Vineyard master swimmers compete in championships

Islanders traveled to Harvard for the New England LMSC Short Course Championships.

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The Martha’s Vineyard Masters Swim Team, based at the YMCA and coached by Rainy Goodale, traveled to Harvard University March 16 through 18 for the main weekend of the 2018 New England LMSC Short Course Championships. Any person 18 years and older is eligible to join the masters program and be eligible to swim. All places are in the swimmer’s age group.

The long weekend began with a full slate of events on Friday. In the women’s 500 freestyle, Leslie Craven finished second with a time of 6:31.07. Jen Passafiume beat her best time by 14 seconds (7:17.69) to finish ninth. In the women’s 200 breaststroke, New England record holder Rainy Goodale won with a time of 2:43.42. Beth Goodell also had her best time, finishing sixth in 3:38.99.

In the women’s 100 freestyle, Passafiume turned in another personal best, finishing seventh in 1:15.17. Goodale finished sixth with a 1:04.94. Sharon Pearson finished second in the 70-74 age group (2:05.16).

For the men, Jonathan Chatinover had a personal best of 2:45.59 to finish fourth. Jonathan finished ninth with a time of 59.89. In the 50 butterfly, Passafiume continued her streak of best times with a 41.16 (13th place). Leslie matched the 13th with a 41.28. Jonathan contributed an eighth place (29.43).

In the 200 individual medley (IM), Goodale finished second (2:40.24), and Craven had her best time (3:08.02) to finish seventh. Jonathan did his best masters time ever (2:27.45) to finish seventh. In the final event of the day, the 200 freestyle relay, the team of Sharon Pearson, Jen Passafiume, Leslie Craven, and Rainy Goodale finished eighth in 2:30.75.

Saturday produced more best times for the Vineyarders. In the 400 IM, Craven and Jonathan Chatinover both swam best times. Craven’s time of 6:26.56 beat her best by 13 seconds, and was good for fourth. Jonathan’s 5:22.13 beat his best by six seconds, and was good for fifth.

In the 50 breaststroke, Goodale won another breaststroke event in 34.32. Passafiume did her best time ever (43.93) for a fifth place. Elizabeth Lytle finished seventh with a 41.49, her first event of the meet. Jonathan did his best time (34.06), and finished 10th. In the 200 backstroke, Jonathan did his best time by over three seconds (2:37.57) to finish 10th.

The Vineyard entered a mixed 400 freestyle relay of Jen Passafiume, Jamieson DeCubellis, Liz Lytle, and Jonathan Chatinover, and finished seventh. Passafiume led off the relay with another best time of 1:13.95.

After the relay, Passafiume followed with another best time in the 200 freestyle, with a sixth-place time of 2:41.46 (her best time by eight seconds). Liz Lytle followed with a fifth, with a best time of 2:29.34. Keith did his best time ever of 2:33.98, to finish 13th. DeCubellis also did his best 200, also finishing 13th in 2:35.29. Jonathan finished sixth in 2:13.29.

In the last event of the day, the mixed 200 medley relay of Keith Chatinover, Jen Passafiume, Liz Lytle, and Jamieson DeCubellis came in fifth.

On Sunday, the last day of the meet, the Vineyard had more swimmers join the group. Keith and Jonathan Chatinover both finished third in the 500 freestyle. Keith finished in 6:50.65 and Jonathan had his best masters’ time of 6:02.51.

All 10 Vineyard swimmers entered the next event, the 100 IM. Christina Colarusso finished 13th with a 1:29.89. Her sister, Allison Cameron Parry, finished sixth with a 1:09.22. Passafiume did her best time by almost five seconds to finish 16th (1:27.82). Lytle finished third with her best time of 1:18.29. Beth Goodell finished 14th with a 1:30.16. Leslie did her best time with a 1:28.16 for 13th place. Pearson took second with her best time of 2:15.54.

For the men, Keith took 12th with his best time of 1:24.87. DeCubellis did his best time with a 1:18.99. Jonathan finished 12th with a 1:08.75.

Only Craven braved the 200 butterfly, and she came in fifth with a 3:39.09. Most of the other swimmers swam the 50 freestyle. Allison Cameron Parry swam a blistering 26.42, finishing second and setting a new Vineyard masters record. Colarusso placed 16th with a 33.86. Passafiume swam her best 50 (33.09) for 14th, and Beth Goodell also placed 14th with a 34.90. Lytle broke 30 seconds with a 29.90, good for fourth place, and Pearson medaled again with a third (53.40).

For the men, DeCubellis swam a 31.15, and Jonathan swam a 26.84 to finish ninth. The last event of the meet was the 100 breaststroke, where Parry took another second place with a 1:16.12. Passafiume did another best time (1:34.71), which was good for 10th. Beth Goodell finished seventh with a 1:39.54. Jonathan finished the meet with his best time ever (1:15.28), which was good for fifth.

In the overall scoring, the Martha’s Vineyard Masters finished 16th out of 74 teams, tying for the Vineyard’s best overall placing. Next year, the team is looking for even more swimmers to participate.