Adriano Arioti Remains Undefeated in 2024 After 100 Fly Win at Christiansburg Sectionals

2024 SPEEDO SPRING SECTIONALS – CHRISTIANSBURG, VIRGINIA

• March 21-14, 2024
• Christiansburg Aquatic Center, Christiansburg, Virginia
• Psych Sheet
• Meet Central (with results)
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 1 Results | Day 2 Results

Adriano Arioti of the Rockville Montgomery Swim Club led the highlights on day 2 of the 2024 Speedo Spring Sectionals meet in Christiansburg, Virginia, leading a group of high school state champions from across the eastern seaboard to victories on Friday.

With many of the region’s best swimmers in Florida for the NCSA Junior Nationals, this is a relatively-small sectional site, but there were still some big results on Friday evening.

That included the 17-year-old Harvard commit Arioti winning the 100 fly in 46.63, clearing the field by over a second. Besides being his best time by a quarter second, it continues a huge run of swimming for Arioti (who himself won the 200 fly and 200 back at last year’s NCSA Championships). In February, the Georgetown Day School senior won three consecutive high school crowns: the 200 IM and 100 back at the WMPSSDL Championship, the 200 IM and 100 back at the Metro Championship, and the 200 IM and 100 free at the DCSAA Championship.

Now he’s added a win at Sectionals to keep his undefeated streak alive in 2024 (including two wins at a club meet in January).

Harvard’s best time this season in the 100 fly was freshman David Schmitt in 46.42, so Arioti is already within reach of making an immediate impact for the Crimson.

Kade Snyder finished 2nd in 47.89.

In the girls’ race, 16-year-old Alaina Sheets from the Hampton Dolphins in the northern Pittsburgh area won in 54.57 – knocking 1.3 seconds off her lifetime best. She swam at the Pennsylvania High School State Championship meet last weekend, where she was 2nd in the 100 back (55.06) and 3rd in the 200 IM (2:02.61). Her best 100 fly coming into this meet was a 55.87 from Winter Juniors – East in December.

Her 54.57 would have been easily-2nd place at that PIAA 2A (small schools) state meet.

After Delawarean swimmers dominated distance on day 1 of the meet, they kept that trend alive on Friday with wins in the girls’ 200 free (18-year-old Rachel Bockrath in 1:49.41) and the girls’ 400 IM (15-year-old Cailin Maley in 4:27.80).

That swim for Maley is a personal best by over three seconds, clearing a 4:32-low she swam in December.

Other Day 2 Winners and Highlights

• Gavin Abelende of Seahawks Aquatics in Maryland won in 1:41.25, just off his best of 1:40.69 from the Maryland LSC Championship a month ago. He was a Maryland High School State Champion in the 50 and 100 free in February.
• Kentucky commit Sarah Shaffer won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.04, beating-out Cailin Maley of the Delaware Swim Team (1:04.58). Maley later won the 400 IM.
• 29-year-old Andrew Brower of the home team H2okie Aquatics won the 100 breaststroke in 55.55. The former Ohio State Buckeye took a big competition break after finishing his college career in 2013, making some local meet appearances in 2016 and then none again until 2022, but has been competing consistently since – including a personal best in the 100 breast of 55.23 at this meet last year – while working as a project engineer in North Dakota.
• Daren Chen from the New Jersey Race Club was the only competitor under four minutes in the 400 IM, winning comfortably in 3:59.56. That’s also his first time under four minutes in the race – his previous best time was done at the Ithaca Sectionals meet this same weekend last year. While his breaststroke wasn’t as fast this year as it was last year, he made big improvements in every other part of his race – including going out 1.2 seconds faster on fly and closing 1.7 seconds faster on free.
• RMSC won the 200 free including a 1:37.27 leadoff leg from Arioti that would have easily won the individual 200 free. He was joined in that winning relay by Ashton Sun, Beckett Christman, and Shad Franz as the relay finished in 6:57.26.
• The New Jersey Race Club won the girls’ 800 in 7:40.79, with a winning group of Annie Mee (1:54.31), Anna Haggerty (1:56.69), Mia Smith (1:57.89), and Molly Cullen (1:51.90).