Ad Astra’s Age Group Team Best in the Area Again Ad Astra Area Aquatics placed 4th out of 24 scoring teams at the Missouri Valley Swimming Championships over the weekend. Ad Astra, with 18 swimmers, was a third of the size of the top 3 scoring teams who had 83, 72 and 54 swimmers on their rosters. Other area teams finished 17th (Topeka Swim Association) and 22nd (Lawrence Aquahawks). The concentration of performance and power from our team was unmatched as Ad Astra scored more points per athlete on average...

Our Senior group had a fantastic performance at the MVS Senior Championships this past weekend. Our team placed 4th overall and 1st on the girls side. That shows some real strength and depth! AAAA won all the girl’s relays, setting a new Team Record in the 400 Medley Relay. All the AAAA relays scored team points and each girl competed on at least one relay or more. Lucy Velte also had a 13-14 Team Record in the 100 Backstroke with a time of 55.90. Rebecca Pickert won 2nd overall highpoint...

Swimmers Throw Down at District Champs What a weekend of great swimming! Ad Astra’s seventeen swimmers who competed at the Central Districts meet each recorded at least one best time. This was our largest Districts team ever and our performances did not disappoint. Those swimmers who swam to a Top 2 finish or swam a new MVS Championship Cut now move onto the MVS 14-U Championships on March 3-5 in Lenexa. Below is a list of the swimmers who had Top 8 finishes, Top 2 finishes and new Champs times...

First off, we are so proud of how everyone showed up to compete as a team. Health, wellness, fun, team bonding and fellowship are at the very core of the youth team sports experience. Our swimmers shined and our volunteers stepped up. Way to go! We kicked the weekend with our 8-Under Meet. 13 of our budding stars competed and learned about their first meet. We had a blast coaching and the kids had fun racing. Remember, this is a learning meet and DQs are part of the process. It’s...

Twenty-three AAAA swimmers competed at the University of Missouri this past weekend at the Annual Tiger Invite. This marked the last meet before Championship season and our group was on point in their races. We had numerous event winners throughout the weekend. Ella Marsh took first overall in three races, 11-12 Girls 200 Breast, 100 Breast and 100 Fly. She took top 3 in all her races during the weekend. Karsyn Ward took top place in the 11-12 Girls 200 Back. Senior Halle McCullough placed first in the Open 100...

Our final Tri-Dual of the season was a blast. This past weekend, 17 AAAA swimmers traveled to Independence, MO to compete against COOL and Riptide. Several swimmers swam to new best times and District cuts while others worked on their IMX scores. Matthew Parra, Michaiah Vail and Paul Morris all achieved new District Cuts. Relays also highlighted the weekend. Our 12-U boys took third (Paul, Owen, Matthew, Michaiah) and our Open Girls took first (Rebecca, Jocelyn, Amelia and Lucy). Lucy Velte swam a new Sectional cut in the 400IM. Way...

We are so proud of our AAAA swimmers who represented Team Mo-Val this past weekend. The team took 2nd overall to Team Colorado at the meet. Each of the 9 swimmers, Banks Anderson, Michael Liu, Ella Marsh, Helena Mattes, Siggi Mattes, Evan Neuman, Lucy Velte, Karsyn Ward and Melinda Zhang, swam to at least one best time at the meet. Swimmers also participated and scored on team relays throughout the weekend. Congrats to these athletes for finishing Top 8 and scoring individually for Team MVS: Michael - 100 Fly (8th)...

Nine AAAA Swimmers Named to the MVS All-Star Team The listed AAAA swimmers were selected to the 2023 Missouri Valley Swimming All-Star team. They will compete against other All-Star teams from Colorado, Midwestern (Nebraska), South Dakota, North Dakota and Iowa at the All-Star Meet in Des Moines, Iowa January 13-15. Lucy Velte, Banks Anderson, Ella Marsh, Siggi Mattes, Helena Mattes, Karsyn Ward and Melinda Zhang all made the All-Star team in 2022. Swimmer Lucy Velte makes her reappearance at the meet as a 4-time meet record holder in the 11-12...

CONGRATS to the AAAA Athletes Who Earned Their IMX Score This LCM Season 9 & Under Melinda Zhang Evan Neuman 10 Year Olds Berklee Adams Sigrid Mattes Karsyn Ward Melinda Zhang Mathew Parra 11 Year Olds Berklee Adams Ella Marsh Michael Liu Owen Metz Mateo Sherwood 12 Year Olds Helena Mattes Noah Neuman Joshua Victoriano 13 Year Olds Lucy Velte Lucas Sherwood Joshua Victoriano 15 Year Olds Rebecca Pickert Jocelyn Wilson Grayson Hurley 16 Year Olds Avery Walz Tauren Walz Athlete Scores Here

ASCA and Fitter and Faster are pleased to announce the TOP 50 AGE GROUP COACHES OF THE YEAR FOR 2022! The national winner of the ASCA/Fitter and Faster Coach of the Year for 2022 will be revealed on September 8 at the ASCA World Clinic awards banquet at the Las Vegas Westgate Resort and Casino. The Top 10 Finalists, to be announced next week, will be honored at this event. For more information on the banquet and the ASCA World Clinic go to www.ascaworldclinic.com. The Top 50 coaches were selected...