The Raleigh Swimming Association competed in the Blue Moon 12 & Under Invitational Swim Meet held at the Triangle Sportsplex in Hillsborough, NC this past weekend.

                RSA had several new swimmers make new time standard achievements in the 8 & Under Age Group.  Victoria Bell got her “B” time in the 50 Free, while Natalie Hill made her “B” time in the 50 back. Sawyer Dove achieved his “B” in the 50 back, and Jacob Tart got a “B” time in the 50 breast, along with a “BB” time in the 50 free.  Many 8 & Unders also dropped time in their races.  Cara Chabreck dropped 5 seconds in the 25 breast. Alex Clarke swam to a two second time drop in the 25 back while, David DeJarnette improved his time in the 50 yard free by dropping almost three seconds. Cassidy Holland dropped five seconds in her 25 free, and Julianne Strickland swam to a best time in the 25 back, while Kayla Mikolajewski swam to a best time in the 25 free.  Other great swims were turned in by Paula Crisp, Libby Facchine, and Kiko Lamb.

                In the 9-10 age group many Wahoo swimmers achieved their “B” times.  Michael Dickey swam to a B time in the 50 fly, while teammate Matt Lower achieved a BB time in the 50 yard back, and finished first.  The following swimmers also achieved “B” times:  Emily Facchine in the 50 breast, Melissa Geiss in the 50 free, Philip Ahlers in the 100 breast, Katie Mathis in the 50 back, and Thao Le in the 50 breast.  Also many swimmers in their first year round swim meet ever achieved time standards.  Mona Le got her B time in the 100 IM, Skipper Mahn achieved his BB time in the 50 breast, while Alex Li got his in the 100 breast.  During the BB and faster session, Torrey Bussey lead the way in her first ever year round swim meet, achieving “AA” time standards in every event she swam, along with 5 top five finishes.  Gabi Shishkoff got her BB in the 100 back, while Grace Robinson dropped time and swam to her BB in the 100 back.  Ten-year-old Josh Salley swam to several "A" times in the 100 fly and 100 IM.  Other RSA swimmers that had best times include:  Andrew Clarke in the 100 breast, John Clemmer in the 100 breast, Nicole Esplin who achieved two BB times in the 100 IM and the 50 fly, Deniz Gurel, Paige Randall in the 50 free, and Matt Robertson in the 100 free.  Other great swims were turned in by Savannah Currens, Carolyn Daussin, Caroline Campbell, and Kevin Chabreck.

                The 11-12 age group also had a strong showing at the Blue Moon Swim Meet.  They were led by Julie Smith who swam to first place finishes in everything she swam.  Ethan Pond dropped time in all of his events.  Beau Dove dropped three seconds in his 100 butterfly, while teammate Michael Williams dropped time in several events.  Hannah Facchine swam to a best time in the 100 free, while Kirsten Esplin got a personal best in the 50 fly and Erin Salley took one second off her 100 free.  Other great swims were turned in by Michelle Dettloff, and Brittany Crisp who swam to several BB times.  Julie Wells also swam to BB times in the Saturday afternoon session.  Also in the afternoon, Katie Olson got a personal best and a B time in the 50 back.  Eleven-year-old Andy Lamb swam B times in the 100 and 50 breaststroke events.  Other personal best time achievers include:  John Clemmer, Gizem Imece, Steph Daussin, Lindley Hill, and Lexi Mitchell.

                Congratulations to the following swimmers who participated in their first ever year round swim meet:  Sommer Barritt, Paula Crisp, Drew Gintis, Mona Le, Alex Li, McKenzie Randall, Heather Robertson, Toby Rosen, Skipper Mahn, Maggie McRainey, Mandy Spalding, Ryan Spalding, Jackie Wyche, and Torrey Bussey.

Finally, Congratulations to all RSA swimmers.  It is was a great meet for everyone.  Keep up the great work in practice!