Glenfield Middle School eighth-grader and Montclair Y Dolphin Avery Best qualified at the Silver/Bronze Meet to swim the 400m free at the 2016 NJ LC Junior Olympics. She has already qualified to swim the 100 free at the 2016 YMCA LC National Swimming Championships.
MONTCLAIR – In what is one of the largest swim meets of the long course season, 107 members of the Montclair YMCA Dolphins swim team competed at the 2016 Long Course Silver/Bronze Region A Championships, July 15-17, at the Sonny Werblin pool on the campus of Rutgers University. Due to the large number of qualifying swimmers in the State, the participating teams in the State were divided into two regions comprising 24 teams each. Teams from across the state competed in the hopes of adding to their ranks at the 2016 NJ Swimming Long Course Junior Olympics, which will be held July 28-30 at Rutgers.
Dolphins swimmers who posted top-five finishes at this meet included: Alex Abuhoff, 15; Olivia Beck, 10; Avery Best, 13; Justin Ellis, 15; Danielle Feldberg, 12; Carly Frank, 12; Ellie Koschik, 17; Kai Michaud, 17; and Mia Padberg, 14, of Montclair; Jeffrey Cueva, 17; and Ryan LoCicero, 9, of Bloomfield; Enzo Wood, 12, of Glen Ridge; Jordan Shaffer, 16, of Verona; and Alina Chant, 15; Christina Gilio-Malabre, 14; Kazuri Lateef, 10; Tina Pavlidis, 12; and Howard Zhuang, 10, of West Orange.
NJ Junior Olympics qualifying times at this meet included Best (400m free), Feldberg (200m IM), Frank (100m breast, 50m fly), LoCicero (50m breast), Pavlidis (400m IM, 50m free) and Wood (50m and 100m free, 200m IM). Frank and Pavlidis each finished in first place in their qualifying events and Best finished first in the 200m back.
Dolphins Head Coach Paulo Madeira said, “We are so proud of what our swimmers have accomplished during the long course season. We are looking forward to seeing the very fast swimming these swimmers are capable of at the Junior Olympics and the YMCA Long Course National Championships.”
The YMCA of Montclair Dolphins swim team offers a year-round opportunity for competitive swimming in both YMCA and USA Swimming competitions as well as seasonal instructional clinics for aspiring competitive athletes. The team is comprised of girls and boys from age 6 through high school. More than 200 athletes train with the team each year. They compete at all levels, based on their skill set.
Try-outs for the 2016-17 season will be held at the Montclair YMCA – 25 Park St., Montclair – for swimmers age 10 and under, on August 1 at 6:45 p.m. or Sept. 6 at 4:30 p.m. and for swimmers age 11 and over, on August 3 at 6:45 p.m. or Sept. 7 at 4:30 p.m. Interested swimmers should attend one of these try-outs according to his or her age.
For more information about the Montclair YMCA Dolphins swim team, contact head coach Madeira at pmadeira@montclairymca.org or 973-744-3400.
About the YMCA of Montclair:
As a leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community, the Y seeks to ensure that everyone, regardless of age, income or background, has an opportunity to learn, grow and thrive. The YMCA of Montclair offers programs to help achieve greater health and well-being, nurture youth and inspire individuals to give back to better their community.
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