The following piece was provided by Erin Hickey coach of the Watertown Wavemakers:
Members of the Watertown Boys & Girls Club Wavemakers swim team recently dove into fierce competition at the Boys & Girls Club National Swim Meet in St. Petersburg, Florida, from April 11-13, showcasing their talent among the nation’s best young athletes.
Watertown Boys & Girls Club has been representing the community annually at the Nationals swim meet since 2012. This year, a group of 17 determined swimmers ages 10-17 made the trip under the leadership of Wavemakers Head Coach Erin Hickey and assistant coaches Jenn Lawlor and Dylan Hickey. Watertown’s contributions helped Team New England take home second place overall in the meet, an all-time best result for the consortium of other Boys & Girls Club teams in the NENEAPC (Northeast New England Area Program Council) league.
The team practiced five days a week, swimming over 1,400 miles as a group in just two months between February and April. The practices, which included twice weekly “dryland” sessions for strength training outside the pool, were difficult, but this committed group of swimmers persisted with positive attitudes and determination to put in the work to do their best at the big meet.
The Nationals meet lasts three days, with distance events starting on Friday night and continuing with full-day competition through Saturday and Sunday. Distance events over 500 yards are timed finals, and swimmers had to reach a qualifying time before the meet to participate. All other events are swum in the morning as prelims, and the top 20 swimmers in each age group qualify to swim the same event as a timed final in the evening. The Wavemakers’ hard work leading up to the meet paid off, and for the first time in Wavemaker history, every one of the Watertown swimmers was a finalist.
The team got off to a strong start with stellar performances by nine swimmers during Friday night’s distance events. In the 9-10 yrs age group Carter Kim (10), Vahagn Sargysyan (11), and Mia Viera (10) all finished in the top 10 of their age group. Almost every Watertown 500-swimmer set a personal best in the event, with Jad Karmo (12) ending the last heat of the night dropping a staggering 53 seconds from his personal best.
The Wavemakers were up early and excited to continue their successes on Saturday and Sunday. On the 12 and under side, Carter, Vahagn, Mia and Anderson Kim (11) showed their dominance in the pool by reaching the finals in every event they swam. Vahagn was Team New England’s highest point scorer, placing sixth overall in his age group. Anderson, who was named the WBGC’s first annual Niamh Murphy Scholarship Award winner in March, reached the top 10 in the 100 butterfly, dropping four seconds between the morning and the afternoon to beat his seed and clinch ninth place.
Paige Coleman (10), the only Watertown rookie on the trip, came in 11th place in the 50 and 100 yard butterfly and dropped time in every event she swam. Jad Karmo continued to crush his best times, reaching the finals in the 100 IM, 50 breaststroke and 100 breaststroke. Jason Beaudry (11) showed his strength in the 200 freestyle final, dropping over 10 seconds from his personal best. He dropped time in each of his events, also reaching the finals in the 50 and 100 yard breaststroke.
Wesley Allen (12) joined Jason in the 11-12 boys 200 freestyle final, finishing in 18th place. Wesley had a great meet, also reaching the finals in the 50 yard backstroke and the 50 yard butterfly. Emma Clifford (12) and Noor Katab (12) held up the 11-12 girls age group for Watertown in the 200 yard freestyle final, each of them swimming the event for only the second time and dropping over 10 seconds. Emma was also a finalist in the 50 and 100-yard
breaststroke.
On the 13 and over side, the Wavemakers continued their dominance in the pool. Four captains made the trip: Cameron Burke (16), Marissa Cabral (16), Matteo Lucente (17) and Sabina von Goeler (15). They were great role models for the younger kids on the trip, exemplifying good sportsmanship, positivity and responsibility. Cameron made it into the 50-yard freestyle final from first alternate and beat both his seed and his personal best, coming in 18th with a time of 25.36s. He also made the 100-yard backstroke final. On Saturday, Matteo took on the mile, swimming 66 lengths in the sun with ease. He dropped 52 seconds in the event, finishing in just over 21 minutes and also made the 200-yard backstroke final, placing 12th. Marissa had a great meet, swimming personal bests in each event and reaching the finals for the first time in her swimming career in the 200-yard breaststroke. Sabina took on some tough competition being among the youngest swimmers in the 15-18 age group but reached the qualifying time to place in the 500 freestyle and took 8th place in the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Matthew Viera (13) reached the finals and dropped time in all his events including an 8th place finish in the grueling 200 yard butterfly. Samara Beaudry (14) had an emphatic performance across the weekend, reaching the finals in almost every event and dropping significant time in events that she’s been swimming all year. Her time of 1:19.59 in the 100-yard breaststroke was a drop of nearly five seconds from her personal best time. It earned her 11th place overall, and she’s now chasing the Wavemaker 13-14 record of 1:19.22, a feat she will hopefully accomplish at the Bay State Games, Watertown’s next big meet at the end of June.
The Wavemaker coaches are all incredibly proud of their swimmers, not only for their accomplishments in the pool but for all the hard work they put in to get there. It was their stellar attitudes, their support for each other and their determination to do their best that made the trip such a success. Coaches and swimmers alike would like to extend their most heartfelt thanks to those who supported this trip, which would not have been possible without donations from our Watertown community!
To learn more about the Watertown Boys & Girls Club and the Wavemakers Swim team, visit the Club’s website at www.watertownbgc.org