RMSC Breaking Records at REHI

RMSC broke several records at the REHI this year. Congratulations to all these swimmers and their amazing accomplishments!

Breaking the National Age Group Record from 2014!

200 Free Relay - Jason Xu, Alexander Romero-Zermeno, Wes Begin, and Marcus Li

Also breaking numerous meet records!

100 Free - Andrea Dworak

200 Free - Andrea Dworak

200 Backstroke - Andrea Dworak

200 Breaststroke - Maria Webb

Also congratulations to FISH swimmer Henry Rossman for setting a new meet record in the 500 Free!

Rockville-Montgomery 10 & Under Boys swim past NAG 200 Free Relay mark

RMSC Sets Age Group Relay Record at Riley Eaton Invitational – ReachForTheWall

RMSC Named USA Swimming Gold Medal Club For Second Straight Year!!

USA Swimming has announced the results of the 2024 Club Excellence Program, and  RMSC has achieved Gold Medal Club status for the second consecutive season.  Our score of 39,620 points once again ranked RMSC in the top 10 out of USA Swimming’s over 2800 registered clubs, and was an improvement of over 3000 points from last year! 

The Club Excellence Program is designed “to recognize and promote the development of strong, well rounded age group and senior programs that produce elite 18&Under athletes.”  Our Club’s points were accumulated by our 18&Under swimmers recording times in Long Course meters that fell into Gold (World-ranked swims), Silver (Senior National), or Bronze (Junior National) standards, as well as our performances in Open Water Nationals and Junior Nationals.  For the second consecutive year, RMSC had more swimmers achieve these standards than in any year in recent history. 

RMSC has had an amazing 2024, with many outstanding accomplishments by our swimmers and coaches.  Every member of RMSC should take pride in being a part of maintaining Gold Medal Status.  Some of our accomplishments included:

-Boys’ Team Title, Girls & Combined Runners-up at NCSA Age Group Championships

-Boys’ and Combined Team Titles at Eastern Zone Sectionals

-Combined Team Title at PVS 12&U LC Championships

-Two swimmers and two alumni competed at 2024 US Olympic Team Trials

-One swimmer named to Team USA for Open Water World Junior Championships

-One swimmer named to USA Swimming National Select Camp

-Four swimmers named to Eastern Zone Select Camp

-Eight PVS Outstanding Athlete Award Winners

-Three PVS Outstanding Distance Award Winners

-16 USA Swimming Scholastic All-Americans

-87 PVS Scholar Athlete Award Winners

Congratulations to all of our swimmers, coaches, administrators, and parent support system.  We all play a part in this accomplishment.  Look for the Gold Medal banners at our facilities in 2025!

RMSC Catches "Indiana Fever" at NCSA Summer Championships

Indianapolis, IN, July 24-28

33 RMSC swimmers traveled to Indianapolis for the NCSA Summer Championships (Junior Nationals) at the famous IUPUI Natatorium, which featured over 1000 swimmers from almost 100 teams from all over the Country.  The team finished 7th Combined, with the Boys finishing 7th and the Girls finishing 10th.  Since the events were highly contested, 40 swimmers made it back to finals, with the top 24 scoring points for the team.

Leading the team with 132 points was Andrea Dworak.  Andrea won the 200 free (17-18 and Senior Team record 2:01.06) and 800 free (8:51.17), she was 2nd in 400 free, 7th in 100 free, and top 16 in 200 back (17-18 and Senior Team record 2:15.94).  Cooper Zakorchemny led the boys with 93 points.  He won the 800 free (15-16 and Senior Team Record 8:07.02), was 3rd in 400 free (15-16 Team record 3:57.00), was 8th in 1500 free, top 16 in 200 free, and top 32 in 400 IM.  Angela Kadoorie finished 2nd in 200 breast (15-16 and Senior Team record 2:32.18), 5th in 400 IM, top 16 in 100 breast, and top 24 in 200 fly and 200 IM.  Griffin Oehler was 6th in 200 IM, 7th in 100 back, top 16 in 200 back, and top 32 in 200 free (15-16Team record 1:54.14) and 100 fly.  Josh Lopez was 6th in 200 fly, top 16 in 200 free, top 24 in 800 free, and top 32 in 400 free.  Maria Webb was 8th in 200 fly, and finished top 40 in 50 fly, 100 fly, and 400 IM.  Alex Nguyen placed top 16 in 1500 free, and top 24 in 400 and 800 free.  Alex Jungbluth finished top 16 in 200 fly, and top 24 in 100 fly, while Brian Wilbur finished top 16 in 50 breast and top 24 in 100 breast.  Tyler Coapstick was top 16 in 50 free, while Gabby Day was top 24 in 50 free and 100 free.  Nick Liberty was top 24 in 1500 free and top 40 in 800 free, while Daniel Prins added a top 24 in 200 fly.  Also making finals appearances with top 40 finishes were: Charlie Begin, Anika Cai, Roman Drews, Natalia Evans-Gibson, Chase Keeler, Kellie Kincaid, Lizzie Linck, Mimi Moore, Seamus Rooney, and Viona Sunjaya.

We had many excellent team performances in relays as well.  Our top relay was the Boys 800 Free relay team of Josh Lopez, Cooper Zakorchemny, Griffin Oehler, and Alex Nguyen, who finished 4th.  Our top Girls’ finish was 9th in the 800 free relay by Andrea Dworak, Maria Webb, Gabby Day, and Kellie Kincaid, which broke the Team record (8:28.57).  The Boys team of Griffin Oehler, Brian Wilbur, Alex Jungbluth, and Tyler Coapstick also finished 9th in both 200 and 400 medley relays.  Also contributing to top 40 relays were: Linus Ament, Guillermo Ancheta, Charlie Begin, Anika Cai, Jack Dawson, Angela Kadoorie, Chase Keeler, Nick Liberty, Lizzie Linck, Zoe McGee, Mimi Moore, Daniel Prins, Seamus Rooney, Lukas Shafer, Viona Sunjaya, and Celia Watkins

RMSC Swimmers Compete at U.S. Olympic Team Trials

The fastest meet in the Country took place from June 15-23 in Indianapolis, as the Nation’s fastest swimmers gathered at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at Lucas Oil Stadium.  Holding a swim meet in an NFL stadium was quite an experience, as over 20000 spectators were in attendance daily. 

Sharing the deck with Ledecky, Dressel, and the other top American swimmers were two current RMSC swimmers.  Adriano Arioti finished 55th in 200 back (2:03.56) and 82nd in 200 IM (2:05.37).  Evan Mackesy finished 58th in 400 IM (4:27.79).  These two swimmers recently graduated high school, and will continue their swimming careers at Harvard University and Purdue University, respectively. 

At National meets like Olympic Trials, swimmers currently competing in college have the option of dual representation, where they can represent both their college team and their club team.  Two of our recent graduates honored their years with the club by exercising this option.  Toby Barnett, a rising sophomore at Indiana University, finished 50th in 400 IM (4:26.80) and 73rd in 200 IM (2:04.45).  Jed Garner, a rising sophomore at the University of Tennessee, finished 31st in 200 breast (2:14.53).

 All of our swimmers and coaches had a great experience at the meet.  We’re looking forward to training more RMSC swimmers for 2028!

RMSC Takes Second Place at Age Group NCSA’s!

RMSC’s 14 and Under Swimmers traveled to Orlando for Age Group NCSA’s on March 27-30, 2024 and placed SECOND overall as a team!  Teams are also recognized for their achievement by gender at this meet.  RMSC’s boys topped the rest of the boys’ field placing FIRST in that half of the competition.  RMSC’s girls placed SECOND in this portion of the meet.

It was an exciting meet that featured over 1000 swimmers from across the nation.  RMSC entered the meet as a sizable underdog to Long Island Aquatic Club (LIAC).  Over the course of the week, we slowly chipped away at our projected deficit and entered finals on the last day of competition with a legitimate shot to win the meet.  RMSC athletes swam an incredible last finals session, but we fell just a bit short.  No less, it was a valiant and spirited effort and we’re proud of our kids!

RMSC’s relays certainly contributed to our positive outcome.  RMSC gained ground against the entire field during each relay portion of the meet.  Almost all of our 32 entered relays finished in scoring position and several finished in first place.  Our 11-12 Boys relays finished first in the 200 Medley Relay (Jack Gravell, Peter Guo, Tripp Thomas, Selim Ericson), 200 Free Relay (Jack Gravell, Nickolas Nishnianidze, Tripp Thomas, Selim Ericson) and 400 Medley Relay (Jack Gravell, Brian Sunjaya, Tripp Thomas, Selim Ericson).  Our 13-14 Girls finished first in the 200 Medley Relay (Elizabeth Chen, Viona Sunjaya, Anika Cai, Gabrielle Day), 200 Free Relay (Anika Cai, Marion Hooker, Harper Bartholomew, Gabrielle Day) and 400 Medley Relay (Harper Bartholomew, Viona Sunjaya, Anika Cai, Gabrielle Day).

There were many best times across the board and the following swimmers placed in the top 16 in their individual events thus scoring points for the team.  Every place and point counts!  Mara Ahearn (4 top 16 finishes), Harper Batholomew (2), Lachlan Bartolomew (4), Leah Bartley (2), Anika Cai (7), Sydney Chang (1), Gabrielle Day (3), Julie Diaz (3), Trevor Donley (3), Selim Ericson (7), Rafael Fontana (2), Jeremian Germosen (5), Jack Gravell (10), Peter Guo (4), Jason Hua (1), Brooke Lakso (1), Audrey Lee (1), Joy Liang (1), Elena Lindley (2), Angelina Luo (1), Izabella Mason (1), Nickolas Nishnianidze (1), Meera Patel (2), Grace Peterson (1), Zander Pica (6), Jenna Ryan (9), Elaine Shu (3), Brian Sunjaya (4), Viona Sunjaya (6), Tripp Thomas (9), Irene Tretyakov (1), Ray Wang (1), AJ Windt (2), Sara Young (5)

Finally, congrats to our new RMSC record holders!  Selim Ericson broke the RMSC Team Record in 11-12 Boys 50 Butterfly with a time of 25.27.  Our 13-14 Girls relay teams also broke RMSC Records in the 400 Medley Relay (Harper Bartholomew, Viona Sunjaya, Anika Cai, Gabrielle Day) and 400 Free Relay (Gabrielle Day, Marion Hooker, Anika Cai, Harper Batholomew).

 It was a great meet.  It was a fun and rewarding experience for the entire team.  We’ll get back on top again next year.

RMSC Honors Riley Eaton

RMSC is celebrating the lifelong commitment of J. Riley Eaton to the swimming community. As an RMSC swim coach for 35 years, he coached thousands of young people, many of whom grew to love the sport as much as he did and have gone on to their own careers in coaching, including current RMSC coaches who swam under Riley. On a national level, he served for nearly 20 years as a founding member on the Board of Directors for the National Club Swimming Association. In the Potomac Valley LSC, Riley served as an HOD at-large delegate, senior chairman, and general chairman. In 2014, Riley was presented with a USA Swimming Life Membership for his years of dedicated and exemplary service to the LSC and most importantly the athletes. After retiring from coaching, Riley was the Holiday Invitational announcer for many years and could always be found with tootsie pops on his table. Out of the pool, Riley taught at Hyattsville Middle School for 26 years. His principle "It's all about the kids", is truly reflected in his life work. Riley passed away on August 4, 2023 and will be sorely missed.

We will be honoring Riley this December by renaming the Holiday Invitational meet to the Riley Eaton Holiday Invitational. In doing so, we are giving every registered swimmer a white RMSC silicone cap with his initial JRE. We ask that swimmers participating in any meet this December (Reindeer Mini Meet, Christmas Champs, Turkey Claus, US Open, and our own Riley Eaton Holiday Invitational) wear this swim cap to honor Riley and all his work he did for RMSC over the years.

KSAC NTGs continuing into college

The NTG group at KSAC has seven seniors who will all be continuing their swimming careers in college. From left to right;

Brady Begin-University of North Carolina

Michael Kaiser-Emory University

Samir Elkassem-Duke University

Nasim Elkassem-University of Southern California

Joe Umhofer-Southern Methodist University

Reagan Phillips-University of South Carolina

Emma Lantry-Gettysburg College.

RMSC Caps Off Amazing Year By Being Named USA Swimming Gold Medal Club

RMSC has had an amazing 2023, with many outstanding accomplishments by our swimmers and coaches.  This was confirmed, as USA Swimming has announced the results of the 2023 Club Excellence Program.  After holding Silver Medal Club status for the past ten seasons, RMSC has recaptured Gold Medal Club status for the first time since 2013.  Our score of 36,476 points ranked RMSC in the top 10 out of USA Swimming’s over 2800 registered clubs. 

The Club Excellence Program is designed “to recognize and promote the development of strong, well rounded age group and senior programs that produce elite 18&Under athletes.”  Our Club’s points were accumulated by our 18&Under swimmers recording times in Long Course meters that fell into Gold (World-ranked swims), Silver (Senior National), or Bronze (Junior National) standards, as well as our performances in Open Water Nationals and Junior Nationals.  RMSC had more swimmers achieve these standards this year than in any year in the past decade. 

Every member of RMSC should take pride in being a part of returning our club to Gold Medal Status.  This honor caps an amazing year in which the club saw:

-Combined and Boys’ Team Titles at NCSA Age Group Championships

-Boys’ Team Title at NCSA Junior National Championships

-Combined, Girls’, and Boys’ Team Titles at PVS 12&U LC Championships

-Girls’ Team Title at PVS 14&U SC Championships

-One Swimmer Named to USA Swimming National Junior Team

-Two Swimmers Named to USA Swimming National Select Camp

-16 USA Swimming Scholastic All-Americans

-11 PVS Outstanding Athlete Award Winners

-Three PVS Outstanding Distance Award Winners

Congratulations to all of our swimmers, coaches, administrators, and parent support system.  We all play a part in this accomplishment.  Look for the Gold Medal banner at our facilities in 2024!

RMSC Swimmers named to USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team

For the second consecutive year, RMSC had an amazing 16 swimmers named to the prestigious USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team!

Members of the 2022-2023 Team include:  Adriano Arioti, Andrea Dworak, Nasim Elkassem, Samir Elkassem, Aydin Erkan, Angela Kadoorie, Michael Kaiser, Evan Mackesy, Alex Nguyen, Amy Qin, Madison Smith, Joe Umhofer, Livia Venditti, Owen Watkins, Brian Wilbur, and Cooper Zakorchemny.  These swimmers achieved this honor with a combination of high-level success in the classroom and in the pool.  Qualifiers are required to maintain a 3.5 GPA and achieve at least one USA Swimming Winter Junior National qualifying time.

Congratulations to our outstanding Student Athletes!

For more information on the team, you can visit: Scholastic All-America (usaswimming.org)

RMSC Scores big at annual PVS Outstanding Athlete and Distance Athlete Awards

RMSC took 11 of 19 PVS Outstanding Athlete Awards for 2022-23.

The Outstanding athlete award recognizes one athlete by age and gender ages 9 to 18. It is voted on by the PVS Competiton Committee based on records, national and pvs rankings and meet performance.

Congratulations to Julia Carrick (9 year old girls), Jenna Ryan (11 year old girls), Rafael Fontana (11 year old boys), Jeremiah Germosen (12 year old boys), Angela Kadoorie (15 year old girls), Cooper Zakorchemny (15 year old boys), Andrea Dworak (16 year old girl), Adriano Arioti (16 year old boy), Madison Smith (17 year old girl), Jed Garner (17 year old boy) and Toby Barnett (18 year old boy)

In the PVS Outstanding Distance Award category, which is awarded to the swimmer with the fastest time in the Women's 800m free, Women's 1000y free, Men's 1500m free and Men's 1650y free, RMSC took 3 of 4 awards. Congratulations to Brady Begin for taking the Men's 1650 free and Madison Smith for winning both awards in the Women's 800m free and 1000y free. 

Arioti, Webb, and Zakorchemny Earn National Honors

Three RMSC swimmers were selected to prestigious National honors this month, based on their performances in the past season:

Adriano Arioti was named to the USA Swimming National Junior Team.  This Team is selected from the fastest 18&Under swimmers all across the Country.  The top two swimmers in each Olympic event are selected, as well as swimmers with times 4% off medal times at World Championships.  Adriano was selected based on his 200 backstroke time of 1:59.58, which is an Olympic Trials standard.  The National Junior Team participates in a training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training center in Colorado Springs, and will compete in an international meet in 2024.

Maria Webb and Cooper Zakorchemny were selected for the USA Swimming National Select Camp.  48 Boys ages 15-16 and 48 Girls ages 14-15 are selected for this Camp.  Swimmers qualify by being in the top three Nationally in each Olympic event, or having one of the next six highest IMX scores.  The Boys’ Camp is October 12-15, and the Girls’ Camp is October 26-29, both held at the U.S. Olympic Training center in Colorado Springs.

Congratulations to Adriano, Maria, and Cooper for representing RMSC on the National stage!

Eastern Zone Senior Long Course Championships – Buffalo, NY, August 3-6

RMSC had a team of 30 swimmers travel to and compete at Senior Zones, a Sectional-level meet that featured almost 80 teams from all over the Eastern Zone (Maine to Virginia).  RMSC finished 11th Combined, with our boys and girls each finishing 10th.  The top 32 swimmers qualified for finals, with the top 16 scoring for the team.

Nicholas Liberty led the team with 28 points.  He took 2nd in 1500 free in a Junior National cut of 16:34.70, was 8th in 800 free, and added 2 other top 32 finishes.  Justin Jarczynski finished 4th in 1500 free, and was top 16 in 400 free and 800 free.  Anna Nishnianidze also made a Junior National cut with a 9th in 50 free in 27.16, and she added another top 32 finish.  Skylar Dean finished top 16 in 800 free and 1500 free, and added 3 other top 32 finishes.  Natalia Evans-Gibson was top 16 in 200 fly and added another top 32 finish.  Jason Doan was top 16 in 200 fly.  Also making finals appearances with top 32 finishes were: Guillermo Ancheta, Ella Crown, Roman Drews, Alara Erkan, Shad Frantz, Josh Hernandez, Nikolai Kalinin, Rachel Katz, Ethan Lee, Jack Tovornik, Jordan Webster, Giselle Yanes, and Abigail Yo.

Much of our team scoring came from relays, where many swimmers contributed lifetime bests on their splits.  Our top finish was a 4th in the Girls 400 Medley relay by Skylar Dean, Giselle Yanes, Natalia Evans-Gibson, and Anna Nishnianidze.  Dean, Maggie Rose Rook, Nishnianidze, and Jingjing Wu also finished 8th in the 800 Free relay.  Also contributing to top 16 scoring relays were: Guillermo Ancheta, Ella Crown, Shad Frantz, Josh Hernandez, Nikolai Kalinin, Rachel Katz, Tyler Kim, Shawn Mashburn, Ray Mukoyama, Lukas Shafer, Jordan Webster, and Abigail Yo.

RMSC National Team Ends the Summer Strong in Three Cities

Madison Smith & Adriano Arioti Record Olympic Trials Cuts

 

This Summer, our National Team was split between three Junior National level Championship meets that occurred at the end of July.  Though the team was split, we managed many impressive results both individually and in team scoring.  Here is a recap of those results:

 

NCSA Summer Championships – Indianapolis, IN, July 26-30

40 RMSC swimmers traveled to this meet, which featured around 1200 swimmers from almost 100 teams from all over the Country.  The team finished 9th Combined, with the girls finishing 7th and the boys finishing 13th.  Since the events were highly contested, 40 swimmers made it back to finals, with the top 24 scoring points for the team.

Leading the team with 135 points was Madison Smith.  Madison qualified for the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials with her 1st place finishes in 400 free (4:12.80) and 800 free (8:41.57).  She also placed 1st in 1500 free (16:52.08), and the 400, 800, and 1500 were all 17-18 and Senior Team records.   Madison was also 2nd in 200 free and top 16 in 100 free.  Cooper Zakorchemny placed 2nd in 800 free in a 15-16 Team Record 8:14.40, 7th in 400 free, top 16 in 1500 free, and added 2 other top 40 finishes.  Andrea Dworak was 4th in 400 free and 800 free, 5th in 200 free in a 15-16 Team Record 2:02.66, and top 16 in 100 free and 200 back.  Angela Kadoorie finished 3rd in 200 breast, 4th in 400 IM in a 15-16 Team Record 4:54.63, and had 2 other top 40 finishes.  Joe Umhofer took 6th in 200 breast, and was top 24 in 50 breast and 100 breast.  Alex Nguyen was 7th in 800 free, top 16 in 1500 free, and added another top 40 finish.  Brian Wilbur finished top 16 in 50 breast and 100 breast, and added another top 40 finish.  Aydin Erkan finished top 16 in 200 fly, while Josh Lopez was top 16 in 200 free.  Quinn Marchionini was top 24 in 200 back, while Sara Smith was top 24 in 400 IM.  Griffin Oehler broke the Team record in 13-14 50 fly (26.17) with a top 40 finish.  Also making finals appearances with top 40 finishes were: Lizzie Linck, Mimi Moore, Jackson Rankin, and Owen Watkins.

We had many excellent team performances in relays as well.  Our top relay was the Boys 800 Free relay team of Cooper Zakorchemny, Alex Nguyen, Brig Barnett, and Josh Lopez, who broke the 15-16 Team Record in 7:45.36, and finished 9th.  Two of our 13-14s broke Team records with their relay leadoff splits: Jonah Ginsburg with a 24.43 in 50 free, and Griffin Oehler with a 27.65 in 50 back.  Also contributing to top 24 scoring relays were: Andrea Dworak, Aydin Erkan, John Frank, Angela Kadoorie, Alyssa Kwon, Lizzie Linck, Quinn Marchionini, Kelsie Miller, Anna Mitchum, Madison Smith, Joe Umhofer, and A.J. Wong.

  

USA Swimming Futures – Richmond, VA, July 26-29

RMSC had 17 swimmers compete in this meet, which was one of five Regional Futures meets held simultaneously around the Country.  Despite the small representation, RMSC finished 5th Combined, 4th in boys, and 10th in girls.  The top 32 swimmers qualified for finals, with the top 16 scoring for the team.

Brady Begin was our top scorer with 53 points.  He took 1st in 800 free (8:20.53), 2nd in 400 free, and 3rd in 1500 free.  Nasim Elkassem was 5th in 200 free and 100 back, 8th in 100 fly, and top 16 in 50 free.  Maria Webb finished 7th in 200 fly.  Sarah Eliason was 8th in 100 free, and added top 16 finishes in 50 free and 100 fly.  Samir Elkassem was 8th in 800 free, and added 3 other top 32 finishes.  Livia Venditti finished top 16 in 100 back, and added 4 other top 32 finishes.  Addison Webb was top 16 in 800 free and added another top 32 finish.  Lauren Clark finished top 16 in 200 fly, while David Yune added a top 16 in 200 free.  Also making finals appearances with top 32 finishes were: Teddy Ament, Isla Bartholomew, and Michael Kaiser.

We had some excellent relay performances as well, highlighted by a 1st place in the Boys 800 Free relay by Brady Begin, David Yune, Samir Elkassem, and Nasim Elkassem.  The same four boys also broke the Senior Team Record in the 400 Free relay with a 3:30.73, finishing 4th.  The girls' top relay finish was in the 800 Free relay, with Sarah Eliason, Addison Webb, Maria Webb, and Livia Venditti taking 7th.  Venditti, A.Webb, Eliason, and Rachel Soubier added a 9th place finish in the 400 Free relay.

  

USA Swimming Junior Nationals - Irvine, CA, July 31-August 5

Our final Junior National meet was the most competitive, with the top 18&Unders in the Country descending on Irvine.  Some of our swimmers even flew from Indy to Irvine to compete at both meets.  The top 24 swimmers qualified for finals at the meet, with the top 16 scoring for the team.

Adriano Arioti contributed all of our individual scoring at the meet.  He finished 4th in 200 back (2:00.66), as he again went under the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standard in that event.  He also qualified for Olympic Trials for the first time this season in 200 IM (2:02.77), finishing 18th, and breaking the 17-18 and Senior Team records.  He added a 9th place finish in 100 back (56.17), a 10th in 200 fly (2:01.20), and a best time in 100 free (52.48).  Sarah Eliason made a finals appearance with a 21st in 100 fly (1:01.31), and added a best time in 50 free (26.65). 

Also competing at the prestigious meet were Amy Qin, Livia Venditti, Owen Watkins, Brian Wilbur, and Cooper Zakorchemny, all of whom were just off the fast times that they recently recorded to qualify.

RMSC takes down 3 National Age Group records at the Maryland State LC Champs

The Rockville Montgomery Swim Club (RMSC) took down a trio of National Age Group relay records relays at the Maryland State Long Course Championships over the weekend, doing so in the mixed free events across three different age groups.

10 & UNDER RECORD

In the 10 and under age group, the team broke its own record from last year (with four different swimmers). The quartet of Clara Yun, Nickolas Nishnianidze, Giselle Quach and Brian Sunjaya produced a time of 2:07.63, lowering the previous mark of 2:08.52 set by RMSC in 2022.


Split Comparison – 10 & Under NAG

RMSC - 2022

Juli Diaz – 33.09

Grayson Tempelhoff – 32.42

Jenna Ryan – 30.92

Zander Pica – 32.09

2:08.52

RMSC - 2023

Clara Yun – 33.03

Nickolas Nishnianidze – 31.24

Giselle Quach – 31.60

Brian Sunjaya – 31.76

2:07.63

11-12 RECORD

The record in the 11-12 age group fell by nearly three seconds, as RMSC’s Izabella Mason (29.28), Marion Hooker (28.37), Jeremiah Germosen (26.02) and Rafael Fontana (26.81) rocketed to a time of 1:50.48, erasing DART Swimming’s 2021 mark of 1:53.21.

RMSC’s ‘B’ team nearly got under the previous record as well, putting up a time of 1:53.39 with a team consisting of Harper Bartholomew, Dylan Pino, Seine Lee and Natalie McCarty.

Split Comparison – 11-12 NAG

 RMSC ‘A’ Relay

Izabella Mason – 29.28

Marion Hooker – 28.37

Jeremiah Germosen – 26.02

Rafael Fontana – 26.81

1:50.48

 

RMSC ‘B’ Relay

Harper Bartholomew – 29.40

Dylan Pino – 28.00

Seine Lee – 26.71

Natalie McCarty – 29.28

1:53.39


13-14 RECORD

RMSC’s quartet of Alexander Jungbluth (25.28), Jonah Ginsburg (24.24), Anika Cai (28.58) and Gabrielle Day (27.84) combined for a time of 1:45.94 in the 13-14 age group, lowering the old NAG of 1:47.66 set by DART in 2021.

In the mixed 200 medley relay, Cai and Day combined with Griffin Oehler and Jack Dawson to finish in a time of 1:55.78, just shy of the current NAG of 1:55.34 set by Clovis Swim Club in 2022.

Congratulations!!

Contributions from James Sutherland

RMSC Swimmers Go the Distance at Open Water Nationals

Nine RMSC swimmers travelled to Sarasota, Florida on April 21-23 to compete in the USA Swimming Open Water National Championships.  The course at Nathan Benderson Park was fast and the weather was perfect for open water swimming.  Though none of our swimmers had competed in open water before (they qualified for this meet with their 1000 and 1650 yard pool times), they represented themselves well against some of the best distance swimmers in the Country, and from abroad. 

The Senior Nationals 5K event was loaded with the top American swimmers from both NCAA College swimming and club swimming, plus several International competitors representing Japan, Spain, and Sweden.  Though our swimmers were amongst the youngest competitors in the race, they swam very well: Brady Begin finished 22nd in 59:37.97, with Toby Barnett just behind in 26th in 1:00:00.32. 

Later that day, we had several swimmers compete in the Junior National 7.5K event, contested for the 16-17 age group.  Maria Webb had our team’s highest finish of the weekend, taking 11th in the girls’ race in 1:38:12.62.  In the boys’ race, Alex Nguyen led the way, finishing 20th in 1:31:10.58.  Behind him were Cooper Zakorchemny in 23rd in 1:32:00.22, Evan Mackesy in 29th in 1:32:50.82, Liam Sheeran in 36th in 1:35:30.49, and Brig Barnett in 37th in 1:35.33.49. 

Our lone competitor in the 15&Under Junior National 5K was Addison Webb, who finished 14th in 1:09:31. 

All of our swimmers exhibited tremendous toughness and stamina to compete at such long distances at such a high level, and the team had a great experience on the trip.  Congratulations to our Open Water National Team!

RMSC Boys Win Junior National Championship, Team finishes 3rd Combined

RMSC’s National Team travelled to the NCSA Spring Championships (Junior Nationals) on March 14-18 in Orlando, Florida.  The meet featured over 1300 of the fastest 18&Under swimmers from all across the country, representing over 120 clubs. After many close calls in recent years, RMSC’s Boys broke through and won the team title, taking home a 1st place banner for the first time since 2008.   RMSC finished 3rd in combined scoring to improve upon last year’s 4th place finish, and the Girls finished 7th.  The top 24 finishers in each event scored points for the club, while the top 40 made it back to finals.

Many swimmers contributed points to the Boys’ Team Title.  Adriano Arioti was our leading scorer, with 175 points.  He was 1st in 200 fly (1:43.40) in a Senior National cut and Senior and 15-16 Team records, and in 200 back (1:41.66) in a Senior National cut and 15-16 Team record.  He was 2nd in 200 IM (1:45.51) in a Senior and 15-16 Team record, and added a 3rd in 100 back (47.53), a 5th in 100 fly (47.27) in a 15-16 Team record, and top 16 finishes in 50 fly and 50 back (22.47) in a 15-16 Team record.  Toby Barnett was also a big contributor with 166.5 points.  His top finish was a 1st in 400 IM (3:43.28) in a Senior National cut, meet record, pool record, and Team record.  He added another Senior National cut and Team record taking 2nd in 200 breast (1:55.86), and was also 4th in 200 IM (1:47.17), 6th in 200 back (1:45.73) and 200 fly (1:45.85), and top 16 finishes in 50 breast and 100 breast.  Jed Garner took 3rd in 200 breast (1:56.96), 4th in 100 breast (54.21), and was top 16 in 50 breast.  Brady Begin was 7th in 500 free (4:27.32) and 1000 free (9:11.80), and top 16 in 1650 free.  Evan Mackesy had top 16 finishes in 1000 free, 1650 free, and 400 IM, and top 24 finishes in 200 back and 200 fly.  Nasim Elkassem was top 16 in 100 back, and top 24 in 50 free and 50 back.  Brian Wilbur finished top 16 in 100 breast, and top 24 in 50 breast and 200 breast.  Owen Watkins was top 16 in 50 free and top 24 in 100 free.  Cooper Zakorchemny was top 16 in 1000 free.  Fletcher Bautz and Samir Elkassem each finished top 24 in 400 IM.  Alex Nguyen added a top 24 in 1000 free.  Nick Arndt and David Yune added top 40 finishes.

Our Girls were led by Madison Smith, who scored 80 points.  She was 4th in 1000 free (9:53.73), 4th in 500 free (4:47.82) and 5th in 1650 free (16:27.57) in 17-18 Team records, and added a top 24 in 200 free.  Andrea Dworak was 6th in 500 free (4:50.95), and top 16 in 200 free and 1000 free.  Sarah Eliason finished 8th in 100 fly (53.72) in a Team record, top 16 in 50 back and 50 fly, and top 24 in 100 free.  Amy Qin was top 16 in 50 back and 100 fly, and top 24 in 50 free and 50 fly (24.63) in a 15-16 Team record.  Addison Webb broke a 25 year-old Team record in 13-14 500 free (4:54.47) with a top 40 finish.  Also adding top 40 finishes were: Isla Bartholomew, Angela Kadoorie, Livia Venditti, Maria Webb, and Joyce Wu.

Many of our best swims and much of our scoring in this team effort came on relays, where RMSC had its best depth in history.  In fact, all five of our Boys’ A relays broke Team records, including our 2nd place 400 Medley (Adriano Arioti, Jed Garner, Toby Barnett, Nasim Elkassem),  3rd place 800 Free (Arioti, David Yune, Samir Elkassem, Barnett), 4th place 200 Free (Owen Watkins, Nick Arndt, N.Elkassem, Arioti), 6th place 200 Medley (Arioti, Garner, Arndt, Watkins), and 10th place 400 Free (Watkins, Arioti, Yune, Arndt).  In addition, all of the Boys’ B relays scored by placing in the top 24, including three in the top 16.  Joining the previous names on these relays were Fletcher Bautz, Tyler Coapstick, and Parker Koenig.  Our Girls’ relays were led by two podium appearances, with 8th place finishes in 200 Free (Sarah Eliason, Amy Qin, Andrea Dworak, Livia Venditti) and 800 Free (Madison Smith, Eliason, Dworak, Venditti).  The Girls also had three other top 16 and two other top 24 finishes that scored for the team, as well as three other top 40 finishes.  These relay contributors included:  Isla Bartholomew, Lauren Clark, Elizabeth Linck, Kelsie Miller, Megan O’Hara, Reagan Phillips, Addison Webb, Maria Webb, Ashley Woo, and Joyce Wu.

During the meet, the swimmers received a generous gift from the Riley Eaton Foundation, which has supported our team trips to NCSA Junior Nationals for many years.  Coach Riley Eaton was a huge part of RMSC for multiple decades, and was on the coaching staff for our previous NCSA team titles.  We hope that our fast swimming and team camaraderie makes Riley proud in his retirement.