Submitted by Coach Julie Madison

The Waves began to swell at the East Hartford High School as the local recreational teams fought out their B (February 7) and A championships (February 14). Both days were exciting and enthralling, so here’s the recap for anyone unfortunate enough to miss it.

The 8 and under boys started the show at B’s with Ethan Hunt earning 5th place in the boys 25 yard back with a time of 26.42. Not to be out done, the 8 and under girls Isabel Grube, Katie Butcher, Ella Hall, and Lucinda Gwiazdoski placed 5th, 6th, 7th, and 10th in the 50 yard free, with times of 52.02, 52.92, 53,20, and 54.27, respectively. These tiny warriors kept up the fight, with Ella Hall, Isabel Grube, Katie Butcher, and Isabella Egress taking 1st, 4th, 5th, and 8th in the 25 yard butterfly with times of 24.05, 28.49, 29.20, and 33.00. To Finish strong for the 8 and under Alexa Orsey, Olivia Chambers, and Molly Grove finished 4th, 6th, and 11th in the 25 yard breaststroke with times of; 30.01, 30.94, and 36.10, respectively.

The 9-10 boys at B championships kept rolling along as Zach Goslee and Thomas Grube, both rookies on the team took 2nd and 10th in the 50 yard backstroke with times of 48.08 and 54.16. Bruce Jones and Ross Bourdeau finished strong in the 25 yard butterfly, finishing 5th and 9th with times of 22.54 and 25.24. Michael Harrington finished the day strong taking 9th place in the 50 yard breaststroke with a time of 55.55.

The excitement continued to build when the 9-10 girls Sarah-Jane and Brenna McGrath took 8th and 12th in the 50 freestyle with times of 38.49 and 41.02. Even more electrifying was when Coco Mozingo and Katherine Chritton took 2nd and 8th in the 100 yard IM with times of 1:42.53 and 1:46.30. Georgia Cohen and Kinsey Wilson continued to hold strong for the Waves, placing 6th and 7th with times of 1:31.10 and 1:32.73 in the 100 yard freestyle. In the backstroke, the girls continued to perform well, with Sarah-Jane Mielcarek, Emilia Robinson, and Brenna McGrath taking 6th, 10th, and 12th, with times of 48.70, 50.87, and 51.35. In the 25 butterfly, Jane Grove and Katherine Chritton represented by placing 4th and 8th with times of 19.82 and 21.00. Finishing on a very high note, the girls took 1st, 2nd, 7th, and 11th in the 50 yard breaststroke. Congratulations to Jane Grove, Georgia Cohen, Coco Mozingo, and Alyssa Puskarz.

For the 11-12 girls, Audrey Mongillo started strong in the 50 free dropping 1 second off her seed time, placing 8th with a time of 34.03. Isabella Gwiazdoski also fought a tough race, tying for 15th with a Farmington Valley Swimmer for a 3 second drop in her seed time and achieving a 35.39. The excitement of the 100 IM was overwhelming when swimmers Maeve Healy, Audrey Mongillo, Jenna Williams, and Sophie Kudler took 1st, 3rd, 7th, and 13th with times of 1:23.71, 1:29.93, 1:31.79, and 1:34.46. In the 100 free, Eleanor Khan swam a great race, placing 3rd with a time of 1:16.43. The 50 yard butterfly swimmers Maeve Healy, Mary Capone, Jenna Williams, Eleanor Khan, Sophie Kudler, and Nicole Delone took 5th, 10th, 11th, 13th,14th, and 16th with times of 41.01, 44.28, 44.89, 45.45, 45.72, and 47.97. Finishing strong with the 50 breaststroke were Gabriella Giordano, Chloe Schrimegour, and Isabella Gwiazdowski, taking 4th, 5th, and 16th with times of 45.80, 46.81, and 50.46.

To end B Championships, the 11-12 boys held with William Tonkinson, Eli Towey, Victor Brancini, and Jack Haddad taking 13th, 14th, 15th, and 17th in the 100 free with times of 1:24.78, 1:27.00, 1:35.04, and 1:39.87. In the 50 breaststroke, Eli Towey and George Verner had strong performances where they took 3rd and 11th, with times of 46.50 and 56.67.

A Championships was just as nail biting as B’s, starting with  8 and Under boys Luke Jones, James Auciello, and Quinn O’Neill taking 2nd, 6th, and 7th in the 50 free with times of 40.12, 46.46, and 50.97. Andrew Phan, James Auciello, and Shaunak Chimade crushed the 25 backstroke taking 3rd, 5th, and 8th with times of 23.50, 24.32, and 25.91. Continuing their success: Luke Jones, Shaunak Chimade, Quinn O’Neill, and Will Waxman took 3rd, 4th, 7th, and 8th in the 25 yard butterfly with times of 21.97, 25.25, 26.65, and 27.53. Wrapping up the 8 and under boys, they finished strong with Shaunak Chimade and Andrew Phan placing 4th and 5th, with times of 29.91 and 30.57.

If anyone should never be underestimated it is those powerful 8 and under girls, only two made A’s this year from Waves, but they didn’t let something as silly as numbers stop them from showing up in full force. Fiona Powers started the day taking 9th in the 25 free with a time or 19.31and Rachel Mathews took 4th in the 50 free with a time of 41.25. In the backstroke, Fiona Powers held on strong for a 3rd place finish with a time of 21.10. When the 25 fly came, Rachel Mathews swam a strong race, placing 6th with a time of 23.19. Finally, Fiona ended the 8 and under day for the girls with a 5th place finish and a time of 26.03 in the 25 breaststroke.

The 9-10 boys heated up the pool, on a very chilly day (it was -12 outside), starting with Jeffry Rosborg placing 11th in the 50 free with a time of 35.52. Not to be out done, Samuel Peters, Nicholas Hall, and Carter Morton lit up the 100 IM taking 2nd, 5th, and 12th, each dropping 2-4 seconds off their seed times and finishing with times of 1:22.86, 1:28.01, and 1:34.68, respectively. In the 100 free, Samuel Peters and Owen Cooke represented taking 4th and 11th with times of 1:12.01 (hundredths of a second off the Waves record) and 1:20.86. Keaden Nguyen, Jack O’Neil, Christian Hunt, and Carter Morton represented in the 50 back taking 5th, 8th, 9th and 11th, with times of 40.72, 43.12, 43.59 and 43.84. In the 50 fly, Nicholas Hall, Keaden Nguyen, and Jack O’Neill took 7th, 8th, and 12th, with time of 42.28, 43.81, and 47.23. To finish off a great day for the 9-10 boys Jeffry Rosborg finished 1st in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 41.03, Christian Hunt held down the fort with 8th and a time of 49.02, dropping 4 seconds off his seed time.

The 9-10 girls were also only represented by 2 girls this year, Katherine Healy and Katherine Manaresi. Katherine Healy swam the 100 IM, placing 13th with a time of 1:39:25 and dropping 5 seconds off her seed time. Katherine Manaresi, then swam the 100 free placing 12th with a time of 1:28.44. Both girls then swam the 50 fly placing 11th (Katherine Manaresi) and 16th (Katherine Healy) with times of 47.56 and 54.08. To end the 9-10 girls day, Katherine Manaresi finished 6th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 49.28

To keep up with all that came before, the 11-12 boys had a lot to live up to, and they didn’t disappoint. In the 50 free, Eden Nenshati and Owen Chambers took 6th and 12th in the 50 freestyle, with times of 30.97 and 34.25. In the 100 IM, Andrew Sun and Evan Roy rocked the competition pool by placing 4th and 5th with times of 1:16.32 and 1:20.24. Eden Nenshati kept things going in the 100 free with 5th place and a time of 1:09.14. In the 50 back, Jack Siciliano took 9th with a time of 39.16. Then Evan Roy turned up the heat and placed 2nd in the 50 fly with a time of 33.18. Finally, Andrew Sun chased Lucas Kim from Glastonbury and Joey Stavolone, achieving 3rd in the 50 breaststroke with a time of 37.81, only .7 of a second off of second place.

The 11-12 girls also put up a great fight, Cate Mancini finished 12th in the 100 IM with a time of 1:24.78 and Lidyana Nadeau finished 13th with a time of 1:31.06, dropping 7 seconds off her seed time. In the 100 yard free Mason Murphy took no prisoners, placing 5th and dropping 4 seconds off her seed time, with Vitoria Restroom placing 15th with a 1:13.63 and Lidyana Nadeau placing 16th with 1.15.97. During the 50 fly, the girls powered up, Victoria Restroom placing 6th with a time of 34.35 and Cate Mancini placing 10th with a time of 36.74. Finally the girls; Mason Murphy, Ella Harrington, and Janine Puskarz; wrapped up the 50 yard breaststroke taking 5th, 7th, and 9th, with times of 40.27, 40.87, and 41.86, an extraordinary race to watch.

The 13-18 girls had a lot of tough competition, making their first big waves in the 200 IM with Isabella Guarjardo-Moore, Maya Barlow, and Lisa Scanlon placing 6th, 7th, and 12th with times of 2:47.96, 2:48.34, and 3:00.74. In the 50 freestyle, Versana Roche-Diaz placed 11th with a time of 32.91. In the 100 backstroke, Maya Barlow and Isabella Guarjardo-Moore competed for 8th and 9th with times of 1:17.51 and 1:17.69. Reed Jones, dropped her time by three seconds for 17th place, with a time of 1:23.66. To finish the day for the 13-14 girls Lisa Scanlon delivered a time of 1:21.32 for 6th place in the 100 butterfly.

Finally, the 13-18 boys came in to finish strong with Ben Arky (who broke the team record this year in the 50 free) taking 4th and Facundo Garcia taking 13th in the 50 freestyle with times of 25.78 and 28.00. In the 100 backstroke Ben Arky continued his battle placing 3rd with a time of 1:09.88, with Leonid Belyaev and Matthew Durham helping the team by taking 10th and 12th with times of 1:22.99 and 1:29.85. In the 100 fly, Facundo Garcia  and Jabriel Mohmnadu fought for 4th and 9th with a times of 1:14.75 and 1:48.01. To wrap up the boys, Jonathan Murphy placed 11th in the 100 breastroke amongst a highly competitive field with a time of 1:27.23.

The 15-18 girls were only represented by rookie Versana Roche-Diaz who placed 11th with a time of 32.91 and 15th in the 100 free with a time of 1:19.84, dropping 5 seconds off her seed time.

Overall, both days were filled to the brim with best times, improved stroke technique, and a lot of awesome memories. There was a lot of success, too much to mention in a quick recap, both individually and as a team. Congratulations to everyone who swam those days, and this season, and as Dori says, “Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming.”