Riptide Ramblings January 2026
Welcome to another edition of the Riptide Ramblings! This is our newsletter for
Riptide Swim Team to communicate what is happening and our teams’ successes
throughout the season. In today’s edition we have our Fall Swimmers of the month,
September, October, and November!
Team Highlight
Meet season is coming to an end and Championship Season is almost upon us.
Make sure that you are checking the website or your OnDeck app regularly so you
don’t miss opportunities to sign your swimmer(s) up for meets as well as sign up
for jobs to complete your work bond.
So far this season we’ve had 358 best times from the meets, finish the season
strong and add to that total!
Coming Dates
The TYR Winterfest will be held on January 3-4, 2026 @ the Sonny Werblin
Recreation Center @ Rutgers University. Swimmers must have an active
USA Swimming membership to compete.
The girls purple dual meet will be held on January 10, 2026 @ the Ocean
County YMCA.
The boys white dual meet will be held on January 10, 2026 @ the Greater
Somerset County YMCA.
The girls black dual meet will be held on January 10, 2026 @ the Ocean
County YMCA.
The HCY Stingray Splash will be held on January 17-18, 2026 @ the Raritan
Bay YMCA.
Championship Season Meets Dates
Last Chance Meet: This Meet is just for Riptide Swimmers who would like one more shot at
getting a qualifying time for championship meets in February. Date/Time TBD
NJ YMCA 8 & Under State Championships
Sunday February 1st at Ocean County YMCA. No qualifying times needed. Registration info
coming soon.
NJ YMCA Bronze State Championships 9&Over
This is only for those swimmers 9 and over only. It will be held February 6-8. The Venue is
Jersey Aquatics Center. Registration info coming soon.
NJ YMCA Silver State Championships 9 & Over
This meet will be held February 13th-15th is typically at Gloucester Institute of Technology in
Sewell, NJ but location is TBD. Qualifying times needed. Registration info coming soon.
NJ YMCA State Championships 12 & Under
This meet will be held February 20-22 at the Ocean County YMCA in Toms River. Qualifying
times need and registration will be released soon.2026 Sunkissed Charlotte
This meet will be held March 26-29 in Charlotte, NC. Practice begins January 26th and there is
a mandatory parent meeting for all swimmers going to Charlotte January 27th 7pm in
Piscataway. Watch your email for more information from Amanda. This meet requires qualifying
times. Practices are intense and is by invitation from Coach Brian. If you think your swimmer
has qualifying times and hasn’t been contacted yet reach out to Coach Brian about your status.
If your swimmer has qualified it is highly recommended that they take advantage of this
opportunity joining us in Charlotte you and your swimmer won’t regret it!
What’s Next After Championships?
After your swimmer(s) final championship meet their season is over. Each swimmer can
practice with the team up until that time. Once you have swam that last race you are now in the
off-season. For our 8 and Unders your season will end at the 8&Under Championships on
February 10th. For 9 and over it could end at Silvers, States, or Sunkissed in Charlotte
depending on your qualifying times. If you have questions don’t hesitate to talk to a parent
board member or a coach.
But Riptide continues to offer team programs in the spring and summer. Coach Brian
will email you all of those details as he firms them up so look out for those emails if you are
interested and register your swimmer.
Generally speaking this is what we offer:
March Madness- Running for those swimmers not on our Sunkissed team
throughout the month of March. There are no meets during this month of swimming and in
general it is less days per week than rest of the program. It is a bridge month between our
short course and long course seasons.
Spring Fling- This runs from Mid-April until beginning of June. This session
includes our long course season. These are invitational style meets but swam in the 50 meter
pool. It is a fun way to change up the style of swims for your swimmer. We would encourage
you to try out a meet or all that we offer during long course to get a feel for the Olympic length
swims.
Summer Splash- This is our program primarily for our older swimmers but
Coach Brian does make exceptions for our younger swimmers depending on their skill level.
This program runs from mid-June through July. Most of this session starts at 5:45am. The
whole session is swam at Brookside Pool in Milltown. After that initial shock of getting in the
pool that early in the morning all of our swimmers have a blast during this session and many
swimmers develop quickly during the summer months.
Summer Swim Teams- It is encouraged that all of our swimmers join their local
summer swim team. This is a lot of fun and you are likely to swim with a handful of your Riptide
teammates. As Riptide we represent at least 8 different summer swim teams and it is is a lot of
fun competing against each other.
Swimmers of the Month
September Swimmer of the Month
Tiny Tide
Kiara Agarwal – New to the team, showing fast improvement through hard work.
Liam Batulis – Has worked hard in September and also over the summer,
showing a lot of progress since last season.
Tidal Wave
Aarna Srinath – Eager to get feedback and has great enthusiasm. Aarna has
become one of our strongest younger swimmers.
William Sundberg – After some initial challenges joining the team years ago, it’s
inspiring to see William become one of the leaders of the group.
Junior 1
Alexis Burkhour – Alex has really raised her level since last season, and is
focused on making changes and continuing improvement.
Sebastian Diaz – Sebastian is showing a new work ethic and enthusiasm toward
swimming compared to past seasons, and it will show in his performance.
Junior 2
Phoebe Eliopoulos – A leader of the group at a young age. Always finds a way to
make practice fun.
Christopher Nellis – Accepted assignment to Juniors as an older swimmer.
Worked hard at every opportunity to get moved up to Seniors, and made the necessary
adjustments quickly.
Senior
Giuliana Zsamba – Giuliana has emerged as a leader among the younger
seniors.
Venika Patel – Venika has begun the season by evaluating herself and searching
for all opportunities to improve.
Mason Trinh – With pressure and a long season to live up to his own high
standards, Mason finds creative ways to keep himself motivated though the
early-season grind.
Riley Agustin – As one of the youngest senior boys, Riley works hard to live up
too a Senior standard while still keeping a positive, low-pressure attitude.
October Swimmer of the Month
Tiny Tide
Myra Kotian – Myra is new to the team and has been proving herself to be one of
the hardest workers at practice!
Timmy Zhang – Timmy has really increased his focus at practice this year.
Tidal Wave
herself with enthusiasm.
team this year.
Siya Mishra – Siya always asks for feedback, brings joy to practice, and pushes
Kai Lim – Kai has quickly increased his confidence and abilities since joining the
Junior 1
Maya-Asadah Downing – Maya has arguably been the standard for work ethic in
Junior 1s this season.
motivation and hard work.
Matthew Shelford – Matthew has always been talented, and is showing more
Junior 2
Tessa Dreher-Agner – Tessa’s confidence and energy makes her a joy to coach,
and she continues dropping time.
Lawrence Deng – Lawrence continues to be on of the youngest swimmers on
the team to be a true student-of-the-game.
Senior
Helen Askelson – Helen’s consistency and positivity at practice makes her an
asset to the senior group.
Evelyn Kennedy – Early-season success is difficult for an older swimmer, but
Evelyn has quietly and deliberately taken the steps toward a successful senior year.
Soham Patel – Though not yet a graduating senior, Soham has the attitude of a
captain and is a role model to younger swimmers.
Ethan Azenha – Ethan has been relentless in working as hard as possible and
fine-tuning his technique. Though this is rare for an experienced 15-18, he has had
huge time drops early in the season.
November Swimmer of the Month
Tiny Tide
Charlotte Bobkowski – Charlotte always works hard in practice and we’ve seen
it paying off in her races.
Krishiv Pushkarna – Krishiv is always asking questions on how to improve, and
applying the feedback to the best of his abilities.
Tidal Wave
Anya Shelford
William Xiao
Many swimmers have worked hard to pick things up quickly in their first
year on the team. Anya and William are good examples of that.
Junior 1
Liana Adams – Liana’s work paid off by nearly rewriting all her best times at
Autumn Challenge.
Colton Freyer – Colton has been showing more dedication to the sport and has
been turning in a ton of best times.
Junior 2
Liliana Martinho – Lily has kept moving forward after a strong finish last year,
including qualifying for SunKissed this month.
Timo Aguirre – Timo likes working hard as much as anyone, and is already
racking up States times having just moved up to the 9-10 age group.
Senior
Kayli Stefanowicz – Kayli has pushed herself outside of her comfort zone, such
as joining the backstroke lane even though backstroke is not her favorite.
Abigail Azenha – Abbie started in the spring as a beginner, and worked up to
some impressive times including qualifying for Bronze.
Caleb Murphy – Coming back from injury, Caleb doesn’t let it affect his hard
work and positive approach to practice.
Drew Machurov – Drew got past early-season struggles to start moving closer to
his best times, and maintained his role as a leader throughout.
