December 8-10, 2017, at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Click here to view the full meet results.
ENTHUSIASTIC NEWCOMERS:
Last weekend the following SwimRI members participated in their first New England LMSC Short Course Meters Championship: Rob Allen (a.k.a. Rob 2.0), Joe “I only do sprints” Bevilacqua, Eagle Scout Eric “Aqua Hydrate” Burtchell, Dr. Lisa “I finally got a day off” Rauschert, Barrington’s Aaron Shute (Where have you been hiding?), Robot Man Elliot Silva, and Rob “I’d rather be swimming open water” Torgerson (a.k.a. Rob 1.0).
Returning SwimRI competitors included Angie Bonin, Mathew Card, Paul Dow, Kaan Duru, Majed ElTurkmani, Matthew Gilson, Jill Lancaster, Tim Morse, Seann Mulcahy, Keri Nappi, Donna Neuendorf, John Roccabello, Douglas Sayles, Trent Theroux, Diann Uustal, Connor Wallace, Stephanie Winslow and Phillip Wright.
BEER MAN IS BACK!
It was great to see SwimRI veteran Tim Morse return to action. Beer Man swam four events and posted a great time in the Men’s 65-69 1500m Freestyle. Nice job, and welcome back Tim!
SWIMRI TEAM HIGH POINT SCORERS & MVP:
Rob Allen -- 12 events, 117 points, 3 records. Rob destroyed all of his seed times, swam in every relay event, and was clearly SwimRI’s MVP. Congrats Rob on a great meet!
Stephanie Winslow -- 11 events, 104 points. Good job, Steph, and thanks for taking care of the caps and t-shirts!
RELAYS ROCK!
This year SwimRI did not have enough swimmers or splashes at the meet to viably compete for the team points award (Sorry, Frank). However, our relay performances were outstanding -- 13 of our 16 relay entries beat their seed time, yielding 2 meet records, 9 age-group first places, 4 second places, 1 third, 1 fourth and 1 impressive “flying start” disqualification.
In addition, several of SwimRI’s individual and relay performances at WPI should make the 2017 USMS Top Ten rankings, including the Women's 160-199 200m Freestyle Relay of Nappi/Bonin/Neuendorf/Lancaster that went 3.56 seconds faster than SwimRI's 2016 #1 (All American) time in this event!
NOTABLE SWIMRI SMACKDOWNS:
Providence College Alumni Eric Burtchell ‘13 and Trent Theroux ‘89 faced off in adjacent lanes for a Millennial vs. Gen X smackdown in the first leg of the Men’s 400m Medley Relay. Burtchell flashed impressive early speed, but in the home stretch Old Man Theroux closed the gap on his fatigued fellow Friar to claim backstroke bragging rights this time ‘round.
The penultimate heat of the Men's 200m Freestyle was equally entertaining, with 10 fast dudes surging, ebbing and battling it out for eight painful lengths. SwimRI tricenarian Connor Wallace placed third, just edging out a group of quadragenarian and quinquagenarian friends that included the meet high-point scorer Guy Davis and SwimRI teammates Matt Gilson and Kaan Duru. It was a fun race to watch.
SHOUT-OUTS:
Ageless wonders Diann Uustal, who at age 71 set six NE-LMSC and six meet records, and Phil Wright, who at age 70 set 4 meet records. Matt Card, who finished first in all 5 of his events. Seann Mulcahy for crushing last year’s SCM times and continuing to improve in every race. John Roccabello for a great swim in the 200 free. Majed Elturkmani for beating the seed times in all 12 of his events. Rob 1.0 for contributing to the team in 12 events, including all the relays. Matt Gilson for rebounding after a down year last year. Paul Dow on a nice 50 free. Kaan Duru for always being a great relay closer, and for hanging in there in a tough 200 free heat. Elliot Silva and Eric Burtchell for their youthful upbeat attitudes, and Eric for supplying the team with “enhanced” water. And finally, a special shout-out to all of the SwimRI women who showed up for, well, being as awesome as we all know you are!
Also, getting a flat tire in the snow storm en route to Saturday’s team dinner was a bummer, so thanks to Captain Connor’s vehicle maintenance & taxi service for being on call and salvaging the evening for Doug and Stephanie.
AGE GROUP RECORDS BROKEN:
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Rob Allen, 50-54 1500m Free (18:01.36)
Meet -- Rob Allen, 50-54 400m Free (4:30.80)
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Diann Uustal, 70-74 50m Fly (35.51)
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Diann Uustal, 70-74 50m Free (33.35)
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Diann Uustal, 70-74 100m IM (1:25.87)
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Diann Uustal, 70-74 50m Back (39.08)
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Diann Uustal, 70-74 100m Back (1:27.22)
NE-LMSC & Meet -- Diann Uustal, 70-74 50m Breast (46.67)
Meet -- Phil Wright, 70-74 50m Fly (36.98)
Meet -- Phil Wright, 70-74 50m Free (31.68)
Meet -- Phil Wright, 70-74 100m Free (1:13.88)
Meet -- Phil Wright, 70-74 50m Breast (41.35)
Meet -- Lancaster/Bonin/Nappi/Neuendorf, Women 160-199 400m Medley Relay (5:11.18)
Meet -- Theroux/Allen/Sayles/Bevilacqua, Men 200-239 400m Medley Relay (4:51.94)
UPCOMING EVENTS:
Upcoming annual SwimRI events include our 2018 USMS 1-Hour ePostal National Championship heats at RWU in January and the 2018 New England LMSC Short Course Yards Championships at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool on March 11 & 16-18.
To help prepare for these events, make your Harvard meet hotel reservations now, stay in shape and maintain team camaraderie by attending some weekend practices -- 7:15 AM Saturdays at St. George’s School in Middletown (now accepting drop-in guests) and/or Coach Trent’s 7:30 AM Sunday theme practices at East Providence Boys & Girls Club.
Great job at WPI everyone. Thanks for braving the snowstorm and making our NE-LMSC SCM Championships a success. See you in the pool!