Club Olympia Places 11th at Indiana Age Group State Swimming Championships

This past weekend Indiana Swimming held its annual Short Course Age Group State Swimming Championships at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis. 75 teams and almost 1000 swimmers who met difficult qualifying times throughout the short course season competed in the three day event. Age Group State is segmented into 10 and Under, 11 & 12, and 13 & 14 year old groupings by gender for competition.

Columbus, Indiana’s Club Olympia Swim Team, coached by Jennifer Brinegar and her coaching staff claimed an impressive 11th place team finish, scoring 400 points, with only 13 total swimmers entered. Seven athletes had qualified for individual events and another six swam on relay teams. Club Olympia claimed an impressive six Silver Medal 2nd place finishes and four Bronze Medal 3rd place finishes, and combined for 29 finishes where Club Olympia swimmers reached finals and placed 16th or better to score team points.

Nine year old Tony Machavariani led the way with 94 points and eight podium finishes in the Boys 10&Under age group by finishing top 8 in all six of his individual events and helping his two relay teams finish top 8 as well. Tony finished in 2nd in the 100 breaststroke, 3rd in the 100 butterfly and 200 IM, and 4th in the 50, 100 & 200 freestyle. Machavariani finished 4th in individual points for the 10&Under boys.

Connelly Furnish scored 93 points placing top 8 in all six of her individual events with four 2nd place finishes in the Girls 11-12 200 & 500 freestyle, as well as the 50 & 100 breaststroke. Furnish was also 5th in the 200 IM and 8th in the 100 freestyle. Furnish ended the weekend as the fourth highest scoring 11-12 year old girl in the state.

Misha Machavariani, a Columbus East freshman, placed top 8 in five of his Boys 13-14 events and finished with 72 points. Misha was 3rd in the 100 breaststroke and 1650 freestyle, 5th in the 500 & 1000 freestyle, and 7th in the 400 IM.

Eleven year old Joshua Pendleton scored 68 points by placing top 9 in five of his six 11-12 events. Pendleton finished 2nd in the 500 freestyle, 4th in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, 6th in the 200 IM and 9th in the 100 freestyle.

Todd Hundley, also a Columbus East freshman, finished with 16 points after placing 10th in the Boys 13-14 1650 freestyle, 11th in the 1000 freestyle, and 14th in the 200 backstroke.

Shreyan Kulkarni, just nine years old, scored seven points by placing 14th in the Boys 10&Under 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly, and 16th in the 200 IM.

Eight year old Vivan Shah led off the Boys 10&Under 200 Medley relay on the backstroke leg with a personal best by one second. Kulkarni swam the breaststroke leg, followed by Machavariani on the butterfly leg, and then ten year old Daxton Wolf anchored the relay and dropped two seconds off his previous best 50 freestyle time. The relay team dropped over four seconds to finish in sixth, giving three of the boys their first podium finish and medal at a state championship meet. The 200 freestyle relay consisted of Kulkarni, Wolf, Arjun Agarkar, and Machavariani. This relay also dropped four seconds and finished in a tie for 8th place.

The Girls 11-12 200 Medley and 200 freestyle relays, consisting of Advika Badve, Sanaa Kulkarni, Nandini Kondhare and Connelly Furnish finished in 15th and 19th place, respectively.

Aashka Shah, swimming in her first Age Group State meet at age 10, finished in 21st in the Girls 10&Under 100 butterfly.

Indiana Swimming will hold its annual Senior State Short Course Swimming Championships this weekend at the Elkhart Health and Aquatics Center in Elkhart, Indiana. Senior State is an “Open” competitive event for 15 year old and older, or any younger swimmers who have met the tough qualify time standards. Club Olympia will be represented by 11 total swimmers (including Age Groupers Misha Machavariani and Furnish) in multiple relays and individual events.