The Palisades-Malibu YMCA swim team took second out of 11 teams at a meet hosted by the Westside YMCA last weekend at the El Monte Aquatics Center. Although Paly’s 15-and-over swimmers continued to take first in most of their events, several younger swimmers made significant time cuts, thus resulting in higher placement and more points for the team. “All of our swimmers did a great job,” Paly Head Coach Brian Timmerman said. “This was our third Y meet of the season and I have a lot of awards to pass out this week.” It was the first time that Paly’s U-8 swimmers got a chance to swim relays and the boys team of Alexander Lee, Jared Anwar, James Conlon and Finn Bradley won the 100 freestyle relay and finished third in the medley (Anwar, Bradley, Lee and Carlo Morelli). Paly’s girls team placed second in both the freestyle (Erin McMahon, Jaclyn Wittbrodt, Elena Saab, Caroline Carswelll) and the medley (Elena Saab Keara Rutz Leah Timmerman and Camille Oswald). Timmerman also had high praise for his nine- and 10-year-old girls. ‘Many of them have just aged up, so they’re the youngest in the age group,’ Timmerman said. ‘They (Rachel Martin, Grace Heck, Clara Saab and Gretta Johnson) still placed third in the medley relay. In that same age group, the boys (William Abe, Mac Bradley, Jack Wilson and Kenneth Saab) also placed third in the freestyle relay.’ In the 11- and 12-year-old boys division, Michael Lukasiak, Thomas Collins, Eric Lin, and Ryan Wilson took third place in the freestyle relay. The girls’ team of Kathryne Heck, Syndney Cheong, Jayme Rossie and Courtney Carswell took third in the medley relay. The relay teams continued with drama as the 15-and-over boys medley relay team of Jordan Wilimovsky, Sherin Ghaffar, James deMayo and Hudson Lofchie was able to edge its competition by hundredths of a second to finish first, with Hudson Lofchie swimming a strong freestyle leg in one of his fastest swims of the season. Timmerman put together two equal relays of 15-and-over girls for the medley event, with each swimmer taking a leg in a stroke that wasn’t necessarily her best. The teams finished first (2:02.46) and second (2:02.82), although only the A-team was allowed to count points towards the team total. “Jared Anwar, Caroline Carswell and Elena Saab, all had four best new times,” Timmerman said. “Joe Walker had six best times.” Eleven-year-old Courtney Carswell managed to better nine of her times and her teammate Kate Heck dropped time in five events. Other 11- and 12-year-olds who made notable time improvements were Jayme Rossie and Michael Lukasiak. The Hacker siblings had a strong meet with 13-year-old Andrew swimming five best new times and 15-year-old Hayley winning the 100 backstroke in 1:04.63. The December Age Group Championships are this weekend in Cerritos. To participate, swimmers must meet qualifying times. Thirteen Paly swimmers will be compete in individual events and six more will swim relays, making this Paly’s largest contingent in several years. Paly will host its next meet January 26-27.
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