A team of 16 swimmers traveled to Morgan Hill for the Far Western Championships during the first weekend of April to join over 1600 other athletes representing over 170 teams from states such as Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Virginia, Nevada, as well as the city of Edmonton in Canada. Going into the last day, Tule Nation Tritons held 16th place out of the 96 teams that scored at the meet. Mission San Jose and Sunnyvale Swim Club each moved past TNT by one point during the final day of competition. TNT finished 19th overall.
The overall team improvement percentage of 59% was led by perfect 100% improvement rates from Parker Giles of Hanford (improving 1 of 1), Emily Goodbar of Selma (4 of 4), Kyle Grissom of Porterville (1 of 1), Jonas Huckabay of Selma (3 of 3) and Mia Newkirk of Hanford (6 of 6). Those improving 50% or more of their times included: Mallory Korenwinder (86%), Khloe McCarthy (67%) Allyson Duffy of Hanford (57%), and Amber Khieralla of Bakersfield (57%).
A total of 11 individual event performances were under a current team record, with one being under a Central California Swimming record. Twelve year old Allyson Duffy swam 18:29.66 in the 1650 freestyle event which dropped her preexisting team record from 18:33.20 set only last month at the Bakersfield meet. Her time currently ranks 42nd in the nation among all 12-year old girls. Tristin Baxter of Clovis who competed at D-1 NCAA Championships in her first year of college this year had set the 11-12 girls 1000 freestyle record in 2004 at 11:01.05. This record fell to Allysons 5th place performance at Far Westerns of 10:57.02, which now stands as both the CCS and team record as well as the 35th fastest time in the nation. The previous team record of 11:38.34 was set by Khloe McCarthy in Arizona last December.
Twelve year old Mallory Korenwinder led the team both in second swims and in record-breaking performances. Mallory began with the 100 butterfly event by swimming 1:02.68, edging out Ambers record-breaking performance of 1:02.82. Both girls swam well under the preexisting record of 1:03.84 set by Lynnie North in 1989. Mallory went on to qualify for Sectionals in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:28.54 that ranks 21st fastest in the nation. Her performance broke her own record of 2:33.26 set in Bakersfield during February. Mallorys 50 fly time of 27.67 edged out Mia Newkirks record breaking swim of 27.84 in a swim off that reset the team record in the 50 fly, both girls swimming within a half second of the CCS record which stands as 27.18 set in 1999 by former Auburn swimmer Kristen Hastrup. Mallorys 100 IM time of 1:03.57 was again within one second of the CCS record of 1:02.76. She and Amber swam 4 combined times in the 100 IM alone that were under the preexisting team record held by Samantha Goates and set in 2002 while competing at AAs. Mallory had already set the 50 breaststroke record while at JOs as a 32.69, and now reset the standard at 32.27 which was .6 seconds off of the CCS record. Her final record breaking swim came with the time of 1:09.56 in the 100 breaststroke where she once again swam under her previous record of 1:09.96 set at JOs two weeks earlier.
Bakersfield swimmer Amber Khieralla continues record-breaking performances as she dropped the team record in the 100 fly and 100 IM events. At 12 years old, Ambers 1:02.82 in the 100 fly is the 168th fastest in the nation, and went under one of the longest standing records on the team. Lynnie North had set the record at the Fig Garden pool in Fresno back in 1989 with a 1:03.84. Ambers second record-breaking performance was in the 100 IM where her 1:03.93 went under the 1:04.81 set by Samantha Goates at AAs in Cerritos in 2002. This time is the 107th fastest in the nation. She had earned two second swims placing 4th in the 50 backstroke with a time of 28.49 and 8th in the 100 IM with a time of 1:04.54.
Dax Korenwinder earned two second swims at the meet, first with an 8th place finish in the 100 breaststroke (1:20.44), and then again with his 4th place finish in the 50 breaststroke where his 35.77 went under his preexisting record of 37.09 that he set only two weeks earlier at Junior Olympics.
Mia Newkirk earned a second swim by way of a swim-off for first alternate with teammate Mallory Korenwinder. Both girls not only swam a time during the swim-off that would have qualified for a championship swim, but both girls also swam under the pre-existing team record. Mia swam 27.84 which was under Amber Khierallas previous team record set two weeks ago as 27.93 at Junior Olympics. Mias time currently ranks 104th in the nation and was also a mere .75 seconds off of the CCS Record.
Notable swims also came from Preston Niayesh who finished 9th in the 50 breaststroke event, Mia Newkirk (9th 50 fly), Emily Goodbar (17th – 200 fly), Hannah Giles (24th– 100 breast), Parker Giles (24th – 50 fly), Bre Abell (34th – 50 free), Jonas Huckabay (34th – 50 back), Conor Martin (41st – 50 free), Kyle Grissom (43rd – 200 fly), Khloe McCarthy (43rd 200 back), Chris Hanson (51st – 200 breast), and Katelyn Herrera (54th – 200 fly).
Relays are a large contribution to a teams overall point accumulation. Our team entered 4 relays in the 11-12 girls division, and each relay placed among the top 4 at the meet with the highest finish being 2nd in the 400 freestyle with a time of 3:47.58, 3rd place finishes in the 400 medley relay (4:15.85) and 200 medley relay (1:56.50), and a 4th place finish in the 200 free relay (1:45.03). Those of us at Junior Olympics watched as our relay team of Allyson Duffy, Amber Khieralla, Mallory Korenwinder, Mia Newkirk and Morgan Coddington went undefeated each time they swam. One goal at Far Westerns was to improve their CCS record breaking performances. Records were re-set in the 200 free relay (1:45.03 at Far Westerns vs. 1:45.97 from JOs), 400 free relay (3:47.58 vs. 3:38.26), and the 400 medley relay (4:15.85 vs. 4:16.56) relays.
Swimming World Magazine provided live on-demand viewing opportunities during finals at Far Westerns. These videos can still be viewed for those who are interested in watching the top 8 competitors of each event, along with the relays that took place during finals. Click on Swimming World’s video coverage of 2011 Far Westerns to view the nightly finals that took place.