Tiger Sharks Swim Team heats up at NCAC Winter Classic

The Greater Manchester YMCA Tiger Sharks swim team participated in the NCAC Winter Classic Specialty Meet, held from December 12 to 14, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH. Forty-five Tiger Sharks swimmers, ages 6 to 17, competed against 17 different teams from Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire during the three day event. “Our swimmers have been working extremely hard this season”, said Coach Jennifer Cullen. “I’m really impressed with the progress the kids have made since the start of the season. Every swimmer achieved at least one personal best time at this meet.”

In the 10 & under girls age group, 10-year old Nina Levine placed second in the 500 Freestyle (6:38.68), the 200 IM (2:52.94) and the 50 Butterfly (36.16). 10-year old Mei Brown shaved 16 seconds off her time in the 100 Freestyle (1:32.34) and 18 seconds off the 100 Backstroke (1:43.17). 9-year old Katherine Dubois achieved personal best times in each of her six events, cutting off close to 8 seconds in the 100 IM (1:57.17). 9-year old Heather Luby improved her 50 Breaststroke (41.54) by 11 seconds.

10-year old Bernard Suwirjo placed sixth in the boys 10 & under 200 IM (3:26.66) and improved his time in the 200 Freestyle (2:49.49) by over 18 seconds. 9-year old Joseph Lagasse placed seventh in the 100 Butterfly (2:02.23) and cut over 14 seconds off his time in the100 Backstroke (1:40.01). 9-year old Nate Cassily swam a personal best time in the 100 IM (1:41.31).

In 11-12 age group events, 11-year old Shayna Boisvert crushed her time in the 200 Freestyle (3:40.41), knocking off over 30 seconds. In the boys events, 12-year old Greg Levine finished first in 10 events, including the 400 IM (4:58.74) and 100 Butterfly (1:05.89). He also came in first in the 500 Freestyle (5:47.08), demolishing his previous time by over 1 minute and twenty seconds.

14-year old Kathleen Bolton placed fifth in both the 100 (1:14.98) and 200 (2:44.40) Breaststroke in the girls 13-14 age group events. 13-year old Sarah Barrett placed fifth in the 100 Butterfly (1:17.31), while Kaitlyn Neuman placed sixth in the 100 Butterfly, swimming a best time of (1:18.26). 14-year old Camille Hagen posted a best time (2:38.63) in the Open 200 Backstroke.

In the boys 13-14 events, 14-year old Cole Hogg placed first in 10 events, including the 200 Butterfly (2:10.09), the 100 Freestyle (51.25) and the 200 Backstroke (2:08.61). 13-year old Zack Grimmett placed third in the 200 Backstroke (2:31.69) and fifth in the 100 Freestyle (58.34). 14-year old Matt Poremba placed third in both the 50 Freestyle (25.06) and the 200 Backstroke (2:20.70).

Age 15 and over swimmers Matt Bolton placed second in the Open 200 IM (2:12.51) and fourth in the Open 200 Backstroke (2:11.79), while Kimberly Delaney swam a personal best in the Open 200 Backstroke, with a time of (2:53.27).
The Greater Manchester YMCA Tiger Sharks swim team includes swimmers from Goffstown, Manchester, Weare, Hooksett, New Boston, Mont Vernon, Candia, Londonderry, Bedford and Derry. Swimmers interested in joining the team can contact Coach Jennifer Cullen at 232-8653 or visit the team website at www.gmfymcatigersharks.org for more information.

Tiger Sharks swim team off to a fast start

Goffstown, NH - The Greater Manchester YMCA Tiger Sharks swim team is looking forward to a promising 2008-2009 season. In the past two weeks, the Tiger Sharks have participated in the 2008 Tiger Shark Invitational, held at the Goffstown Allard Center and the 2008 Reid Sacco YMCA Invitational, held at the Sterling Center in Beverly, Massachusetts. “I am very proud of all our swimmers”, said Coach Jennifer Cullen. “Early in the season, we don’t really expect the kids to drop their times dramatically. In just the last two weeks, we’ve seen a large improvement in individual times. The kids are really motivated this year.”

At the Tiger Shark Invitational, held October 31 to November 2, top finishers in 8 and under events included Gordon Suwirjo, Lydia Barrett, Ryan Reusch and Maeve Hunt. In the 9 and 10 age group, Nina Levine and Keelin Kendall had several first place finishes while Bernard Suwirjo and Wayne LaRue also had strong showings. In the 11 and 12 age group, Greg Levine had several first place finishes and Mary Darby, Zack Grimmett and Emily Lane had top five finishes. In the 13 and over age group Cole Hogg, Kathleen Bolton, Kelsey Poremba all had second place finishes, while Matt Bolton, Aimee St. Germain and Erin O’Neill had finished in the top five in individual events. The Tiger Shark team took second place overall out of six teams from New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

Seven teams from Massachusetts and New Hampshire competed at the Reid Sacco Invitational, held November 7 to November 9, where Tiger Sharks swimmers continued to exceed expectations. In the 8 and under events, Gordon Suwirjo finished first in the boys 50 Freestyle and the 50 Butterfly and Maeve Hunt finished second in the girls 50 Butterfly. In 9 and 10 events, Nina Levine finished third in the 100 Backstroke and Keelin Kendall finished fourth in the 100 Breaststroke. Bernard Suwirjo finished first in the 50 Freestyle. In the 11 and 12 boys events, Greg Levine finished third in the 50 and 100 Freestyle. In the 13 and 14 age group, Cole Hogg placed first in the 200 Butterfly and Alana Westwater placed fifth in the 50 Freestyle. Matt Bolton placed fifth in the 15 and over 200 Breaststroke.

Notable personal best times were achieved by Laura Anderson, Lydia Barrett, Sophie Barbarita, Griffin Bernard, Shayna Boisvert, Kathleen Bolton, Matt Bolton, Mei Brown, Emily Burton, Samuel Calkins, Nate Cassily, Scott Clutterbuck, William Craig, Holly Darby, Mary Darby, Kimberly Delaney, Chantel Descheneau, Katherine Dubois, Georgia Dubois, Madison Edwards, Riley Faszewski, Tyler Faszewski, Sarah Ferguson, Sydney Fontaine, Zack Grimmett, Ian Hagen, Patrick Hayward, Ragnar Kempf, Wayne LaRue, Greg Levine, Sienna Mayer, Abby Poisson, Zachary Smith, Aimee St. Germain and Gordon Suwirjo.

“We are off to a terrific start”, said Coach Cullen. “We are looking forward to a very promising and productive season.”

For more information regarding the Greater Manchester YMCA Tiger Sharks, contact Coach Jennifer Cullen at 232-8653

Olympic swimmers to teach at Goffstown Allard Center YMCA

GOFFSTOWN, NH- The Greater Manchester Family YMCA is pleased to announce that Olympic swimmers, Nicholas Brunelli and Eric Vendt will be teaching a competitive swimming clinic for local swim teams ages 6 – adult at the Goffstown Allard Center YMCA on November 29 and 30, sponsored by Speedo.

Eric Vendt, from North Easton, Massachusetts is a multiple Olympic medalist including most recently a 2008 Gold medal in the Beijiing Olympics for the US's 4 x 200 freestyle relay team. He also won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 2001 he won the silver medal in the 400m Medley at the 2001 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Nicholas Brunelli is from Norwood, Massachusetts. He is a freestyle swimmer who won the gold medal in the men's 4x100m medley relay event at the 2003 Pan American Games. He is also the American record holder in the 50 freestyle in short course meters format. He is currently the 4th fastest in American in history for the 100 Meter Free Style.

Both swimmers grew up competing in the New England Swimming Association, and see this as a great opportunity for them to give back to their childhood swimming communities.

“We are honored to have these two incredibly talented swimmers work with our local swim teams! This is such a great opportunity for our young swimmers to experience Olympic-caliber swimming in person.” Says YMCA Competitive Swim Coach, Jennifer Cullen.

The YMCA competitive swim program allows individuals as young as 5 years to compete, all the way to the adult competition level. The YMCA offers private and group swimming lessons, and over 28 different aquatics classes for members of all ages and fitness levels at both the Goffstown Allard Center and Downtown Manchester branches. Last year, the Goffstown Allard Center YMCA underwent a 2 million dollar renovation.

New Fall programs are starting now at the YMCA. Contact Jennifer Cullen at the Goffstown Allard Center for more information about the aquatics programs at 603-232-8653.

Youth swimmers win big at Allard Center YMCA

GOFFSTOWN, NH- The Greater Manchester Family YMCA is pleased to announce that 2 youth swimmers from the Goffstown Allard Center YMCA Tiger Sharks Swim Team have placed in the top 10 for their age groups out of 7,000 swimmers within The New England Swimming Association.

85 swim teams competed in the events held in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island from September 1 – August 31.

Nina Levine, age 8 of Bedford has been training with the YMCA Tiger Sharks for 2 years. Out of 4,500 female swimmers in The New England Swimming Association, Levine placed among the top 10 in all events for females ages 8 and under, qualifying her as an “Outstanding Swimmer”- swimmers who have accumulated the most points throughout their top 10 standings. “I’ve really enjoyed training at the Y” says Levine. “It’s been a lot of fun and the coaches are amazing.”

Cole Hogg, age 13 of Manchester has been training with the YMCA Tiger Sharks for 3 years. Out of 2,500 male swimmers in the New England Swimming Assocation, Hogg placed in the top 10 for the short course yards and long course meter events for males ages 13-14. Hogg was also the only swimmer from NH to qualify and compete in the 2008 YMCA Summer Swimming Nationals held in College Park, Maryland. “This has been such an awesome experience” says Hogg. “The dedication of the coaches and all of the support from my teammates really drives me to work harder.”

The two young swimmers will be honored by the New England Swimming Association at a banquet for Top Ten Swimmers in Dracut, MA on October 19, 2008 with special guest, 2008 Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel.

YMCA Tiger Sharks coach, Jennifer Cullen was a competitive swimmer for 11 years before signing on to coach competitive swimming at the YMCA nearly 16 years ago. Cullen also coaches the Bedford High School Bulldogs co-ed swim team. During her career, Cullen has seen several of her young swimmers place in the New England Swimming Association events, but this is the first time one of them has placed in the category of Outstanding Swimmer. “It’s amazing that these two kids are so young, but have such remarkable work ethics” says Cullen “They both have a lot of natural talent, and great potential for careers in competitive swimming. I’ve really enjoyed being able to work with them on the Tiger Sharks team.”

The YMCA competitive swim program allows individuals as young as 5 years to compete, all the way to the adult competition level. The YMCA also offers private and group swimming lessons, and over 28 different aquatics classes for members of all ages and fitness levels at both the Goffstown Allard Center and Downtown Manchester branches.

New Fall programs begin on November 3, 2008 at the YMCA. Contact Jennifer Cullen at the Goffstown Allard Center for more information about the aquatics programs at 603-232-8653 or visit manchesterymca.org.

Caption: Nina Levine, Jennifer Cullen and Cole Hogg of the Goffstown Allard Center Tiger Sharks Swim Team.