Montclair Dolphins Put In Big Performances In Season Finale

MONTCLAIR, N.J. — The Montclair YMCA Dolphins closed out their short-course season with powerful performances at two championship meets: the New Jersey YMCA State Championships and the prestigious Sunkissed Invitational in Charlotte, NC. With the team’s largest group of qualifiers since before the pandemic, the Dolphins demonstrated growth, depth, and competitive spirit across all age groups.

At the New Jersey YMCA State Championships, the Dolphins qualified 20 swimmers, up from 13 last season, marking the strongest state squad in recent years.
Swimmers ages 13 and over competed at the Kunkel Aquatic Center in Lancaster, PA, while the 12 and under swimmers raced at the Ocean County YMCA in Toms River, NJ. Six Dolphins advanced to finals, where the top 16 athletes from morning preliminaries returned for evening finals.

Standout State Meet Performances

12 & Under

• Maeve D’Amico (Cedar Grove) earned four top-10 finishes, placing: 3rd in the 50-yard freestyle, 6th in both the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, 7th in the 100-yard individual medley
• Daphne Razo (Glen Ridge) placed 6th in the 100-yard butterfly and qualified for four additional finals.
• Jaxon De Los Reyes (Montclair) placed 13th in the 100-yard butterfly.

Their efforts contributed to a 9th place team finish out of 17 teams in the 10 & under division.

13 & Over

• Ryan Reis (Caldwell) delivered a breakout swim in the 200-yard breaststroke, dropping over seven seconds from his seed time to place 11th.
• Holly Hukkanen (Nutley) dropped four seconds in the same event to finish 17th overall.
• Brenna Laracy (Montclair) took 11th in the 100-yard breaststroke in the 13–14 age group.
• Colette Smokowski (Montclair) placed 12th in the 500-yard freestyle and 15th in the 100-yard freestyle in the same age group.

Dolphins Make a Splash in Charlotte

At the Sunkissed Invitational in Charlotte, NC, 21 swimmers from the Junior and Senior squads faced off against 15 teams in a high-energy championship environment at the Mecklenburg Aquatic Center.

• Josh Stokes (Glen Ridge) led the way with a 4th-place finish in the 200-yard backstroke, dropping six seconds from his previous best. He also had top-10 finishes in the 100-yard backstroke and 100-yard freestyle.
• Logan Codi (Verona) placed 7th in the 100-yard butterfly and 8th in the 50-yard butterfly.
• Xavier Guo (Caldwell) landed in the top 10 in both butterfly events.

Stokes and Guo teamed up with Maxwell and Carter Prala (Montclair) to place 6th in the 400-yard freestyle relay and 8th in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The boys’ team placed 10th overall at the meet.

“Our entire team showed remarkable improvement across seven different end-of-season championship meets,” said Head Coach Kyle Laracy. “At Sunkissed, our group of 13-year-old boys stood out—not just for their fast swims, but for how they’ve come together as teammates. I can’t wait to see their continued development as they head into high school competition.”

Additional Sunkissed finalists included Harris Conk and Paloma Gregory-Menez, with strong swims also from Rylan Gorman Zaldo, Sophie Gyan, John Sagui, Julia Goldman, Ronan Groves, Sam Holbech, Harper Loughlin, Beatrice Olderog, Ryan Reis, Magnolia Shimizu-Tragni, Brenna Laracy, and Colette Smokowski.

Next Up: Long Course Season
With short-course season wrapped, the Dolphins are now back in the pool preparing for long course competition—racing in Olympic-sized 50-meter pools. Their next stop: an invitational meet in New Providence the weekend of May 17–18.

###

ABOUT THE YMCA OF MONTCLAIR
Established in 1891, the YMCA of Montclair welcomes all. We are a nonprofit that strengthens individuals, families, and community. We focus on empowering young people, improving health and well-being, and inspiring action in and across communities. Serving Bloomfield, Bloomingdale, Clifton, Cedar Grove, Glen Ridge, Haskell, Hewitt, Montclair, Verona, Wanaque, and West Milford. For more information, please visit montclairymca.org.

ABOUT THE YMCA OF MONTCLAIR DOLPHINS SWIM TEAM
The YMCA of Montclair Dolphins swim team offers a year-round opportunity for competitive swimming in both YMCA and USA Swimming competitions as well as seasonal instructional clinics for aspiring competitive athletes. The team is comprised of girls and boys from age 6 through high school. Approximately 200 athletes train with the team each year. They compete at all levels, based on their skill set.

Article submitted by Simon Webb.