Local Swimmers Excel at State Championships

Sixteen of the Madison YMCA’s fastest swimmers qualified to compete at the NJ 12 & Under YMCA State Championships held this past weekend. The state-wide Championship Meet, hosted by the Ocean County Y in Toms River, included 28 teams and over 600 competitors. The top 16 swimmers who “placed” in each event were awarded medals or ribbons, with some unbelievable races finishing within hundredths of a second and new Y State records earned.

Collin Faraher, of Madison, and Molly Newman, of Chatham, led the Mariners with a combined 110 individual points and will both compete at the Junior Olympics in March.

Faraher, 73 points, tied for 10th place at the 12&U Boys State Championships. Collin placed 3rd in the 500-yd Free setting a new Mariner’s record of 5:22:84. He also placed 6th in the 100-yd IM and had four 8th place finishes in the 200-yd Free, 50-yd Breast, 100-yd Breast and 200-yd Breast.

Newman, 37 points, earned 18th place overall at the 10&U Girls State Championships. Swimming personal bests in all 6 of her events, she placed in 5 events: 6th in the 50-yd Free, 8th in the 100-yd Back, 12th in the 200-yd Free and 13th in both the 50-yd Back and the 100-yd Free.

Owen Smith, of Madison, Sadie Clarke, of Chatham and Anuthra Abeysinghe, of Madison also earned individual points. Owen, competing in 6 individual events, placed 12th in the 100-yd Breast and 13th in the 50-yd Breast. Sadie, who also swam 6 individual events, earned 16th place in the 200-yd IM while Anuthra, swimming 2 events, placed 16th in the 50-yd Breast. They, too, will be competing at JOs in March at the Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ.

Additional team points were earned by the Mariner’s relay over the weekend. The 10&U Boys 200-yd Medley Relay (Sean Clark, Anuthra Abeysinghe, Tirian Chang, Owen Smith) placed 8th. The 10&U Girls (Molly Newman, Sadie Clarke, Emily Houng, Chloe Thorn-Leeson) earned 11th place in the 200-yd Free relay as well as 13th place in the 200-yd Medley Relay. The 12&U Girls (Bella Guarino, Jule Schaefer, Mary Gillen, Fiona Beacom) earned points for placing 15th and 16th, respectively, in the 200-yd Medley and Free relays.

Many additional Mariner State swimmers earned personal records and/or will continue to swim at the Junior Olympics in March. For the 10&U age group, Emily Houng, of Short Hills, and Chloe Thorn-Leeson, of Chatham who earned a PR in the 100 Fly, will both swim Fly events at JOs. Tirian Chang, of Chatham who raced to 4 personal records including a tremendous performance in the 100-yd Fly, and Sean Clark, of Chatham, will also swim at the Junior Olympics at the Peddie School. For the 12&U age group, Jule Schaefer, of Chatham, had 2 personal records in the 100 and 200 Breast events, while Fiona Beacom, of Madison, swam PRs in each of the 50 and 200 Breast events. Owen Weller, of Madison, swam 6 individual events and earned 4 personal records, including a significant time drop and JOs qualifying time in the 200 back. Will Foucher, of Chatham, swam 2 individual events earning a PR in the 200 Free. Mary Gillen, of Morristown, earned 3 PRs this past weekend, including the 50 Fly, which qualified her for JOs in March. Bella Guarino, of Madison, swam 7 individual State events, earning 5 personal records including a stellar performance in the 200-yd Free. She will also compete at JO’s. Although Ryan Snarr, of Chatham was eligible to swim 7 individual State events, he was not able to compete due to an injury.

As a cause-driven charitable organization, the Madison Area YMCA is dedicated to nurturing the potential of every child and teen, and improving the community's health and well-being and giving back by providing support to our neighbors.