The Crocs prove once again that they are a top team in Eastern Mass

The Malden Y Croken Crocs recently competed in the Eastern Mass District Swimming Championships.  After an extremely successful season last year, the Crocs have shown that they can only continue to improve on their previous success.

The Crocs competed against 26 other teams in Eastern Massachusetts coming away with a 2^nd place overall finish in the 11-12 boys.  Pete Jinipin, a student at the Ferryway School, placed 2^nd in the 50 Fly with a time of 29.96, 2^nd in the 50 Free with a time of 27.41 and 3^rd in the 200 IM with a time of 2:30.75.  He and his teammates Dylan Ha, Kevin Ochoa, Adam Norris, and Kevin Sathapornchaisit also swam to a 2^nd place finish in the 200 Medley Relay and a 3^rd place finish in the 200 Free Relay. 

The 8 and under girls got things off to a great start when Deanna Guo, a student at Mystic Valley, won the 100 IM with a time of 1:28.85.  Deanna then continued to dominate as she swam to a 2^nd place finish in the 50 Free with a time of 35.92 and a 2^nd place finish in the 50 Back.  Her teammate Chloe Akombi also scored points for the Crocs with a 3^rd place finish in the 25 Breast.  Combined with Guo and Akombi, Cynthia Nguyen and Abby Tang swam to a 4^th place finish in the 100 Free Relay and a 5^th place finish in the 100 Medley Relay.  The Crocs 8 and under girls continued to score points and were able to place 3^rd overall.

The 13-14 boys, led by Malden High freshman Ryan Luu, placed 4^th overall.  They were just 2 points behind the 3^rd place team.  Luu, who is the GBL Champion in the 100 Fly, won that event and placed 2^nd in the 50 Free and 3^rd in the 100 Free.  Luu, combined with teammates Joe Connolly (Melrose), Justin Kwan (Winchester) and Damir Durakovic (Everett) swam to a 2^nd place finish in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:48.80.

The 13-14 girls who placed 2^nd overall last year in the 11-12 age group made a great transition after aging up.  This team, made up of all 13 year olds and one 14 year old were able to place 5^th overall.  The girls were edged out of 4^th by only 2 points.  Vivian Nguyen, who was the 11-12 year old District Champion last year in the 50 Fly was able to swim to a 2^nd place finish in the 100 Fly with a time of 1:01.69.  She also placed 2^nd in the 50 Free with a time of 25.76 and 4^th in the 100 Back with a time of 1:04.84.  Vivian is looking to repeat as a District Champion next year in the 100 Fly.  Soukaina Hattal, Monet Norales and Maddy Hughes (Melrose), also contributed to the success of the 13-14 Girls.

The Crocs continue to train as they prepare for the New England Championship.  The New England Championship, which spans four days of competition, takes place at Springfield College at the end of March. 

The Malden Croken Crocs is a 140 member swim team consisting of swimmers ages 5-18. The Crocs offer 9 practice groups split up by age and ability. The coaching staff is committed to helping every child realize a life-long love of swimming.  All improvements and achievements are celebrated, whether it is dropping time to qualify for New Englands or finally learning to dive in head-first.

The Crocs are members of both the Eastern Ma YMCA Swim League and USA Swimming.  The Crocs will be welcoming new swimmers for the USA LCM season which starts in the Spring.  If interested in joining the Crocs Spring/Summer Team please contact the YMCA Aquatics Office at 781-324-7680 ext. 214.