Fifty six TNT swimmers competed at the 2015 summer Junior Olympics resulting in a second place finish overall. Eight team records fell, led by Selma’s Jackson Huckabay who improved upon his preexisting 50 meter freestyle record that he set as 29.23 at the Clovis meet one month earlier. His new record of 29.13 ranks 400th nationally for boys of age 12. A clear freestyler, Jackson went on to set a new record in the 100 meter freestyle, improving Parker Giles’s 1:04.83 that was set at the Speedo Grand Challenge in 2012. The new standard of 1:03.05 ranks 279th nationally. Not stopping there, Jackson also set a new record in the 200 freestyle, taking down one of the oldest records on the books of 2:16.67 previously held by current TNT Visalia coach Jason Ricablanca, and set in the same Clovis pool back in 1994. Jackson’s time of 2:14.70 ranks 140th in the nation for boys at the same age. Reflecting his range in ability level, Jackson also set a new team record in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:44.10, and again going under Jason Ricablanca’s previous record of 4:47.35 set in Deanza Cupertino in 1994, eight years before Jackson was even born. This was Jackson’s highest national ranking among his new records, as it stands as the 134th nationally.
Danielle Albright set two new team records, beginning with the 100 meter breaststroke that she previously set a month earlier at the June Age Group Invitational in Ventura as a 1:19.65. During Junior Olympics, Danielle swam a full second under her previous record with a 1:18.62, and resulting in a national ranking of 29th in the event. This time is also under the Central California Swimming record of 1:18.66 that was held by Taylor Jones, and set in 1997. Danielle’s highest national ranking among records she broke was the 18th fastest time nationally among 12-year old girls of 18:40.49 in the 1500 meter freestyle, sliding under Allyson Duffy’s previous record of 18:47.69 set at the Clovis meet four years earlier in 2011. This new record is also a new CCS record that was held by Caitlyn Snyder, and set in 2012.
Two additional team records were set, both in the 13-14 boys division as JD Koster established a new team record in the 200 IM with his time of 2:20.50, swimming under Nathan Rhea’s previous record of 2:21.71 set at JO’s in 2009. His new records stands as the 190th fastest nationally for boys of age 14. Preston Niayesh set the only other team record, and he did this in the 100 meter breaststroke with his time of 1:10.79 that was under Nathan Rhea’s 1:11.13 from the Zone meet in Hawaii back in 2009. Preston’s time ranks 56th nationally.
Twenty six teams competed at the meet, and TNT’s 56 swimmers scored a total of 3,455 points, once again placing second behind Clovis Swim Club’s 6,534 points generated from their team of 120, and TNT was led by Selma’s Jackson Huckabay who was the 11-12 boys runner high point runner up with 145 points resulting in his three wins that included the 400 free, 50 breaststroke, and 200 freestyle events. Preston Niayesh was the next highest point getter at 138 points from the 13-14 boys division, and he was the event champion in both the 100 fly and 100 breaststroke events. Our remaining dual event champions included JD Koster, also of the 13-14 age division, who won both the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke events, and eight year old Sienna Abernathy who took home the gold in both the 50 freestyle and the 50 butterfly events of the 8-under division. Other event champions included: Danielle Albright (100 breaststroke), Lauren Geiger (100 freestyle), Jonas Huckabay (400 IM), Jakob Koorey (100 breaststroke), Jimmy Koster (800 free), and Megan Ridenour (100 breaststroke).
Five team relay records were set at the 2015 long course Junior Olympics, and these included the 11-12 girls 200 Medley relay team of Pricilla Niayesh, Danielle Albright, Maya Herrera and Layla Flores, the team swimming a time of 2:17.35, and the same four teamed up to break the 11-12 girls 400 freestyle record, swimming a time of 4:33.11. These times fell under the previous records of 2:19.37 (previously held by Coddington, Korenwinder, Newkirk and Duffy) and 4:34.02 (previously held by Sullivan, Bringe, Albright and Ford) respectively. The 11-12 boys team of Peyton Costa, Benjamin Wheeler, Diego Gutierrez and Jackson Huckaby swam 4:27.77 in the 400 free relay, breaking the previous record of 4:39.91 set by Escobedo, Huckabay, Niayesh and Giles, and the four also went on the set the 400 medley relay record with a time of 5:14.75, breaking the 5:16.71 set by Giles, Niayesh, Shinkawa and Escobedo. The 13-14 boys 200 medley relay record was also broken with a time of 2:04.12 by Bryce Wong, Preston Niayesh, JD Koster and Brett Wong, swimming under the 2:05.53 set by Escobedo, Niayesh, Shinkawa and Koorey.
Twenty six swimmers improved 100% of their times, and these included: Sienna Abernathy, Gwendolyn Adriaansen, Dylan Burr, Isabel Burrough, Kate Frost, Amanda Garabedian, Nadia Garabedian, Lauren Geiger, Isaac Gutierrez, Xavier Gutierrez, Annlyn Haworth, Maya Herrera, Cyrus Hill, Dylan Hunt, Tanner Kelm, JD Koster, Jimmy Koster, Ethan Merritt, Sofia Mora, Preston Niayesh, Priscilla Niayesh, Emma Pena, Micah Ruiz, Elizabeth Torres, Brett Wong, and Bryan Wong.