Soundview YMCA Swim Team off to a successful championship season !

The championship swim season is off to a successful start for the Soundview YMCA Stingray swim team. At the recent YMCA state championships, several area swimmers came away with impressive performances, including three overall state champions and numerous other top times in the championship meet.
A 15-year old team record was toppled during the 12-under YMCA State Championships held in East Hartford, CT on Feb. 8 and 9. The girl’s medley relay team of Melissa Juliano (Branford), Daniela Bedoya (East Haven), Vivian Mudry (Guilford) and Alex Mayo (Guilford) broke the long standing team record in a time of 2:03.29. The relay swim was one of several impressive feats by SYS swimmers during the championship meet.
Mudry, 11, was the YMCA state champion in the 50 yard breaststroke in a time of 32.96. She also finished 3rd in three other events, the 50 fly, the 100 breaststroke and the 100 freestyle. 12-year old Mayo placed 2nd in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:11.08. Juliano, 11, was the 6th place finisher in the 50 backstroke. The freestyle relay team of Mayo, Mudry, Juliano and Alora McCarroll, 11, of Branford finished 4th overall at Y-States.
In the 9-10 year old portion of the YMCA State Championships, 10-year old Finn Henry of Guilford was the meet champion in the 50 freestyle, finishing in at time of 28.61. Henry was also 2nd in the 100 IM, 3rd in the 100 freestyle and 50 fly and 6th in the 50 breaststroke. Teammate Hethon Foster, 10, of East Haven was 4th in the 100 IM and 6th in the 50 fly. On the girl’s side, 10 year old Morgan Bagnall of Guilford placed in three events. Bagnall was 2nd in both the 50 freestyle and the 50 fly, while placing 3rd in the 100 freestyle. As a team, the Soundview YMCA team finished 5th overall at the YMCA championship meet.
The YMCA state championship 8 and under meet was held at The Canterbury School in New Milford, CT on Feb. 1 where three Stingray swimmers captured award winning swims. 8-year old Hugh Henry of Guilford was the state champion in the 50 yard freestyle event, winning in a time of 34.36. Henry also placed 2nd in the 25 freestyle and the 25 backstroke. Elliot Lee, of Branford, placed 2nd in the 100 IM, 3rd in the 25 freestyle and 4th in the 25 fly. 8-year old Lucy Moran, of Branford, placed 6th in the 25 breaststroke for the Stingrays.
Next up for the Stingray swimmers, will be the statewide Connecticut regional meet, February 27-March 1. Several SYS swimmers have also posted qualifying times for Connecticut Swimming’s top meet of the year, the Connecticut championships, also known as “Age Groups,” to be held at Wesleyan University from March 12-15.