January 13-16 — On January 13-16, the Upper Valley Aquatic Club’s (UVAC) Senior Squad competed in the January Jumpstart Meet at the Greensboro Aquatic Center (GAC) in Greensboro, NC. The UVAC swim team is based out of the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction, VT with additional practice sites at the Pico Fitness Center in Killington, VT as well as Colby Sawyer College in New London, NH.
The January Jumpstart Meet is an annual meet held in a Prelim/Final format. This means that athletes swim preliminary events in the morning, and if they finish in the top 24, they get to return at night for finals. For this meet in particular, there was an A, B, and C final. Athletes will be placed in their final (A, B, or C) regardless of finals time. Approximately 800 athletes attended this swim meet.
The UVAC Senior Squad attending the January Jumpstart consisted of 17 athletes from both the UVAC-WRJ site, as well as the UVAC-Killington site. Athletes ranged in age from 13 years old-17 years old! Athletes in attendance included:
Julia Baldwin of Ludlow, VT
Abe Burek of Rutland, VT
Gabriel Clerkin of Etna, NH
Theo Cook of Norwich, VT
Elina Eko of Randolph, VT
Iris Freeman of Campton, NH
Lexi Fuster of Pittsfield, VT
Sara Gaspard of Claremont, NH
Hugh Hawkins of Littleton, NH
Ruby Lintner of Hanover, NH
Bryson Martin of Charlestown, NH
Kayla Myers of Woodstock, VT
Kenzie Sellars of South Royalton, VT
Elizabeth Staats of Hanover, NH
Quinn Stickney of Woodstock, VT
Mollee Ye of Hanover, NH
Sofia Ye of Hanover, NH
The meet was a success for UVAC with 95% of athletes returning for finals each night. There were also numerous best times achieved. Highlights from the meet include (but are not limited to):
Julia Baldwin dropped 18.8 seconds in the 500 yard freestyle.
Gabe Clerkin dropped 34.8 seconds in the 400 yard individual medley (consists of 100 yards each of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle).
Theo Cook dropped 17.15 seconds in the 400 yard individual medley.
Elina Eko swam to a Top 10 finish in 12 events.
Lexi Fuster dropped 20.46 seconds in the 200 individual medley.
Hugh Hawkins swam to a Top 10 finish in the 50 yard butterfly.
Kayla Myers dropped 22.5 seconds in the 200 yard individual medley.
Kenzie Sellars qualified for finals in every one of her events. She placed in the Top 10 in 11 events and swam to a first place finish in the 100 yard freestyle
Elizabeth Staats had one Top 10 finish and earned a spot at finals in two events.
Sofia Ye swam an impressive seven Top 10 finishes earning 1st place in the 50 yard breaststroke and 2nd place in the 200 yard breaststroke.
Iris Freeman swam all best times in her 10 events in which she participated.
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