New Trier Aquatics was in full force last weekend, splitting squads between the high-level competition at the Speedo Grand Challenge in Westmont and a spirited Intrasquad meet at our home pool in Northfield. From new team records and national cuts to our youngest sharks tackling their first 100 IMs, the sharks were swimming fast and having fun!
Grand Challenge Highlights
At the FMC Natatorium, the Sharks brought their speed. A massive shoutout goes to
Stefan Tadic, who shattered the team record in the 1000 Free. His performance also qualified him for the prestigious USA-Swimming Winter Junior National Championships next month in Austin, Texas!
Lubomir Liu-Tchorbadjiyski was on a tear, breaking four team records over the weekend. Lubo set new standards in the 50 Back, 100 Back, 200 Back, and 100 Free. Lubo's times in the 100 Back and 100 Free currently rank him as the fastest 13-14 year old in the country!
Teamwork makes the dream work, and our
Girls 200 Free Relay team proved it by taking first place overall at the Grand Challenge! Special congratulations to the winning quartet:
- Lia Roggi
- Sylvia Deliduka
- Margaret Lietzau
- Ryan Vender
Best Time Leaders
It was a weekend of drops, with the following swimmers racking up best times in a significant number of their events across both meets:
Maeve Atwood, William Baumeyer, Connor Brosche, Michael Chan, Sylvia Deliduka, Nicholas Drcha, Thomas Gardy, Kaira Ghai, Donald Kennedy, Claire Keyworth, Jordan Ko, Margaret Lietzau, Everett Pumphrey, Charlie Roth, Michael Saviski, Charles Sears, Jordana Segel, Tyler Zheng.
100% Best Time Club
The following swimmers achieved a personal best time in every single event they swam (excluding first-time swims where applicable for strict PB lists, but including first attempts that resulted in a time):
Eloise Anderson, Bianca Areas, Samantha Barry, Emily Brandel, Molly Bushell, Scarlett Cagadas, Brooks Cain, Elliot Carlton, Katherine Carlton, Patrick Chan, Leo Chen, Jin Chou, Cecily Clifton, Caden Cook, Daniela DiRico, Ashton Donin, Hope Eck, Olive Eck, Jacob Feig, Camden Foote, Eleanor Gaetano, Nathan Garofalo, Chandler Giang, Fabricio Gonzalez Pulido, Riley Groden, Ryder Guloy, Lida Hao, Hudson James, Lily James, Kayla Karpats, Calvin Knauff, Tamara Kret, Ian Kwak, Brandon Le, Daniel Liberman, Lubomir Liu-Tchorbadjiyski, Matthew Logan, Rosie Lombardo, Araad Maher, Claire Marchevsky, Benjamin McDougal, Patrick McGrath, Madeline Mcshane, Eric Miclea, Julia Miller, Andrei Molea, Jimmy Murray, James Newell, Thomas Newell, Errin O'Brien, Luke Paradise, Brooks Parrelly, Violet Petrovic, Mark Pop, Declan Prommer, Caleb Quigley, Joseph Richter, Robert Rose, Edward Saviski, Daniel Sheynis, Sydney St. Aubin, Kai Stanczyk, Lincoln Tang, Reagan Waldeck, Yana Weber, Daniel Weis, Ben Wilson, Harrison Wisniewski, Emily Worthington, Tai Yu, Chloe Yue, Olivia Zemon.
Conquering "The Hard Stuff"
Back home in Northfield, the energy was electric as teammates raced teammates and many swimmers tackled difficult events for the very first time. We love seeing our sharks step out of their comfort zones! The following swimmers successfully completed a "hard event" benchmark for their age group for the first time, or achieved a significant drop in these grueling races:
- 8 & Under:
Molly Bushell (100 IM),
Max Hennig (100 IM, 50 Fly),
Evan Li (100 IM),
Henry Logan (50 Fly),
Vivien Nowak (200 IM),
Olivia Zemon (100 IM).
- 9-10:
Eloise Anderson (100 Fly),
Brooks Cain (100 IM),
Daniela DiRico (500 Free),
Olive Eck (200 IM),
Nathan Garofalo (100 IM, 50 Fly),
Ryder Guloy (200 IM),
Hudson James (100 IM),
David Karpel (50 Fly),
Michael LaRocco (500 Free),
Brandon Le (100 IM),
Alyssa Liberman (500 Free),
Emma Malalis (200 IM),
Thomas Newell (100 IM),
Tesha Nyamgerel (100 IM),
Errin O'Brien (50 Fly),
Luke Paradise (50 Fly, 100 IM),
Layla Roeder (50 Fly),
Kai Stanczyk (100 IM),
Margaret Taff (100 IM),
Ben Wilson (200 IM, 50 Fly),
Melody Youkhana (200 IM),
Tai Yu (100 IM),
Anastasia Zheng (50 Fly).
- 11-12:
Cecily Clifton (400 IM, 1650 Free),
Eleanor Gaetano (400 IM),
Joseph Kennedy (1650 Free),
Araad Maher (100 Fly),
Jimmy Murray (100 Fly),
Eleanor Rose (100 Fly),
Lincoln Tang (400 IM),
Hunter Wessel (1650 Free),
Yanni Yi (400 IM, 1650 Free).
- 13 & Over:
Bianca Areas (400 IM),
Elle Baker (400 IM),
Zara Bullock (400 IM),
Daniel Liberman (1650 Free),
Sophie Sime (400 IM).
Congratulations to all our swimmers on a fantastic weekend of racing!
#BetterEveryDay #FinsUp #GoSharks
