Saturday 9th June was an extremely important event for the International School of Samui Sharks as they competed at Thanyapura sports complex in Phuket for the fourth and final fixture of the league (TOSL).
The pressure was high as a number of swimmers had to perform at their best if they were to get a podium finish for their efforts throughout the season. It was clear that every swimmer at the meet was a little more focused than usual.
Biggest (and merriest) Sharks squad so far
The Sharks took their biggest squad of the season with 32 swimmers representing ISS with ages ranging from 6 to 15 years old.
We would like to highlight our 6 debutant swimmers:
Stefanelle Brett
Andre Brett
Ing Nongbualang
Erng Nongbualang
Ava Sandersley
Samual Whitehead
**For Erng and Samual this was a big occasion, it was their first competitive swim meet for which they had been training all year.
Astounding results with 5 podium finishes
It was another successful year for the Sharks individually and we are nothing but proud of our swimming athletes:
Valeriya (Lera) Lavrenkova took 1st place in the girls 6 and under age category blowing her competition out of the water. Lera will be looking to get another podium finish in the "8 and under" age category next year. Her times are already indicating that she will be able to compete with the older girls.
Seraphina Lees took 3rd place in the girls 9-10 year old age category. An excellent achievement considering Seraphina was competing against girls that are a year older than her, she will compete in the same age category next year and will be aiming for the gold medal.
Mek Athapaisal took 2nd place in the boys 7-8 year old age category. Mek has battled hard all season and narrowly missed out on 1st place. This was Mek’s farewell appearance for the Sharks and he will be sorely missed next season.
Tom Maestracci took 1st place in the boys 11-12 year old age category. Tom had a narrow lead coming into the final meet of the swim league and he really had to perform at his best to be crowned champion. Tom didn’t let us down and recorded a personal best (PB) in every event he participated in. We are extremely happy for Tom after he missed out on the 1st place in the 2016/17 season by half a point. Fantastic performance Tom.
Paul-Eric Larson-Drozd took 3rd place in the boys 13-14 year old age category. Considering Paul-Eric only started swimming seriously last year this is a massive achievement for him and it’s well-deserved after all of the hard work he has put in. Paul-Eric was also competing against swimmers that were older than him so will aim to do even better next year.
Read Paul-Eric's other achievements in swimming here.
I for one am excited to see Paul-Eric and Tom Maestracci competing against each other next year in the same age category as they have spurred each other on through healthy competition all year.
Beyond the notable performances above there were numerous other fantastic swims, too many to mention. I cannot describe how proud I am of this group of swimmers and how incredibly hard they have worked all season to balance their swimming along with other sports and their academic studies. I am already looking forward to working even harder and performing even better next year.
Mr Withers
Overall, here are names of notable students who just set new school records in various categories:
200m Freestyle
Boys
8 and under ............... Mek Athapaisal – 3:14.33
11-12 years ................ Tom Maestracci – 2:27.21
13-14 years ................ Paul-Eric Larson-Drozd – 2:34.16
50m Butterfly
Boys
8 and under .............. Mek Athapaisal – 48.04
9-10 years ................. Ing Nongbualang – 37.41
11-12 years ................Tom Maestracci – 32.69
100m Breaststroke
Boys
8 and under ............. Petr Volkov – 1:58.74
9-10 years ................ Ing Nongbualang – 1:41.29
Girls
11-12 years .............. Haneul Fife – 1:38.42
50m Freestyle
Boys
8 and under ............. Mek Athapaisal – 39.25
11-12 years .............. Tom Maestracci – 29.24
200m Backstroke
Boys
8 and under ............ Mek Athapaisal – 3:52.44
11-12 years ............. Tom Maestracci – 2:49.52
13-14 years ............. Paul-Eric Larson-Drozd – 2:59.49
Girls
13-14 years ............ Sandra Groven – 3:42.89
Personal bests
June Anestad (13) W
3:21.56L F # 39E Women 13-14 200 Free 8 11 6.05
46.98L F # 41E Women 13-14 50 Fly 11 6 -1.96
1:47.66L F # 43E Women 13-14 100 Breast 7 12 12.09
39.22L F # 45E Women 13-14 50 Free 13 4 3.04
Oak Arnasiri (13) M
3:15.24L F # 40E Men 13-14 200 Free 5 14 ---
52.49L F # 42E Men 13-14 50 Fly 6 13 ---
1:50.50L F # 44E Men 13-14 100 Breast 4 15 ---
37.36L F # 46E Men 13-14 50 Free 6 13 ---
Andre Brett (10) M
3:20.88L F # 40C Men 9-10 200 Free 11 6 ---
56.10L F # 42C Men 9-10 50 Fly 14 3 ---
2:08.28L F # 44C Men 9-10 100 Breast 13 4 ---
40.48L F # 46C Men 9-10 50 Free 12 5 ---
Victoria Cross (12) W
2:58.12L F # 39D Women 11-12 200 Free 6 12.5 -6.54
43.86L F # 41D Women 11-12 50 Fly 11 6 3.83
1:53.85L F # 43D Women 11-12 100 Breast 13 4 10.51
35.18L F # 45D Women 11-12 50 Free 8 11 0.76
Haneul Fife (11) W
38.65L F # 41D Women 11-12 50 Fly 2 17 ---
1:38.42L F # 43D Women 11-12 100 Breast 3 16 -19.37
34.35L F # 45D Women 11-12 50 Free 5 14 -1.35
3:11.29L F # 48D Women 11-12 200 Back 6 13 -21.80
Nora Groven (7) W
1:00.08L F # 41B Women 7-8 50 Fly 5 14 -10.51
2:16.47L F # 43B Women 7-8 100 Breast 6 13 -21.34
1:07.15L F # 45B Women 7-8 50 Free 16 1 0.99
5:00.47L F # 48B Women 7-8 200 Back 1 20 ---
Sandra Groven (13) W
43.42L F # 41E Women 13-14 50 Fly 10 7 -9.33
1:53.59L F # 43E Women 13-14 100 Breast 10 7 0.66
37.99L F # 45E Women 13-14 50 Free 12 5 -3.27
3:42.89L F # 48E Women 13-14 200 Back 6 13 ---
Leonardo Hachanon (8) M
57.75L F # 42B Men 7-8 50 Fly 4 15 ---
2:08.49L F # 44B Men 7-8 100 Breast 3 16 ---
43.56L F # 46B Men 7-8 50 Free 6 13 -8.69
4:06.16L F # 49B Men 7-8 200 Back 4 15 ---
Paul-Eric Larson-Drozd (13) M
2:34.16L F # 40E Men 13-14 200 Free 2 17 -22.75
35.85L F # 42E Men 13-14 50 Fly 5 14 -7.98
29.65L F # 46E Men 13-14 50 Free 2 17 -2.71
2:59.49L F # 49E Men 13-14 200 Back 2 17 -46.93
Taisiya Lavrenkova (9) W
3:05.16L F # 39C Women 9-10 200 Free 1 20 -16.42
45.92L F # 41C Women 9-10 50 Fly 4 15 -3.83
1:55.52L F # 43C Women 9-10 100 Breast 3 16 -7.57
37.74L F # 45C Women 9-10 50 Free 2 17 -1.85
Valeriya Lavrenkova (6) W
4:19.92L F # 39A Women 6 & Under 200 Free 1 20 -56.16
1:05.00L F # 41A Women 6 & Under 50 Fly 1 20 ---
2:18.48L F # 43A Women 6 & Under 100 Breast 2 17 -20.83
49.12L F # 45A Women 6 & Under 50 Free 1 20 -8.76
Seraphina Lees (9) W
3:25.14L F # 39C Women 9-10 200 Free 5 14 -13.77
51.56L F # 41C Women 9-10 50 Fly 9 9 -2.07
2:02.23L F # 43C Women 9-10 100 Breast 5 14 -0.13
3:42.32L F # 48C Women 9-10 200 Back 4 15 -24.07
Theodore Lees (7) M
4:06.34L F # 40B Men 7-8 200 Free 5 14 -28.19
59.07L F # 42B Men 7-8 50 Fly 5 14 -20.10
52.76L F # 46B Men 7-8 50 Free 11 6 -4.77
4:16.16L F # 49B Men 7-8 200 Back 5 14 ---
Lou Maestracci (9) W
3:33.85L F # 39C Women 9-10 200 Free 6 13 -3.04
1:00.40L F # 41C Women 9-10 50 Fly 20 --- -5.61
40.25L F # 45C Women 9-10 50 Free 8 11 -2.48
4:01.47L F # 48C Women 9-10 200 Back 6 13 ---
Tom Maestracci (12) M
2:27.21L F # 40D Men 11-12 200 Free 1 20 -14.20
32.69L F # 42D Men 11-12 50 Fly 1 20 -2.99
29.24L F # 46D Men 11-12 50 Free 1 20 -1.79
2:49.52L F # 49D Men 11-12 200 Back 3 16 ---
Platon Mychkin (10) M
3:26.37L F # 40C Men 9-10 200 Free 12 5 ---
1:57.11L F # 44C Men 9-10 100 Breast 6 13 ---
38.92L F # 46C Men 9-10 50 Free 11 6 -1.85
4:17.59L F # 49C Men 9-10 200 Back 5 14 ---
Erng Nongbualang (12) W
1:49.02L F # 43D Women 11-12 100 Breast 9 9 ---
44.76L F # 45D Women 11-12 50 Free 16 1 ---
Ing Nongbualang (10) M
3:08.81L F # 40C Men 9-10 200 Free 7 12 ---
37.41L F # 42C Men 9-10 50 Fly 1 20 ---
1:41.29L F # 44C Men 9-10 100 Breast 1 20 ---
35.83L F # 46C Men 9-10 50 Free 5 14 ---
Egor Peresvetov (8) M
3:43.42L F # 40B Men 7-8 200 Free 4 15 ---
2:03.72L F # 44B Men 7-8 100 Breast 2 17 ---
43.41L F # 46B Men 7-8 50 Free 5 14 ---
Samual Whitehead (13) M
3:39.75L F # 40E Men 13-14 200 Free 6 13 ---
37.45L F # 46E Men 13-14 50 Free 7 12 ---
3:54.78L F # 49E Men 13-14 200 Back 4 15 ---