Virginia Run Riptide Starts Strong, Roundtree Sets Another Record

The Virginia Run Riptide kicked off their summer swim season this past Saturday in their first ‘A’ meet against the Fair Oaks Sharks. The Sharks had a talented group of swimmers, winning the meet with a score of 218 to 198.

Despite the Riptide’s loss, the race was close at several points during the meet and the team came away with 98 personal bests. Perhaps the biggest highlight of the meet was Charis Roundtree breaking an NVSL record in the 9-10 girls 50-meter freestyle with a time of 29.43.

In a tight freestyle round, the Riptide trailed the Sharks by just two points despite a sweep in the boys 8 and under group by Tyler Harris, Matthew Kelliher, and Declan McCrea. Ethan O’Conner placed second in the freestyle for his 9-10 age group, and Bryan Kim took first in the 11-12 group. Jackson Blansett won the 13-14 freestyle with William Whitton adding points to the board with third place. In addition to Roundtree’s first place finish, Mary Schaad placed third in the 9-10 age group and Ginny Fitch swam for first in the 11-12 group. The 13-14 girls swam strong with second and third place finishes by Isabelle Cogan and Caitlin Kelliher, and Allie Hickey and Maddie Whitton brought home first and third for the 15-18 girls.

The Riptide edged ahead of the Sharks in the backstroke round, with another sweep in the 8 and unders by Nathan Tonthat, Matthew Kelliher, and Sawyer Flynn, and a first place by Nicholas Harris in the 9-10 group. Davis Collingsworth swam for second in the 11-12 group as did William Whitton in the 13-14 group. Caitlin Do swam for first in the 8 and unders, Anna Kelliher and Caroline Freiss took first and third for the 9-10s, Ginny Fitch placed first for the 11-12s with Isabelle Cogan and Neha Srinivasan at first and third in the 13-14 group. Sarah Boyle and Chelsea Nguyen wrapped up the category with a first and third place finish for the 15-18 group.

The breast stroke proved troublesome for the Riptide as they fell behind the Sharks in points. But Davis Collingsworth turned in a stellar performance in the 11-12 age group with first place, and Nathan Ryman came in second for the 13-14-year-old group. William Beamon fought hard against one of the league’s best swimmers and took second place in the 15-18 group. Anna Kim placed third in the 9-10 group, Angela Thomson dominated for first for the 11-12s, and Allison Nguyen and Neha Srinivasan took second and third for the 13-14 group, with Allie Hickey and Emily Jon taking second and third place in the 15-18 group.

The Riptide battled back during the butterfly round taking a total of 51 points to Fair Oak’s 39 points. Tyler Harris and Nathan Tonthat started with a one-two finish for the 8 and unders, with Tyler’s older brother Nicholas Harris placing first in the 9-10 group. Bryan Kim and Ryan Friess placed first and second for the 11-12s and Jackson Blansett placed first for the 13-14 group. Caitlin Do was first for the 8 and unders on the girls’ side, Charis Roundtree and Anna Kelliher took first and second for the 9-10s and Angela Thomson and Caitlin Kelliher placed first for the 11-12 group and the 13-14 group respectively. Sarah Boyle rounded out the event with a dominating swim and first place finish for the 15-18 group.

Going into the relays, the Sharks held a steady lead at 188 to the Riptide’s 168, but team spirit was still high. The boys put up a strong fight with wins in the 8 and under 100-meter freestyle relay, with Nathan Tonthat, Declan McCrea, Matthew Kelliher, and Tyler Harris at a time of 1:19.53. The 13-14 boys placed first with swimmers William Whitton at back stroke, Nathan Ryman on breast stroke, Jackson Blansett at butterfly, and Samuel Roundtree on freestyle with a time of 58.62.

The girls dominated their relays with the 9-10 medley relay taking first with at a time of 1:15.56 and a team of Charis Roundtree, Anna Kelliher, Caroline Freiss, and Mary Schaad. The 13-14 girls won with a time of 1:04.19 and swimmers, Neha Srinivasan, Allison Nguyen, Caitlin Kelliher and Isabelle Cogan. The 15-18 girls easily won their race with a time of 2:11.75 and the stellar team of Chelsea Nguyen, Allison Hickey, Sarah Boyle, and Maddie Whitton.

In the final two mixed-age freestyle relays, the girls’ team of Angela Thomson, Charis Roundtree, Isabelle Cogan, and Sarah Boyle brought home the final victory of the day for the Riptide with a time of 2:04.93.

While the meet may have landed in the ‘loss’ column, plenty of wins occurred: Charis Roundtree's record breaking swim, team spirit was on full display by both teams, and the boys 13-14 medley relay, the girls mixed age free relay, the girls 9-10 medley relay, and the girls 15-18 medley relays were the fastest across Division 4 on Saturday.