Virginia Run Riptide Swims to Victory

Submitted by Bruce Eisenhart

The Virginia Run Riptide traveled to Forest Hollow and created a major tsunami in the Gator’s pool, winning their Division 6 meet 257.5 to 162.5. With a multitude of personal bests, 13 event sweeps and another team relay record for the 13-14 girls, the Riptide swimmers were hotter than the 95 degree summer day.

In the 8 and under division, Caitlin Kelliher continued her winning ways taking a first in the freestyle and in back. In breaststroke the Riptide girls swept their event with Jenna Leventry in first, Julia Vu in second and Emma Liskey in third. The 8 and under boys followed with their own breaststroke sweep as Sam Metcalf won first, Connor Gary second and Charles Beamon third. Victoria Davila captured a first in girls fly while Sean Gunn took second in boys fly. The 8 and under girls free relay of Jenna Leventry, Isabelle Cogan, Victoria Davila and Caitlin Kelliher won their event.

The 9-10 age group saw Jack Liskey first in fly. Second place finishes were achieved by Chelsea Nyuyen in free, Andrew Boyle in back, and Alana Turflinger in back and breast. The 9-10 girls swept the 25 meter fly with Katie Conway in first, Maggie Whitton in second and Catie Gunn in third.

Outstanding swims were made by the 11-12s with Anthony Arcomona winning freestyle and Ryan Tennille taking first in back. Second place finishes were achieved by Charlie Gunn in free, Sarah Boyle in free and back, Olivia Masterson in breast and Jackie Hart in fly. One sweep in boys 11-12 breast with Joel Cheifetz first, Ryan Tennille second and William Beamon third was followed by another sweep in boys fly with Anthony Arcomona first, Harry Schlatter second, and Jack Metcalf third. The 11-12 boy’s medley relay of Ryan Tennille, Joel Cheifetz, Anthony Arcomona and Jack Metcalf finished their day with a win.

To say the 13-14 Riptide boys and girls were dominant is an understatement as they garnered a total of 77 1⁄2 points out of a possible 82. These talented swimmers swept 7 of 8 events. In boys freestyle Geoffrey Eisenhart and Nick McGrath tied for first and Aaron Vu took third. In the girls' free Didi Pace was first, Skyla Davidson second and Alexa McAnally third. 

For the third week in a row the “backstroke boys” swept their event with Geoffrey Eisenhart first, Nick McGrath second, and Scott Pisarcik third. In the girls' back, Chloe Hicks was first, Chanel Cogan second and Alexa McAnally third. Leo Wang, Aaron Vu and Thomas Beamon took first, second and third in the breaststroke and were matched by the 13 -14 ladies with Emma Guidash, Abby Borsato, and Meredith Matz in first, second and third. 

In fly, Leo Wang swam to first and the ladies again swept their fly race with Didi Pace in first, Alison Meredith second, and Chanel Cogan third. Both 13-14 100 meter medley relays achieved wins with Geoffrey Eisenhart, Leo Wang, Thomas Beamon and Aaron Vu represented the boys, while Chloe Hicks, Skyla Davidson, Didi Pace and Alexa McAnally bested their own two week old team record with a 1:01.08.

The 15-18 year olds swam hard and were buoyed by Chloe Hicks and Skyla Davidson, two 14 year olds who “swam up” and captured firsts in free and breast respectively. Matt Glowacki captured a first in backstroke, while the trio of Mia Newkirk, Sierra Higinbotham and Maggie Blondin swept the girls backstroke race. Joey Castro took a second in breast, while Matt Glowacki captured a second in fly. Mia Newkirk won first place in girls fly. Both the 15-18 girls relay of Sierra Higinbotham, Mia Newkirk, JessicaSheftel and Erika Turflinger and the girls mixed age relay of Sarah Boyle, Chelsea Nyuyen, Chloe Hicks and Mia Newkirk won their events.