WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VT — The 13th Annual Leaf Peepers Masters Swim Meet was a huge success. How successful was it? Let’s go through the recap.

Held on Oct. 30, 2022 at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center in White River Junction, Vt., this year’s meet attracted 102 swimmers, its largest yet according to Upper Valley Rays Head Coach Barbara Hummel.

“I would attribute this to the fact that UVAC's masters team, the UVRays, is larger than it’s ever been (100+ members) and there was a lot of enthusiasm among the team to swim in the meet,” Hummel said. “Twenty-nine UVRays ended up competing, which is a record for us, and another 29 helped out as volunteers.”

Other teams who had strong numbers at this year’s meet were UMASS Masters (UMAMA) with 13 swimmers and Edge Masters Swim Team (EDGE) of South Burlington, Vt. with 12 swimmers. Pittsfield YMCA Polar Bears (PITY) of Pittsfield, Ma. came with five swimmers and Granite State Penguins (GSP) of Nashua, Londonderry, and Salem, NH came with four.

Other highlights included two brothers swimming, John Radimer from Vermont and Richard Radimer from Connecticut); a father and son, Jonathan and Keith Chatinover from Martha's Vineyard; two Lewis & Clark College alums, Sam Raphel, Class of 2020, and Christian Avard, Class of 1996. And of course, the big highlight was the sweets: pumpkin pies, apple pies, apple crisps, cupcakes, and more from local chef Susan Reid.

Dan Rogacki of PITY set a new New England Masters Swimming record in the Mens' 75-79 50 breast with a time of 38.89. Forty-eight meet records were also broken at this year’s Leaf Peepers Meet. That’s because the meet was swam at 25 yards as opposed to its original distance at 25 meters. The switch to yards in 2022 was a UVAC management decision, according to Hummel.

The following swimmers set new meet records in 2022.

Women’s records: Rayna Rampalli, UVRAY, W 25-29 500 yard freestyle, 6:51:51; Monica Foley, KEEN, W 35-39 200 free, 2:17:29 and 500 free, 6:09:57; Megan Riley, UN-NE, W 40-44 100 free, 1:06:81, and 50 butterfly, 34:06; Brianne Slover, EDGE, W 40-44 50 backstroke, 38:51; Sara Mathieu, EDGE W 40-44 100 Individual Medley, 1:16:47 and 200 I.M., 2:43:80; Denise Leckenby, UMAMA, 100 free, 57:72; Gretchen Van Winkle, UVRAY, W 50-54 200 I.M., 3:22:52; Heather Ayres, UVRAY, W 55-59 50 free, 31:06 and 50 back, 38:87; Denise Spence, UMAMA, W 60-64 100 free, 1:11:98; Cheryl Elinsky, UVRAY, W 60-64 200 free, 2:41:63, and 500 free, 7:03:85; Lee Ann Banks, EDGE, W 60-64 50 back, 35:04, and 100 back, 1:14:04; and Katherine Branch, NEM, W 65-69 100 free, 1:17:06, and 200 free, 2:39:49.

Men’s records: Sam Raphael, UN-NE, M 18-24 50 free, 24:09; Alex Muni, UVRAY, M 25-29 100 breaststroke, 1:11:13; Aron Reynolds, GSP, M 30-34 100 back, 57:69, 50 breast, 32:38, and 200 I.M., 2:11:44; Adam Lefari, EDGE, M 30-34 100 breast, 1:10:80, and 200 breast, 2:35:23; Ken Riley, UN-NE, M 40-44 100 breast, 1:13:70; John Gardiner, NEM, M 50-54 50 free, 26:15; Scott Gilbert, UN-NE, M 50-54 200 free, 2:14:23, and 200 I.M., 2:36:67; Todd Silberstein, KEEN, M 50-54 50 breast, 36:00; Roman Adl, CONN, M 55-59 50 free, 24:73, and 100 free, 55:11; Jack Fabian, KEEN, M 55-59, 100 fly, 1:11:20, and 200 I.M., 2:40:77; Gerald Burbank, CONN, M 60-64 100 back, 1:13:19, 200 back, 2:37:44, and 100 I.M., 1:11:54; Keith Cataldo, XCEL, M 60-64 50 breast, 35:05, and 100 breast, 1:19:42; John Dolan, UVRAY, M 65-69 50 free, 29:27; Russ Yarworth, UMAMA, M 65-69 100 free, 58:55, and 50 fly, 29:49; John Radimer, UVM, M 70-74 50 free, 28:88, and 100 free, 1:05:90; Fred Schlicher, CRM, M 70-74 100 back, 1:13:28; and Dan Rogacki, PITY, M 75-79 50 free, 31:26, and 50 back, 37:45. 

Contributed by Christian Avard. Christian swims for the UV Rays and competed at his first USMS Nationals in Richmond, VA in August 2022.