Aquianas Come on Strong in CT Association Championship 

The New Canaan YMCA Aquianas Synchronized Swim Team made a strong showing at the CT Association Championship meet, held April 26-27 in Hamden, CT. The top three routines in each category from this competition advance to the Regional Championships, which will be held May 16-18 in Andover, MA.  New Canaan dominated this meet, and the Aquianas are well-placed for regionals with all but one of their routines making it through to that competition.

Saturday was for the Intermediates and Age Group swimmers under the age of 15.  The Aquianas started the competition off strong, with the younger swimmers bringing home all the gold, silver, and bronze medals in the Intermediate Compulsory Figures category.  Emma Flynn won the gold for the second year in a row in Intermediate 10 and under compulsory figures. Teresa Salamone took the silver and Katie Farrell the bronze. Alexandra Lin (1^st), Ophelie Tousignant (2^nd) and Alice Chidley (3^rd) took the medals in the 11/12 year old Intermediate figures competition. New Canaan’s girls also took all the medals in the 13/15 Intermediate figure group:  Elissa Feist took gold, Rebecca Trinklein the silver, and Sarah Dittmeier captured the bronze medal.  “We were thrilled that our girls swept the Intermediate figure competition,” commented Intermediate Coach Thea Bardin. “It is such an important part of synchronized swimming and is what sets New Canaan swimmers apart from other teams. We make sure our swimmers are strong in this event.  It makes up 50% of the routine score too, so you really have to be good at figures.”

In the 10 and under Age Group figure competition, New Canaan’s Sierra Rojas-Thomas took the gold medal, up from her 3rd place finish last year.  In 11-12 Age Groups, Isabella Montgomery captured the gold medal, with a score of 52.135, and teammate Selena Liu brought home the bronze, with a score of 51.562.  Hamden’s Renee Collett took the silver medal.  In 13-15 Age Groups, Marina Hoffman took the gold medal, with a score of 64.068.  Hamden’s Emma Baranski was 2^nd, with 60.68, and fellow Aquiana Mina Shah brought home the bronze, with a score of 59.334. 

After the figure competition, the Intermediates and 15 and under Age Group girls competed in the solo, duet, trio, and team events.  In Intermediate solos, Emma Flynn took the gold in the 10 and under group. New Canaan’s Alexandra Lin took the gold in the 11-12 Intermediate solos, with a score of 47.622.  In 13-15 Intermediate solos, Sarah Dittmeier took the gold, with a score of 52.944.  Fellow Aquiana Averey Swett took the bronze, with a score of 45.395.

In Age Group solos, New Canaan again brought home two golds and a bronze medal.  The first gold went to Rojas-Thomas in the 10 and under category, with a score of 48.466.  Hamden’s Collett took gold in 11-12 solo, with a score of 53.626. Hoffman topped off the Age Group gold wins, with a score of 65.95 in the 13-15 category.  Shah took the bronze in 13-15, with a score of 61.584, with silver going to Baranski of the Hamden Heronettes.

In Intermediate duets, New Canaan captured two gold and two silver medals.  Golds went to Eileen Flynn and Katherine Connolly (10 and under) and Trinklein and Feist (11/12).  Silvers went to Chidley and Tousignant (11/12) and Anisha Kohsla and Priya Wadwa (13-15). Maureen Connolly and Molly Flynn placed 4th in the 13-15 duet competition.

In Age Group duets, New Canaan took the gold in the 11-12 section.  The duet of Montgomery and Erin Wheeler beat Hamden’s Collett and Simell, with a score of 53.339 to Hamden’s 52.756. In 13-15 Age Group duets, Hamden took the gold, with a score of 58.344.  New Canaan’s Alison Commender and Jennifer O’Neill took silver (57.401), and teammates Amelia Clark and Laura Cardi won the bronze (56.915).

New Canaan’s Intermediate swimmers continued to dominate in the trio event. In 10 and under, New Canaan took both the gold and silver medals.  Gold went to the trio of Farrell, Camilla Kline, and Salamone, with a score of 42.363.  Silver went to Ashley Evans, Natalia Londono, and Anabelle Hendrick (41.157). The 13-15 trio of Anastasia Lenskiy, Lauren Mayhew, and Trinklein captured the gold, with a score of 49.958.  Maureen Connolly, Molly Flynn, and Avery Swett took the bronze (46.325).

“For many of our Intermediate swimmers, this is their first year in the sport.  To be bringing home medals already is wonderful.  We were so happy with their results and know that they will continue to swim their best at regionals.  Once they’ve had a taste of winning, they want to keep it up,” said Coach Krista Bessinger.

New Canaan’s 11/12 Age Group trio of Diya Banerjee, Liu, and Montgomery beat Hamden to the gold, with a score of 53.049 to Hamden’s 51.788.  Hamden came back to take the gold in 13-15 trios, with silver going to New Canaan’s Abby Butcher, Amanda McKenzie, and Dittmeier (57.005).  The bronze also went to New Canaan with Commender, O’Neill, and Mukherjee taking that medal, with a score of 56.64.

New Canaan took the gold medals in all of the team competitions on Saturday.  In Intermediate 10 and under, the team of Kline, Eileen Flynn, Katherine Connolly, Hendrick, Maisy Mylod, and Samantha Smith took the gold medal, with a score of 39.68.  11-12 Intermediates Chidley, Lin, Tousignant, Farrell, Salamone, Emma Flynn, Evans, and Londono captured the gold, with a score of 45.845.  With a score of 52.33, the Intermediate 13-15 team of Lenskiy, Mayhew, Trinklein, Wadwa and Feist took that gold medal.

In the Age Group team categories, New Canaan continued to win gold medals.  The 11-12 team of Banerjee, Liu, Montgomery, Wheeler, Khosla, and Rojas-Thomas beat Hamden, with a score of 53.009 to Hamden’s 51.72.  The 13-15 team of Butcher, Commender, Clark, Cardi, McKenzie, O’Neill, Shah, Mukherjee, and Hoffman again beat Hamden, with a score of 59.572 to Hamden’s 57.540.

16-17 and 18-19 Age Group competitors then took to the pool on Sunday.  New Canaan took gold medals in both Age Group categories for compulsory figures. In 16/17 gold went to Colleen Courtmanche; silver to teammate Rebecca Gordon.  In 18/19, gold went to New Canaan’s Casey Aion, up from her 4th place finish last year. 

Solo 16-17 gold also went to Courtmanche (72.804), while fellow Aquiana Rebecca Gordon (70.525) took the silver medal. Hamden Heronette Elizabeth Vento took the bronze, with a score of 59.944.

In duets, New Canaan captured the gold in the 18/19 competition.  Gold went to Gordon and Aion, with a score of 70.862, beating Hamden, which had a score of 68.982.

New Canaan continued their winning streak in the trio competition, with the 16-17 gold going to Gordon, Dana McLachlin and Shah with a score of 68.935.

“Our 16/17 and 18/19 swimmers have already had a lot of success on the national level this year,” said their Coach Jen Muzyk.  “They have been competing at Open events that don’t group the girls by age. Now that they are in the Age Group phase of the synchronized swimming year, we expect them to continue to shine.  It’s always fun to compete directly against girls your same age.”  The Age Group phase of synchronized swimming continues with the regional event in May, the Eastern Zone Championship in early June, and National Age Groups in early July.