By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
In its second scored meet of the season, the Fluvanna Aquatic Sports Team (FAST) overwhelmed the Charlottesville Elks squad 463-249.
Tuesday’s (June 25) contest was a home meet for FAST, but was held at the Elks’ pool at Pantops because FAST does not have a home pool for meets. FAST Coach Nate Johnson said that his team practices five days a week, in the morning and the evening, at the indoor pool at Fork Union Military Academy; however, they are unable to use that pool for their meets.
This meet opened with the medley relay event, in which four swimmers compete in different disciplines for each team. With a boys’ and a girls’ competition in four age groups, eight relay races took place in rapid succession. The FAST team won five of these races; the Elks won one; and two had no winner due to disqualification. As a result, FAST was able to open the meet with a commanding lead. In the individual events, FAST was also completely dominant.
In the boys’ and the girls’ 8 and under freestyle race, FAST captured first and second. Jacob Birkhead and Ella Gray were the winners, both by comfortable margins. In the 9-10 year old freestyle, FAST again won the top places in boys’ and girls’ events. Harrison Williams and Ava Gray were the winners. In the boys’ 11-12 freestyle Jacob Thurston-Wells was the fastest, while in the 13-14 boys’ race it was Anthony Caruso who took first place. In the 15-18 age group FAST again won on the boys’ and girls’ races. Edwin Navarro and Emma DiFazio were winners in comfortable fashion.
In the 8 and under breaststroke, Reed Williams and Abby Caruso captured first place for FAST. In the 9-10 breaststroke races, Harrison Williams and Maya Hernandez won for the FAST team. In the boys’ 11-12 race Jacob Thurston-Wells was a winner again. In the 13-14 boys’ breaststroke race Anthony Caruso was a repeat winner.
In the 8 and under backstroke, Jacob Birkhead won again for FAST. For the girls, it was Abby Caruso who was first again. In the 9-10 backstroke, the FAST team again won in boys’ and girls’ races. Harrison Williams and Maya Hernandez both won. Williams was an impressive 20 seconds better than the second place swimmer. In the 11-12 backstroke, Thurston-Wells won again on the boys’ side. In the 13-14 age group, Jackson Kinsella was the winner for FAST in backstroke. In the 15-18 age group the top backstroke swimmers, Edwin Navarro and Joey Hagan, were again from FAST.
In the girls’ 8 and under butterfly event Ella Gray was the winner for the FAST team. In the boys’ 9-10 event, Riggins Botkins was the winner for FAST. On the girls’ side Ava Gray was the winner. At 11-12, the boys’ butterfly winner was Landon Mayhew. In the boys’ 13-14 race, Anthony Caruso again won for FAST. The winners in 15-18 age group in the butterfly event were both FAST swimmers. Edwin Navarro was the winner for the boys and Emma DiFazio had another win on the girls’ side.
The final event of the meet is the distance freestyle race. For the 8 and under swimmers it is a 50-meter event; for the swimmers from 9 on up it is a 100-meter event. In the 8 and under age races, FAST was dominant. Jacob Birkhead won again for the boys and Abby Caruso won again for the girls. In the 9-10 age group, FAST took first on both sides with Riggins Botkin and Maya Hernandez topping the event. In the 13-14 boys’ event, Jackson Kinsella was a repeat winner finishing 18 seconds ahead of the closest competitor. In the girls’ 15-18 race, Emma DiFazio won again. She also topped the competition by 18 seconds.
Johnson said that FAST has 66 swimmers registered this season and noted that the team is probably strongest in the under 10 age category, which bodes well for the future. FAST is swimming in the third division of the Jefferson Swim League this season. Its record in scored events is now 1-1.
