Aquianas Compete in CT Association Championship

The New Canaan YMCA Aquianas Synchronized Swim Team made a strong showing at the CT Association Championship meet held April 25-26 in Hamden, CT, qualifying 62 swimmers for the Regional Championships, which will be held May 15-17 in Binghamton, New York.  “This is by far the largest group of swimmers we have ever sent to the Regionals, which is incredibly exciting for New Canaan,” said Coach Krista Bessinger.

Swimmers qualify for the upcoming Regional meet by placing in the top three places at this Association meet.  Both the Intermediate and the Age Group swimmers competed in order to secure their spots at Regionals. 

In the Intermediate division, Katherine Connolly won the gold medal and Eileen Flynn won the bronze medal in 10 and under compulsory figures.   11/12 swimmers Teresa Salamone and Annabel Hendrick took the two top spots and 13/15 Intermediate Molly Flynn won gold for her figures, outpacing the second place swimmer by a whopping 6 points.

Intermediate Solo swimmers in the 10 and under category won both gold and silver medals with Samantha Smith and Emily Nencioni swimming for the first time.  11/12 intermediate Salamone placed first with her solo.

In Duet Intermediate Competition, Connolly and  Eileen Flynn placed first for the 10 and under age group, followed closely by Maggie McManus and Rachel Panzano in second place.  The 11/12 intermediate duet of Ashley Evans and Camilla Kline placed second; 13/15 swimmers Yurika Oshima and Annabel Schneider took home the silver while Elissa Feist and Molly Flynn together won the bronze medal.

Intermediate Trio of Katie Chidley, Ella Mylod and Lauren Vogel won first place in the 10 and under competition; Hendrick, Natalia Londono and Salamone also took home the gold medal in their 11/12 category.  In the 13/15 grouping, New Canaan won the silver medal with swimmers Amy Greenberg, Lydia Melland and Nicole Rutkowski (44.544), narrowly missing first place (Hamden trio 44.887).  Trio Gaele Renfijo, Jessie Kravet and Emily Roney took home the bronze. 

Two of the New Canaan YMCA Aquiana Intermediate teams captured gold medals- in the 10 and under category, gold went to Connolly, Eileen Flynn, Brooke Glatzhofer, Maisy Mylod, Katherine Reiter, Smith, Olivia Weiss and Nencioni; 11/12 gold went to the team of Hendrick, Londono, Salamone, Evans, Kline and Clara Miller.  In the 13/15 age group, a team of Roney, Schneider, Oshima, Melland, Greenberg, Jasmine Kitahara, Kate Dalia and Emily Russell was edged out for the gold, scoring 46.672 to Hamden’s 46.938.

The Age Group competitors continued the winning streak for the Aquianas.

In the 10 and under Age Group Category, Sierra Rojas-Thomas and Katie Farrell brought home the gold and silver medals in both the compulsory figure and Solo events.

11/12 year old age group swimmers Anisha Khosla and Isabella Montgomery took the gold and silver in compulsory figures; also for figures 13/15 swimmer Mina Shah won the silver medal, bronze went to Julianne Beck, followed by Amelia Clark in 4^th place. The 16/17 and 18/19 swimmers all placed in the top spots in figures in their age groups.

11/12 Solo silver medal went to Emma Flynn and bronze went to Alexandra Lin; likewise, 13/15 Soloists Shah and Erin Wheeler took the silver and bronze medals; 18/19 Solo swimmers Colleen Courtmanche and Chelsea Aton brought home gold and silver. 

Once again, Rojas-Thomas and Farrell placed first in the 10 and under Age Group Duet Competition while 11/12 teammates Khosla and Montgomery also swam their duet for the gold medal.  The 13/15 pair of Shah and Rebecca Trinklein won gold, followed by teammates Selena Liu and Wheeler in third place.  Duet partners Alison Commender and Jen O’Neill won the silver medal for the 16/17 age group while Rebecca Gordon and Marina Hoffman took home the gold for their duet in the 18/19 age group.

In Trio Age Group Competition, New Canaan took gold and silver in the 11/12 division with Lin, Khosla and  Montgomery coming in first place, and teammates Emma Flynn, Ophelie Tousignant and Alice Chidley taking the silver medal.  Another silver medal went to the 13/15 routine of Diya Banerjee, Sarah Dittmeier and Ankita Mukherjee; swimmers Laura Cardi, Clark and Amanda McKenzie won the bronze medal for their age group.  Trio Julianne Beck, Commender and Dana McLachlin won the silver medal in the 16/17 age group.

In the Team Events, gold medals went to the 11/2 age group team of Rojas-Thomas,  Farrell,  Lin, Emma Flynn,  Khosla,  Montgomery, Tousignant and  Alice Chidley; the 13/15 age group team of Cardi,  Clark,  Dittmeier, Beck, Molly Flynn, Liu, Jen O’Neill, and Trinklein; and, the 18/19 team of Commender,  Gordon,  Hoffman,  McLachlin, Shah,  Smith, Aton and  Courtmanche .   

"We look forward to the competition at Regionals in May.  Our girls will do well and we hope to qualify just as many swimmers at that meet to go on to the Zone competition in June" said the Intermediate Coach Thea Bardin.

The Aquianas will be holding synchronized swimming camps this summer.  For further information about the New Canaan YMCA Aquianas, please contact Jen Muzyk at (203) 966-4528 ext. 183.