Marlins win titles at National Championships

The Marlins Diving Club turned the YMCA National Diving Championship into their own awards show.

Based out of the YMCA of Greenwich, the Marlins Diving Club thrived at the YMCA National Diving Championhip in Coral Springs, Fla., recently. Under the guidance of coaches Dylan Korn, Lindsay Iordache and Brooke Reinfeld, the women’s team placed first in the team standings, the men’s squad finished third and for the first time, the Marlins squad won the top combined team championship at the national event.

The Marlins were represented by 25 divers at the national competition. In the girls 11-U events, Greenwich resident Grayson Ford placed second on both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving boards. The boys 11-U events saw Quinn Neyer of Stamford place sixth on the 1-meter and fourth on the 3-meter.

In the girls 12-13 year-old one and three-meter events, Ava Vranos (Old Greenwich) turned in sixth-place finishes for the Marlins.

Annelise Enters (Darien) placed eighth and seventh in the one and three-meter events, respectively, while Lucille Bednar of Old Greenwich was ninth in the 1-meter event.

Three Marlins divers competed in the 1-meter event in the boys 12-13 age group at the national meet. Declan Bannerton (Darien) placed third, Jacob Winston (Old Greenwich) took fourth and Chase Maggio (Norwalk) was fifth.

Annie Bingle of Riverside earned the first-place medal in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events in the girls 14-15 year-old division. She also finished second on the platform board. Grace Wu (Greenwich) had a secondplace finish (1-meter) and fourth-place finish (3-meter) for the Marlins. Veronica Fyfe (Hillsdale, N.J.) placed third in the one and three-meter events, while Kaitlyn Maggio (Norwalk) took sixth (1-meter) and eighth (3-meter). She was also third in the platform events.

Greenwich resident Ellie Scharff placed seventh and ninth in the one and threemeter events, respectively in the girls 14-15 year-old group. Lilly Wurm (Darien) had an 11th-place showing in the 1-meter event and placed seventh on the 3meter board for the Marlins. Julia Cabrera (Rye N.Y., 12th 1-meter, 11th 3-meter), Madeline Duff (Greenwich, 13th 1-meter and 3-meter), Javiera Garcia (Old Greenwich, 14th 1-meter, 12th 3-meter). Lauren Priest (Greenwich) finished 15th on the 1-meter board in the 14-15 year-old group.

In the boys 14-15 year-old events, Sawyer Neyer (Stamford) finished fifth (1-meter) and fourth (3meter), while Jagger Opalinski (Norwalk) finished fourth on the 1-meter board.

In the girls 16-21 events, Hannah Craley (Redding) finished second (1-meter), fourth (3-meter) and 12th on the platform. Katie Laverty (Rye, N.Y.) finished fifth (1-meter), eighth (3-meter) and 13th on the platform. Madelyn Seltzer (Scarsdale, N.Y., sixth 1-meter, third 3-meter, sixth platform), Louisa Thompson (Scarsdale, N.Y., ninth 1-meter, 16th 3-meter) and Regina Frias (Riverside, 11th 1meter and 17th 3-meter) also paced the Marlins.

Bingle’s winning efforts prequalify her to the USA Diving Junior National Championships, which is scheduled to be held July 30-August 5 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center at the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville.

The Marlins will compete in the 2019 USA Diving Regional Qualifier held at the YMCA of Greenwich May 3-5.