2023 New England Senior Championships
- July 13-16, 2023
- Providence, Mass.
- LCM (50 meters)
- Full Results (PDF)
Phoenix Swimming’s Alexei Avakov set a State Record and qualified for the 2024 Olympic Trials in the 100 breaststroke at the 2023 New England Senior Championships, hosted at Brown University in mid-July.
Avakov, 17, produced a time of 1:02.19 to book his ticket to Indianapolis while taking down the New England Record of 1:02.37, set by Max Reich back in 2019.
Avakov, whose previous best time stood at 1:02.75, now ranks 49th all-time in the boys’ 17-18 age group and is also 21st-fastest among 17-year-olds.
The Indiana commit placed third in the 200 breast in 2:20.90, having set a lifetime best of 2:20.78 in the prelims, while Kyle Falkstrom (2:18.85) and Josh Parent (2:19.99) went 1-2.
Avakov also teamed up with William Carrico, Isabella Schneider and Michaela Chokureva to set a new New England Record in the mixed 400 medley relay, clocking 4:01.16 with Avakov splitting 1:02.27 on breast.
Parent, 18, set a RES (New England soil) and meet record in the 800 freestyle, clocking 8:08.64 to down his previous mark of 8:15.89 set last year. The Bluefish Swim Club product’s best time stands at 8:08.13 set at the 2021 Olympic Trials.
Parent also set a meet record of 15:39.98 in the 1500 free, with his PB sitting at 15:27.36 from the 2022 Junior Pan Pacs.
Other highlights on the boys’ side included AnglerFish Aquatics’ Jonathan Feole-Haughey, who put up times of 1:00.03 in the 100 back and 2:11.29 in the 200 back, ranking 17th and 31st all-time for 13-year-old boys in the U.S., respectively.
On the girls’ side, Bluefish Swim Club’s Zuri Ferguson swept the backstroke events, highlighted by her personal best time of 1:02.00 in the 100 back.
The time ranks her 77th all-time in the 15-16 age group, lowering her previous PB of 1:02.31 set last summer.
Parent and Ferguson both contributed to Bluefish’s record-setting performance in the mixed 400 free relay, as they combined with Owen McLaughlin and Jacqueline Zipagan to clock 3:42.16 and break the New England Open Record of 3:43.02 set last year.
Another notable swim came from Princeton’s Heidi Smithwick, who broke the 1:00 barrier for the first time in the 100 fly in 59.70. She also set a PB en route to winning the 200 fly (2:14.84).
The 19-year-old is coming off her freshman year with the Tigers, having placed fourth in the 100 fly, eighth in the 50 free and 10th in the 200 fly at the Ivy League Championships.