Greetings to everyone and congratulations to all the swimmers that participated in the 2010 Age Group LC Championships at Dynamo Swim club this year. This meet was hosted by Dynamo this year and was held at its outdoor 50 meter pool in Chamblee. This meet was a very challenging competition for the swimmers as the weather was less than desirable and the environment was extremely hectic. Once again, the Marlins won this meet in our division by a large margin and as you will read below most of our swimmers had a great meet and continue to improve. The Marlins turned in a stellar performance as a team and would like to recognize these athletes for their achievements by age group.
10 and under girls
Britheny Joassaint had another outstanding meet as she dropped time in all but a few events. Winning seven events and scoring close to the max points for the Marlins, Britheny enjoyed some success at her last LC meet as a 10 year old. With multiple top 10 finishes and some extreme time reductions including a 17 second drop in 400 IM, Mariah Prendes continues to stay competitive with ever increasing competition as she too will swim her final 10 yr old LC meet at State. Placing 3 top 10 finishes and 8 events swam where she dropped time, Sophie Taylor keeps her head above water while making her case for an up and coming Marlin. With a 13 th place finish in a very strong 100 back Taylor Tishendorf also placed in the top 20 numerous times and scored points for the Marlins while dropping time in her distance events.
10 and under boys
Brady Fields swimming at state again this year placing in the top 10 for 5 events including 6th place finishes in back and free. Brady dropped time in his 400 free and his 50 back at state. James Johnston dropped some time at state this year in his 100 free while he swam in 11 events for the team.
11-12 Girls
Resident sprinter Katie Heilman qualified for 2 events at state this year as she helped her relays drop over 2 seconds in both the 2 and 400. Just turned 11 year old Molly Layde dropped a ton of time in her events at state this year including a 15 second reduction in her 400 IM. Also coming in with a 6 second drop in 400 IM Grace Nekrasas swam in 4 events at state this year as a fresh 11 year old. Just coming to the top of her age group Caitlin Oh had a very impressive meet. With five top 15 finishes and multiple 10+ second drops she continues to improve at this time of year.
11-12 Boys
New Marlin Griffin Braid swam for the Marlins this year at state qualifying in 5 events and dropping time in all of those including a monster 200 fly swim in which pulled in top 20 finish. Qualifying in 9 events this year and swimming every one Daniel East dropped time in his 400 free at state this year. Busting the top 20 for the 50 fly Cullen Fields dropped time in three events and helped the Marlins show off some of our fly technique. 11 year old Nick Hatch shedding over 15 seconds in his 400, also broke the top 20 with a nice 200 breast performance. Alex Mayfield dropped time in 4 events as he scored in the top 20 for 6 events including another massive drop in 400 IM for the boys. Qualifying for 10 events at state this year Colin Riley scored 4 top 20 finishes including a time drop in his 50 breast. Winning most of the events for the boys Andrew Tang had some monster swims at state this year including an intense 200 IM final where he dropped 8 seconds and earned his trip to the 2010 Zone team.
13-14 Girls
Swimming an awesome meet and dropping substantial time was OP Jacobi. She dropped time across the board as well as winning 200 breast and placing 2nd in the 100. With 4 top 10 times and a few reductions as well, Micaelo Janco swam in the max events for the Marlins and scored over 20 points helping the team in their divisional victory. With 5 top 20 finishes and a 10th place finals spot in 200 fly Maggie Layde continues to improve as she drops time in most of her events as well. Cleo Naizer swam for the Marlins at state again this year qualifying for 6 events and swimming the 800 free relay. Winning two events and placing in the top 4 for 2 others Stephanie Peters had a great meet as she got one of her junior cuts in 200 free and dropped time in 5 events. With a giant 10 second drop in her 400 IM Nicole Prendes finished strong with 5 top 20 places and a 10th spot finish in her 200 back in which she continues to shed time. Coming in sick to the meet but still swimming Natalie Tikhonovsky dropped time in her 100 back and swam 3 other events. While dropping time in all her long events Jane Watts finished in the top 20 3 times at state this year. Showing big improvement with her first year at the Marlins, Taylor Wilks was one of the only swimmers to improve time in all her events while scoring 3rd and 4th in both breast stroke events respectively. Kristy Zachensky swam 3 events at state this year for the team while helping the relay drop over 3 seconds at state this year.
13-14 Boys
While qualifying for 8 events at state this year David Dingess swam them all dropping time in 4 of those events. With 3 top 5 finishes and a massive time drop in 200 fly Griffin Garratt keeps moving forward and looks to a new season as he remains in his age group. Just aging up to the 13-14 age group for state Garrett Layde improved all his times while staying positive and not sweating his old dominance of the 12 year old group. According to hi-tek Stephen Johnston improved over three minutes in his 1500 free swim to come in at 23 place, he also dropped in two other events at state this year. With 6 top 10 places Zack Marshall continues to improve and strive for his Jr cuts in his sprint events. He got closer at this meet dropping over a second on a 100 fly time that had been stagnant at for awhile. Ryan Peck showed up at state this year with some big improvements from last year. He dropped substantially in his 400 IM and 1500 free to creep up the ranks busting the top 30 in his age group. Eric Ramos competed in three events at state this year to validate his efforts as an up and coming breastroker. Alex Riley broke the top 20 in several events this year while also helping the Marlins relay drop time across the board in there events
