SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month: February
Catfish
Mercerwood Shore Club: Alina Nguyen
Alina has proved to be a leader for the MSC CATFISH group. Alina's ability to listen to instructions, lead a lane, work on improving her technique has made her the MSC Catfish February SMACtastic choice. All these attributes have made Alina a standout this month! Congratulations Alina keep up the great work!
The February SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Catfish group is Avuykt Singh! AV has taken big strides over the past month with regards to swimming legal breaststroke and butterfly. He also is a positive influence on his lanemates, making practice more fun for those around him. Great job AV!
View Ridge: Libby Theobald
Libby is a relative newcomer to the group and has fit in quite well. As a regular in the “Decatur Lane”, Libby has recorded very good attendance at practice, and she has demonstrated good aptitude for quickly learning and applying drills to all of her strokes. Her smiling positive attitude is balanced by signs of potentially becoming a real competitor. We look forward to Libby’s first meet this Spring.
Central/MIBC: Sidney Weinstein
Sidney just joined the group, but she has made herself right at home. She is a very engaged swimmer and asks a lot of questions which helps learn and grow. This has helped her improve her freestyle bodyline and breastroke a lot. Way to go Sidney!
Evergreen: Taylen McFarlane
Taylen is so excited to learn and demonstrate for the group. She understands that skills make Champions, so every day she is diligently focusing on improving her skills in all four strokes. She is also working hard to dive and push off the wall with great streamlines. This is exactly where some of our best Age Groupers started! Keep up the good work, Taylen.
Stroke Development
Mercerwood Shore Club: Wesley Wei
Wesley is the Stroke D. SMACtastic February recipient for MSC. Wesley swam at the February AGI meet and qualified for the Regionals in the 50 Backstroke, qualifying for one event gives Wesley the opportunity to swim 3 additional events at the Regional Meet it will be exciting to see what Wesley does with these racing opportunities! Congratulations Wesley!
Kent/KCAC: Riley Routh
The February SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Stroke Development group is Riley Routh! Riley recently rejoined the group after a break, and has come in and led by example every practice. She always gets in on time, stays on top of intervals during sets, and makes earnest efforts to improve her technique across all four strokes. Further, she is inclusive and fun to swim with. Great job Riley!
View Ridge: Blake Robinson
Blake made his first Test Set qualifier for the AG group this week. Blake has shown real promise as a racer. He consistently commits to swim meets, has amassed 710 IMR points already this season and loves swimming for SMAC. Blake has recently demonstrated some real growth as a young man; we look forward to his ongoing improvement in training habits and reaching his fullest potential.
Central/MIBC: Ira Varshavski
Ira is always seeking feedback from the coaches and is eager to learn and improve each day in practice. His perseverance during sets and his positive attitude at practice make him a positive presence to have in our group. Ira’s dedication to getting better and willingness to put in the work truly stand out.
Evergreen: Milo Chan
Milo has been leading his lane and he has also been working with his Training Partners to allow them to lead at times. The whole group operates better when it has great leadership. Milo has also been stretching to learn the Butterfly stroke. This is exactly where some of our best Age Groupers started! Keep up the good work, Milo.
Newport: Noah Richard
Noah Richard Nguyn is this month's SMACtastic swimmer of the month! Watching Noah put in the extra effort to improve himself has positively impacted Newport SMAC whilst being a blast to observe. Noah is taking the steps to improve his techniques and take his swimming to the next level. Most recently I haven been impressed with his progress improving on butterfly. Congratulations Noah, keep it up!
Mercerwood Shore Club: Benjamin Li
Ben has figured out consistent hard work at practice does translate to improved meet performances and it shows in Ben's meet results! Ben will be aging up to 11-year-old age group just days before the regional meet and already has an 11-year-old qualifying cut! Congratulations Ben! Ben has been working harder and smarter at practice resulting in a best 500 Free time and a great first-time swim in the 200 Breaststroke as a still 10-year-old. Good luck at Regionals Ben, your coaches are excited to watch you swim!!
Kent/KCAC: Odessa Falaminiano
The AG February SMACtastic swimmer of the month from the Kent Group is Odessa Falaminiano. Odessa displays great work ethic, desire to improve, and excellent attendance. Beyond this, she uplifts the entire group with her positive attitude and inclusiveness with her teammates. Great job Odessa!
Central/MIBC: Gus Barber
Gus recently earned two regional qualifying times in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, reflecting the hard work and commitment he brings to practice each day. His drive to improve and willingness to push himself exemplify the dedication we value in a SMAC swimmer.
Evergreen: Sage Andy Tran
At last Saturday morning's practice, Tai Manning asked me who Andy was and said he was doing a great streamline off every wall. Andy is able to streamline like this because he always streamlines like this, whether anyone is watching or not. This is the exact same commitment that all the fastest streamline kickers made. Keep up the good work, Andy!
Kent/KCAC: Remington Gao
Remington Gau is the Kent Age Group Performance SMACtastic Swimmer of the Month for January. Remington has made significant progress since joining the group in September. Remington’s progress can be attributed to his commitment to challenging himself at practice daily. Remington has worked his way up to take on the “A” intervals resulting in huge time drops in 200’s and above. Remington also has a great attitude at practice every day and it is a pleasure to watch him get excited as he accomplishes goals beyond his expectations. Congratulations Remington!
Central/MIBC: Ethan Ha
The February SMACtastic swimmer for the central/MI AGP group is Ethan Ha. Before February, Ethan had a goal meeting with me where we identified what he wanted to accomplish and what we were going to work on to do it. Then in February, Ethan became the example in the group for work ethic and willingness to be uncomfortable. In practices Ethan outperformed expectations in pace sets and hit his IM test set goal, and continually dropped time every time he raced in meets. Congratulations Ethan, and I am looking forward to seeing how you finish our short course season!
Senior
Kent/KCAC: Natalie Keene
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!
Senior Performance
View Ridge: Emi Reinvik
Emi is a newcomer to VR SP, and our group is better because of her. She is a very hard worker and has fully dedicated herself to very good underwater skills. Transitioning to a new club is not always easy, especially when it involves long driving times, but Emi has transitioned to SMAC nicely, displayed a new level of confidence and has embraced new training, stroke and skills refinement. We look forward to her good results at BPI.
Central/MIBC: Maddie Yovanovich
The National group’s SMACtastic Swimmer for the month for February is Maddie
Yovanovich. Maddie has displayed a tremendous amount of intentionality in her training over the last four weeks by setting new standards for herself to move in the direction of her goals. It was her idea to take concrete steps to improve her underwater travel skills and to deploy those improved skills through a wider range of racing and training circumstances. Additionally, she has been extremely consistent with a high level of focus and effort in the water and the gym and has maintained a positive mental outlook during an extremely challenging phase of training.
