Madison Gupton – 8 & under – Age Group 1Madison was chosen as our swimmer of the month for February for the 8 & under age group. She was chosen because she has been working very hard and has greatly improved her strokes. Madison has very good practice attendance and has swam at the mini meets for her age group. Madison’s favorite swim meet so far is the MAKO winter invite because she received a ribbon for backstroke. Her favorite event to swim is the 100 free. Madison has been working hard on her flip turns which has really helped her in this event. At swim practice she really enjoys practicing the 100 IM. Madison enjoys being on BWST because she likes the new team colors (navy blue, dark gray, and lime green) and she has fun doing dryland. Madison feels like she has been influenced by the swimming of Olympic great Michael Phelps, and her goals for this year are to improve all her times, and stay legal in all her strokes and turns (especially that 100 IM). In order to get ready for a swim meet, Madison likes to just relax and think about what she needs to do to swim fast! Her advice for her teammates is to try your best and have fun. If Madison was stranded on a desert island, she would like to have her family, her dog, and her American Girl Dolls to play with! When she is not swimming Madison likes to play with her dog Penny and her sister Mackenzie in their backyard on their swingset. Way to go Madison!
Rachel Mihalic – 9-10 – Age Group 2
Rachel was chosen as the February swimmer of the month for the 9-10 age group because she has been working very hard this season and has made many improvements. One thing in particular that the coaches have seen with Rachel is her interest in learning new techniques and her desire to improve. Rachel will always ask during practice what she can do to improve on something specific, and she enjoys getting feedback. Her favorite swim meet so far this year has been the Turkey Claus meet because she made a JO cut time. But she also really enjoyed the travel meet to Va Tech. Her favorite events to swim are the 100 and 200 IM and the 50 and 100 Butterfly. At practice, Rachel enjoys the 5 minute swim set, where swimmers try to swim as many laps as possible in 5 minutes. They usually do this more than once and try to improve the second time around. Rachel’s favorite thing about being on BWST is having such close friends with her on the team. Rachel feels like she has been influenced by all of her coaches throughout the years. To get ready for swim meets Rachel likes to listen to her IPOD, especially the song Burnin’ Up. Rachel has already met her goals of this year to achieve BB times, so her goals for next year include achieving A times and making JOs again as well as Tom Dolan. Rachel’s advice for her teammates is to practice hard and listen to your coaches. If she was stranded on a desert island she would like to have cookies to eat, a bathing suit, and a microphone to sing in. When she is not swimming she likes to do gymnastics, create and perform shows with her friends, watch American Idol, sing, and go to school. Keep working hard Rachel!
Paige Scallion – 11-12 – Pre-Senior 1
Paige was chosen as our February swimmer of the month for the 11-12 age group because the coaches have observed great improvements in Paige’s technique and attitude towards commitment, which has allowed her to consistently improve her times this season. Her infectious personality is always great at practice allowing everyone around to feed off her positive attitude. Paige's favorite meet so far this year has been the Turkey Claus meet because it had prelims and finals. She loves to compete in the IM events and 50 fly. Paige’s favorite types of practices are when they split into lanes by favorite stroke and work on drills of that stroke. Some of the things she likes best about being on BWST are her coaches, her friends, and the fun practices they do! Paige feels that she was influeced by one of her first coaches when she was younger because he really sparked her interest in swimming. One of her goals for this year was to make JO’s, which she accomplished this March! Paige will be swimming the 50 Fly, 100 IM, and 50 Back. To get ready for swim meets she likes to get plenty of sleep the night before so that she is well rested. Paige’s advice for her fellow BWST teammates is to have a good balance between swimming and other activities to stay well rounded! If Paige were stranded on a desert island the three things she would want to have with her would be her Ipod, her dog, and a laptop. When she is not swimming Paige likes to hang out with her friends and go shopping. Keep working hard Paige!
Eric Yang – 13-14 – Pre-Senior 1
Eric was chosen as our February swimmer of the month for the 13-14 age group because of the great improvements he has achieved this season. He is not the same swimmer he was when he first started in September. This is mainly due to his undying willingness to work hard at changing bad habits into good ones. Each
practice he gives his all which has improved every aspect of his swimming. Eric has taken to heart the little quote "Work, works." Eric's favorite swim meet this year has been the FISH Qualifier because he dropped time in many of his events. His favorite events to swim are the 200 IM, 200 Free, 100 IM, 100 Backstroke and 50 Free. His favorite sets to do at practice is 4x (50, 25, 50, 25, kick/drill, then 25, 50, 25, 50 drill/kick) followed by 200 IM's. Eric feels like he has been influenced as a swimmer by his mom and dad, and his favorite thing about being on BWST this year has been making new friends and swimming hard. Eric's goals for this year have been to drop at least one second in each event that he swims at meets. When he is not swimming, Eric enjoys playing basketball and hanging out with friends. If he were stranded on a desert island the three things he would want would be water (fresh), a swimsuit, and food. Eric's advice to his teammates it to swim hard! Keep working hard Eric!
Abby Pasztor – 15 & over – Pre-Senior 2
Abby was chosen as our February swimmer of the month for the 15 & over age group because of her many accomplishments thus far this season and how she has gone about making the necessary changes to achieve them. She is the true embodiment of the saying "Actions speak louder than words." I state this because through her actions she has become a team leader which everyone at Blue Wave can look up to. Her actions have also allowed her to achieve both Senior Champs and Southern Zone Sectional qualifying times as well as placing 8th in the 100 fly at her High Schools state meet! The competition she enjoyed most this season has been the VA Tech travel meet because it was fun for her to swim in a different location and to have a feeling of independence. Her favorite event to swim is the 100 Butterfly, but she also enjoys the 50 Free because you can just give it your all in a short distance. One set she enjoys to swim at practice are sprint 25’s on a medium interval, because it allows you to sprint and go fast, but get enough rest to hold your technique until the end. Her major influences as a swimmer come from the people around her. The best thing about being on BWST is the small team aspect where everyone can bond and experience the same things. When preparing for a meet, Abby likes to listen to relaxing music leading up to the meet, then at the meet she will listen to motivating music to get pumped up. One of her main goals for this year was to work on the mental aspect of training and swimming because athletics can be just as mentally challenging as it is physically challenging! Abby’s advice for her teammates is that “it all starts with the little things.” This means that once you do the little things right, and without thought, you can focus on the next step! If Abby were stranded on a desert island the three things she would want with her would be a guitar, pictures of important people and things in her life (for motivation), and Les Stroud, Survivorman! When she is not swimming, Abby likes to relax and go hiking. We are very proud of you, Abby keep working hard!
