This past weekend TAC swimmers participated in the Connecticut Regional Championships held in Cheshire, CT. Over 450 swimmers participated in this Eastern Regional Championship meet.

TAC swimmers began the weekend of competition on Friday night with a 1st place finish in the 500 freestyle. Olivia Strelevitz swam her way to a gold medal, swimming 21 seconds faster than her best recorded time. The night concluded with Jayne Darras swimming to a 13 place finish in the 200 IM, besting her time by over 10 seconds.

The action continued on Saturday morning with TAC positioning themselves in the top 20 out of 112 swimmers. Olivia Strelevitz, Lily Watson and Jayne Darras finished 1, 10th and 19th, respectively, leading a pack of 7 TAC swimmers to a collective 8 second drop in time.

As the morning continued, Strelevitz and Darras collected a second and seventh place finish in the 100 backstroke. Katherine Wyatt and Lily Watson added to TAC’s top 20 finishers with Wyatt finishing 3rd in the 50 breaststroke and Watson finishing 13th.

Strelevitz then added a 9th place finish for the 10 and under girls in the 100 IM with Watson not far behind in 13th place.

Our younger Age Group 1 swimmers would not be out done by the older, more experienced girls. Grace Baukus, Kylie Heard and Sydney Wyatt all competed like champions, swimming lifetime best times in the 50 free and 50 breaststroke races.

TAC’s 11/12 girls added to Saturday’s excitement with best times in the 50 freestyle and 50 breaststroke races also. Caitlin Henderson added a 9th place finish to her repertoire of breaststroke races for the day, besting her time in the 50 breaststroke. Within the hour, Caitlin was once again in the pool swimming the 200 breaststroke where she earned a 7th place finish and another best time.

Jane Sherman led the 11/12 foursome with a best time of 32. 93 in her 50 freestyle race. Isis James-Carnes excited the TAC crowd with her impressive drop of 3.85 seconds in her 50 freestyle swim. Adding to the exciting swims of the morning was Kelcie Drury, who swam competitively in her breaststroke race with a season best time of 50.49.

TAC’s 14 and under boys were well represented on Saturday morning by Rhett Steiner, who finished the day with all best times in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.

The morning concluded with TAC’s 10 and under girls 200 freestyle relay team of Kylie Heard, Sydney Wyatt, Grace Baukus and Lily Watson finishing with an 11th place finish and a time of 2:48.45.

The 11/12 girls 200 freestyle relay team of Sherman, James-Carnes, Drury and Henderson finished the day with a time of 2:39. 74.

Action continued throughout the afternoon as TAC’s second group of swimmers arrived at the pool. TNT swimmers, Aaron Piotrowski and Caleb Zane joined in the action for the first race of the afternoon. Both boys swam season best times in the 50 freestyle, Aaron besting his time by 9.70 seconds and Caleb swimming 3.88 seconds faster than he ever swam before.

Piotrowski was back in action a short time later, blowing his competition away by swimming the 50 breaststroke with a staggering 17.59 drop in time.

Junior 2 swimmer David Baukus, competed for TAC in the 50 freestyle and 50 breaststroke with 2 outstanding swims. Baukus bested his times by 1.66 and 4.87 seconds respectively.

Not to be outdone by her brother, Abby Baukus swam impressively in the 100 breaststroke, finishing with a time of 1:28.01, bettering her time by almost 2 seconds. Her second race of the day, the 100 freestyle, also included a best time of 1:04.74.

Tori Zane, another brother/sister combination, swam a season best time in the 100 breaststroke, swimming 6.90 seconds faster than she ever did before.

TAC was well represented in the 11/12 Boys events by Travis Nordgren. Nordgren swam season best times in the 50 freestyle and 50 breaststroke. Besting his freestyle time by 1.74 seconds, Nordgren touched the wall in 33.94 seconds. He then got back in the water and swam another best time of 49.28 seconds in the breaststroke.

The second day of competition was not a disappointment to the TAC swimmers, either. On this morning of competition, the racing began with Sarah Engel swimming a lifetime best of 1:08.86 in the 100 freestyle, bettering her time by almost 2 seconds and just missing top 20.

Strelevitz and Watson continued to add to TAC’s points by finishing 1st and 8th respectively in the 100 freestyle. Strelevitz touched the wall in 1:10.62, improving her prior time by almost 3 seconds. Watson finished with a personal best time of 1:14.49.

Strelevitz, Darras and Watson then finished 2, 10 and 14 in the 50 backstroke, all bettering their times by over 4 seconds collectively. Grace Baukus added to the season best times in the 50 backstroke by swimming faster than she ever had before in her backstroke race, finishing with a time of 45.10 seconds.

Once again, the 11/12 girls added to the competition of all best times in the 50 backstroke with impressive drops in time by Sarah Engel, Jane Sherman, and Caitlin Henderson , ranging from ½ a second to almost 6 seconds by Kelcie Drury.

Henderson was then back in action in the 100 Breaststroke, with another lifetime best time of 1:26.07 and an 11th place finish.

Jayne Darras ‘s impressive swim in the 200 freestyle earned her a 10th place finish and another personal best time of 2:54.47.

The 10 and under girls continued their competition in the 50 butterfly with Watson finishing 4th with her best time of 37.62. Strelevitz added to the top 20 finishes with a 12th place finish in the same event. Grace Baukus recorded for TAC another best time with her exciting 5.15 drop in time, touching the wall at 50.35 seconds.

11/12 Girls action in the 50 butterfly left the team with an impressive best time for Sarah Engel, finishing 13th at 34.24 seconds. Kelcie Drury touched the wall in 46.35 seconds, besting her time by 7.69 seconds.

Once again, the 14 and under boys would not be outdone. Austin Carter and Rhett Steiner both improved their freestyle times in 28.73 and 31.24 seconds respectively.

Both Carter and Steiner then went on to compete in the 100 butterfly, finishing with a 12th and 16th place finish, with Rhett besting his time by 17 seconds. Both boys were back in the pool a short while later swimming the 100 backstroke. A 16th and 18th place finish was achieved, with once again, a 4 second drop in time by Steiner.

At the end of Sunday morning, TAC’s girls were once again in action in the 200 medley relays. The 11/12 team of Drury, Henderson, Engel and Sherman swam an impressive race to touch the wall at 2:36.42. After an exciting, close race, the 10 and under Girls team of Darras, Wyatt, Watson and Strelevitz touched the wall at 2:37.03, earning the swimmers a bronze medal.

Once again, the Sunday afternoon swimmers would not be out swum. Owen Reynolds swam to a 15th place finish in the 100 freestyle with a season best time of 1:09.91. Back in action was Aaron Piotrowski and David Baukus in the 50 backstroke. Piotrowski bested his time by 7.97 seconds, and Baukus touched the wall in 1:08.13.

Baukus was then back in the pool in the 50 butterfly race. His impressive 22 second drop in time narrowly missed a 20th place finish.

Travis Nordgren’s swim in the 50 backstroke placed him 22nd with a personal best swim of 40.36 seconds.

Reynolds and Nordgren then both had outstanding swims in the 50 butterfly. Reynolds touched the wall at 35.80, with a best time and a 13th place finish. Nordgren clocked in with a 5.25 drop in time, and another season best swim of 43.40 seconds.

Abby Baukus began her Sunday afternoon meet sprinting to a 29.92 second finish in the 50 freestyle. She then swam almost 5 seconds faster than ever before in her 100 butterfly, earning an 18th place finish and completed her day of competition with a 12th place finish in the 100 backstroke, with another season best time of 1:11.82.

Congratulations swimmers and coaches on a job well done.

TAC ‘s 8 and under Boys will be in action on March 10 in Greenwich, while our older swimmers will be competing in the Age Group Championships to be held on the weekend of March 15-18 in Middletown.