Swimming

14-Year-Old Drew Sito Clocks 50.37 100 Backstroke At Raleigh Area Tri Meet

January 21, 2024

2024 Raleigh Area Tri Meet

January 12-14, 2024
Pullen Aquatic Center, Raleigh, NC
SCY (25 yards)
Results on Meet Mobile: “2024 RSA Winter Tri”

Earlier this month, the Marlins of Raleigh, Raleigh Swimming Association (RSA), and New Wave Swim Team came together for the annual Raleigh Area Tri meet. The three-day competition was swum in a prelims-finals format for the 13 and over swimmers with a timed finals session on Friday.

The top performance of the meet came from New Wave’s Drew Sito. Sito, 14, clocked a time of 50.37 en route to winning the 100 backstroke for his age group and the event overall. His swim marked a half second drop from his previous best set in December, moving him up to 4th this season and 54th all-time in the age group.

In addition to the 100 back, Sito also won the 50 free (21.48), 100 free (46.87), 100 fly (52.04), and 400 IM (4:05.75). All four swims also established new personal best times.

Fellow 14-year-old Parker Van Olst also won a slew of events in the 13-14 age group. He swept the breaststroke events with times of 59.02 and 2:07.23, with both just missing his personal bests from earlier in the season. He did, however, see a big best time in the 200 fly, as he dropped over three seconds for a 1:57.20.

Sito and Van Olst’s older teammate 15-year-old Mattaus Rammel also had a strong showing. Among his top performances was the 100 fly, where he dropped over a second to post a 49.86. He also won the 100 free (46.15), 200 fly (1:53.97), and 200 IM (1:55.66), clocking best times in all of them.

Highlighting the girls’ side of the meet was Sami Rydzewski from RSA, who collected six victories in total. The Georgia commit hit a season best time of 55.08 in the backstroke, bringing her within half a second of her personal best from March. She snagged another season best on her way to winning the 100 fly (57.50), and set a personal best time on her way to 1st in the 500 free (5:00.33).

Blythe Holloway and Grace Pereira, also from RSA, also put up a couple strong performances in the 200 breaststroke. Holloway, a UNC Wilmington recruit, came within a tenth of her personal best to win in 2:20.73, while Pereira knocked off nearly a second to record a 2:22.00 for 2nd.

Leading the way for the 11-12 year-olds was Connor Nguyen of the Marlins of Raleigh and Avery White from RSA. Nguyen’s top performance was the 200 breast, where he clocked a 2:24.03 to clear the field by 14 seconds. White’s top event was the 200 back, which she won in 2:21.60 to come within less than a second of her personal best set back in November.

SwimSwam: 14-Year-Old Drew Sito Clocks 50.37 100 Backstroke At Raleigh Area Tri Meet