Thirteen swimmers from Hampshire Hills Swim Team qualified to compete in the 2015 New England U14 Long Course Meter Championships on July 23- 26 at Harvard University. The team competed against the best swimmers from New England and finished 13th out of 95 New England teams.

In the U10 division, Mi­kael Rantala (8) finished 11th in his 50 free and 10th in his 50 breaststroke. Gwen Balboni (9) achieved personal records in all of her events earning her sec­ond place finishes in the 100 freestyle (1:17.49) and 200 freestyle (2:46.78). Mia Jan­uario (10) earned personal best times in three events and broke two team records in the 200 free (2:43.20) and 400 free (5:43.39).

In the 11-12 year old divi­sion, all four relays bested the team records. The 11-12 girls set new team records in the 400 Medley Relay with a 5:16.50 (Megan Ley­den, Elaine Danas, Jenna Charlat and Kyra Chen) and the 400 Freestyle Relay with a 5:04.02 (Kyra Chen, Jenna Charlat, Abby Tjie and Megan Leyden). On the boy’s side, both team records were also broken. Ivan Dodor, Jack Januario, Andrew Bartolomucci, and Markus Rantala combined for a 5:16.50 in the 400 Med­ley Relay and a 4:43.02 in the 400 Freestyle Relay.

Jenna Charlat (11) be­came the girl’s 200 meter backstroke (2:39.27) cham­pion setting a new team re­cord in the process. Jenna also earned four additional individual team records in the 400 Free (5:04.02), 100 fly (1:16.46), 200 fly (2:50.83) and 200 IM (2:44.49). Her excellent swimming not only gained her team re­cords, but earned her a fifth place high point award in the 11-year old division.

Megan Leyden made her mark on the championships as well becoming the 50 meter backstroke cham­pion (33.96) and setting new team records in all seven of her individual events in­cluding 100 back (1:15.31), 50 breaststroke (39.58), 100 breaststroke (1:23.26), 200 breaststroke (3:06.02), 50 fly (33.29), and 400 IM (5:53.65). In doing so, she captured the fourth place high point trophy at the meet in the 11- year old division.

Ivan Dodor is the 11 year old boys New England LCM Champion in the 50 but­terfly (32.04) with another new team record. Ivan also set the team record in the 50 freestyle (29.89) where he finished second over­all. Ivan had several other top eight finishes including fourth in 100 fly (1:14.87), fifth in the 200 fly (2:54.93), fourth in the 100 back (1:17.04) and third in the 100 free (1:06.10).

Jack Januario (12) amassed new team records in four of his seven indi­vidual events including sev­enth in the 100 fly (1:10.53), fourth in the 200 breast­stroke (2:48.18), 4th in the 100 breaststroke (1:18.05), and second in the 50 breast­stroke (35.61). Jack also fin­ished third in the 400 Meter Free (4:49.73) and finished ninth overall in high points.

Kyra Chen (12) became the New England Champion in the 50 Meter Freestyle (28.83) and set new team records in her seventh place finish in the 100 Free (1:04.05) and seventh place in her 200 Free (2:20.23). Kyra also earned a spot on the Eastern Zone Champi­onship team with four quali­fying times.

Andrew Bartolomucci earned all personal re­cords in his three individual events with a ninth place finish in the 50 fly (33.66), 12th in the 100 fly (1:16.88), and 11th in the 200 fly (2:57.77). Abby Tjie added to the 12 year old division with another personal best in her 50 butterfly (33.64). Sydney Leyden (14) com­peted in four individual events and qualified for fi­nals in the 100 breaststroke finishing 11th overall. In her march towards the championship meet, Syd­ney broke three individual team records with her 100 breaststroke (1:21.59), 200 breaststroke (3:00.22) and 400 IM (5:55.83). Sydney gained two qualifying times for the Eastern Zone Cham­pionships.

Matthew Rantala (15) travelled to Brown Uni­versity to represent HHST at the Arena 2015 New England Senior Champion­ships on July 16-19. Matt competed in the 100 back­stroke (1:06.12) and 50 Free (26.57). While establishing qualifying times for the Se­nior meet, Matt set a new team record in the 400 Me­ter Free (4:43.77) and quali­fied for the Eastern Zone Championships in the 50 freestyle (26.31), 100 free­style (58.09) and 100 back­stroke (1:06.05).

HHST swimmers are fortunate to train under the leadership of head coach Jon Luby. Coach Luby shares a passion for swimming that shines poolside, where he motivates each child to set goals. He provides in­dividualized feedback on technique so that swimmers have the tools they need to succeed. As a result, many HHST swimmers achieved qualifying times for the USA Swimming Eastern Zone Championship Meet on Aug. 5-8 in Richmond, Va. Jenna Charlat, Kyra Chen, Ivan Dodor, Jack Januario, Megan Leyden, Sydney Ley­den, and Matt Rantala all achieved Eastern Zone qual­ifying times. Jack Januario will be representing HHST and will travel to Richmond as a member of the New England Zone Team.