EAST BRUNSWICK – An East Brunswick swimmer won the first individual state title in almost 10 years for East Brunswick’s Raritan Valley YMCA (RVY) Riptide swim team.
Katherine Kennedy won five events in the 10 and under division at the New Jersey YMCA State Championships, held Feb. 22-24 at the Ocean County YMCA in Toms River.
No one else in her division won more than two of the meet’s 11 individual events, according to information provided by RVY.
The 10 & under girls age division featured 11 individual events for approximately 150 of the state’s best young athletes. Katherine stood out from the pack, winning the 50, 100, and 200 Free (27.60, 59.42, 2:14.81) as well as 100 and 200 individual medley (1:08.64, 2:29.84). She also added a second-place in 50 Fly (30.03), according to information provided by RVY.
“She probably had a shot to win in some other strokes as well, but you are only allowed to enter six events maximum. It’s hard to choose for her because she’s very well-rounded,” said Brian Rose, RVY Riptide head coach. “It’s unbelievable how she keeps getting better by the week. Your best swimmer to begin the year is rarely your most-improved swimmer by the end of the year, but that’s Katherine. She keeps coming to practice with a sense of maturity and purpose. She’s one of the few younger kids for whom I could give them a written practice, and they’ll keep the whole lane on task even if a coach isn’t instructing them the entire time.”
Several other swimmers for RVY Riptide earned point-scoring finishes (top 16) at the meet. Riptide loaded up on points in the freestyle events, getting scores from East Brunswick’s Isabella Loufek (15th in 200 Free, 2:35.02) and East Windsor’s Elizabeth Molinelli (14th in 200 Free, 2:34.88; 15th in 100 Free, 1:09.33). Kaileigh Kennedy finished 10th in 100 Free with 1:08.11 and eighth in 200 Free with 2:27.75, making the Kennedy sisters the two all-time fastest 10 & under girls in 200 Free over the 24-year history of the RVY Riptide swim team, according to the statement.
Elizabeth, Isabella and the Kennedy sisters combined to finish third in the 200 Free Relay, an unusually high finish in a meet normally dominated by larger YMCAs. The 200 Medley Relay team of the Kennedys, Elizabeth and South Amboy’s Erin Noble finished eighth, according to the statement.
Joey Guadagnino, age 9, from North Brunswick, finished ninth in the Boys 10 & under 50 Breast. He is more than a year younger than most of the event’s competitors, and began the day seeded 33rd, according to the statement.
“I love watching the 10 & unders and the 12 & unders compete at this meet,” Rose said in the statement. “They have a level of professionalism toward their practices and races; you would never believe how young they are. They push themselves in ways that many adults would back down from. Swimming develops incredible people. And we have a real team here. This is not an individual sport. We’ve got a lot of very talented young kids who will be pushing each other to become better for years to come.”
Tryouts for next winter’s swim team will be held in July and are open to swimmers age 5 and up. Swimmers looking to prepare for the tryout, or the summer season, can sign up now for Riptide’s Spring Fling training program, which starts in April.
For more information, visit rvyriptide.org.
Non-swimmers can learn to swim by attending Raritan Valley YMCA swim lessons or joining the Raritan Valley YMCA summer camp. For more information, visit raritanvalleyymca.org.