The New Trier Aquatics Sharks hit the water with a vengeance last weekend at the Illinois Swimming Regional Championships. Hosted at Barrington High School, the meet marked the thrilling first stop in the ISI Championship series, and our athletes did not disappoint.
Our swimmers embodied the NTA mission of setting the gold standard for community aquatic programming. From massive time drops to flawless weekends, here is a look at the highlights from Regionals!
🌟 Exceptional Swims & Jaw-Dropping Drops
Dropping time in swimming is a battle of fractions of a second, but several of our Sharks decided to skip the fractions and drop minutes. We had several swims this weekend that featured massive, 6%+ time drops in some of the most grueling events in the sport:
- Jamie Schlaud (14): Jamie absolutely obliterated his seed time in the 1650 Free, dropping an astounding 2 minutes and 45 seconds to finish at 17:56.74—a mind-boggling 13.3% time drop!
- Avi Bodner (14): Avi also conquered the mile in spectacular fashion. He dropped 1 minute and 15 seconds in his 1650 Free, touching the wall at 18:47.93 (a 6.3% drop).
- Cecily Clifton (12): Cecily dominated the 1000 Free, smashing her seed time by nearly a full minute (58.46 seconds) to post an incredible 11:44.96.
- Ron Livne (12): In the 200 Breaststroke, Ron carved off 37 seconds from his entry time, finishing in 2:59.32 for a phenomenal 17% drop!
- Daniel Nikonchuk (14): Daniel put on a clinic in the 200 Breaststroke as well, destroying his seed time by nearly 29 seconds to touch in 2:34.82 (a 15.5% drop).
💪 Tackling the Tough Stuff
It takes serious courage to step up for some of the hardest events in the sport. We want to give a massive shoutout to our athletes who successfully completed some of swimming's most notoriously difficult races this weekend:
- 8 & Unders taking on the gauntlet: Huge props to Nikolas Nikonchuk (8) for battling through the 200 IM, and Molly Bushell (7) for flying her way through the 100 Fly!
- 9-10s stepping up: Amelia Silverberg (9) and Scarlett Wessel (9) successfully navigated the tricky 200 IM, while JP Fredericks (9), Emma Malalis (10), and Vivien Nowak (9) also shined in their longer events.
- 11-12s pushing the limits: Yanni Yi (12), Hanna Dold (12), and Cecily Clifton (12) showed immense grit in the grueling 400 IM, while Araad Maher (12), Riley Frankle (12), and Mark Pop (12) soared through the grueling 200 Fly.
- 13 & Overs going the distance: A huge round of applause to Andrew Alshouse (15) and Bea Schaeffer (15), for winning the 1000 Free!
💯 Perfect Meets (100% Best Times)
Swimming a personal best is great. Swimming a personal best in every single event you enter? That is legendary. The following athletes had flawless weekends, notching a personal best in 100% of their completed races:
Sena Gordon, Tommy Johnson, Brandon Ko, Emily Macklis, Nathan Marchevsky, Daniel Nikonchuk, Nikola Radisic, Cal Reese, Lindy Schlaud, Daniel Sheynis, Asher Vdovets
⏱️ Best Time Machines
The hard work is clearly paying off! The following Sharks were absolute best-time machines at Regionals, racking up
4 or more personal bests over the course of the weekend:
Andrew Alshouse, Morgan Crocker, Michael Dukach, Sam Fagin, James Harlin, Lauren Helm, Claire Keyworth, Janette Kostamo-Peistrup, Ian Kwak, Aaron Langdon, Daniel Liberman, Ron Livne, Araad Maher, Benjamin McDougal, Aiden Molinski, Luka Radisic, Jamie Schlaud, Isla Tomlinson
What's Next?
The championship season is just getting started! We’ll be right back in action this coming weekend as our athletes head to the Pro Series at Westmont, Senior State at UIC, and the 10&U State Championships at Glenbrook North.
Keep up the incredible work, Sharks. We are getting #BetterEveryDay!
#FinsUp #GoSharks
