Saturday was our final home dual meet of the season, and was also the final home meet for three graduating seniors to add additional significance to the morning. Anna Barboza, Monica Claro, and Paul Rowedder were recognized during halftime for their contributions to the team and their accomplishments as they prepare to join the ranks of the Tiger alumni. This also marked the first time this season that the entire roster was available for a Saturday dual meet, so we approached the meet with high spirits and expectations for a close, competitive meet.
Based on the meet seeding, we knew that their would be cases where we were facing strong competition in certain age groups or strokes. The meet started off with an MS sweep of 11-12 100 IM, despite strong efforts from our boys, led by a best time by Thomas Moynihan. Lena Bossler led the way with a victory in the 11-12 girls 100 IM, and that set the tone for the next few events.
The Open Medley relays followed the 11-12 100 IMs, and it was our best showing of the season. The team of Bryan Van Gieson, Andre Claro, Paul Rowedder, and Joe Malusky posted a season-best time as they raced to victory. The girls followed suit, as the team of Anna Barboza, Monica Claro, Taylor Swift, and Maggie Nacarrato posted their season-best time and cruised to a big win in their relay. This started a nice run where we managed to score better than seeded as the meet entered the Freestyle events.
The 8 & under boys exemplified our strong efforts, as they faced a very competitive group from MS. Facing a possible sweep of the top 6 spots based on entry times, Joe Kilmer, Shawn Mashburn, and George Marcolin put their best forward and stepped up with a 3-4-5 finish to avoid any sweep and score some unexpected points. All posted best times, but Shawn and George both big drops in time to jump up several places. The 8 & under girls did their part, as Maddy Keen and Tali Zambrano swam their best times of the season as they took second and fourth place, respectively. Throughout the freestyle events, we continued to place better than seeded and even had a nice 1-2-3-4 finish in the 13-14 boys 50 free. Saving the best for last, our 15-18s closed out the Freestyle events with style. Paul Rowedder jumped out an early lead and never let up, posting his season-best time and taking first place in his 100 Free. Not to be outdone, Taylor Swift and Anna Barboza followed up with a 1-2 finish in the Girls 100 Free.
As we moved to the 13-14 100 IM, Bruce Barboza kept the streak going as he took first, followed by Francis Rowedder in second. The girls kept the momentum rolling as Alex Wasel raced to second place, and Nastasja Wilson dropped nearly 5 seconds to grab fourth place. Moving to the backstroke events, once again our 8 & unders showed that they were ready for the challenge. Shawn Mashburn took first place in the boys' event, and for the girls Christine Welton dropped over a second in her swim. Michael Zambrano took the top spot in the 9-10 boys event, while Sarah Marcolin and Emma Kuhnsman helped the 9-10 girls capture second and third. Across all of the age groups we raced very well, and closed out the backstroke events with a 1-2-3 sweep by Francis Rowedder, Johnny English, and Mitchell Kuhnsman in the 13-14 boys 50 back as we approached halftime.
The halftime break was focused on the celebration of our graduating seniors. Anna, Monica, and Paul were recognized with a ceremony to highlight their accomplishments, contributions to the team and to the community, and a look at their future plans. After the completion of the ceremony, we were greeted with another pleasant surprise, as the score was announced as WW 198, and MS 214. It was only a 16-point gap, which was the closest halftime margin this season.
The second half of the meet started with the 15-18 100 IM, and the boys did their best to cut into that lead, posting a 2-3-5 finish. Paul Rowedder again set the pace for WW, and swam his fastest time of the season by over 3 seconds. The girls took it to the next level with their swimming, as they swept the top 3 spots to cut the MS lead to 6 points. Taylor Swift grabbed first place, followed by Anna Barboza and Monica Claro. As the meet entered the breaststroke events, it was as exciting and competitive as a meet could be.
The 8 & under boys continued their stellar efforts, as Joe Kilmer and Shawn Mashburn took first and third place to cut the lead down to 4 points. The 8 & under girls did their part, as Therese McGovern jumped up to a second place finish with her best time, helping WW to keep the gap at 4 points. As the breaststroke events progressed, despite the good start, it became clear that MS was very strong in this area, and they pulled away a bit by the end. In the Butterfly events we closed the gap back down, but unfortunately it wasn't enough, and at the end of the meet the final score was WW 373 and MS 419.
Despite the close loss, there was a lot of great swimming that morning, and we can truly say that we put forth our best effort. While it came up a bit short on the scoreboard, we should be proud of our performance.
Notable Performances
- Mary Kate Wasel with a nearly 5 second improvement in 100 IM
- George Marcolin with an enormous drop of nearly 5 seconds in 25 free
- Shawn Mashburn with a huge drop of almost 4 seconds in 24 free
- Brigid English shaving nearly 2 seconds off her time in 50 free
- Annie Marcolin with an almost 3 second drop in 50 free
- Paul Rowedder with a 2 second improvement in 100 free
- Nastasja Wilson dropping nearly 5 seconds in 100 IM
- Thomas Moynihan cutting over seconds off in 50 back
- Matthew Ourand dropping almost 3.5 seconds in 50 back
- Molly Martin with a big 3.5 second drop in 50 back
- Paul Rowedder with another big 3 second drop in 100 IM
- Tom Kilmer with a big 4 second improvement in 25 fly
- Molly Martin with a 2 second drop in 50 fly
Clean Sweepers [a swimmer who won 3 individual events and the Individual
Medley]
- Lena Bossler - 11-12 Girls
- Taylor Swift - 15-18 Girls
Event winners
- Bruce Barboza - 13-14 100 IM, 13-14 50 free, 13-14 50 breast
- Tom Kilmer - 8 & under 25 breast, 8 & under 25 fly
- Emma Kuhnsman - 9-10 50 free
- Sarah Marcolin - 9-10 25 fly
- Shawn Mashburn - 8 & under 25 back
- Francis Rowedder - 13-14 50 back
- Paul Rowedder - 15-18 100 free, 15-18 50 fly
- Alex Wasel - 13-14 50 free
- Michael Zambrano - 9-10 25 back
