LIAC Senior Swimmers Shine in Connecticut

LIAC’s Senior Group traveled to Connecticut to swim in the Hutchinson Classic Invitational last weekend. The meet was the first time many of the swimmers had swum in prelims/finals style competition. After shaking off some initial nerves the meet proved to be a great swimming experience and a fun time for all!

Friday night LIAC had one competitor entered in the 1650. Devin Nuszer swam to personal best time by 16 seconds and scoring LIAC’s first points of the weekend. Devin’s 1000 split was also a best time by 10 seconds.

Saturday morning the entire group arrived, excited to swim but slightly nervous. After the first few events everyone got into their groove and best times started popping up all over the place.

In the 200 freestyle Dennis Crilly swam a personal best by 5 seconds and qualified for the Silver Championship meet. Ryan Moore also had a big drop of 3 seconds in the event and just missed breaking the illusive 2 minute mark swimming a 2.00.06. Ryan’s time qualified him for silvers as well. Ryan VanManen and Gabby Terzano also improved their times in the event. In the 100 butterfly Erica Demitroff mastered a breathing pattern and improved her time by over 3 seconds. Jack Mulderrig had an all-star performance dropping over a second from his personal best. In the 100 backstroke Katie Sanacore had a breakthrough performance, lowering her previous best by a second and qualifying for Silvers. Jackie Palma and Erica also improved their times in the morning. The 50 free saw a barrage of best times. Jackie broke 30 seconds for the first time qualifying her for Silvers in the event. Ryan Moore dropped his time by over a second and qualified for Silvers again. Erica, Alexa Aliprantis, Katie, and Ryan VanManen also posted personal bests. In the 100 breast Natalie Leitman hit her stride swimming a best time by 8 seconds.

Saturday night LIAC was proud to have 15 swims in Finals. Sam Lotito recovered from a frustrating morning and posted a best time in the 200 freestyle swimming in her first finals. In the 100 fly Brittany Torre and Jessica Tyznar both improved on their morning swims to move up and score more points for LIAC. Jessica improved on her morning swim again in the 100 backstroke, as did Alexa. Jake Schwartz was out for revenge on his morning swim and rocketed to a personal best and Silver qualifying time in the 100 backstroke. In the 50 free Alexa and Ryan Moore both swam best times. Nicky Johns was stoked to be swimming in his first finals in the 100 breast. He took 5 seconds off his morning swim. Ryan VanManen and Dennis Crilly swam best times in their 100 breastroke as well. Also swimming in finals Saturday night were Devin, Gabby and Erica.

Sunday morning LIAC was well rested and ready to jump right away for a day of even more personal bests. The 200IM saw best times by Erica, Jackie, Ryan VanManen, and Ryan Moore. Alexa proved that she gets better as the meet goes on, dropping 2 seconds from her best time in the 200 breastroke. In the 200 back Erica and Natalie had great walls and pushed themselves to conquer the event swimming to best times. Brittany’s new kick and Jack’s smart racing strategies propelled them both to 2 second drops in the 200 backstroke. In the 100 freestyle Jackie, Erica, Dennis, Jack, and Ryan Moore all posted best times. In the final event of the morning, the 500 free, and her 10^th swim in 2 days, Gabby Terzano turned in an amazing swim, coming from behind to win her heat by 2 seconds. Dennis Crilly dropped an amazing 22 seconds from his best time qualifying for Silvers in the event. LIAC also saw best times from Sam, Jake, and Jack.

Closing out the meet on Sunday night LIAC swimmers were a little punchy and tired, but with 19 swims in finals and consols, they got their acts together, had a lot of fun, and saw some fast times. Jackie, Natalie, Katie, Sam, Alexa, Nicky, Ryan V., Gabby, Dennis, and Jack all qualified to swim at night. In the 200 IM Jackie dropped another 3 seconds from her morning swim, for a best time by a total of 9 seconds in one day and qualifying for Silvers. Alexa dropped a second to swim a personal best time. Ryan VanManen dropped 2 more seconds from his morning swim for a best time by 4 seconds in one day. Swimming in their first finals Natalie and Katie were happy to score points for LIAC in the 200 backstroke. Nicky again used the adrenaline of swimming in finals to swim a great last 50 in the event improving his best time by 2 seconds. In the 100 free LIAC saw two big grudge matches. On the girls side Alexa and Jackie slugged it out side by side, pushing each other to best times. For the boys, Ryan VanManen and Dennis went head to head Ryan moved up a place and Dennis dropped his time again from the morning.

Not only did LIAC swimmers spend lots of time together at the pool, but they were able to bond outside the pool too. On Saturday some of the swimmers and their parents walked around Yale University. Highlights of the tour included rubbing the lucky gold toe on a statue, touring the amazing library that looked like a church, and navigating their way through the athletic building to find their way onto the deck of the pool. The stadium seating and “only 6 lanes?!” were a big surprise!

The Connecticut meet proved to be a great experience with every swimming qualifying for finals and posting a best time in at least 2 events. Great job senior swimmers! Hopefully we will find a similar meet for this summer, so keep up the great work!