SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month: March
Catfish
The March SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Catfish group is Makai Davidson. Makai has shown great resilience and work ethic at practices, working hard to take constructive feedback. These efforts led to 100% best times at the SMAC Spring Showdown. Great job Makai!
View Ridge: Faye Vickstrom
Faye just completed her performances at the SMAC Spring showdown, where she accomplished 4 out of 5 best times, including one of perhaps the most beautiful 50 backstroke’s I have seen from any Catfish swimmer. Faye’s happy demeanor is expressed every day at practice.
Central/MIBC: Devin O'Donnell
The March SMACtastic Swimmer of the month for March from Central Catfish is Devin O’Donnell. Devin is always excited to learn, never afraid to be an example, and is able to speak about what he’s learned without hesitation. After the Spring Showdown meet, this really showed and proved that he is ready for SD. Good job Devin!!
Evergreen: Eleanora Hawthorne
Eleanora has grown into a great leader in Catfish, and I would recommend new swimmers to follow in her footsteps. She is motivated to work hard, and she loves learning new skills, so she consistently gives her best effort in practice. She loves to demonstrate skills for the group, such as the flipturn and streamline kicking. Keep up the good work, Eleanora!
Fife: Presley Passarini
Presley is our SMACTastic Swimmer of March for the Fife Catfish group. Presley is always doing what it takes to be a great teammate. This month we had a new swimmer in the group and Presley took it upon himself to make sure he was comfortable in the group, and help him understand all the drills we’ve been doing in practice. Every practice he also makes sure that he knows what exactly to focus on and be sure he’s doing everything right, and takes feedback well to make the changes he needs to improve.
Stroke Development
Kent/KCAC: Lucia Benavente
The March SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Stroke Development group is Lucia Benavente Smith. Lucia continues to be a standout leader in the SD group. She is always on task, always giving her best effort to improve her technique, and always maintaining a positive attitude. These qualities led to 100% best times at the SMAC Spring showdown. Great job Lucia!
View Ridge: GiGi Stockwell
Gigi just completed her performances at the SMAC Spring showdown, where she accomplished 4 out of 6 best times, including a very good 200 free with much improved “body line” and a 12 second drop.
Central/MIBC: Willow Hall
The March SMACtastic Swimmer of the month for March from Central Stroke Development is Willow Hall. Willow has really made a complete 180 with how she behaves, listens, and works. She’s made a tremendous improvement this past month compared to last and has become a breaststroke pro! As Willow would say, “She’s locked in!” Great job Willow!!
Evergreen: Norah Johnson
Norah has grown into a great leader in Stroke Development, and I would recommend new swimmers to follow in her footsteps. She is motivated to work hard, and she loves racing, so she consistently gives her best effort at meets. She loves to demonstrate skills for the group, and I am confident that she will be a good example every time. Keep up the good work, Norah!
Fife: Paul Ledesma
Paul is the SMACTastic swimmer of the month for the Stroke Development group at Fife. He consistently brings a fun attitude and walks into practice everyday with a smile and positivity! He listens well, constantly seeks feedback, does his best to apply the feedback given, is willing to try new challenges without hesitation, and is always having fun which uplifts the group.
Kent/KCAC: Antony Gau
The AG March SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Group is Antony Gau. Antony is a strong leader and a hard worker. He takes feedback to heart and leads with a positive attitude at practice. These qualities helped Antony give some great performances at Age Group Regionals, with huge drops in several events. Great job Antony!
View Ridge: Tala Daoud
Tala has done an excellent job of connecting her practice habits to her performance in meets this month. She's recognized the connection between keeping her skills together during difficult sets and having those skills show up for her at the end of her races. Her increased attention to detail has allowed her to make enormous progress in all four of her strokes and set huge personal bests across all strokes and distances, and I couldn't be more excited to see how she continues to progress in the spring.
Central/MIBC: Jaclyn Dixon
The March SMACtastic Swimmer of the month for March from Central Age Group is Jaclyn Dixon. Jaclyn recently joined the team in January and has been an amazing addition to the group. She shows up ready to work, ready to learn, and excited to go fast. Her energy has brought a lot of competitiveness to the group and has been a true team player. Great job Jaclyn!!
Evergreen: Emie Macon
Emie has grown into a great leader in Age Group, and I would recommend new swimmers to follow in her footsteps. She is motivated to work hard, and she loves practicing with her friends, so she consistently gives her best effort in practice. She loves competing with her friends in practice, so I am confident that she has all the potential in the world. Keep up the good work, Emie!
Fife: Maya Olarte
Maya is our SMACTastic Swimmer of March for Age Group at Fife. Maya has started taking it upon herself to lead the lane, and takes the time to make sure that both she and her teammates know how best to do things so everyone can improve together. She maintains focus on the things we're working on throughout practice, which has allowed her to improve quite a bit since joining the group a few months ago.
Kent/KCAC: Hutch Uydess
The AGP March SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Group is Hutch Uydess. Hutch has taken large steps to address weaknesses as well as tackle challenging sets in training. Often choosing the harder interval when given the opportunity, he has shown grit and resilience at practice. These efforts have paid off big time - with a massive 100 second drop in his mile at Age Group Regionals - one of 100% best times across all swims. Great job Hutch!
View Ridge: Maggie Russo
Maggie always knows how to execute during championship season, but this March was particularly special. The focus and intention she brought into her preparation in the weeks leading up to Regionals was absolutely unmatched; her meet day processes were impeccable; her disposition throughout the meet was poised, confident, and even. Maggie's success in March is a shining example of what's possible when we trust our training, trust the process, and trust ourselves. She's put in so much mental and physical work to get here, and I really couldn't be more proud of her.
Central/MIBC: Lilly Greig
The March SMACtastic swimmer for the Central/MI AGP group is Lilly Greig. As our group prepared for Regionals Lilly showed consistent improvement in practices and a willingness to race and be competitive. At Regionals Lilly followed through on her training and took her races out more aggressively leading to significant drops in all her races. Lilly has since come to me with her own goals for her long course season showing important initiative and ownership of the work it takes for big drops. Great job Lilly!
Senior
Kent/KCAC: Jacq Theriot
The February SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Senior group is Natalie Keene. Natalie is an outstanding leader by example. She gives her best effort at every single practice and works with intent to learn new skills and improve her technique. Beyond this, she is an engaging teammate - bringing in all those around her and making practice fun for her teammates. Natalie embodies many of the skills and attitudes we have been talking about as a group when discussing what it means to be a great teammate. Great job Natalie!
Central/MIBC: Mulan Kukreja
Mulan is our SMAC-TASTIC Swimmer of the Month, bringing energy, consistency, and quiet confidence that turns into seriously fast swimming. She only missed TWO days this month (SAT + a well-earned rest day after four days of prelims/finals… and even made up the SAT practice with another group), which says everything about her commitment.
She dropped 7 seconds in her 200 fly, 2 seconds in her 100 free, and was a defining factor on relays at Champs. She leads with positivity, never misses yards, and shows up ready to work every single day. Keep it rolling, Mulan.
View Ridge: Asher McCaslin
With so many graduating seniors in this group, Asher has quietly stepped into a leadership role. He's taken charge of leading his lane and running the sets, and taking ownership of the group has translated into increased ownership of his own swimming. Asher has done significantly better at identifying and engaging with the purpose of each set and what he’s working on, and I can’t wait to see how these new skills translate into his long course season.
Fife: Jackson Androski
Jackson is the SMACTastic swimmer of the month for the Senior group at Fife. Jackson joined the group this month for his first taste of club swimming. He’s made big progress in his short time with the team, especially with his breaststroke, and learning how to navigate our practices. With that, after trying for the last couple of years with his high school swimming, he was finally able to get under a minute in his 100 Free in his first ever club meet.
Senior Performance
View Ridge: Cordelia White
After her performances at the BPI meet where Cordelia accomplished 3 lifetime bests out of six, she showed that patiently working through several months of a shoulder injury made her tougher and possessing more resolve to achieve success. She demonstrated this recently in our “Schmitty” kick test set, where she led a spirited challenge to her group mates to achieve a level never before accomplished at View Ridge.
Central/MIBC: Jamison Howell
Jamison has shown tremendous growth all season. She’s methodically worked on improving all 4 strokes on a constant basis all year long and has gotten outstanding results. She’s a team player.
Central/MIBC: Charlie Cancelmo
Charlie is intentional and deliberate in his training, attends workouts at a better than 95 percent clip, and displays the actions and attitudes of a National athlete on a consistent basis. That combination resulted in extremely strong performances at the Bellevue Club Premier Invitational in March. Over the four day meet, Charlie swam 5 personal bests in 6 events, earned the high point award for male athletes and set four team records and three PNS records. That performance was made possible by the actions Charlie has taken day in and day out since September and the commitment he shows to getting better every opportunity. Congratulations Charlie!
