Madison YMCA Swimmers excel at the Holiday Classic

A talented group of 15 Madison YMCA Mariners, including local Chatham swimmers, impressed at the Eastern Express Holiday Classic XXXII, held December 14th – 16th at Rutgers University. Known as the fastest short course yards swim meet in New Jersey, it’s steep qualifying times drew the fastest swimmers from 52 competing teams representing New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

Kyle Beebe (14) paved the way for the Boys 13-14 team competing in 2 Final events. Kyle impressed in the 100 Yard Free placing 7th overall. In the 50 Free, Kyle had to endure a Swim Off with one other competitor to make the Finals, etching him out by 1/100th of a second! Kyle then raced to an 11th overall finish in the Finals. Kyle’s other events included the 200 Free, 100 Yard Fly and the 100 Back and he achieved personal best times in all.

Atticus Chang (14) qualified for 6 events and had a great Top 20 finish in the 100 Yard Breast. His other events were the 200 and 400 IM, 200 Free, 200 Breast and 100 FLY. Atticus swam personal bests in the 400 IM and 200 Free.

Collin Faraher (13) competed in 6 events which included the 50, 100, 200 and 500 Yard Free and the 100 and 200 Breast. Collin swam his personal best time in the 500 Free.

Tirian Chang (10), who also qualified in 6 events, had a remarkable finish and personal best time in the 50 Fly, placing 6th overall. Tirian received 2 more personal best times in the 100 Fly and 100 Back and had great finishes in the 50 Free, 50 Back and 100 IM.

Sean Clark (10) excelled in 6 events. Sean had two Top 20 finishes in the 50 and 100 Yard Back. He also competed in the 50 Free, 50 and 100 Breast and the 100 IM achieving his personal best time in the 50 Breast, 100 Breast and 100 IM.

Rounding out the outstanding Boys team was Ransom Chang (12) competing in the 50 Free, Terry Luongo (15) competing in the 100 and 200 Back and Declan Robertson (10) competing in the 50 Breast, all posting solid finishes.

Mary Gillen (12) led the way for the Girls 11-12 group qualifying for 4 individual events. Mary impressed in the 100 Yard Fly achieving a Top 20 Finish and a personal best time. She also received a personal best time in the 50 Free and finished strong in the 50 Breast and 100 IM.

The other girls contributing to the continued success of the 11-12 age group were Sadie Clarke (11) and Molly Newman (11), both clenching personal best times in the 50 Free. Katelyn Hoffelder (12) and Ryan Sprague (12) also competed and finished strong in the 50 Free.

The Mariner’s competed in the Girls & Under 200 Free Relay - Katelyn Hoffelder, Molly Newman, Sadie Clarke and Mary Gillen showed their strength and attained a personal best time for their relay as well as achieving a Top 20 finish.

For the 13 & Over Girls, Hannah Corcoran (18) excelled in the 100 Breast and Anya D’Costa (16) finished strong in the 50 Free.

As a cause-driven charitable organization, the Madison Area YMCA is dedicated to nurturing the potential of every child and teen, and improving the community’s health and well-being and giving back by providing support to our neighbors.