Washington State Senior Championship Meet Recap

From the opening race to the final relays, Wave made a strong statement at the Washington State Championships last weekend, finishing 5^th overall and just shy of 4^th place. The meet showcased the depth of the team, with huge relay points, multiple event wins, and a remarkable collection of team records across nearly every age group. Highlights included a 1–2 finish in the opening 1000 Free, three Wave swimmers in the Men’s 100 Breast A Final, and standout performances that produced Futures, Sectionals, and Senior Zones qualifying times throughout the weekend.

Wave swimmers rewrote the record books with standout performances across multiple age groups. Roman Byelykh set a new 13–14 Boys team record in the 1000 Free, while Oleg Arlouski claimed both the 15–16 Boys and Open records in the 200 Fly. Daniel Xia established three 15–16 Boys records in the 50, 100, and 200 Free, Henry Geitz broke the 17–18 Boys records in the 1000 and 1650 Free, and Logan Downing added new 17–18 Boys marks in the 50 and 100 Breast.

High School

High School had three swimmers compete at Senior Champs. We had some amazing swims. Kyra and Dima were troopers as they had back-to-back Champs weekends with AG champs leading into Senior champs. Even with that, they still had great swims and time drops.

• Kyra Yuan qualified in two events: 50 Breast and 200 Breast. She dropped -4.79 seconds in her 50 Breast. She also had a great 100 Breast. She has been struggling to drop time in that event over the last few months. She changed her strategy, went out faster in her first 50, and maintained that pace for the back half. That plan helped her drop 2 seconds!
• Dima Leonov-Vendrovskiy qualified in his 50 Breast. He swam the event last weekend and dropped a little more time. He also dropped more than 2 seconds in his 100 Breast, -1.16 in his 50 Fly, and -1.46 in his 100 Free, finally breaking the 1:00 barrier. He’s been struggling to break the minute for about a year. It’s only down from here! He walked out of Champs tired but a champ in his own way. He was able to drop time in everything that he swam.
• Dylan Vu was in a few relays and was able to go a best time in each of those. He has been working to get his Sectionals cut in his 50 Free for the past year. He did not get that at this meet, but he is closer than ever now. He had a phenomenal race in his 100 Free and 50 Fly. He was able to utilize his underwaters and get up and go fast! Dylan scored 6 points for Wave.

Senior Prep

Senior Prep had a tremendous weekend at Champs!!! The group treats this meet as a victory lap or a second-chance weekend, depending on how AG Champs went. I am thrilled to say it was a Victory Lap for all the kids who swam. They swam great, dropped more time, stayed close to their new times from last week, and had a lot of fun. It is awesome to get early exposure to some of the higher-level meets, and I am glad to say we had 7 kids in the meet, and 12 kids qualified after last weekend’s Champs. The group is doing great things, and I’m excited to start working for Age Group Regionals. Great Job to the Group!!! Standout Swims of the Meet:

• Ahana Bhattacharya rocked out this meet and really had some great swims throughout the weekend. She crushed her 200 Back and went just about the same time she did at AG Champs. She continues to improve her kickouts, and it is really showing.
• Deniz Cankaya had a great weekend and dropped more time in some of his off events. His standout was his 100 Breast, a race he’s been working hard on, where he dropped 3+ seconds with strong pull-outs and a great finish.
• Ellen Feng had a fantastic meet weekend, swimming in some of the A Relays and making some Finals!!! She crushed her 200 Back to kick off the weekend with a big 4-second drop and some great turns. Ellen scored 30.5 points for Wave.
• Olivia Henaire had a great weekend of swimming and started the weekend off very strong with a big-time 1000 Free and a 20+ second drop. She crushed her pacing and brought the race home very strong for a great swim. Olivia scored 2 points for Wave.
• Dami Jung had a great meet, with some excellent swims spread out through the weekend. She kicked the weekend off with a fantastic swim, going up in yardage with the 1000 Free and a 6+second drop. She paced it well and raced the heat very strong. Dami scored 1 point for Wave.
• Olivia Liu had a fantastic weekend of swimming. She dominated multiple events and delivered a tremendous 400 IM, with strong, consistent splits for a great swim and a great race.
• Andy Nguyen had a very strong weekend of swimming with some great races and some strong swimming. He crushed his 100 Breast, focusing on keeping his upper body relaxed and executing strong turns.

Senior 1

The Senior 1 group had 18 swimmers compete at the meet. We had a fantastic final meet of the year. They did a wonderful job of stepping up and swimming incredibly fast. They have worked very hard all season, and they were rewarded in a big way. We came away from the meet with a bunch of best times, six new Senior Zones cuts, a Senior Sectionals cut, and a team record. We capped off an incredible first half of the short course season. I am excited to see what we can accomplish moving forward. Standout Swims of the Meet:

• Alex Belkin was feeling very strong in the water heading into the meet. He was able to parlay that into several best times in his sprint events. After setting a best time in the 50 Free and knowing he could clean up some things, he decided to take another shot at it in the time trials on Sunday. This paid off in a big way, as he had a strong breakout, clean turn, and good finish, resulting in a solid 0.2 drop.
• Kamilla Bugaitsova competed for the second weekend in a row. She demonstrated great toughness, producing several strong swims and new best times just a week earlier. After breaking the 1:00 mark in her 100 Free a week ago, she took on the race again. She had a very strong opening 50 and closed well to give her another drop, putting her even closer to hitting 57 for the first time. Kamilla scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Roman Byelykh was very excited to swim the 1000 Free since it was not offered at Age Group Champs. He made the absolute most out of his chance to swim. He was able to find his pace early and hold on until the final 200 when he turned on the jets, closing in 1:57 to give him a 13-second drop and a team record!
• Evan Deng was another member of the crew who competed back-to-back weekends. He had a very strong meet, going best times in two races that he had also dropped in just the week prior. He had a stellar swim in the 200 Breast. He had a fast first 50, then dialed in his stroke count to even split the next three 50s to give him another 1-second drop in the event.
• Lena Duryee had a fabulous weekend of strong swimming. She was a member of several of our scoring relay teams and produced great individual swims. She was one of two swimmers from Senior 1 to qualify for Finals in an individual event, the 50 Fly. She had a strong Prelims swim, using a strong start and fast tempo to earn a solid drop and a second swim. In the Finals, she produced an almost identical swim, swimming nearly the same time as earlier in the day. Lena scored 7.5 points for Wave.
• Caden Gray was looking forward to getting a second shot at the 200 IM. He took advantage of the opportunity and turned in an awesome swim. He had a smooth fly leg, a great tempo on back, an aggressive breast, and a strong free finish, which gave him a 1.5-second drop.
• Nora Herman, after going out with a best 100 Fly time in the 200 both times she swam it the week before, was incredibly excited to swim the 100 Fly by itself. She had great confidence going into the race, knowing she was going to crush it, and that is precisely what she did. She maintained a strong tempo throughout, with fast turns and strong underwaters, resulting in a huge 2-second drop.
• Elaine Jin has shown great speed in the 50 Free and was eager to carry that speed through to her 100. She did exactly that on the final day in the 100 Free. She had a super-fast opening 50, then was able to hold on very well in the second 50 to produce a 1-second drop and put her under the Senior Zones bonus time for a second cut.
• Victor Lyakhovitski only competed for only one day after competing the week before, and made the most out of it. He had two very solid swims. He wanted to time trial the 100 Back to get some redemption for his earlier DQ, and he stepped up in a big way. He had a great start, clean walls, and good tempo into the finish to give him another 0.5-second drop from AG Champs.
• Alissa Nesterenko had a great meet, performing well in her individual events and being a huge part of the relays that scored for the team. She has shown great speed in her training and was very excited to race. On the final day, she threw down in the 100 Free. She went out with blazing speed, then kept her tempo high and her kick strong down the stretch to produce a solid drop and put her under :55 for the first time. Alissa scored 4.5 points for Wave.
• Zach Paulen has been putting in excellent fly training, and he was very excited to swim in those events. He had a fantastic race in the 100 Fly. He went into the race confident and determined to qualify for Sectionals. He used a great start, strong breakouts, quick turns, and a fast finish to give himself a 0.5-second drop and his first Senior Sectionals cut.
• Vien Pogue has been working very hard and was ready to swim fast. That is exactly what she did as she turned in best times in four races. She has gone :29 in the 50 Fly several times now, and she was determined to break through and finally go :28 for the first time. She had a great first 25 and used a fast turn and clean breakout to give herself a huge 1.2-second drop to hit her goal for the first time easily, and almost got a :27.
• Jay Song was excited to swim the 100 Breast as he had had great results in the event at high school meets. He had a stellar swim, taking it out in a :29 and holding on well during the second 50 to give himself a 1.5-second drop going from 1:05 straight to 1:03.
• Kennedy Tremblay was dialed in from start to finish at the meet, going best times in all four events, as well as having a fantastic relay swim. She has been crushing her butterfly training, and that really showed in her 100 Fly. She had an excellent swim, going out well, maintaining her breathing pattern, and staying strong in the final 25 to earn a 1-second drop and her first Senior Zones cut.
• Edi Vasilescu embraced living the distance training life leading up to the meet, and it paid off in a huge way. He started the meet with a bang and continued to produce strong swims throughout the meet, earning four best times. He kicked it off with a phenomenal performance in the 1000 Free, taking it out fast, holding his pace well through the middle 500, then turning on the jets the final 200 to produce a monster 23-second drop and his first Senior Zones cut.
• Lasya Viswanadham competed for the second weekend in a row but decided to take on a completely different event lineup that mainly focused on the longer races. This decision paid off, as she achieved three best times. After being a little bit stuck in the 200 Breast for the past few meets, she turned in a huge swim in the event. She had great pullouts, walls, and held her pace well in the final three 50s, resulting in an amazing 6-second drop.
• Piper Wiegand was battling illness all week but was finally feeling better to compete on the final day of the meet. She made the most of it and was the second swimmer in the group to qualify for Finals in an individual event. She had an amazing Prelims swim in the 50 Fly using great tempo and a strong finish, going :27 for the first time and qualified for Finals. At night, feeling even more rested, she produced another small drop. Piper scored 2.5 points for Wave.
• Andy Yang was on a mission to produce a fantastic swim in the 200 IM after getting disqualified at Age Group Champs. He swam the race with great confidence, going out incredibly fast in the fly, staying strong through the back and breast, and putting his head down and finishing strong in the free to give himself a 7-second drop, an even faster than the previous weekend, and giving him his second Senior Zones cut.

Senior Epic

What a fantastic week of swims at Senior Champs! I am so proud of our entire group and the work they put in this season! Congrats, Epic swimmers, for your commitment and dedication day in and day out. You crushed it at Champs! Enjoy some highlights from everyone in the group:

• Henry Geitz had a phenomenal meet, going best times in six events and setting the tone for our team winning the 1000 Free on day one! He had monster swims in the 1000 Free (-13.42 seconds) and the 1650 Free (- 20.87 seconds), where he broke the 17-18 Team Record in both events, placing 1^st and 2^nd respectively, and getting two new AAAA Times. Another outstanding swim was the 500 Free, where he grabbed another 2^nd place, dropping 5 seconds overall between Prelims and Finals. Henry scored 88.5 points for Wave.
• Amelia Pletosu absolutely crushed it and went eight best times at Champs! She had superb distance races in the 1000 and 1650 Free, going AAA Time in both events, getting Summer Sectionals in the latter by dropping 27 seconds and breaking the 18:00 barrier for the first time. Another excellent race was her 400 IM, where she dropped almost 10 seconds to get a Summer Sectionals cut and one more AAA Time. Amelia scored 26 points for Wave.
• Oleg Arlouski had a fantastic meet and went five best times. He dominated the butterfly events, going back to Finals in all three . In the 200 Fly, he dropped 3.5 seconds, finished in 4^th place, broke the Team Open Record & 15-16 Record, and got a AAAA Time. Besides that, he was 2^nd in the 1000 Free, dropping almost 10 seconds and earning another AAAA Time. He scored 68 points for Wave.
• Sophia Gorveatt had a great meet and went best times in two events. Her strongest event was the 200 Fly, where she qualified for the A final, going right at her best time and finishing in 4^th . Another great race for her was the 1650 Free on the last day, where she had an excellent race and dropped 16.67 seconds, earning a new AAA Time and a Summer Sectionals cut! Sophia scored 30 points for Wave.
• Daniel Xia was very motivated after his amazing week at Winter Junior Nationals. He dominated his events at Champs, going four best times and winning the 200 Breast and 200 IM! He was feeling fast, went best times, and broke the 15-16 Team Record in the 50, 100, and 200 Free, getting new AAAA Times in the fastest two events.
• Molly Traina went three best times and got a new AAA Time in the 100 Free, getting very close to breaking the :53 barrier. She dropped time in both prelims and finals, shaving off another 0.92 from her previous time. She also swam the 500 Free and was very excited about her 11-second time drop and her strong swim at Finals, racing Amelia and Lauren. Molly scored 31 points for Wave.
• Logan Downing came strong to the meet and went 5 of 5 personal bests. He swam the A final in all three of his breaststroke events and broke the 17-18 Team Record in both the 50 and 100 Breast. In the 200 Breast, he had a solid 3-second drop and got a AAA Time. Logan scored 53 points for Wave.
• Maya Surugiu had an excellent week and swam four new best times. She got her first-ever AAA Time, and did it twice, in the 200 Breast and the 200 IM. In the 200 Breast, she had a great Prelims swim and dropped 2 seconds, qualifying for the B Final. In the 200 IM, she dropped her time in both Prelims and Finals, with a fantastic breaststroke split in Finals and a 5.77-second drop. Maya scored 13 points for Wave.
• Ethan Lin had an excellent meet, going six best times. His best performance was the 100 Breast, where he qualified for the A Final with a fantastic swim in Prelims, dropping 2 seconds and earning an AAAA Time. Kudos for his amazing pullouts! Another great race for him was the 100 Free, where he dropped almost a full second, breaking the :48 barrier for the first time. Ethan scored 29 points for Wave.
• Lauren Hizzey went three best times and looked really strong in all her freestyle events. Her outstanding swim was the 1650 Free, where she had a monster drop of 42 seconds, earning an AA Time and finishing in 16^th. She also had excellent swims in the 200 Free, breaking the 2:00 barrier for the first time, and in the 500 Free, where she swam the C final, racing with Amelia and Molly, going a best time again this season. Lauren scored 6.5 points for Wave.
• Anton Mazepa brought home five new best times. He posted strong freestyle times in the 1000 Free (-7.20 seconds) and again in the 500 Free (-5.79), earning an AAA Time in the latter. Another great race was his 400 IM, where he dropped 6.27 seconds and finished strong to win the C Final. Anton scored 21.5 points for Wave.
• Cora Ledrick swam three individual events and was very consistent, going right at her times in all of them. Her strongest swim was the 100 Free, where she felt strong, executed a good strategy, and was satisfied with her race afterwards. Same feeling for the 500 Free, where she felt she had a good race. Cora scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Bennet Geitz had a strong meet and went four new best times. His outstanding swim was the 200 Free, where he felt strong in Prelims, dropped 3.79 seconds, qualified for Finals, and earned a AAA Time. Another great race was his 400 IM, where he dropped time in both Prelims and Finals, with a total of 2.83 seconds dropped at the end of the day and another AAA Time. Bennet scored 16 points for Wave.
• Anouk Balog has been busy with college applications and was happy with her races and how she executed them at Senior Champs. In her own words, she "had fun at the meet"! She will have more time to train and focus on our upcoming Spring Season, and she is looking forward to it.
• Adrian Juco went best times in all three breaststroke events and was very happy to break the 1:00 barrier, by a large margin, in the 100 Breast. He’s been chasing this milestone for the past year and dropped 1.05 seconds this weekend to achieve his goal. In the 50 Breast, he was fast in the morning and qualified for the B Final. Adrian scored 2 points for Wave.
• Hailey Crawford swam three events and was very happy with her 200 Breast, where she was close to her personal best time. She has been struggling with an ankle injury that set her back for a few months and is still finding her way back to consistent training.
• Amaris Rus had a fantastic meet and went five lifetime bests. Among many strong swims, he set new AAA Times in both the 100 & 200 Fly. In the 200 Fly, he had a solid 4-second drop in the morning qualifying for the B Final. In the 100 Fly, he crushed it, dropping 2 seconds, and was very happy after his race. Amaris scored 1.5 points for Wave.
• Ani Purkayastha got sick a few days before the meet and struggled a bit to perform her races. However, she did her best in every race and executed her race strategy consistently. She also cheered on most of her teammates all weekend long, showing true sportsmanship, one of our core values. Thanks, Ani! Ani scored 2.5 points for Wave.
• Gabriel Traina had a great Champs meet and went five lifetime bests. He dropped 2.36 seconds in the 200 Free, executing a strong front half race and staying strong until the end. In the 200 Backstroke, he dropped almost a second and got a new AA Time in the process. Gabe scored 6 points for Wave.
• Peter Hansen came strong to Champs and went two lifetime bests. He had a strong swim in the 200 IM, going out fast and finishing strong, dropping 2.33 seconds. He also felt fast in the Breaststroke, broke the :30 for the first time, and was very happy with his race.
• Daniel Chen had a great meet, went 4/4 best times, and had great breaststroke swims. He was very excited after his 200 Breast time trial, where he got his first Senior Zones cut, dropping almost 4 seconds and getting an AA Time.

Top 16 Finishes

All Top 16 finishes scored points for Wave!

• Oleg Arlouski – 2^nd (1000 Free), 4^th (200 Fly, 400 & 800 FR), 6^th (400 MR), 8^th (200 MR), 9^th (100 Fly)
• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 14^th (800 FR)
• Logan Downing – 5^th (100 Breast), 6^th (200 Breast, 400 MR), 7^th (50 Breast), 8^th (200 MR), 14^th (400 FR), 16^th (200 FR)
• Lena Duryee – 12^th (400 FR), 13^th (200 FR), 14^th (800 FR), 15^th (400 MR), 16^th (200 MR)
• Ellen Feng – 6^th (50 Fly), 12^th (50 Back), 12^th (200 & 400 MR, 400 FR), 13^th (200 FR), 14^th (200 Fly)
• Bennett Geitz – 4^th (800 FR), 13^th (400 IM), 14^th (200 IM, 400 FR)
• Henry Geitz – 1^st (1000 Free), 2^nd (500 & 1650 Free),4^th (400 & 800 FR), 7^th (400 IM), 10^th (200 Free), 16^th (200 FR)
• Sophia Gorveatt – 4^th (200 Fly), 8^th (800 FR), 11^th (1650 Free), 15^th (400 MR), 16^th (200 MR)
• Olivia Henaire – 14^th (800 FR), 16^th (200 MR)
• Lauren Hizzey – 8^th (800 FR), 16^th (1650 Free)
• Adrian Juco – 15^th (50 Breast)
• Dami Jung – 15^th (400 MR)
• Cora Ledrick – 14^th (800 FR)
• Ethan Lin – 4^th (400 FR), 7^th (100 Breast), 9^th (200 FR), 12^th (50 Free)
• Anton Mazepa – 6^th (400 MR), 8^th (200 MR), 11^th (1000 Free), 14^th (500 Free), 16^th (200 FR)
• Alissa Nesterenko – 12^th (400 MR), 13^th (200 FR)
• Amelia Pletosu – 8^th (800 FR), 9^th (1650 Free), 11^th (1000 Free), 12^th (400 IM), 15^th (400 MR), 16^th (200 MR)
• Ani Purkayastha – 12^th (200 MR)
• Amaris Rus – 16^th (200 Fly, 200 FR)
• Maya Surugiu – 11^th (100 Breast), 12^th (200 & 400 MR), 15^th (200 Breast)
• Gabe Traina – 9^th (200 FR), 14^th (400 FR)
• Molly Traina – 8^th (100 Back, 800 FR), 12^th (200 & 400 MR, 400 FR), 13^th (100 Free, 200 FR)
• Dylan Vu – 9^th (200 FR), 14^th (400 FR)
• Piper Weigand – 12^th (400 FR)
• Daniel Xia – 1^st (200 Breast, 200 IM), 3^rd (200 Free, 50 & 100 Breast), 4^th (400 & 800 FR), 6^th (50 Free, 400 MR), 8^th (200 MR), 9^th (200 FR)

New US Motivational Times

 AAAA 

• Oleg Arlouski – 1000 Free, 200 Fly
• Evan Deng – 50 Breast
• Henry Geitz – 1000 & 1650 Free
• Ethan Lin – 100 Breast
• Daniel Xia – 50 & 100 Free

 AAA 

• Oleg Arlouski – 100 Free
• Logan Downing – 50 Breast
• Ellen Feng – 200 Fly
• Bennett Geitz – 200 Free, 400 IM
• Henry Geitz – 400 IM
• Sophia Gorveatt – 1650 Free
• Ethan Lin – 100 Fly
• Anton Mazepa – 500 Free
• Amelia Pletosu – 1000 & 1650 Free, 400 IM
• Amaris Rus – 100 & 200 Fly
• Maya Surugiu – 200 Breast, 200 IM
• Molly Traina – 100 Free
• Piper Wiegand – 50 Fly
• Andy Yang – 200 IM, 50 Fly

 AA 

• Kamilla Bugaitsova – 1000 Free
• Daniel Chen – 200 Breast
• Ellen Feng – 200 Back
• Henry Geitz – 50 Free
• Olivia Henaire – 1000 Free
• Nora Herman – 1000 Free
• Lauren Hizzey – 1650 Free
• Dami Jung – 50 Back
• Dima Leonov-Vendrovskiy – 50 Fly
• Ethan Lin – 200 IM
• Victor Lyakhovitski – 200 Free
• Alissa Nesterenko – 200 Free
• Amelia Pletosu – 50 & 100 Free
• Amaris Rus – 400 IM
• Maya Surugiu – 200 Back
• Gabe Traina – 200 Back
• Edi Vasilescu – 1000 Free
• Kyra Yuan – 100 Breast

 A 

• Lena Duryee – 100 Fly
• Nora Herman – 100 Fly
• Olivia Liu – 50 Free
• Zach Paulen – 200 Free, 200 IM, 100 Back
• Edi Vasilescu – 200 Fly, 200 Free
• Lasya Viswanadham – 200 & 400 IM

WAVE ON 3!!