ANA SYNCHERS QUALIFY UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF SWIMMERS FOR NATIONAL COMPETITION

On the heels of their local victories this month, the ANA Synchers made unprecedented strides this weekend at the Regional Championships in Albany, by qualifying four teams, or thirty-six swimmers, for the 2006 ESynchro Age Group National Championships in Seattle, WA from June 23rd-July 1st. The ANA Synchers, the synchronized swimming team based at the Andover/North Andover branch of the Merrimack Valley YMCA, earned gold medals for team competition in the 18-19 and 14-15 age groups, silver in the 12-13 age group, and a fourth place finish in 16-17 age group, qualifying all four teams to move on to the national competition. The Synchers also qualified three trios, three duets and five solos to compete in Seattle.

In the 18-19 age group, graduating senior Rita Gillan, 18, of Andover, executed a clean sweep of the top awards, including a first place finish for her solo, for technical figures, and in the duet category with teammate Stephanie Garcia Restrepo, 16 of Billerica. Gillan and Garcia Restrepo were joined by teammates Charlotte Gorski, 17, of Manchester, NH, Ashley Cohen, 16, Beth O’Connor, 16, Faryn Shiro, 17, and Kelly Mahoney, 16, all of Andover, and Meaghan Arsenault, 15, and Maggie Conlon, 15, both of Methuen, as they skulled and flipped their way to gold in their team routine. Placing 6th place for their trio were Rachel Veznaian, 18, Alice Wu, 15, both of Andover, and Edith Kwok, 16, of North Andover.

In the 16-17 age group, Stephanie Garcia Restrepo, Maggie Conlon and Ashley Cohen took gold for their trio. Trio swimmers Charlotte Gorski, Faryn Shiro and Kelly Mahoney earned a fifth place finish as did duet swimmers Meaghan Arsenault and Beth O’Connor. In the solo category, silver went to Stephanie Garcia Restrepo, and bronze to Ashley Cohen. Snagging fourth place for the 16-17 team routine, in their strongest performance of the season, were Alice Wu, 15, Laura Hanson, 13, Colleen Maher, 13, Elizabeth Maldari, 14, all of Andover, Edith Kwok, 17, Shefali (Minnie) Lohia, 14, and Hannah Straus, 13, all of North Andover, and Taylor Clarke, 14, of Lowell.

The 14-15 age group swimmers snagged first place for their team routine with swimmers Claire Rudder, 14, of Sudbury, Jessica Mancini, 14, Erica Potts, 15, Molly Trerotola, 14, Sheila Cremin, 14, and Emily Stone, 15, all of Andover, and Amber Blum, 14, and Rebecca Ely, 15, of North Andover. Emily Ingram, 14, of North Andover was the alternate. Finishing in fourth place were Mancini and Rudder for their duet performance, Trerotola, Potts and Mancini for their trio routine, and Rudder for her solo performance.

In the 12-13 age group, second place trio swimmers Caitlyn MacGregor, 13, Alyson Ziel, 13, and Alice Rodgers, 12, all of North Andover, also earned silver for their team routine, for which they were joined by teammates Candace Ju, 12, of Andover, Laina Grey, 11, and Yuka Fuchino, 11, all of North Andover, Audrey Hansen, 12, and Marian Crockett, 12, of Andover, and Alyson Arsenault, 11, of Methuen. Jennifer Meli, 12, of Methuen and Alice Rodgers were alternates. Bronze medals went to Fuchino and Ziel for their duet, and MacGregor took fourth place for her solo.

The ANA Syncher’s Intermediate team also excelled in the competition. Swimmers Sarah Higgins, 11, of North Andover snagged gold for her solo, as well as for her duet with teammate Geena Denny, 11, of Andover. They were joined by teammates Elizabeth Gardell, 12, and Kimberly Cushing, 9, of North Andover, Christine Wu, 11, of Andover, Amanda Meli, 10, of Methuen and Jackie Bolduc, 11, of Merrimac, in taking silver for their team routine.

In addition to training for the Nationals, The ANA Synchers will be bringing seventeen swimmers to the US Open competition held in Orlando, Florida in July. For more information about the team and opportunities for getting involved, contact head coach Genia Gillan at 978-886-7075.



The almost 60-girl-strong, 2006 ANA Synchers, the synchronized swimming team that is sponsored by
the Andover/North Andover Branch of the Merrimack Valley YMCA