Riptide Ramblings: January 2025

Kelly & Matt Murphy

 

Welcome to another edition of the Riptide Ramblings! This is a regular newsletter for Riptide Swim Team to communicate our teams’ successes and what is happening throughout the season. This edition includes a profile on Coach Scott Thompson!


 

Team News

SAVE THE DATES

  • Riptide Final Quest to Qualify Time Trial: January 26

  • Relays & Pizza Team Night: January 31

  • NJ YMCA 8&Under State Championships: February 1

  • NJ YMCA Bronze State Championships (9&Over): February 7-9

  • NJ YMCA Silver State Championships (9&Over): February 14-16

  • NJ YMCA 12&Under State Championships: February 21-23

  • Sunkissed National Meet: March 27-30

    • SUNKISSED MANDATORY INFORMATIONAL MEETING LAST WEEK OF JANUARY BEFORE PRACTICE STARTS. DAY/TIME TBD. LOOK OUT FOR INFORMATIONAL EMAIL

  • End-of-Season Banquet: April 27



 

DUAL MEETS

Dual Meet Results: Season Overall Record 7-1

November 30th- Boys Blue/White vs Ocean Win 262-136

December 7th - Boys Blue at Hamilton Win 216-148 

December 8th - Girls Black/Purple vs Ocean Win

YMCA Championships

 

The regular season ends with the YMCA Championship Meets in February. These meets all have qualifying times, which you can see the HERE. 

 

February 1 - 8&U State Championships

February 8-9 - Bronze State Championships

February 14-16 - Silver State Championships 

February 21-23 - 12&U State Championships 

March 6-9 - 13&Over State Championships 

 

*Keep your eye out for signing your swimmer(s) up for these championships, times, locations, etc. Registering will work like an invitational. 










 

January Practice Calendar

          







 

Holiday Classic Invitational - Recap

 

December 20-22 at Rutgers was the Holiday Classic. This year was our highest scoring total at this event in Riptide’s history. Contributions came from many of our swimmers which will be listed below. There are two special mentions that Coach Brian wanted to make. Nika Saroka had the best individual performance at the Holiday Classic in Riptide History while setting many team records in the process. Coach Brian states every season that his favorite team records are the relays. Our 13-14 Boys were able to get a team record in the 400 Medley Relay. Congrats to Jack Rogers, Kevin Hall, Caleb Murphy, and Daniel Lazarev. 















 

Below are all the contributors to the best performance at the Holiday Classic in Riptide History. Many other outstanding performances from other swimmers may not have scored points showing how the Riptide program is growing each year. 

 

Caroline Compton – 15th, Girls 12&U 50 Breast, 36.59.

Tanina Dreher – 12th, Girls 12&U 200 Back, 2:30.51.

Kevin Hall – 16th, Boys 13-14 100 Free, 52.51 (52.21 in prelims).

Zainab Khan – 13th, Girls 12&U 50 Fly, 30.06.

Avya Kumar – 14th, Girls 12&U 200 Back, 2:39.58.

Gideon Murphy – 12th, Boys 12&U 200 Back, 2:37.40.

Nika Saroka – 6th, Girls 12&U 200 Back, 2:22.61. 2nd, Girls 12&U 100 Free, 56.56 (NEW TEAM RECORD). FIRST!!! Girls 12&U 50 Fly, 28.21.

Mixed 12&U 200 Medley Relay – Nika Saroka, Caroline Compton, Jacob Arocho, Gideon Murphy – 9th, 2:07.06.

Women Open 200 Free Relay – Elizabeth Molinelli, Taylor Huggup, Samantha Guadagnino, Kait Hall – 15th, 1:44.31.

Boys 13-14 400 Medley Relay – Jack Rogers, Kevin Hall, Caleb Murphy, Daniel Lazarev – 5th, 3:59.46 (NEW TEAM RECORD).

Women Open 400 Medley Relay – Taylor Huggup, Samantha Guadagnino, Kait Hall, Elizabeth Molinelli – 9th, 4:14.91.

Men Open 400 Medley Relay – Mason Trinh, Drew Machurov, Cole Eastep, Garrett Umbach – 14th, 3:48.53.

Kevin Hall – 12th, Boys 13-14 100 Breast, 1:03.97.

Zainab Khan – 16th, Girls 12&U 100 Fly, 1:08.92.

Avya Kumar – 15th, Girls 12&U 100 Fly, 1:08.68

Caleb Murphy – 16th, Boys 13-14 100 Fly, 59.35 (58.86 in prelims).

Nika Saroka – 4th, Girls 12&U 50 Back, 30.35. 2nd, Girls 12&U 100 Fly, 1:01.53 (NEW TEAM RECORD). 3rd, Girls 12&U 400 IM, 5:03.71 (NEW TEAM RECORD).

Girls 12&U 200 Medley Relay – Nika Saroka, Caroline Compton, Zainab Khan, Tanina Dreher – 6th, 2:06.16. (Nika’s 50 Back split of 30.19 is a NEW TEAM RECORD for Girls 11-12 50 Back.)

Women Open 800 Free Relay – Kait Hall, Reagan Umbach, Nika Saroka, Elizabeth Molinelli – 8th, 8:17.98.

Jacob Arocho – Boys 12&U 200 Fly, 5th, 2:48.44

Caroline Compton – Girls 12&U 200 Breast, 16th, 2:56.65

Tanina Dreher – Girls 12&U 100 Back, 16th, 1:10.73

Kait Hall – Women 500 Free, 22nd, 5:18.37

Kevin Hall – Boys 13-14 200 Breast, 12th, 2:23.68

Zainab Khan – Girls 12&U 200 Fly, 5th, 2:35.41

Avya Kumar – Girls 12&U 200 Fly, 7th, 2:52.36

Caleb Murphy – Boys 13-14 200 Fly, 8th, 2:13.10. Boys 13-14 100 Back, 16th, 1:01.40 (1:00.27 in prelims).

Avika Pandey – Girls 12&U 200 Fly, 6th, 2:51.48

Jack Rogers – Boys 13-14 200 Fly, 11th, 2:23.23 (2:22.15 in prelims)

Nika Saroka – Girls 12&U 50 Free, FIRST!, 26.31 (NEW TEAM RECORD). Girls 12&U 100 Back, 3rd, 1:05.00. Girls 12&U 100 IM, 3rd, 1:05.15.

Reagan Umbach – Girls 13-14 200 Fly, 14th, 2:23.79

Girls 12&U 200 Free Relay – Zainab Khan, Tanina Dreher, Avya Kumar, Nika Saroka – 8th, 1:55.78

Mixed Open 200 Medley Relay – Mason Trinh, Drew Machurov, Kait Hall, Elizabeth Molinelli – 10th, 1:45.52

Boys 13-14 400 Free Relay – Kevin Hall, Jack Rogers, Caleb Murphy, Daniel Lazarev – 5th, 3:43.77






 

Swimmers of the Month: November

 

Tiny Tides

  • Siya Mishra- Siya is always ready and willing to push herself to make herself better! You can really see how much she has improved since September!

  • Bryce Agustin - He is always working hard at practice and with a smile on his face. He applies all critiques to the best of his ability and you can see his improvement.

Tidal Wave

  • Willow Zirch- Willow is always excited and ready to improve at every practice! She shows up every day with a smile on her face.

  • Rocco Ghisolfi- Rocco goes into every practice extremely focused and pays attention to corrections so he can improve! He works hard every practice!

Junior 1

  • Madison Retzlaff - Madison is coming into her own by intelligently searching for areas to improve and eliminate weaknesses.

  • Timo Aguirre - Tim is eager to try longer events, and longer practices, and gets satisfaction from working hard.

Junior 2

  • Phoebe Eliopoulos - Phoebe's work ethic makes her a mature member of the group despite being one of its youngest members, and she had 7 best times in November.

  • Matthew Molinelli - Quietly willing to try anything at both practices and meets, Matthew achieved best times in November in all 4 strokes and the IM.

Senior 1

  • Ella Ninal - Ella has shown a desire to work on different aspects of her technique throughout the season, and it's shown with several impressive best times this month.

  • Gideon Murphy - Willing to try any event at any distance, including being one of the youngest swimmers to try the 1000 Free this year.

 

Senior 2

  • Taylor Huggup - Even as a graduating senior and top swimmer, Taylor continues to progress in her effort level in practice.

  • Jack Rogers - Jack is not afraid to fail and take on new challenges at practice, and he encourages other swimmers to do the same.

 

Swimmers of the Month: December

 

Tiny Tides

  • Avril Ortiz - Comes to every practice ready to swim and is the first one in the pool. She works hard every practice and has improved a great deal since September. Her hard work in December helped her set the new 8&U 50 Backstroke record at the beginning of January!

  • Viyan Singal - Works very hard at practice and is always asking for tips on how to improve his strokes and his times. You can really see his improvement throughout the swim season.

 

Tidal Wave

  • Matthew Shelford - Matthew has shown a lot of talent in his first season, and recently has been working very hard. He always seems to have fun with the sport!

  • Nicole Zhang - Always puts in a full effort and makes sure to incorporate any opportunity to improve.

 

Junior 1

  • Prishaa Pushkarnaa - Prishaa has been quietly diligent throughout the season, resulting in improvements in all elements of the sport.

  • Sebastian Diaz - Sebastian is coming into his own as a swimmer, showing increased motivation, competitiveness, and results.

 

Junior 2

  • Samantha Mason - Always shows consistent effort, but recently it has resulted in a spurt of best times in December/early January.

  • Aiden Tiburcio - Aiden is consistently friendly and professional, and his recent efforts have led to the completion of his first competitive 500. (Even if it was technically at the beginning of January.)

 

Senior 1

  • Avika Pandey - Avika's consistent work ethic has paid off with a slew of new qualifying times in longer or more difficult events.

  • Makana Barrientos - Has shown consistent improvement, confidence, and best times since moving up from Juniors.

 

Senior 2

  • Rachel Kaplan - Rachel puts a priority on being a well-rounded swimmer, and has somehow achieved best times in 9 different events in only 1 month.

  • Caleb Murphy - Missed a lot of time due to illness, and has pushed hard to come back, including helping the 13-14 Boys set the first relay record of the season.

Coach Spotlight

 

Scott Thompson


This week’s spotlight is on Coach Scott. Coach Scott has been with Riptide since the beginning. Long considered our founding coach. No Coach Spotlight would be complete without looking at Coach Scott. He is a valuable member of our Riptide family having spent time both as a coach and a parent. Don’t miss Coach Scott nights!

 

What’s your role for Riptide?

My role for Riptide is as a coach, administrator, historian and you could even say founder. Through the years I had also been an active swim parent of two Riptide swimmers for 17 years, my daughter Courtney and son Andrew, who both graduated from Riptide and went on to swim for four years at TCNJ. 

How long have you been a coach at Riptide? I had coached for Riptide since its inception in 1995 and was the head coach for a number of years until I stepped away in 1998. I came back as an assistant coach in 2007 and have been coaching part-time ever since. 

 

Any history lessons about Riptide?  

Riptide was created in 1995 when our existing team at the Central Jersey YWCA in New Brunswick closed due to financial issues. My wife Leslie and I worked with the Raritan Valley YMCA, which at the time was an old building on Dunham’s Corner Road, to affiliate with them so that we could continue swimming as a “Y” team, and Riptide was born!

 

Previous coaching? 

I began my coaching career in 1985 with the North Brunswick Township summer team and subsequently started the boys’ Y swim team at the Central Jersey YWCA in New Brunswick, which prior to that only had a girls’ team. I was the head coach there, coaching with my soon-to-be wife Leslie Curran, until we moved the team under the Raritan Valley YMCA, swimming out of Middlesex County College. 

 

What is your family's connection to Riptide?

We have had a big family connection to Riptide, in that I coached with my wife Leslie for many years, and was a Riptide parent for my two children Courtney and Andrew. 

 

Special Riptide memories. 

I have some very special memories with Riptide, starting with watching my swimmers grow into amazing young adults, setting and reaching their goals, and leading the team to our SunKissed Nationals meet each year. The best part was watching my own children Courtney and Andrew excel at that meet, including watching Courtney in numerous finals and Andrew winning gold in a number of events in his Junior and Senior years.

 

Career as a swimmer? 

My career as a swimmer included participating for many summers on the North Brunswick Township summer swim team and then also for the North Brunswick Township High School team until graduating in 1984. 

 

Favorite swim memory? 

I really can’t say I have one favorite swim memory, but the best memories over the years were definitely watching my children compete, for Brookside Swim Club, Riptide and then The College of New Jersey.  Swimming also gave us the opportunity to build so many memories and long-term friendships with other swim parents. 

 

Favorite stroke? 

My favorite stroke to swim is probably freestyle. However, my favorite stroke to teach is butterfly. There are so many things to consider for good butterfly technique, including head position, timing, arm placement, kick and so much more. Swimmers can make significant improvement in their butterfly by continually tweaking their technique. 

 

Favorite Set? 

My favorite set is probably an IM set that focuses on each of the individual legs followed by an IM sprint. 

6x50 fly

200 IM sprint 

6x50 back

200 IM sprint

6x50 breast

200 IM sprint

6x50 free

200 IM sprint. 

 

What is your favorite thing about Riptide? 

My favorite thing about Riptide is the family atmosphere that we have created on this team. Our team spirit, camaraderie and parent support are second to none. 

Favorite food? My favorite food is any kind of pizza. Plain, meat or veggie, I love them all. 

 

Favorite hobby? 

My favorite hobby is spending time with my family. It doesn’t matter what we are doing. From beach days, vacations, dinners, and sporting events to playing pickleball, family time is what it’s all about. 

 

Favorite thing to do for fun? 

My favorite thing to do for fun is going to sporting events to watch my favorite teams, the Mets, the Devils and Rutgers football and basketball. 

 

Advice for Parents? 

My advice for parents is to always keep things in perspective and enjoy every minute of your swim team parent experience because it goes so very fast.  The journey, the relationships and building character & work ethic are far more important than worrying about every swim result. 

 

#1 swim tip for swimmers. My #1 tip for swimmers is to follow the PEAR rule. Practice Effort + Attendance = Results. It is easy to get distracted during the season, but results will only come if you attend as many practices as you can and when you are attending you put forth 100% effort during every set. That is the formula for success. 


 

Coach’s Corner


Coach Brian, the rest of our coaches, and Riptide Parent Board send a special Congratulations to Piscataway High School senior Joey Fay, who has been selected by USA Swimming for their 2024 Scholastic All-America Team! Recipients are selected from high school swimmers around the country for their academic and athletic excellence. 




Coach Brian took some time to discuss his “Batman talk. He discusses a key aspect to a swimmers success and that is overcoming fear. Take a listen here.



 

Swimmer Survey

In our last newsletter, we dove into your favorite swim cap color, and the votes are in! Now, let’s make a splash with a new survey: If you could swim in any body of water in the world, where would you choose? CLICK HERE to cast your vote, and stay tuned to see your teammates’ top picks in the next edition!