Madison Mariners' Strong Performance at Bronze Championships

More than two dozen swimmers on the Madison Area YMCA Mariners swim team finished in the top five at the YMCA Bronze South Championships in Princeton last Saturday and Sunday. The Mariners competed all season to earn times fast enough to qualify for this meet, which drew swimmers from across New Jersey. Many of these swimmers also qualified for this weekend's Silver Championships being held in Sewell, NJ.

Grace Mulligan had the most first-place finishes, as the top swimmer among 11- and 12-year-old girls in the 100-yard individual medley, the 50-yard breaststroke and 200-yard freestyle relay team, along with teammates Isabella Tapkas, Samantha Soltis and Layla Knoll. Mulligan also took third place in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle. In addition to freestyle relay team win, Knoll took first in that age group in the 200-yard freestyle and fifth place in the 50-yard freestyle. And fellow relay winner Tapkas took fourth in the 50-yard butterfly.

Ryan Sprague had two first place finishes, beating all the other 13- and 14-year old girls in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard breaststroke. She also took fifth in the 100-yard backstroke. In that same age group, Elena Latorre finished fourth in the 100-yard backstroke.

For boys ages 15 to 18, James Lord finished first in the 200-yard freestyle, third in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly and was part of the second-place winning 200-yard medley relay team, along with Botond Rice, Aiden Kagan and Artha Abeysinghe. Kagan also took second place in the 50-yard freestyle and fourth in the 100-yard backstroke.

Among 15- to 18-year-old girls, Gwendolyn Lukasavage won the 200-yard freestyle and took second in the 200-yard butterfly and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, along with teammates Charlotte Siow, Amanda Beneventano and Angela Irwin.

Owen Chow won the 50-yard backstroke for the 9- and 10-year-old boys and took second in the 100-yard freestyle, fifth in the 50-yard butterfly and was part of the second place 200-yard freestyle relay team, along with Tainosuke Ikeda, Luke Matusheski and Quentin Gerard-Saroul. In addition to his strong relay finish, Ikeda took fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and fifth in the 100-yard individual medley.

The 9- and 10-year old girls had strong finishes individually and in relay teams. Juliana McGrath finished second in the 100-yard backstroke, third in the 50-yard freestyle, fifth in the 100-yard freestyle and third in the 200-yard medley relay, along with teammates Emilie Feldstein, Emily Bohl and Caroline Slattery. Feldstein also took third in the 50-yard butterfly and fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay, along with Bohl, Slattery and Anya Rodrigo Candappa.

Ethan Lu finished third in the 100-yard individual medley among 11- and 12-year old boys. In that same age group for the boys, Aryan Kumar took fourth in the 100-yard individual medley and fifth in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 200-yard freestyle. Yannick Rodrigo Candappa finished fifth in both the 50-yard and 100-yard breaststroke. And Declan Robertson came in fifth in the 200-yard individual medley.

Recognizing the challenges and limitations of its current facility, the Madison Area YMCA has launched a community fundraising campaign to expand the Y – building a new competitive, eight-lane pool – and to continue its mission of providing financial assistance to those in need. The Y's goal is to sell 500 personalized pavers that will be used to create the sidewalk to the second entrance. The pavers, which cost $250 each, are four inches by eight inches and fit three lines of text that can honor family and friends. For more information about financial assistance or to make a donation, call 973-822-YMCA (9622) or go to madisonareaymca.org.