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Local Swimmers Have Strong Showing at YMCA Nationals

Mia Sunseri Earns the 200 Breaststroke Championship

Photo Provided Mia Sunseri, left, and Jenna Bopp show off their medals during the YMCA Long Course National Championship this past weekend in College Park, Maryland. Sunseri won a national title in the 200 breaststroke, while scoring second in the 100 breaststroke, third in the 400 IM and sixth in the 200 IM. Bopp earned a fifth-place medal in the 200 breaststroke and sixth in the 100.

WHEELING — In recent years, swimming has taken off in the Ohio Valley.

Numbers have increased and those jumping in the pool have taken their games to a whole new level.

The latest accomplishments have come thanks to the Wheeling YMCA Cardinal Aquatics squad.

This past weekend at the EPPLEY Recreation Center at the University of Maryland, the Wheeling YMCA squad took five swimmers to College Park.

It left with a 16th-place finish against some of the best competition in the country — and the organization’s first national champion in more than 40 years in Mia Sunseri, who claimed a gold medal in the 200 breaststroke.

“They all did fantastic,” Wheeling YMCA coach Tony Sunseri said. “They had some great swims. This competition is the best of the best. Qualifying times are required just to get there. There are graduating seniors heading to Division I programs.

“It is a big meet and only includes Y-based programs. This is the most points we have ever scored at a YMCA national meet and the last time we had a national champion was 1976. It was such a great experience for the girls and I am proud of them.”

Wheeling totaled 93 points during the five-day event and had girls swimming in all but two events.

Red Bank Branch YMCA out of New Jersey was overall winner.

In addition to Mia Sunseri, other girls making the trip were Jenna Bopp, Abby Turner, Victoria Kidney and Maggie Marody.

“A number of our girls swam their best times and we keep taking more and more to this meet,” Tony Sunseri said. “It is exciting to see our program develop at this level. The trajectory they have been on these past four years, swimming locally and competing nationally and getting recognized, is really something special.”

For Mia Sunseri, it was a weekend to remember. And for a girl that doesn’t swim at the high school level, it made the feat even more impressive.

Mia, who is the coach’s daughter, earned the 200 breaststroke title with a time of 2:35.15, beating out the next closest competitor by more than a second (2:36.36).

“Mia swam her first time there when she was 12 and has been competing ever since,” her proud coach and father said. “I think she was actually looking to swim faster than she did, both in the morning and at night.

“She had a strong morning swim (2:34.93) even though she was not necessarily happy with what the clock stated it. But she was seeded first going into the finals, executed the race, and comprised it well.

“She had a really explosive and aggressive back half of the race and that is how she does traditionally. I knew if she was ahead or even with everyone at the 100 (-meter mark), she was going to be OK.”

Mia Sunseri even had to outlast Bopp, who claimed a medal with a fifth-place finish (2:38.97).

Despite that being the first day, Mia Sunseri was not done. She came in second in the 100 breaststroke (1:13.81), third in the 400 IM (4:59.56) and sixth in the 200 IM (2:23.01).

Bopp also earned a sixth-place medal in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.03).

“Jenna dropped 10 seconds off her time in the 200 breaststroke and then exploded in the final and took two seconds off of that. That is unheard of,” Tony Sunseri said. “It was wonderful to be a part of that experience and to see (Mia and Jenna) get those results. And not just her, all the girls who started way back in May when we started the summer training.

“We practiced five days a week from 6:30-8:30 in the morning. It was nice to see that kind of hard work come to fruition.”

And possibly even better for the YMCA team is just how young this squad is.

All five girls will be eligible to come back next season. Mia Sunseri, Bopp and Turner are rising juniors at Wheeling Park, Marody will be a junior at St. Clairsville and Kidney will enter her freshman year at John Marshall.

“We used to only take one or two girls and now we are being recognized as a team,” Tony Sunseri said. “We competed in a wide variety of events with only five girls.

“It is only going to help us for the future. We have swimmers that range from ages 6-18. They see what those athletes are doing, going to Maryland and scoring in nationals and there is certainly a lot of positivity around.

“They want to improve around those athletes. Not just making those times, but going down and having great swims. It adds credibility to the hard work and shows what they can accomplish.”

The Wheeling YMCA Cardinal Aquatics will return to the pool in September in preparation for the winter season.

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