Ten-year-old Nadejda Futrell of Ledyard, daughter of Belarus native Natallia Futrell and Retired Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer James T. Futrell, far exceeded expectations at the New England Swimming Championships held last month at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Futrell, coached by Rachael Desfosses and Bryan Levine, won the 100-meter individual medley championship by shaving off 2.40 seconds from her expected time as the No. 8 seed. She also took home bronze medals in two other events: the 50-meter freestyle and 50-meter fly, both times exceeding her seeding.

Futrell currently attends fifth grade at Ledyard Center School. Both her father and brother Aleksander, 8, have a love for swimming, and both children have been in the pool practicing laps from a young age every day of the week.

Nadejda Futrell joined the Mystic Hammerheads swim team in 2016 at age 8. She has been swimming since, breaking her own records year after year.

She qualified for the New England Championships each of the past three years, but this year has been exceptional as she took first places in all individual events at the Newport Pentathlon in Newport, R.I., and the Senecy Championship in Boston.

In New Englands, Nadejda was seeded ninth with a 34.87 entry time, and she came in third with 32.97 time.

In her 50 freestyle event, seeded fourth, she came in third again.

The Hammerhead swim team of the Mystic YMCA ranked eighth in New England this year after the Senecy Championships.

Nadejda was recognized this year with the Hammerhead Award, for the swimmer who exemplifies outstanding teamwork, compassion, leadership, motivation, character and embodies the YMCA spirit.

Aleksander won all first places in his age category at Senecy Championship this year and is also fully committed to the sport. Their grandmother, Liliya, has been cheering for them as their number-one fan.

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