The Southwest Ohio Classic is the largest invitational high school swim meet in the country. The meet has 11 preliminary meet locations, with entries from approximately 120 high schools, representing nearly 3,000 swimmers and 150 divers. This meet takes place over two days and allows swimmers to compete in 2 individual events and 2 relay events each day. Unlike other championship meets the Aquabraves compete in, the Classic makes no distinction between Division 1 and Division 2 competitors. The top 16 swimmers for each individual event, qualify for the finals meet at Keating Natatorium. Unfortunately, COVID protocols prevented relay events to be swum at finals, and relay team winners were determined by performance at the preliminary sites. To qualify for finals is a fete in and of itself against the competition in SW Ohio, performing well at finals . . . well, more on that later.

Points at this meet are hard to come by – as the relay team or individual must first qualify for finals. Your Aquabraves did phenomenally scoring points in this meet and have positioned themselves well for runs at the Women's and Men's CHL and District Titles next month.

#IHPromise #BeBRAVE pic.twitter.com/znP2A7yD9F

— IH Braves AD (@ihbravesad) January 18, 2022

Scores:

Women's  |  Men's:

St. Ursula Academy 385  |  St. X 458

Walnut Hills 312  |  Beavercreek 406

Mason 239  |  Mason 332.5

CHCA 237  |  Sycamore 244

Beavercreek 211  |  Kings 238

Indian Hill 162 (12th)  |  Indian Hill 197 (6th)
 

Day 1 Prelims recap:

The Aquabraves started off and finished the Classic Day 1 swim meet session with a bang – with both the women and men's teams winning the 400 medley and the 200 freestyle relay events at the Princeton preliminary location. The following shows the Aquabraves individual performances at the Princeton High School site.
 

Lady AquaBrave Individual Event Performers:

AquaBrave Individual Event Performers:

Some fantastic performances and personal best times by the Aquabraves during the Day 1 prelim session. This team is starting to come together and show its strength and its depth.
 

Day 1 Finals recap:

To reiterate, just to make finals in any of the individual events is an incredible accomplishment. Congratulations to Kathy Zhao, Marina Oria, Gibson Holmes, Jason Zhao and Jeffrey Wenker, all of whom qualified for Day 1 finals. Excellent job!

Unfortunately, because of limitations in the number of people allowed at Keating under their COVID protocols, the relay results were determined on performance at the preliminary sites. Based on their prelim performance the women finished 7th in the 400 medley relay. Congratulations to Anna Palen, Kathy Zhao, Marina Oria and Isabelle Pivor!! The men's 400 medley relay finished 6th. Congratulations to Arjun Velayutham, Jason Zhao, Gibson Holmes and Hayden Longbottom. For the 200 freestyle relay, the ladies finished 4th!!! Congrats to Marina Oria, Anna Palen, Kathy Zhao and Isabella Pivor on an outstanding performance!!! The men's relay finished 10th! Congrats to Hayden Longbottom, Jeffrey Wenker, Jason Zhao and Gibson Holmes.

The fireworks really began for the Aquabraves in the individual event performances. Gibson Holmes destroyed the competition, winning the 200 freestyle in a Classic meet record time of 1:37.52, beating his next closest competitor by over 5 seconds! Gibson also lowered his own school record in that 200 free swim. Marina Oria continued the outstanding performances by finishing 9th in the 50 free in a time of 24.84. Freshman Jason Zhao climbed on the block and swam a blistering time of 20.94 in the men's 50 free, finishing 2nd and establishing a new Aquabraves team record in the event!

Gibson's prior swim didn't tire him at all, as he won the 100 butterfly in a new Classic meet record time of 47.32 and lowering his school record by over ½ second. In setting these meet records, Gibson beat some all-time SW Ohio greats who went on to swim at Arizona State University. Jason Zhao swam the night's most grueling event, the 400 individual medley, and finished 5th! Jeffrey Wenker was up next

and continued the strong performances by finishing in a tie for 2nd place in the 50 breaststroke! In the final individual swim of the night, Kathy Zhao finished 7th in the 200 breaststroke.

All-in-all a remarkable evening and set of performances by these talented Aquabraves. Once again, congratulations to Kathy, Marina, Jason, Jeffrey and Gibson on some truly remarkable swims!!!
 

Day 2 Prelims recap:

Day 2 started off with a bit of a surprise as Lakota West was able to come back and beat the Lady Aquabraves in the 200 medley relay. The ladies finished 2nd at the Princeton relay, and bounced back and won the 400 freestyle relay at the end of Day 2's prelim session. To be fair, illness and injury once again impacted the Lady Aquabraves on Day 2. The men continued their relay dominance, winning both the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay comfortably. The following shows the Aquabraves individual performances at the Princeton High School site:
 

Lady AquaBrave Individual Event Performers:

AquaBrave Individual Event Performers:

Just like Day 1, this prelim session again showed the Aquabraves depth and strength as a team as there were many individuals who same some spectacular races and put up some great times. Watch out CHL and SW District, the Aquabraves are coming for you!!!

 

Day 2 Finals recap:

Once again, making finals in the Classic in any of the individual events is an accomplishment to be celebrated! Congratulations to Kathy Zhao, Hollis Chan, Gibson Holmes, Jason Zhao and Jeffrey Wenker, all of whom qualified for Day 2 finals. Well done!

Again, COVID limitations prevented the relays from being swum at finals and the results were determined on performance at the preliminary sites. Based on their prelim performance the women finished 8th in the 200 medley relay. Congratulations to Anna Palen, Kathy Zhao, Marina Oria and Zoe Castenson!! The men's 200 medley relay finished 9th. Congratulations to Arjun Velayutham, Jason Zhao, Gibson Holmes and Jeffrey Wenker. For the 400 freestyle relay, the ladies finished 7th. Congrats to Kathy Zhao, Marina Oria, Anna Palen and Zoe Castenson on an outstanding performance!!! The men's relay finished 12th! Congrats to Gibson Holmes, Arjun Velayutham, Hayden Longbottom and Jason Zhao.

Gibson Holmes didn't miss a beat at Day 2 finals, winning the 200 individual medley in a Classic meet record time of 1:47.56, winning comfortably over the competition! Gibson also lowered his own school record in that 200 individual swim. Gibson took down a record held by Jake Foster, now a strong contributor to the University of Texas swim team, and a swimmer very accomplished in international competitions. Kathy Zhao had a great swim and finished 11th in the 100 free in a time of 53.32. Freshman Jason Zhao once again showed why the team was excited to get him performing for the Aquabraves, with a fast time of 46.59 in the men's 100 free, finishing 9th.

Gibson's most impressive swim of the weekend was in the 200 butterfly, which established Gibson's 4th new Classic meet record in 1:44.68. In setting this particular meet record, Gibson took down one of Cincinnati's best swimmers ever, Carson Foster. Carson currently swims with his brother at the University of Texas and nearly made this summer's team USA Olympic squad in the 400 IM, 200 IM and the 200 free.

Kathy Zhao followed up Gibson's performance with one of her own, finishing 5th in her signature event, the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:06.83. Jason Zhao also swam the 100 breaststroke in a time of 57.12 – which allowed him to finish 9th, but also shattered the school's team record by over 2 seconds!!! The 50 backstroke featured two Aquabrave qualifiers, Jeffrey Wenker and Hollis Chan. Both men had fantastic time drops and finished 5th and 12th, respectively!

This evening's finals and the meet overall displayed some phenomenal performances by your Aquabraves. Congratulations to Kathy, Hollis, Jason, Jeffrey and Gibson on your Day 2 finals swims!!! Also, congratulations to the following swimmers who achieved personal best times this weekend: Isabelle Tindale, Yvette Detweiler, Natalia Byer, Zoe Castenson, Marina Oria, Jeffrey Wenker, Logan Bass, Pranav Rastogi, Hollis Chan, Jack Edmonson, Jason Zhao and Gibson Holmes,

Coach Matt stated the following about the Aquabraves' performance and future expectations: "This past weekend was amazing for the Aquabraves! We stood toe-to-toe with the big D1 powerhouses and held our own. We are definitely a force to be reckoned with moving forward! Get excited, big things are coming!"

 

Diving:

Our Lady AquaDivers also performed phenomenally at the Classic this weekend. For those focused on the dive portion of the meet, please forgive this author's naivety and ignorance of the nuance of the dive meet. As stated in the introduction, nearly 200 divers competed in the Classic this year. The divers began the competition at 4 preliminary sites and the top 25 qualified for the Classic Finals. Despite 2 varsity and 1 JV diver unable to compete due to illness, the Aquabraves excelled, with 3 varsity divers and 1 JV diver qualifying for finals through some tough competition from both Division 1 and Division 2 divers. Sophomore Josie Festa led the way with some beautiful dives finishing 10th in the competition, and freshman Merrie Leder and sophomore Marisol Mason battled one another throughout the finals competition. Freshman Emily Ryan thoroughly impressed in the JV competition, finishing 3rd! Here is how our Aquadivers performed:

Josie Festa (10th place) 310.40 points

Merrie Leder (21st place) 241.35 points

Marisol Mason (22nd place) 240.35 points

Emily Ryan (3rd place JV) 151.70 points

Congratulations Lady Aquadivers!! Fantastic job!!! We look forward to watching your progress and counting on you in the CHL championship and SW District meets!

Where the Aquabraves stand:

The Classic is a good time to gauge where the Aquabraves team and individuals are as we are only a few weeks away from the CHL championships and then the start of the 3-week State meet tournament. Based on the team goals, the Women's team looks to be in great shape to challenge for its first CHL title and is in strong position to push for back-to-back Southwest Ohio District Champions. The men's team looks solidly positioned to retain their CHL crown and are in good position to hold off challenges to their push for a 5th straight Southwest Ohio District championship.