The Malden Croken Crocs clinch 3 New England Swimming Titles.

The Malden Crocs recently competed against 60 New England area teams at the New England Swimming Championships held at Harvard University.   After re-starting the team 6 years ago with only 32 swimmers and no District qualifiers, the Crocs improve to a team of 131 swimmers with 18 New England qualifiers and 3 New England titles.

The Malden Croken Crocs are turning heads, and for good reason.  The team just finished their season as a top team to beat in New England.  The Crocs set the tone right away as Vivian Nguyen, a 7^th grader at the Beebe school, swam to a first place finish in the 50 Butterfly.  Vivian, who was the Eastern Mass. District Champion in this event, entered the New England meet seeded 4^th.    She knew that the competition would be fierce and swam to a personal best time of 28.15, good enough to take first place and the Crocs first ever New England title. 

The next great swim of the meet came in the 200 Medley Relay.  The 11-12 year old girls relay team of Amy Trinh, Soukaina Hattal, Maddy Hughes and Vivian Nguyen swam to a 2^nd place finish with a time of 2:01.85.  This race was bitter sweet as the relay team, who also placed 2^nd at the Eastern Mass. District Championships, beat their Massachusetts’ rivals the Northshore Sharks, but fell to a strong team from Connecticut.

Vivian continued her individual success with a 2^nd place finish in the 100 Butterfly (1:04.06) and then captured her second New England title with a first place finish in the 50 Free (26.23).  Maddy Hughes, a 6^th grader at the Melrose Middle School, tallied up some points as well.  She placed 6^th in the 200 Free with a personal best time of 2:10.71.   On the boys side, Joe Connolly, also a student at the Melrose Middle School, swam to a 2^nd place finish in the 50 Backstroke.  Joe was seeded 8^th in this event and surprised the rest of the field when he cruised into 2^nd place from the outside lane with a time of 30.11.  Joe also accomplished a personal goal when, for the first time, he broke 30 seconds in the 50 Fly.  Joe took 7^th in that race with a time of 29.36.

The 3^rd and final title came the next evening at the 13-14 boys session.  The boys began the meet with a 3^rd place finish in the 200 Medley Relay besting their time from Districts by over a second.  Though the boys struggled through some ailments during the middle of the meet, they showed great resiliance and toughness, as Ryan Luu, Damir Durakovic, Kelvin Nguyen, and Tristar To all posted personal best splits in the 200 Free Relay.  Their relay team captured the Crocs' first ever New England relay title shedding over 3 seconds off their Districts times.

The Malden Croken Crocs is a 130-member swim team, aged 5-18. The Crocs offer nine 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 also compete against local teams during the summer as well as prepare swimmers to compete in the Bay State Games.  For more information, contact the YMCA Aquatics Office at 781-324-7680 ext. 214

Top Individual Finishes:

Vivian Nguyen (11-12 Girls)- 1^st in the 50 Fly (28.15), 1^st in the 50 Free (26.23), and 2^nd in the 100 Fly (1:04.06).

Joe Connolly (11-12 Boys) – 2^nd in the 50 Back (30.11), 5^th in the 200 IM (2:25.95), and 7^th in the 50 Fly (29.36).

Tristar To (13-14 Boys)- 4^th in the 50 Free (23.70), and 19^th in the 100 Free (54.58).

Nathan Nguyen (8 under Boys)- 5^th in the 25 Back (18.94), 8^th in the 50 free (34.87), and 17^th in the 25 Fly (18.73).

Maddy Hughes (11-12 Girls) – 6^th in the 200 Free (2:10.71), 11^th in the 50 Free (27.71) and 17^th in the 100 Free (1:00.30).

Tracy Lam (8 under Girls) 9^th in the 100 IM (1:31.47).

Amy Trinh (11-12 Girls) – 13^th in the 50 Back (32.41), and 15^th in the 50 Breast (36.24).

Ryan Luu (13-14 Boys) – 14^th in the 100 Fly (59.28), 15^th in the 200 IM (2:16.58) and 17^th in the 100 Breast (1:10.55).

Sophia Souza (8 under Girls) 15^th in the 25 back (19.69) and 23^rd in the 25 Fly (18.37)

Soukaina Hattal (11-12 Girls) – 20^th in the 50 Breast (36.53).

Kevin Ochoa (9-10 Boys) – 21^st in the 100 Fly (1:30.59)

Top Relay Finishes:

R. Luu, Damir Durakovic, Kelvin Nguyen, T. To (13-14 Boys) 1^st in the 200 Free Relay (1:39.32)

K. Nguyen, Justin Kwan, R. Luu, T. To (13-14 Boys) 3^rd in the 200 Medley Relay (1:50.52)

A. Trinh, S. Hattal, V. Nguyen, M. Hughes (11-12 Girls) - 2^nd in the 200 Medley Relay (2:01.85).

M. Hughes, S. Hattal, A. Trinh, V. Nguyen (11-12 Girls) – 9th in the 200 Free Relay (1:54.11).

Akshara Shankar, T. Lam, S. Souza, Gelila Lemma (8 under Girls) - 12^th in the 100 Medley Relay (1:22.19).

T. Lam, G. Lemma, A. Shankar, S. Souza (8 under Girls) - 16^th in the 100 Free Relay (1:13.00).