Four Swimmers Add Third Individual Wins at YMCA Festivals

Matt Fallon; Photo Courtesy: FINA / Budapest 2019

Four swimmers added their third individual wins in the third day of the YMCA Festivals at their respective locations.

Greater Somerset YMCA’s Matt Fallon and Emily Thompson each went 3-for-3 at the New Jersey YMCA Festival in Vorhees. At the Brown Deer, Wisc. event, Kishwaukee YMCA/DeKalb County Quinn Cynor did the same, as did Daniel Diehl of Cumberland YMCA at the Pennsylvania event hosted by York YMCA.

The meets are among one of five nationally, two of which were held last week. The meets, hosted by local YMCAs for swimmers with nationals cuts, have been created for 2021 in lieu of cancelled national meets.

At the New Jersey YMCA Festival, Greater Somerset dominated the day, particularly on the boys’ side. Trent Russano dominated the 200 butterfly in 1:45.07, his second win of the meet. Jack Alexy controlled the field in the 100 backstroke to win in 47.29. Fallon was 2.5 seconds out front of the field in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 52.68, compounding wins in the 200 and 400 individual medleys.

GSCY also won both 800 freestyle relays on the night. The boys team came within two seconds of the national YMCA record, a night after undercutting both records in the 200 free and 400 medley. Russano joined Fallon, Alexy and Rob Alexy to win in 6:36.65.

Thompson won the 200 fly on the girls’ side with a time of 2:00.12, then anchored the 800 free relay to victory (with Catherine Meisner, Julia Meisner and Danielle D’Ambrosio). Westfield Area YMCA’s Clare Logan clocked in at 54.04 to win the 100 back. The 100 breast went to Emma Shaughnessy (Y of Greater Monmouth) in 1:02.24.

Lily Hann (Lakeland Hills YMCA) in the 200 fly and Ela Habjan (YMCA of Montclair) in the 100 back were each second for the second time in the meet.

At the Wisconsin YMCA Festival, Cynor was pushed on the way to the win in the 200 fly. His time of 1:46.64 was just enough to get past Schroeder’s Jack Lustig, winner of the 400 IM, by six-tenths. Schroeder’s Ziyad Saleem got his second win in the 100 back in 46.99, to complement his 100 fly title. Saleem was also part of SSTY’s winning 800 free relay, which went 6:37.25.

The best race of the day was the 100 breast, with Owen Miller (55.66) outtouching Wyatt Dickman by .02 to grab another win for SSTY.

The 100 breast provided the most compelling girls race, too. SSTY’s Tori Brostowitz pulled away to get the win in 1:00.94, ahead of 200 IM/100 fly champ Angela Coe. Coe’s Champaign County YMCA Heat teammate Reed Broaders won the 100 back in 53.27. The 200 fly went to Brigitta Neverman of Green Bay YMCA in 2:03.97.

At the Pennsylvania YMCA Festival, Diehl took center stage again. He went 19.95 in the 50 free to gain his third win of the meet, augmenting the 100 back and 200 free from Friday night. Thomas Heilman was second, his third top-3 finish, in 20.17. Upper Main Line Y’s Jack Christian also added his third top-three result of the weekend by taking home the 500 free in 4:32.21, using a fast final 200 to best teammate Kevin Cary (4:32.58).

Heilman’s Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont YMCA teammate Noah Hargrove won the 200 IM in 1:50.21, a half-second ahead of 200 back champ Tommy Janton.

All three girls winners at the York YMCA had previously earned gold at the meet. Phoenixville Area YMCA’s Anya Mostek, who won the 100 back, outdueled 200 breast/400 IM champ Meaghan Harnish in the 200 IM, Mostek clocking in at 2:00.59 to win by nearly two seconds.

Grey Davis of Cavalier won the 500 free decisively in 4:49.20 to add to her 100 fly title. She and UMLY’s Grace Bousum (4:52.77) were well clear of the field. Bousum’s teammate Alexa Fulton won the 50 emphatically in 22.71, nearly a half-second ahead of the field. Second to her, as when Fulton won the 200 free, was York’s Emily Way.

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