2025 New England Charles River Aquatics End of Season Invitational
- July 31- August 3, 2025
- SCY (25y)
- Prelims/Finals
- Boston Sports Institute, Wellesley, Massachusetts
- Meet Website
- Results
Cullen Cashman made his triumphant return to the short course pool earlier this month at the CRA Invitational in Wellesley, MA, where he saw wins in all eight of his individual events. The 14-year-old’s impressive weekend was highlighted by a blistering 2:00.92 in the 200 breaststroke, which gave him the win by an impressive 23-second margin, and moved him into 6th all-time among 13-14 year-olds in that event.
The CRA Invitational was just the cherry on top of a remarkable month for Cashman. At New England Senior Champs in mid-July, Cashman became just the 8th swimmer ever to break 2:20 in the boys’ 200 breast before turning 15, finishing in a time of 2:19.61. At the Futures Championships in Ocala two weeks later, Cashman burned off another second and a half, jumping up to 5th all time with a 2:18.24, and just missing out on the podium by two tenths. He also sits just outside the all-time top-10 in the 100 breast at 1:04.27, which was enough to get him into a second championship final at Futures.
Despite only a few days of rest after his busy week in Ocala, the return to New England proved to be a success. As expected, Cashman swept all three breast events, with best times in the 50 (26.62), 100 (56.70), and 200 (2:00.92), winning each handily. He also got wins and best times in the three IM events — clocking 52.59 in the 100, 1:52.18 in the 200, and 4:01.51 in the 400 — as well as in the 50 fly (23.26) and 100 fly (50.83). His 2:00.92 in the 200 breast makes him the 6th swimmer ever to break the 2:01 barrier as a 14-year-old, while his times in the 100 breast and 200 IM put him in 36th and 76th, respectively, among the 13-14 age group.
Cashman’s move up the ranks has been quite dramatic, with massive drops over the last year. Entering the 2024-25 short course season, his best times in the breast events were 28.47 in the 50, 1:00.41 in the 100, and 2:11.61 in the 200, just enough to qualify for Sectionals. Now, he is a Summer Juniors qualifier with a lot to be excited about in the near future. We are sure to see his name again soon once we get to our first championship meets of the new season, which come later this fall.
Other Highlights
- Ten-year-old Cayden Chen had a busy weekend, having won nine of his 10 events. In fact, with only 11 events on the 10 & under schedule, it’s actually easier to name the events he didn’t win. Apart from a 2nd place finish in the 50 free and choosing not to swim the 100 fly, he won all of the remaining events: the 100 free (1:00.66), 200 free (2:12.82), 500 free (5:56.54), 50 back (32.84), 100 back (1:11.30), 50 breast (34.94), 100 breast (1:17.90), 100 fly (1:09.59), and 100 IM (1:10.22).
- While Cashman and Chen had phenomenal meets, it was actually Luke Pordon who walked away with the most event wins, with 10 throughout the weekend. The 12-year-old touched first in the 50 free (25.53), 100 free (54.59), 200 free (1:58.33), 1000 free (11:19.86), 50 back (28.67), 100 back (1:01.38), 200 back (2:12.60), 50 fly (27.74), 100 fly (1:00.75), and 100 IM (1:04.86), setting new personal bests in all but two events.
- Sofia Oliveira took the honor of most wins on the women’s side, also having won nine of her 10 events throughout the weekend. The rising high-school junior saw wins in the 50 free (23.62), 100 free (50.74), 200 free (1:48.02), 500 free (4:56.31), 100 breast (1:03.82), 100 fly (55.82), 200 fly (2:04.84), 200 IM (2:01.73), 200 medley relay (1:48.81), and 200 free relay (1:40.26). Her well-roundedness makes her an intriguing college prospect, with schools having likely begun contacting her earlier this summer.
- Cashman wasn’t the only 13-14 boy to clean up at the CRA Invite. Ryan Cahoy won the 100 (51.52), 200 (1:47.55), and 500 freestyle (4:51.63), the latter of which he won by 23 seconds, and was a second and a half better than his prior best of 4:53.00.
