Terrapins complete 2023 season with a pair of impressive December results
CONCORD, CA (Jan. 17, 2024) — Terrapin Swim Team sent swimmers to a pair of meets in early December to wrap up the competitive portion of the 2023 season and came away with many top performances.
A total of 17 Terrapin swimmers participated in the 14 & Under Short Course Winter Age Group Championships in Moraga and the team had over 80 lifetime best swims.
Leading the way was 12-year-old Marina Didenko of Concord. He was first in all seven of her events, posting breakthrough times and winning high point for her age group. Eleven-year-olds Sasha Gavrylenko and Grace Willis also scored in the top five for each of their events.
Concord’s Morgan Wendler and Giovanni Castaneda, both 13, led the way for the Terrapin boys. They achieved multiple best times and qualifying for finals in every event they swam.
The same weekend the Terrapins sent 21 swimmers to the Tualatin Hills Holiday Classic Invitational in Beaverton, Oregon. The squad racked up many best times while achieving some new qualifying times. The contingent had many finalists including Addison Corso, Haylee Wong, Brooke Koller, Reagan Berger, Abbey Keller, Madelyn Cottam, Abby Ikeda, Nicholas Woolery, Shawn Boland, Christian Ceja, Calvin Tam and Luciano Crews.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.