Phil

SIX IMPROVE 100% IN THE RAIN AT CLOVIS

Jan 282017

What may be arguably the worst weather for a swim meet in the last two or more years, six of our 30 TNT swimmers who competed at the Clovis meet in January, primarily from the Selma and Visalia programs, still managed to improve 100% of their times in events 50 yards or longer that had been previously recorded with the team. Seven year old Meghan Adams (improving 1 of 1 event), along with Selma swimmers Sydney King (age 11 – 4 of 4), Jade Perez (age 8 – 2 of 2) and Delbert Salvadalena (age 9 – 3 of 3), and Visalia swimmers Luke Vanwoudenberg (age 14 – 3 of 3) and Kylie Walker (age 13 – 4 of 4), all improved 100% of their times despite the inclement weather. The team’s overall improvement percentage was only 39%.

Sixteen year old JD Koster was one of two swimmers who remained undefeated at the meet within their age and time divisions, winning all seven of his events entered for the 15-over division, while 12-year old Gage Price entered two events, and won both of those within his divisions. JD had a time drop in the 100 back, swimming 58.86 reflecting a three and a half second improvement. Selma’s ten year old, Sienna Abernathy, took home two first place finishes that included the 200 MI (2:53.10), and 100 IM (1:16.42), while her training partner, ten year old Sydnee Wilson, went home as the champion in both the 50 fly (33.79), and 100 breaststroke (1:24.27) events. Our only other double winner was Preston Niayesh who won the 100 free (50.98), and 50 free (23.79) events for the 15-over division. Other event champions included Meghan Adams (25 breast), Jillian Duffy (7-8 25 fly), Nathan Hunt (11-12 200 breast), and Tyson Phillips (7-8 50 free).

10 FINAL AT PRO-AM

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Dec 272016

Fifteen TNT swimmers traveled to Lewisville, Texas for the second time to compete at the 2016 Pro-Am Classic over the third weekend of December, and two thirds of our team earned a second swim in one of four final heats provided. Six of those ten moved into one of two scoring heats, placing among the top 16 at the meet within their respective events.

Our only championship swim (placing in the top-8) was Visalia’s Megan Ridenour who swam 1:07.15 in the championship finals to successfully defend her 7^th place seeding going into that heat. Megan also earned a 2^nd swim in the C-final of the 200 breast, finishing 22^nd there (2:31.84). Our team had only one swimmer that scored in two individual events, and that honor goes to Selma’s Jonas Huckabay who finished 10^th in the 1650 freestyle on the final day where he swam a lifetime best time of 16:52.23, and had the largest improvement from any TNT swimmer of nearly 22 seconds. Jonas must have known he would be among the top performers since he started the meet with the 1000 freestyle, and already earned a scoring performance by finishing 16^th in that event with is lifetime best of 10:05.20. At an 83%, Jonas maintained one of the highest improvement rates for the team by improving five of his six swims.

Selma’s Satoshi Shinkawa was the busiest on the team, earning second swims in four of his six events. He scored in the 100 backstroke where is lifetime best of 55.44 in the preliminary heats took him to a spot in the consolation final where he nearly repeated the time and finished 15^th. Satoshi also earned 2^nd swims in the 100 breast (1:02.61), 100 fly (52.98), and 200 IM (2:01.59) events. With an overall team improvement percentage only at 38%, Satoshi was one of seven who improved at or over 50% of their times.

Visalia’s Mackenzie Garza earned the next highest number of second swims at three, and she scored in her specialty event, the 50 freestyle, with a lifetime best time of 24.55 posted in the finals and placing 14^th there. Mackenzie also earned a second swim in the 100 freestyle, finishing 28^th after swimming a time of 55.25 in the preliminary heats. Her final second swim was in the 50 backstroke where her time of 28.19 finished 17^th. At a 60% improvement rate, Mackenzie was among our best improved swimmers. Another scoring swim came from one of our four 13-year olds who competed at the meet. Danielle Albright was within a second of her best time in the 100 breaststroke with a 1:07.71 in the preliminary heats which was fast enough to get her into the B-final where she finished 13^th. Her second final resulted from her 4:47.29 in the preliminary heats of the 400 IM where she ultimately finished 23^rd in the C-final. Our final scoring swim came from Visalia’s Lauren Geiger who swam a time of 28.39 in the preliminary heats of the 50 backstroke to make it into the consolation final, where she finished 15^th.

Our top performer in terms of time improvement was unquestionably Visalia’s Layla Flores, who at age 13 wouldn’t back down to the senior-level of competition. She competed in six events, and improved all six, by margins that well exceeded two and a half seconds at times. Layla also earned second swims in two events that included the 200 breaststroke (2:33.19 – 26^th), and 50 back (30.20 – 29^th). Selma’s Morgan Coddington is a veteran at the meet, and she also earned second swims in two events that included the 100 breast (1:10.29), and the 400 IM (4:47.66). Two additional swimmers earned a top-32 finish, and they include Visalia’s Janessa Bringe who finished 26^th in the 1000 free (11:13.40), and Peyton Costa who earned a second swim, and finished 29^th in the 50 back (28.36).

Our remaining swimmers, along with their highest placed event, included: Visalia’s Rylee Lord (55^th in the 100 fly), Priscilla Niayesh (85^th in the 100 breast), Selma’s Emma Pena (39^th in the 50 free), Katherine Sullivan (65^th in the 50 back), and Libby Adriaansen (78^th in the 100 breast).

BRYAN WONG LEADS TNT TO 8th PLACE FINISH AT WINTER AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Dec 272016

Twenty TNT swimmers competed at the 2016 Winter Age Group Championships held on Coronado Island in San Diego over the December 17-19 weekend with 559 of the total 753 points generated from individual events led by twelve year old Bryan Wong who was not only the teams sole event champion, but took home the gold in three of his eight events, placing second in the 500 free (5:22.18), and third in three additional events (100 free – 57.16; 200 IM – 2:19.47 & 200 free – 2:02.40). Rounding out a sixth place finish in the 100 fly (1:04.54), Bryan was a championship (top-8) finalist in all events that he participated in, and thereby contributed a total of 138 points to the team total. His three first place events were also new team records, beginning with the 31.71 that he swam in the 50 breaststroke event. His time slid under Preston Niayesh’s 31.98 that stood as the previous team record set at the Tulare meet three years earlier in 2013. Bryan’s new record stands as the 95th fastest nationally for swimmers at age 12. Establishing himself as a breaststroker, Bryan went on to set the team record in his next gold medal event, the 100 breast where his time of 1:09.22 ranks 120th nationally, and shaved .05 seconds off of Preston’s previous record of 1:09.27, being the only two TNT male swimmers to go under the 1:10 mark. Bryan previously held the 200 breaststroke record, most recently setting it at the Tulare meet earlier in the month as a 2:36.64, but now in his final gold-medal performance, falls well under that time to a 2:30.99, and placing himself as the 83rd fastest 12-year old male in the nation for the event to date.

Our next highest point contributor was Alexa Wong who also placed in the championship (top-8) heat for nine events that she participated in, scoring a total of 131 points. Her highest finish was the 2nd place in the 100 butterfly (1:11.69), and she followed that with a pair of 3rd place finishes that included the 50 fly (32.09), and 50 free (29.17) events, as well as a pair of 4th place finishes that included the 200 IM (2:36.14), and 100 back (1:12.19), and a pair of 5th place finishes that included the 100 free (1:04.22), and 200 free (2:19.55). Her final two events paired up for 6th place finishes, and included the 50 back (34.73), and 100 IM (1:13.16).

Gage Price was the next highest point getter at 77 points generated by championship swims in four of his events. Gage’s top place was 5th in the 200 back (2:23.04), and he followed that performance with a pair of sixth place finishes that included the 50 back, (31.32) and 100 back (1:06.33) events. His final top-8 finish was 7th in the 100 fly (1:05.45). Additionally, Gage finished top-16 in three other events that included the 100 free (10th), 50 fly (9th), and 500 free (9th) events. Selma’s Sydnee Wilson was one of three swimmers to improve 100% of their times, and she also had three championship swims that included a pair of 4th place finishes for both the 50 fly (32.51) and 100 breaststroke (1:23.35) events, and a 5th place finish in the 50 breast (37.78). Her remaining top-16 scoring swims include the 200 IM (14th), 100 IM (15th) and 50 free (9th). Selma’s Sienna Abernathy was our next highest point contributor with 54, and she did this with three top-8 finishes that included a pair of 6th places for the 100 free (1:06.83), and the 50 free (29.96), and a 7th place finish in the 200 free (2:25.52). Sienna also finished 10th in the 50 fly, and 9th in the 100 fly. Visalia’s Daniel Haley would be next in points at 41, while finishing 6th in the 12-under 200 butterfly event with a time of 2:35.76. Daniel had five additional scoring events that included the 200 back (13th), 100 free (16th), 50 back (9th), 100 back (10th) and 500 free (10th) events. Drew Black made her first appearance at the meet, and had a top-8 finish with a 7th place in the 50 fly (33.56), and also scored in the 100 free (16th), 50 back (13th), and 100 back (12th). Another double digit scorer was Selma’s Lucas Huckabay who scored in four individual events that included the 100 free (15th), 200 free (11th), 100 back (12th) and 50 free (10th). Bryce Wong was one of three 100% improvement swimmers, and our only other double digit winner, scoring in the 100 fly (11th) and 100 back (12th). Our remaining scorer in individual events was Ava Olson who finished 10th in the 200 fly.

Our remaining swimmers, along with their highest placed event, includes Aidan Champagne (50 breast – 30th), Duncan Champagne (50 breast – 20th), Ciara Clarke (50 breast – 29th), Diego Gutierrez (100 free – 30th), Isaac Gutierrez (100 breast – 43rd), Xavier Gutierrez (200 breast – 29th), Addison Mccullough (100 fly – 17th), Micah Ruiz (200 back – 23rd), Benjamin Wheeler (200 back – 25th), and Brett Wong (200 back – 31st). Addison Mccullough was one of only three individuals to improve 100% of their times.

3 COMPETE AT DECEMBER SECTIONALS

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Dec 202016

JD Koster tops the performance list for the three TNT swimmers who competed at the December Sectional meet at East LA College. He swam to the highest finish of the three, and improved three of four swims that included two time trial events. JD’s top finish was 31^st in the 200 fly in a meet where the top 24 swimmers advance to a final heat. His 1:55.68 was nearly a two second improvement, and slides under the short course Sectional time standard for his first time in the event where he maintained a long course qualifying time. During time trials, JD also improved his 200 IM to a 1:57.40, and 200 breaststroke to a 2:11.98.

Preston Niayesh was our only swimmer who was eligible to swim three events in the meet, and he had the next highest finish of our team of three, placing 40^th in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:15.77 which is his second fastest meet performance in the event. Alsonso Escobedo was entered into two events, and his highest finish was 54^th in the 400 IM after swimming a time of 4:17.63 in the preliminary heats, and posting his second fastest time on record.

BRYAN WONG SETS 2 RECORDS AT TULARE

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Dec 202016

Bryan Wong began the Tulare meet with a record breaking swim in the 400 IM, swimming the event only the second time in his career, and coming in at a time of 4:54.35, being only the second 11-12 boy in the history of the team to go under five minutes, and improving on his first effort by nearly seven seconds from only two months prior. Bryan holds the record that Peyton Costa set one year earlier as a 4:56.39 while competing at the Age Group Championships in San Diego. His time stands as the 141st fastest nationally for 12-year old boys. Bryan began breaking team records only two months ago during the Visalia meet where he swam 2:38.02 in the 200 breaststroke, and continues to improve on that record, this time swimming 2:36.64 in the event at the Tulare meet shaving nearly a second and a half off the time in just two months. His improved record now stands at the 161st fastest in the nation for boys at age 12.

Bryan also swam undefeated at the meet within his respective A, B or C divisions, winning all five events that he competed in for the 11-12 boys division, including the 400 IM (4:54.35), 200 breast (2:36.64), 200 back (2:33.90), 50 free (26.76), and 100 free (57.97) events. Keeping success in the family, sister Alexa Wong was the event champion for four of her five events in the 9-10 division, and these included the 100 breast (1:27.86), 100 back (1:14.31), 50 free (29.15), and 500 free (6:09.57). Another near sweep came from Visalia’s Layla Flores who just arrived into the 13-14 age division, and she won five of her six events, winning the 200 free (2:09.13), 400 IM (5:05.79), 200 breast (2:36.87), 200 back (2:20.94), and 200 IM (2:20.81). The only other 4-event champion was Mckenna Pressley who took home the gold in her respective divisions in the 200 breast (3:10.18), 200 fly (3:05.26), 200 IM (2:55.27) and 100 breast (1:28.66) events.

Other event champions included: Sienna Abernathy (50 back & 50 breast), Libby Adriaansen (50 free), Maquire Barteau (100 IM), Ella Bettencourt (50 free), Drew Black (100 fly), Isabel Burrough (50 breast), Riley Carpenter (100 free), Aidan Champagne (100 breast, 100 back & 100 fly), Ciara Clarke (100 fly), Peyton Costa (100 back & 200 fly), Colin Duffy (50 back), Gabriela Dutra (100 free), Yasmin Erteza (25 free & 25 breast), Alonso Escobedo (400 IM), Jillian Gaines (200 free & 400 IM), Diego Gutierrez (100 breast), Isaac Gutierrez (200 free & 100 free), Xavier Gutierrez (100 back), Maya Herrera (200 back), Logan Huckabay (50 free & 100 IM), Lucas Huckabay (200 free & 100 breast), Nathan Hunt (200 free & 200 breast), Sydney King (200 free), Isabella Klawitter (200 fly), JD Koster (100 fly, 200 breast & 200 IM), Rylee Lord (200 fly), Landon Mauge (50 breast), Genoveve Mcilwaine (100 fly & 100 free), Caroline Mendyk (200 IM), Ava Olson (50 fly, 50 back & 200 fly), Levi Porter (50 free & 25 back), Gage Price (400 IM), Alex Roberts (100 back), Micah Ruiz (200 back), Fynn Stadtherr (50 free & 50 breast), Jenna Surratt (50 breast), Stuart Torres (50 free, 100 breast & 100 free), Kennedi Warren (50 fly), Benjamin Wheeler (200 back, 200 IM & 500 free), and Jacob Wheeler (25 fly, 25 free & 100 free).

Seventy-three TNT swimmers competed at the meet, maintaining a 44% improvement rate, lead by seven swimmers who improved 100% of their times. Swimmers who improved pre-recorded times in events 50 yards or longer include: Wyatt Edwards (improving 2 of 2), Yasmin Erteza (1 of 1), Rylee Norohna (4 of 4), Jade Perez (2 of 2), Tyson Phillips (1 of 1), Allyson Wheeler (2 of 2), and Alexa Wong (5 of 5).

BRYAN WONG IMPROVES TEAM RECORD AT VETERANS MEET

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Dec 102016

Seventy-three TNT swimmers competed at the TNT Veterans ABC meet held over the first weekend of November, and 12-year old Bryan Wong seems intent on ensuring that no one too soon breaks his record he set at the previous meet at Visalia in the 200 yard breaststroke event. Bryan swam 2:38.02 in Visalia to improve the pre-existing record by four one-hundredths of a second, and now at the Veteran’s Day meet improved his record to a 2:37.07, a time that now stands as the 99th fastest nationally for boys at age 12. Bryan is one of nine TNT swimmers who remained undefeated at the meet, winning all five of his events.

Other swimmers who were undefeated included Eric Amador who won all four of his events in the 11-12 boys division, along with Selma’s Morgan Coddington who won her four in the 15-over division, and Visalia’s Layla Flores who took home eight first place finishes for the 11-12 division. Selma’s Satoshi Shinkawa also won both of his 15-over events, and Visalia’s Jake Surratt won all four of his 6-under events. Jacob Wheeler blazed to first place finishes in four events in the 7-8 division, while Alexa Wong swept all six of her events in the 9-10 group, along with her brother, Bryce Wong, who came home winning all six 13-14 division events.

Fifteen of our swimmers improved 100% of their times that had been pre-recorded with the team, and these performances were led by Gabriela Dutra who improved all six of her events. The largest improvement came from Clarie Welborn who dropped a whopping 23.98 seconds in the 100 yard breaststroke event, which marked the largest time drop by any TNT swimmer at the meet, and she too improved 100% of her times. Our remaining 100% improvement rates were generated by: Meghan Adams (improving 1 event), Eric Amador (improving 3), Briar Briggs (1), Gabrielia Costamagna (1), Peyton Costa (3), Elias Dean (2), Jackson Huckabay (2), Carlos Lopez (3), Jade Perez (2), Seiji Shinkawa (4), Shoji Shinkawa (2), Jake Surratt (4), Kennedi Warren (1), Kate Welborn (1), and Jacob Wheeler (3).

DANIEL HALEY LEADS TNT TO 2nd PLACE FINISH IN FRESNO

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Dec 012016

Visalia’s Daniel Haley was one of six TNT swimmers who were event champions at the Fresno ABC meet held in mid-November at the Bullard High School facility, swimming eight events, and scoring in all eight. He took home the gold in the 11-12 boys 500 freestyle event with a time of 5:45.68, placed 3^rd in four events, and was among the top 6 in all other events that he competed in. Our other event champions included his Visalia training partner, Janessa Bringe, who won the 15-over 400 IM with a time of 4:59.76, 8-year old and Jillian Duffy who was the champion of the 8-under 100 IM after swimming a life-time best of 1:36.97. JD Koster was the event champion in three of his four 15-over events, winning the 100 fly (55.42), 200 breast (2:17.83), and 200 IM (2:05.13), while Visalia’s Megan Ridenour entered two 15-over events, and won both: 100 free (56.08) & 200 free (2:03.96). Our only other event champion was Katherine Sullivan, who won two of her four events that included the 400 IM (5:05.33), and the 200 free (2:14.54) for the 13-14 division.

The team’s overall improvement percentage was established at 44%, and improvements were led by six individuals who improved 100% of their times. These swimmers included: Joemar Abad (improving 2 of 2), Drew Black (2 of 2), Jillian Duffy (3 of 3), Isaac Gutierrez (5 of 5), Landon Mauge (1 of 1), and Brayden Souza (2 of 2). Congratulations to these six, along with Jacob Barber, Megan Bairstow, Ciara Clarke, Ciena Clarke, Elias Dean, Lorelei Dean, Colin Duffy, Evan Dutra, Wyatt Edwards, Ashton King, Landon Mauge, Genoveve Mcilwaine, and Brayden Souza for posting times for new events.

MORGAN CODDINGTON & LAUREN GEIGER COMMIT TO FRESNO PACIFIC

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Dec 012016

Two TNT swimers are completing their senior year of high school, and are preparing to make the transition to collegiate swimming. Early signing for the sport of swimming occurs in November, and Selma’s Morgan Coddington has signed the National Letter of Intent to represent the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds for the following year. Morgan is a graduating senior from Kingsburg High School, and is coached by Gary Ota.

Joining Morgan will be Visalia’s graduating senior, Lauren Geiger, who will be graduating from Immanuel High School in Reedley. Lauren gave her verbal committment to Fresno Pacific earlier in the year be come a Sunbird next year, and she is coahced by Jason Ricablanca. Early signing is offered only to those athletes across sports that are highly desired by the college of their choice, and our two athletes are no exception to that reality. Both Morgan and Lauren have consistently finished in the top 2 places at the CIF High School Valley Championships year after year, and both swimmers qualify for our team’s senior circuit of swim meets that include the Los Angeles Invitational, Speedo Grand Challenge, and Swim Meet of Champions, swim meets that typically field international level Olympians.

Our two athletes will be following a long list of TNT swimmers who competed for Fresno Pacific, including Bre Abell, Thomas Brown, Wesley Coles, Justin Lopez-Lamb, Matlyn Morris, Jordan Stotts, as well as our coaches Alicia Cleveland, Kendall Swanson and Joclyn Thiessen.

Fresno Pacific is an NCAA Division 2 program that competes in the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference along with the University of Alaska, Arizona Christian University, Azusa Pacific, Biola, East Bay, Concordia, Dixie State College, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Soka University, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Cruz.

44 COMPETE AT CONEJO SIMI INVITATIONAL

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Dec 012016

Tule Nation Tritons traveled with its largest group to date for the Conejo Simi Invitational which is a closed meet intended for only a select number of teams. Our group traveled by bus to Simi Valley to compete on the first day of the two day meet, and then went on to Disneyland for Sunday. Eighteen of our athletes were event champions at the meet, and these performances were led by three individuals who remained undefeated. Selma’s Lucas Huckabay led the way be competing in, and winning, all five events – the maximum number allowable, for the 9-10 division, and he was followed by Visalia’s Layla Flores who has proven herself hard to beat, meet after meet, as she wins her four events. Alonso Escobedo competed in two events, and won both.

Other events champions included Selma’s Sienna Abernathy (winning 4 events for the 9-10 division), Danielle Albright (winning 3 for 13-over), Aidan Champagne (1, 11-12), Selma’s Morgan Coddington (2, 15-over), Jackson Huckabay (1, 13-over), Jonas Huckabay (1, 13-over), Drew Johnston (1, 11-12), Selma’s Tanner Kelm (1, 9-10), JD Koster (1, 13-over), Preston Niayesh (1, 13-over), Ava Olson (1, 11-12), Gage Price (3, 11-12), Katherine Sullivan (1, 13-over), Addia Watson (2, 5-8), and Selma’s Sydnee Wilson (2, 9-10).

Sydnee Wilson was also one of only five swimmers to improve 100% of their times. She improved over nine seconds combined over five events. Chesney Watson had one of the largest time improvements, dropping over seven seconds in the 100 breaststroke event, and also improved 100% of her times for four events. Maquire Barteau improved two of two, while Dante Carrasco improve all three previously recorded times with the team. Our only other 100% improvement came from Marisal Howeth who improved two events, and added the 100 IM as a newly recorded event.

MEGAN RIDENOUR & DANIELLE ALBRIGHT FINAL AT KEVIN PERRY

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Dec 012016

Nine senior TNT swimmers traveled to Huntington Beach over the first weekend of November to compete alongside swimmers such as former University of Florida, and Colombian Olympic backstroke swimmer, Omar Pinzon. The meet took the place of the “Terrapin” meet that we typically travel to on the same weekend in Pacific Swimming.

Our team came away with only two finalists, each earning a spot in the C-final, and both swimmers being two of only three remaining Futures qualifiers on our team. Visalia’s Megan Ridenour is our most veteran swimmer, competing at Futures for the past two years, and is the only swimmer to earn two final swims at the Kevin Perry meet. Megan finished 22nd in the 100 yard breaststroke after swimming a 1:06.53 in the preliminary heats. She teamed up with 13-year old Danielle Albright in the C-final of the 200 yard breaststroke, where both swimmers improved nearly three seconds in the preliminary heats to earn their second swims. Danielle and Megan finished 20th and 22nd respectively with Danielle swimming a time of 2:25.72 in finals, and Megan posting a time of 2:25.65 in the preliminary heats.

One team record was set at the meet, and that was from 15-year old Preston Niayesh who has now established himself among the ranks of only a few TNT swimmers in our history as holding a team record in each age division from the 10-under, to the 15-18 and Senior divisions. Highlighting an impressive birthday swim, Preston swam a personal best of 59.59 in the 100 yard breaststroke to finish 28th in the event, and sliding under Nathan Rhea’s team record of 59.75 that was set at the Clovis meet in March of 2012. Preston’s time currently stands as the 14th fastest nationally for boys at age 15 in an annual reporting period that began two months ago.

Two TNT swimmers led the 57% improvement rate (considered considerably high for a senior-level meet) at the meet with Alonso Escobedo improving all five of his events, averaging an improvement of over two and a half seconds each time he hit the water. Alonso’s top finish was 36th in the 200 back (1:57.81). Garrison Price maintained the only other 100% improvement rate, and he maintained the largest drop by improving nearly eight and a half seconds in the 200 yard butterfly event (1:59.69), swimming under the 2-minute mark for the first time. His highest finish was 51st in the 100 fly (53.06).

The highest finish for our remaining swimmers included 45th in the 1000 freestyle for Visalia’s Janessa Bringe (10:51.66), 35th in the 50 free for Visalia’s Mackenzie Garza (24.59), 95th in the 100 back for Visalia’s Lauren Geiger (1:01.52), and 45th in the 200 fly by JD Koster (1:57.62).

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