SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month: November

 

 Catfish

Mercerwood Shore Club: Cameron Lim

Cameron has improved leaps and bounds since joining SMAC.  As Cameron continues to hone and master Catfish skills, he inches closer to joining stroke development. It's a joy too see him leading his lane, setting an example for newer swimmers.

Mt. Rainier: Emmy Staley 

Emmy conveys strong leadership skills in practice. She can listen to the set, and correctly execute the set while leading the lane independently. Emmy brings a good spirit to practice by being kind to her teammates as well.

Kent/KCAC: Ellie Carter

Ellie has been doing great so far in her time in Catfish. She works hard to learn new skills, is motivated, and is a positive asset to her teammates. Coaches can rely on Ellie to lead her lane and help her teammates while also focusing on her own swimming when needed.

View Ridge: Lara Benitez Flores

Lara did an excellent job of focusing on her stroke technique and applying corrections this month, which has allowed her to develop a legal butterfly and a significantly stronger forward start. She's always engaged in practice, even as one of the youngest members of this group, and that hard work is beginning to pay off in a big way.  

Central: Hazel Buchanan

Hazel has been doing an excellent job in Catfish so far this season. She’s been extremely hyper-focused on what changes she needs to make to her strokes but also knows when to laugh and be silly with her teammates! Keep up the great work Hazel! 

Evergreen: Milo Chan

Milo has some of the best streamlines in the group, and he is super focused on improving his stroke technique every day.  He listens well to instructions and has a great attitude about the whole process.  I appreciate his effort and look forward to coaching him in Stroke Development soon.

Newport: Hudson Ma

Hudson continues to show off his listening abilities, progressing quickly through our SMAC catfish sticker chart. His consistent streamline with three dolphin kicks stand out at practice, along with his dedication to legal finishes. Great job Hudson, good luck at your next swim meet!

Stroke Development

Mercerwood Shore Club: Zach Brayfield 

Zach's drive for success has been emboldened since the start of the new season. With more pronounced maturity, and new level of dedication his future is looking brighter than ever before with SMAC.

Mt. Rainier: Moxon Fain 

Moxon exhibits leadership skills and has the confidence to accomplish challenging sets. He supports his teammates by bringing a friendly, competitive edge to practices. Moxon continuously strives for excellence.

Kent/KCAC: Castle Cline

Castle has shown great improvement over the past month. Castle works hard at every practice, and that improvement shows in his performance in the pool. He has built up confidence and now is comfortable leading the lane. Keep up the great work Castle!

View Ridge: Lily Lannin

Lily has emerged as a lane leader in her group, and it's not hard to see why. She runs sets without help from the coach; she always, always works hard; she takes feedback well and consistently applies it to her swimming. It would be hard to imagine a better model of a Stroke Development swimmer.  

Central: Frances Law

Francis is the Central/MIBC November SD SMACtastic swimmer of the month. She’s had an astonishing month of training, which has resulted in her moving on to the next steps of our kick-set progression. Francis has also made huge strides in maintaining good body/head position in freestyle and correct kick timing in fly, and the hard work is starting to pay off.

Evergreen SD 1: Julianne Ambrozic

Julianne swims with great technique and races all in.  She is fun to coach because she listens with her eyes and puts her full focus on making small improvements over time.  This is how she qualified for an Age Group level meet in November.  Keep working hard, Julianne!

Evergreen SD 2: Cici Tovias

Cici focuses intently on her stroke technique in the water, listens with full attention, and makes small incremental changes that stick over time because she holds onto coaching.  She is also getting super strong in the water with consistent effort.  That is a winning combo in the long run.  Thank you for working so hard, Cici!

Newport: Kevin Richard Nguyen

Kevin has had an impressive month at practices and in swim meets this November. It's exciting to watch how his breastroke has flourished, and the confidence it brings to his other strokes. Keep up the hard work Kevin!

Fife: Atreju Rae

Atreju has taken on the role of a leader in the group this year. He didn’t miss a practice this month, and he is consistently focused on finding more ways to improve. Atreju is always taking it upon himself to lead the lane and group, and takes the time to make sure that both he and his teammates know how best to do things so everyone can improve together.

Age Group

Mercerwood Shore Club: Chloe Johnson 

Chloe demonstrates consistent hard work while having a good attitude at every practice. She shows up on time and ready, prepared to give her best effort. Her refreshing ability to always complete challenging sets without interruption makes her a standout as well as a joy to coach. We are lucky to have her be apart of our SMAC family!

Mt. Rainier: Tempe Anderson 

Tempe has displayed an eagerness to improve in swimming. She seeks challenging sets to help prepare her for the meets. Additionally, Tempe has been a positive influence in the AG group.

Kent/KCAC: Sophia Ritter 

Sophia is the Kent November AG SMACtastic swimmer of the month. Sophia had an amazing month of training that resulted in lane promotion as she took on more challenging intervals. Sophia comes to practice every day with a great attitude and the huge steps she has taken in her daily training will have great results. Congratulations Sophia!

View Ridge: Helen Echelbarger

Helen absolutely crushed her practices in November. This is due in no small part to the fact that she always gives her full attention to the coach's instructions, ensuring that she not only knows what we're doing, but why we're doing it and what we're working on. She brings a fantastic attitude and work ethic to every practice, which will certainly translate into major successes in the months to come.   

Central: Ezzy Liffmann

Ezzy is the Central/MIBC AG SMACtastic swimmer of the month. This was a super difficult decision to make as there were many candidates to be SMACtastistic swimmer this month. One thing that’s been emphasized to the athletes is that they understand AG is a learning group. Ezzy has done a tremendous job of constantly asking specific technique questions specifically for her, applying it to her own stroke, therefore she is able to track her own progress. She focuses on one thing at a time understanding that progress and process will ultimately lead to the results and goals she strides for.

Evergreen 11 & Over: Elsa Rodeheaver

As a multi-sport athlete, Elsa has learned that the path to greatness is paved with small, incremental changes over time.  Elsa listens intently to coaches and gives her full energy to improve her stroke technique in practices and meets.  She is fearless and will open up races with full intensity, and she perseveres in any challenging set in practice, so it has been really fun coaching her.  Keep up the good work, Elsa!

Evergreen 10 & Under: Sam Baisch

Sam has been steadily improving in all four strokes, and his streamlines are improving daily.  This allows him to step up as a leader in the group.  Sam has been helping to lead his lane and taking on the fastest intervals when it is time to compete in practice.  He is building confidence daily in multiple sports, which shows when he opens his races with full intensity.  Thank you for pushing the group, Sam!

Age Group Performance

Mt. Rainier: Avery Stender

Avery has stepped up this year by setting the bar high with a strong work ethic. She consistently pushes herself in practice, and this hard work has paid off as she continues to break barriers within her races. Avery's recent accomplishment is breaking a 1:00 in the 100 free and earning the 13-14 Champs cut.

Kent/KCAC: Presley Handly 

Presley is the Kent November AGP SMACtastic swimmer of the month. Presley comes to practice every day with a great attitude and a willingness to take on challenges that are presented. Presley’s hard work paid off with her first 13-14 Champs Qualifying swim in the 1650 free, just a month after aging up. Congratulations Presley!

View Ridge: Jenny Zhao

Jenny Zhao is our SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for November! Jenny’s hard work and daily dedication set a high standard for her teammates. She leads by example, encourages others, and is a valued teammate and friend to all. She has also qualified for both Age Group Champs and Senior Champs this month!

Central/MIBC: Jenson Roth

Jenson is the SMACtastic swimmer for the Central/MI AGP group because of his work ethic and his commitment to improving. For the past month Jenson has continued to challenge himself and swim on faster intervals, but more importantly he has been continuing to change and improve how he swims and it showed at the AGI meet where he dropped significant time in all of his events. Impressively, Jenson was able to use feedback he received in one race and use it to improve his next race. Great work Jenson, and let's race fast at champs!

 

Senior

Kent/KCAC: Kai Lam

Kai took his training to a new level this past month as he prepared for his first season of high school swimming. Having spent some time adjusting to the increased training in the Senior group, he began working harder and pushing through, taking his practice performance up a notch.

Central: Loren Olsen 

Loren has been named the Senior Group's Swimmer of the Month for his outstanding dedication and leadership. He consistently shows up to practice with high attendance, always holding himself accountable by asking how he can improve each day. Balancing both club and high school swimming, Loren’s commitment to excellence never wavers as he cheers on his teammates and ensures he's giving full effort, swimming all the yards, and staying ready to go.

Viewridge: John Su 

John has done an excellent job of embracing events that weren't necessarily his favorites before he came to SMAC. This level of coachability and willingness to trust and commit to the process has allowed him to qualify for Senior Champs in one of those events, and will undoubtedly lead him to even bigger meets in the months to come.

 

Fife: Traysen Guymon

 

Traysen joined the team this month, and has made a great addition to the group in the few weeks he’s been with us. Traysen brings great positive energy to the group, making sure everyone is having a great time at practice. He’s been working hard, and has been making some crucial changes to his strokes to make sure he can keep the improvements coming.

Senior Performance

View Ridge: Clara Jones

Clara Jones is our SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for November! Clara’s dedication and hard work have led to strong meet performances and growth both in and out of the pool. Her humor, positivity, and effort make her a valued and inspiring teammate. She also qualified to swim the 1000 free at Senior Champs at last month's distance meet!

Central: Alex Mkrtchyan

Lots of good options this month - we’ve got a group of about 12 swimmers who are constantly doing good things.  This month Alex Mkrtchyan stood out.  Consistency has always been good, and  application of technical skills to training and racing and a willingness to simply do hard things commit to working through challenging sets has improved dramatically in the past few months.  I didn’t so much as choose him for this as he made it happen.

National

Central/MIBC: Sadye Derstadt

Sadye is an incredible leader amongst the National group and is someone we can count on to keep high spirits during the toughest sets. Most notably, her ability to bounce back from difficulties at State to put together confident swims at AGI shows her resilience to overcome challenges. We see her resilience influence others, and this is a trait of a SMAC National athlete that we love to uphold.