Nearly three dozen swimmers turned in ‘A’ qualifying times, and there were more than 100 personal best times achieved during Saturday’s meet.

Sam Peters led the way to the Waves victory over Newington. Submitted photo

By Holly Neumann

Last-minute lineup changes were not enough to slow a strong West Hartford Waves swim team last weekend. Led by a half-dozen swimmers who won multiple events, the team cruised to victory over Newington Swim Club on Saturday, Jan. 10, 383-243, at Newington High School.

Waves Coach Aaron Norton said he was missing key athletes to illness and injury, resulting in some positive outcomes for those who were healthy. “Swimmers did events they were not used to,” he said, “and those changes led to more opportunities for ‘A’ times and time drops.”

Fourth-grader Sam Peters, 10, led the way with two individual wins with personal-best times. He dropped more than five seconds from his previous best in the 50-yard backstroke, touching first in 45.19 seconds.

Sam, who attends St. Thomas school in West Hartford, also won his age group’s 100-yard freestyle (1:24.34), and was part of two winning relays.

Caroline Smith won the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Submitted photo

Three of his teammates also collected four blue ribbons in Saturday’s effort. Blake Neumann, 8, won his age group in the 25-yard backstroke and 25-yard breaststroke. He also swam backstroke on the winning 100-yard medley relay and anchored the first-place 100-yard freestyle relay.

A pair of girls led the older swimmers with two individual and two relay wins apiece. Caroline Smith, 13, who attends Sedgwick Middle School, won the 100-yard freestyle in 1:07.41 and the 100 butterfly in 1:18.50. Isabella Guajardo-Moore, 13, took the 100 backstroke (1:17.25) and 200 IM (2:53.82).

Facundo Garcia, 12, and Colby Roy, 13, led the older boys with double individual wins. Facundo won his age group’s 100-yard freestyle (1:11.06) and 50 free (29.16). Colby won the 13-14 age group’s 100 breaststroke in 1:19.69 and 50 free in 30.47. His freestyle time was a nearly six-second improvement from his previous best.

Isabella Guajardo-Moore won the 100 backstroke and 200 IM. Submitted photo

The Waves swimmers have their eyes set on the season-ending “A” and “B” championship meets for the Central Connecticut Winter Swim League, scheduled for mid-February. As a team, the Waves turned in nearly three dozen “A” qualifying times on Saturday.

But the larger picture shows impressive improvement for even the team’s less-experienced swimmers. The group had 131 season-best performances against Newington.

“Good competition gave the swimmers the chance to shine,” said Norton.

The Waves are next in action on Sunday, Jan. 18, at Cornerstone Aquatics Center against Wethersfield, starting at 9:45 a.m.

Colby Roy had several big wins for the Waves. Submitted photo