds in her 50 Fly to earn a B time. She also dropped more than 6 seconds in her 50 Free and made another B time in her 50 Breast. Outstanding!
• Daniel Zhovtobriukh had an outstanding meet. He slashed off 9.24 seconds in his 50 Free, dropping his time to 43.18. He also raced his first legal 100 IM and 50 Fly. Way to improve your skills!
• Ronav Chandra had a great meet, dropping 8.75 seconds in his 100 IM 8.86 in his 50 Free. He also proved he has a legal butterfly. Congratulations!
• Kai Chen swam amazingly. He improved 6.3 seconds in his 50 Back, 6.8 seconds in his 50 Fly, and 7 seconds in his 50 Free. He also improved his 50 Breast by 2.97 seconds. Nice work!
• Enya Zhu has been working hard, and her times showed it. She improved in her 100 IM, 50 Free, 50 Back, 50 Fly, and 50 Breast. Congratulations on 100% best times!

Purple Group

Purple Group had a phenomenal weekend at Divisionals, earning 18 new motivational time standards. Leading up to the meet, we spent significant time working on speed and intensity in our races. The group raced one another and themselves on challenging sets while building strength and power in dryland. What I’m most proud of is the group's overwhelming sense of sportsmanship. After races, they leaned across lane lines to congratulate one another, cheered for their teammates along the side, and found joy in watching their teammates succeed. I could not be prouder of the group as we head into the second half of our short course season! Standout swims of the meet:

A Group

• Jayan Upadhaya has been grinding at practices all season long. He frequently finds ways to push himself during sets, whether it be working on his underwater dolphin kick, or opting to swim sets butterfly. This weekend, that grind paid off in his 50 and 100 Fly. He dropped almost 2 seconds in his 50 to get his first 13-14 B time, and dropped 6 seconds in his 100 by controlling his speed in the first 50 in order to bring it home fast.

• Rylan Jones had an amazing showing at Divisionals. She has been working hard all season while building connections with her teammates. This weekend she displayed excellent sportsmanship and had major success in her races, dropping a cumulative 15 seconds and gained another 13-14 B time in her 50 Fly!
• Ivan Nesterenko got his first two 13-14 B times this weekend in the 100 Breast and the 50 Free. On top of his B time in the 50, it was also his first time breaking the :30 barrier! He worked on his hand placement in his 100 Breast and made the most out of his catch to have a great swim.

• Joshua Hunter had a productive weekend, dropping at least 1 second in all his races. By engaging in the technical aspect of sprint breaststroke, he swam himself to his first 13-14 B time in the 50!
• Insha Javed Shoaib dropped 9 seconds in her 100 IM by using quick turns to transition into her next stroke; she brought it home strong in the freestyle with a fast tempo. She dropped 15 seconds across all her races.

B Group

• Vihaan Mehrotra had incredible time drops all weekend. He attacked all his races, swimming himself to an 11-12 B time in the 50 Free. He also won his first 200 Breast. In the race, he paced himself well and posted a strong time to build on during the second half of the season.
• Roohi Indurkar is a leader in the water. During practice, she consistently leads her lane and ensures the other lanes stay on the correct send-off. That hard work led to an incredible 50 Back, where her rotation and speed helped her drop 4.5 seconds!
• Rajas Deshpande dropped nearly 5 seconds in his 100 Free with an incredible second 50! He went into all his turns with speed and exploded off the wall without breathing on the first stroke.
• Atharva Koppal displayed excellent sportsmanship all weekend. After noticing one teammate's frustration after a race, he made a point of cheering especially loudly at their subsequent races. On top of that, he dropped a cumulative 23 seconds across all his races this weekend, with a highlight 50 Fly!
• Gihoo Kim dropped the most amount of time this weekend with a whopping 31 seconds! He has been working hard all season to improve his technique and speed. This weekend, he had a standout 100 Free, dropping nearly 14 seconds to win his heat.

High School

High School had some amazing swims at Divisionals. So many time drops, and B Group walked away with this one. B Group as a whole saw the most significant time drops!! Everyone should be very proud, 15 weeks in, and we are seeing the progress that we need to see! 

A Group

• Charlie Page has been focused on fine-tuning his breaststroke and getting his tempo up. He was really trying to get his Champs cut in his 50 Breast. He was so close! However, he saw a huge payoff in his 100 Breast with almost a 4-second drop!! Way to go. 
• Arjun Bhate came into this meet ready to race! He had drops in 5/6 events! His biggest race was his 200 IM, where he posted an -11.53 drop! He had a tie for 2^nd in his 200 Breast and 200 Free, dropping more than 6 seconds! Keep it up! 
• Roshni Padmanabhan was really nervous going into this meet, but she prevailed! She had a fantastic meet! She had a strong 50 Back, racing as hard as she could. It was fun to watch. She also excelled in the 200 IM, pushing her limits and chasing down competitors. 
• Theresa Nguyen had 5/6 best times. She was very nervous going into the 200 Breast, which is her least favorite stroke, but she ended up dropping almost 8 seconds by picking up her third 50 and racing all the way to the finish.

B Group

• Yifan Xu has been working really hard in practice, and it is paying off! He had some monster drops, improving in 5/6 events. In his 200 IM, he slashed more than 15 seconds with a huge comeback in his last 50, pulling ahead and really diving to the finish! 
• Tvesa Bansal has been working really hard on her underwaters and flip turns in practice. It definitely helped her drop more than 10 seconds in her 200 IM! 
• Maxwell Nelson is a newer Wave swimmer. We’ve been working to improve speed across all our strokes and refine our technique. He really went after his 100 Breast and raced it! He is closed that race strong and pulled ahead for a fantastic time. Good job!
• Neha Gopisetty has been working on her freestyle very diligently in practice. She saw a significant 17+ second improvement in her 200 Free by focusing on her catch and DPS.

Age Group 1

AG1 crushed the Divisionals Meet and dominated the Pentathlon events over the weekend. It was a lot of swimming for the kids with five events in just a few hours. The kids did great, showing significant improvements in technique and time drops. It was awesome to see the kids' hard work pay off and to see them race fast. The group set the standard for the Champs Season for the rest of the group and the whole team!!! Standout Swims of the Meet:

• Arthur Dauletbaev had a great meet, going 4/5 in best times. He crushed his 100 IM just shy of a 4-second drop. He kept all four strokes very strong and did a great job racing home on his freestyle.
• Ziad ElGamal had a great meet with some strong improvements in all five of his races and some great technical gains in his strokes. His standout swim was 50 Free, where he crushed his start and showed improvements in his start and turn.
• Emilia Miller had a great weekend of swimming with some strong races and some great improvements in her strokes. Emmy’s standout was her 5-second drop in her 50 Fly, where she kept her underwater kick strong and had a great second 25 with smooth, long strokes.
• Aadhya Sirimamilla had a strong meet where she really showed some of the technical skills we have been working on. She did a great job at our events and ran some fast races that showed significant improvement in her stroke mechanics.
• Bianca Stanciu had a tremendous meet, going 6/6 in best times over the two days of the meet. She crushed multiple events, and her standout was her 9-second drop in her 100 Breast, where she showed quality pullouts off each wall and kept her tempo strong to race home.

Age Group 2

AG2 came, saw, and conquered! We had almost all 11 swimmers achieve 6/6 or 5/6 best times, showing off how hard they trained and how well they focused on improving their technique. Congrats on a fantastic Fall Season! A big shout-out to Ira Joshi, who picked up 3^rd place in her first-ever 200 Fly! Standout swims of the meet:

• Akira Andhare went 5/6 best times, including 2^nd place in her first-ever 200 Fly. She had two equally impressive swims in her 100 Fly (-12+ seconds) and 100 Free (-11 seconds), earning B times in both races and scoring in the 100 Fly. In both races, she paced her first 50 fast and then sprinted the last 50 for those big drops.
• Mira Erdim only swam one day, and she made the most of it, cutting 6+ seconds in every event for three 6^th places. Her standout race was her 100 IM, where she committed to sprinting every stroke and destroyed her best time by 7 seconds.
• Tyler Fernandez went 5/6 best times, proving how hard work pays off in the pool. He smashed his 100 IM by attacking each 25, resulting in a 7-second drop to score 4^th place.
• Melanie King has worked very hard on improving the timing of her breathing in her 50 Fly and we saw the result as she blasted almost 4 seconds off her previous best time.
• Braxton Davis had another excellent meet, scoring four 1^st places and two 2^nd places. His standout swim was his 100 Fly, where he showcased his improved technique, dropping 13+ seconds, earning a BB time, and winning the event.

Senior Prep

SR Prep had only a few swimmers at the meet, but the swimmers performed well, with several best times and strong races throughout the weekend. It was awesome to see the first batch of Peak Performance Swims from the group be so successful, and to get the Champs Season off with some big-time success. Great Job to the kids who competed in the meet!!! Standout Swims of the Meet:

• Mira Arora had a strong meet weekend with some great times and some great racing. She had three best times over the weekend and knocked out her 100 Free with a 2-second drop, keeping her stroke long and her kick strong throughout the swim.
• Alina Karptsova dominated the meet with five best times over the weekend and some great races. She crushed her 100 Fly with an 8-second drop. She kept her stroke long and tempo consistent throughout the race for a wonderful swim.
• Jonah Lynn also dominated the meet with 6/6 best times. He did a fantastic job, and all his hard work at practice really paid off. His standout came in his 200 Back, where he dropped 13.5 seconds with strong kicking throughout the swim.
• Karina Maksyutov had five best times over the weekend with some significant time drops. Her top swim was in her 50 Fly, where her start work really paid off with a smooth dive and an excellent swim for just shy of a 2-second drop.
• Shatadru Choudhury had a great weekend of racing and really started to show some of the hard work he has been putting into practice, with five best times over the weekend. His standout swim was in his 200 Breast, where his improvement in kicking breast really showed through with a 6-second drop.

Senior 1

Senior 1 had 12 swimmers competing at the meet. It was a great way to kick off the December Champs season. Everyone performed incredibly well. They did a fantastic job of stepping up and executing the things we have been working on in practice. They were rewarded for their hard work with a bunch of time drops and several 1^st place finishes. I had a blast watching them race so well. I’m looking forward to what they can do moving forward. Standout swims of the meet:

• Arya Bhatt has really been training the right way this season. He has worked on all the small details and has dramatically improved his aerobic capacity. He showed that hard work off by turning in best times in all 6 of his events. He had an incredible 50 Fly; he got off to a fantastic start and maintained his speed to the finish for a huge 1-second drop to go :25 for the first time.
• Kirsten Hau always has a great attitude and always puts in the work at practice. She competed in only one day of the meet and made the most of it, turning in two huge best times. She blasted her way to a solid half-second drop in the 50 Breast. She had a great pullout and turned on the tempo the second 25 to give her the drop and a 1^st place finish.
• Kirill Kadach was in beast mode all weekend, winning five of his events. He typically prefers longer races and trains for them, but he was happy to demonstrate that he is also developing serious sprint speed. That was on display in the 100 Free as he pushed the first 50, then used a great last turn and strong final 25 to give him a half-second drop.
• Rahul Purkayastha has been steadily improving his breaststroke all season. This meet was a shining example of that growth. His 200 Breast was a phenomenal race. He had great underwater pullouts off all the walls, kept his stroke long early, and turned up the tempo down the stretch to give him a monster 2-second drop.
• Jeffrey Zhao was a best time machine over the weekend, dropping in all 6 of his events. He combined speed and endurance to absolutely crush the 200 Free. He had a solid first 50, then swam strong through the middle 100, and finally sprinted his way home to blow his old time away by 10 seconds.

New US Motivational Times

 BB 

• Arya Bhatt – 100 Free
• Aaron Chakraborty – 200 Free
• Alvin Chang – 50 Free
• Miley Chen – 100 IM, 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Hayley Chou – 100 Back
• Braxton Davis – 100 Fly, 200 IM
• Rhea Dawani – 50 Back
• Rihit Gandhi – 50 Free
• Dario Giuliani – 200 IM
• Yeim Jung – 50 Breast
• Priya Lahiri – 50 Fly
• Elizabeth Luo – 50 Back
• Jonah Lynn – 50 Free
• Karina Maksyutov – 50 Fly
• Emmy Miller – 50 Fly
• Max Schrepfer – 50 Free
• Carlo Villanueva – 200 Breast, 200 Free
• Lina Wu – 100 Fly
• Bella Zhang – 50 Free
• Claire Zhang – 100 IM
• Eric Zhou – 50 Back, 50 Fly
• Michael Zhou – 50 Fly

 B 

• Apolline Abram-Profeta – 50 Free
• Akira Andhare – 100 Fly, 100 Free, 100 IM
• Victoria Arena – 50 Fly
• Anika Arvan – 50 Fly
• Johanna Burg – 50 Breast
• Eric Chai – 100 Breast
• Aaron Chakraborty – 200 Breast
• Alvin Chang – 100 Breast
• Tony Chen – 100 IM
• Hayley Chou – 50 Fly
• Arvaan Deshmukh – 100 IM
• Julie Dong – 50 Back
• Liam Donnelly – 50 Fly
• Elizabeth Ellis – 100 IM, 50 Free
• Mira Erdim – 100 Breast, 100 IM, 200 Free
• Tyler Fernandez – 100 Back, 50 Free
• Joseph Foster – 200 Breast
• Jason Gao – 100 Back
• Avni Garg – 100 Breast
• Annabelle Gerber – 50 Breast, 50 Fly
• Theodore Gerber – 50 Free
• Raya Hari – 50 Fly
• Felix Henaire – 50 Free
• Joshua Hunter – 50 Breast
• Rylan Jones – 50 Fly
• Arvin Kandiah – 50 & 100 Free
• Alina Karptsova – 100 Fly
• Aditi Koppla – 50 Back, 50 Free
• Priya Lahiri – 200 Free
• Martin Li – 100 IM
• Sophie Liu – 100 Fly
• Patrick Long – 50 Free
• Elizabeth Luo – 100 Breast
• Jonah Lynn – 200 Back
• Miya Ma – 50 Free
• William MacDonald – 50 Back
• Vihaan Mehrotra – 50 Free
• Aabha Nargund – 50 Breast
• Ivan Nesterenko – 100 Breast, 50 Free
• Andrew Ouyang – 100 Fly
• Charles Page – 100 Breast
• Hudson Porter – 100 IM
• Adwita Raman - 50 Free
• Shatadru Roy Choudhury – 200 Breast
• Mudit Singh – 50 Fly
• Kaitlyn Spooner – 50 Breast
• Bianca Stanciu – 100 Breast, 50 Back, 50 Free
• Zoey Stark – 100 Back, 100 IM
• Jayan Upadhaya – 50 Fly
• Aaron Yang – 100 IM, 50 Back
• Zachary Zeng – 200 Free, 100 Back
• Claire Zhang – 50 Fly, 50 Free
• Jeffrey Zhao – 50, 100 & 200 Free; 100 Breast; 200 IM
• Eric Zhao – 100 Breast
• Michael Zhao – 50 Back

WAVE ON 3!!