Phil

22 IMPROVE 100% AT VISALIA MEET

Nov 212017

Ninety-eight TNT swimmers competed at the Visalia Quad meet held at El Diamante High School on October 7^th, and 24 of our 78 athletes with pre-recorded times in 50-yard and longer events led the team’s improvement rate of 56% by improving 100% of their times. Our improvements were led by five swimmers who entered the maximum number of four events that had been previously recorded with the team, and improved all four of them. These included 10-year old Maquire Barteau, 14-year old Peyton Costa, Selma’s 12-year old Sydney King, Selma’s 8-year old Jade Perez, and 12-year old Mackenzie Sepeda. Our additional 14 swimmers who maintained the 100% improvement rate include: Riley Carpenter (2 of 2), Beau Cooper (2 of 2), Reagan Cooper (2 of 2), Skylyn Coppola (1 of 1), Madison Dutto (2 of 2), Ava Goodwill (1 of 1), Jillian Hoover (1 of 1), Dylan Hunt (2 of 2), Canyon Johnson (1 of 1), Pearl Johnson (2 of 2), Landon Larsen (3 of 3), Clest Madrigal (1 of 1), Finnlee Morgan (2 of 2), Lily Seargeant (2 of 2), Mary Catherine Strizic (2 of 2), Kennedi Warren (1 of 1), Brett Wong (1 of 1), Bryan Wong (3 of 3), and Bryce Wong (3 of 3).

Fourteen TNT swimmers came away from the meet as event champions, and these were led by three of our team members who remained undefeated for the day. Ten year old Drew Black remained uncontested in the 50 free (28.90), 100 fly (1:10.00), 50 back (34.14), and 100 IM (1:12.76) events, while Visalia’s six year old, Caron Clarke took home the win in his event of the 25 free (20.58). Selma’s 10-year old Cody Coles went undefeated in all four of his events, and these included the 50 free (31.69), 50 breast (40.52), 100 fly (1:22.49), and 100 IM (1:19.42). Our remaining event champions include: Danielle Albright (100 breast & 200 IM), Maquire Barteau (50 back), William Butts (50 back), Noah Hoy (50 breast), JD Koster (200 fly, 100 back & 200 IM), Preston Niayesh (100 breast), Ava Olson (100 fly), Reece Phillips (25 back), Ivan Rodriguez (50 free, 50 breast & 50 back), Joseph Ross (50 free, 100 fly & 100 IM), and Bryan Wong (1650 free).

DREW BLACK & PEARL JOHNSON UNDEFEATED AT CLOVIS

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Nov 212017

Ninety-one TNT swimmers were among the 472 total athletes at the Clovis Fall Classic that took place on September 23^rd at Clovis West High School, being the second largest team behind the 213 Clovis athletes, and two of our swimmers came away undefeated at the meet. Ten year old Drew Black took home four wins reflecting the maximum number of events allowed at the meet. She was the gold medalist in the 50 breast (40.53), 50 fly (31.56), 100 back (1:14.93) and 200 IM (2:41.81) events. Our only other undefeated swimmer was Porterville’s six year old, Pearl Johnson who won the 50 free (45.50), 25 breast (30.74), and 50 back (58.72) events. Fourteen additional event champions include: Sienna Abernathy (100 free & 200 free), Meghan Adams (100 free), Nathan Boudreaux (25 breast), William Butts (50 fly), Cody Coles (100 free), Yasmin Erteza (50 back), Alonso Escobedo (400 IM), Layla Flores (100 free & 200 breast), JD Koster (200 breast), Preston Niayesh (100 free), Megan Ridenour (200 breast & 100 back), Joseph Ross (200 free), Alexa Wong (400 IM), and Bryan Wong (200 breast).

This early-season short course meet also resulted in 26 of our swimmers improving 100% of their times in events 50-yards or longer that had been previously recorded with the team. Congratulations to: Meghan Adams (improving 1 of 1), Ella Bettencourt (4 of 4), Evelyn Bieze (2 of 2), Aidan Champagne (3 of 3), Duncan Champagne (2 of 2), Ciara Clarke (3 of 3), Shannell Flores (2 of 2), Kate Geiger (2 of 2), Alyssa Gonzalez (2 of 2), Isabella Gornick (2 of 2), Sarah Gourigan (1 of 1), Nathan Hunt (3 of 3), Drew Johnston (4 of 4), Madalynn Lady (2 of 2), Lauren Maurice (1 of 1), Addison Mccullough (4 of 4), Anuranda Perry (1 of 1), Trent Regier (2 of 2), Joseph Ross (1 of 1), Delbert Salvadalena (1 of 1), Mackenzie Sepeda (3 of 3), Mary Catherine Strizic (2 of 2), Maryn Vanwoudenberg (3 of 3), Nicholas Vassylenko (3 of 3), and Bryan Wong (2 of 2).

76% IMPROVEMENT RATE AT HANFORD MEET

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Nov 212017

The first short course opportunity in Central California Swimming following the most recent long course season was hosted by our Hanford group during the second weekend of September, and the one-day meet held in Tulare fielded 115 TNT swimmers who were among just under 200 swimmers total who competed at the meet. Seventy of our 115 who competed had previously reported times with the team, and that group maintained a cumulative improvement rate of 76%, with 43 of them maintaining a 100% improvement rate. Congratulations to the following 43 for their perfect performance: Joemar Abad, Sienna Abernathy, Meghan Adams, John Bailey, Jacob Barber, Ella Bettencourt, Drew Black, Nathan Boudreaux, Aidan Champagne, Duncan Champagne, Brayden Coppola, Gabrielia Costamagna, Laney Cox, Riley Duffy, Gabriela Dutra, Yasmin Erteza, Layla Flores, Shannell Flores, Kate Geiger, Raegan Greiner, Fletcher Grove, Nathan Hunt, Tanner Kelm, Ashton King, Isabella Klawitter, Madalynn Lady, Landon Mauge, Addison Mccullough, Axel Miller, Ava Olson, Jade Perez, Tyson Phillips, Kambria Prado, Trent Regier, Abigail Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Joseph Ross, Delbert Salvadalena, Blake Sifton, Jake Surratt, Jenna Surratt, Luke Vanwoudenbert, and Brett Wong.

Although not necessarily new, an additional 44 TNT swimmers entered only short course events that they’ve never competed in before while representing TNT. Welcome to: Azulema Ayon, Micah Bailey, Lillian Barcellos, Emery Bechtol, Evelyn Bieze, William Butts, Tyler Coles, Beau Cooper, Reagan Cooper, Skylyn Coppola, Emma Darpli, Morgan Darpli, Skyler Davis, Sierra Dorough, Madison Dutto, Morgan Finnlee, Danielle Fremling, Brogan Galloway, Devon Goldsmith, Julia Goldsmith, Ava Goodwill, Isabella Gornick, Johnny Grove, Kaylee Hicke, Logan Hildreth, Regan Hildreth, Sarah Hourigan, Dasha Lester, Lauren Maurice, Gabrielle Mendoza, Amy Murphy, Michelle Murphy, Kamlynn Newlin, Camila Oriz Briones, Sarah Plummer, Vincent Prause, Evan Pugh, Emelia Rasner, Mikayla Rodriguez, Lily Seargeant, Jacee Taylor, Ethan Torres, Caiden Wallace, and Ava Wofford.

Three of our swimmers remained undefeated at the meet, winning all events that they entered. Our wins were led by 12-year old Ava Olson who took home the gold in all four events that included the 50 breast (35.79), 100 fly (1:07.25), 100 IM (1:10.16), and 500 free (6:03.55) events. Sixteen year old Preston Niayesh came home with next highest number of uncontested events, and his included the 50 free (23.29), 100 breast (1:00.62), and 200 IM (2:04.07) events. Our last undefeated swimmer was 6-year old Kamlynn Newlin who competed in two events, and won both, including the 25 free (24.27), and 25 back (24.49). Sixteen additional swimmer were event champions in one or more events, and these included: Sienna Abernathy (2), Meghan Adams (1), Danielle Albright (1), Ella Bettencourt (2), Drew Black (3), Nathan Boudreaux (1), Yasmin Erteza (1), Alonso Escobedo (2), Layla Flores (2), Mackenzie Garza (1), James Lady (2), Garrison Price (1), Megan Ridenour (1), Ivan Rodriguez (2), Kylie Walker (1), and Caiden Wallace (1).

10 EVENT CHAMPIONS LEAD TNT TO 2nd PLACE FINISH AT JUNIOR OLYMPICS

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Nov 152017

Forty-nine TNT swimmers competed at the summer long course Junior Olympics during the last weekend of July in bringing the team to a second place finish behind Clovis Swim Club. Our overall team performance was supported by ten champions of individual events. The team total was led by the only TNT swimmer with three individual event wins, that being Visalia’s Layla Flores who, while on the bottom of the 13-14 girls age division, went uncontested in the 100 back where she swam a time of 1:11.40, the 200 backstroke (2:33.06), and the 200 IM (2:32.80). At 142 points from individual events, Layla was our team’s highest contributor to the overall team point accumulation.

Our gold-medal performances went to Sienna Abernathy who was the winner of both the 10-under 50 meter freestyle (31.66), and the 100 meter freestyle (1:08.83). Her 100 free time is now a new team record that stands as the 65^th fastest nationally for girls at age 10, and went under her own previous record of 1:09.11 that was set at the Clovis meet one month earlier. Sienna also set a new team record in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:31.28, and this one went under Alexa Wong’s previous record of 2:32.88 set at the June Age Group Invitational, just one month earlier. Her new record now stands as the 98^th fastest nationally for the age.

Ten year old Drew Black came home with two wins, and hers also resulted in two team records. Her 1:20.00 in the 100 meter breaststroke was the fastest in that event, and her time went under Ava Olson’s previous record 1:20.07 set at the June Age Group Invitational one year earlier. Drew’s new record stands as the 135^th fastest nationally for girls of the same age. Her second gold-medal performance was in the 50 backstroke, where her time of 37.17 fell under Ciara Clarke’s previous team record of 38.22 that was set last year at the very same meet. Drew’s time in this event ranks 138^th nationally, and was the only other team record from the meet.

Libby Adriaansen came home with a gold medal, and hers was in the 15-over 200 meter breaststroke where her 3:06.01 was posted as the fastest time in the event. Porterville’s Nathan Boudreaux, at age eight, had his first long course experience be Junior Olympics, and he took home the gold in the 8-under 50 breaststroke after swimming a time of 51.83 in the time-based final. Peyton Costa had his win while on the bottom of the 13-14 division, and he did this with an impressive time of 58.44 in the 100 meter freestyle event. Selma’s Celeste Madrigal made her first appearance as a TNT swimmer, and her performance resulted in becoming the champion of the 15-over 50 meter freestyle with a time of 29.04. Her training partner in Selma, Kylie Walker was a double winner of the 13-14 girls division in both the 100 meter butterfly (1:08.44), and the 50 meter freestyle (28.50), while our brother duo of Bryan and Bryce Wong combined for three wins in the family. At age 13, Bryan took home the gold in the 13-14 400 free (4:28.44), while Bryce went uncontested in both the 100 back (1:08.06), and 200 backstroke (2:28.88) events.

Our remaining athletes, and their highest place-finish include: Ella Bettencourt (8^th: 11-12 50 back & 50 fly), Ciara Clarke (6^th: 11-12 50 fly), Ciena Clarke (11^th: 8-under 50 free), Cody Coles (2^nd: 10-under 50 fly), Tyler Coles (9^th: 13-14 100 back), Laney Cox (55^th: 11-12 100 free), Riley Duffy (19^th: 11-12 50 fly), Emma Enquist (16^th: 15-over 50 free), Ethan Enquist (24^th: 15-over 100 free), Jillian Gaines (15^th: 15-over 400 free), Diego Gutierrez (3^rd: 13-14 200 IM), Isaac Gutierrez (6^th: 15-over 100 breast), Xavier Gutierrez (30^th: 13-14 100 free), Daniel Haley (7^th: 11-14 1500 free), Jackson Huckabay (2^nd: 11-14 400 IM), Logan Huckabay (2^nd: 8-under 50 fly), Lucas Huckabay (2^nd: 10-under 50 free), Nathan Hunt (5^th: 11-12 50 back), Ashton King (15^th: 15-over 100 back), Isabella Klawitter (14^th: 11-12 400 free), Madalynn Lady (17^th: 10-under 100 breast), Addison Mccullough (5^th: 10-under 200 IM), Genoveve Mcilwaine (11^th: 13-14 100 breast), Raquel Mecum (27^th: 10-under 50 breast), Caroline Mendyk (10^th: 11-12 100 breast), Michelle Murphy (5^th: 10-under 50 back, 50 free, 50 fly), Ava Olson (5^th: 11-12 100 fly, 100 breast), Caleb Peltzer (29^th: 15-over 50 free), Jade Perez (9^th: 8-under 50 free), Tyson Phillips (27^th: 10-under 50 back), Emelia Rasner (10^th: 10-under 50 back), Joseph Ross (4^th: 11-12 50 free), Katherine Sullivan (2^nd: 15-over 200 fly), Chesney Watson (5^th: 11-14 1500 free), Alexa Wong (7^th: 11-12 100 fly), Brett Wong (5^th: 15-over 200 IM, 50 free).

ABERNATHY AND WONG BREAK TEAM RECORDS AT JUNE AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Nov 152017

Twenty one of our TNT swimmers escaped the record-breaking heat of the valley to compete in weather remaining in the mid-70’s during the 2017 Southern California Swimming June Age Group Championships to finish 12^th as an overall team among nearly 40 teams that scored at the meet.

Our 12^th place finish was led by ten-year old Alexa Wong who contributed 87 points to the team total, and having her highest finish as a pair of 3^rd places, one in the 200 meter freestyle (2:32.88), and the other in the 200 IM (2:53.61). Alexa’s 200 freestyle is a new team record, resetting her own 2:33.85 that she set at the Reedley meet two months earlier. Her time currently stands as the 66^th fastest nationally for girls at age 10. She also competed in heat one of the 100 meter freestyle, where she posted a time of 1:10.40, which fell under the pre-existing team record of 1:10.82 that was set at the Clovis meet one month earlier. Her time now ranks 67^th among the nation’s 10-year old girls.

The next highest point accumulation came from 13-year old Peyton Costa, competing at the bottom of the 13-14 age division, and scoring 70 points by placing in all six events that he competed in, and maintaining his traditional 100% improvement streak at age-group championship level meets. His highest finish was a pair of 5^th places that included the 200 meter backstroke (2:28.20), and the 400 meter freestyle (4:31.29).

Two swimmers swam under the pre-existing team record of the 10-under girl’s 100 freestyle during the meet. Ten year old Selma swimmer, Sienna Abernathy, swam 1:10.48 in heat two of the same event to go under Alexa’s 1:10.82 team record, and her time is the 70^th fastest nationally. Scoring 67 points from individual events, Sienna was our third highest scoring individual, also coming home with a third place finish as her highest place, but in the 50 meter butterfly (36.45).

Our next highest point-getter was Bryan Wong who just recently arrived into the 13-14 age division where he competed and scored 58 points. Nevertheless, he managed to finish 3^rd place in two 11-14 age division events that included the 200 breast (2:40.45), and the 400 IM (5:03.47). Bryan scored in all six events. Our next pair of highest point getters included 10-year old Drew Black (28 points) whose highest finish was 7^th in the 50 back (39.42), and Visalia’s Layla Flores who is competing at the bottom of her 13-14 age division, and had her highest finish as 7^th in the 100 back (1:12.11). Diego Gutierrez, also on the bottom of the 13-14 age division, scored 20 points among two events, with his highest place being 5^th in the 13-14 200 IM (2:26.41). Alex Roberts scored nine points with a 9^th place finish in the 100 back (1:08.35), while Visalia’s Megan Ridenour scored six points by placing 11^th in the 100 meter breaststroke after swimming a 1:19.19 in the preliminary heats. Our final scoring swimmer was 11-year old Visalia teammate, Ciara Clarke, who competed as an 11-year old in the 11-12 division, and placed 13^th in the 50 meter backstroke with a time of 36.89.

Improving four of four swims, Ciara Clarke was one of only four swimmers who improved 100% of their times, and these included Selma’s Sienna Abernathy (improving 6 of 6), Peyton Costa (6 of 6), and Bryce Wong (5 of 5).

Our remaining swimmers, along with their highest placed finish, include: Libby Adriaansen (age 15: 28^th in the 200 breast), Janessa Bringe (age 15: 52^nd in the 400 free), Aidan Champagne (age 12: 35^th in the 50 back), Duncan Champagne (age 12: 34^th in the 50 breast), Lauren Geiger (age 18: 24^th in the 100 fly), Xavier Gutierrez (age 13: 17^th in the 200 breast), Addison Mccullough (age 10: 17^th in the 50 breast), Ava Olson (age 11: 17^th in the 100 breast), Emelia Rasner (age 10: 33^rd in the 100 back), Katherine Sullivan (age 15: 18^th in the 200 fly), and Bryce Wong (age 15: 21^st in the 200 breast).

24 COMPETE IN RECORD-BREAKING HEAT

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Jul 062017

While 21 of our TNT swimmers competed at the June Age Group Invitational in Ventura where the temperature remained in the mid to high 70’s, twenty-four of our team members braved the blistering valley record-breaking temperatures that exceeded 110 degrees over the same third weekend of June, and our performance resulted in four event champions that were led by double winner, Preston Niayesh who was the first place finisher in both the 100 meter breaststroke (1:11.84) and 100 meter freestyle (56.91) where he posted his lifetime best by well over a second. Our remaining event champions included Danielle Albright who won the 13-over 200 IM (2:37.01), JD Koster who won the 13-over 100 backstroke (1:08.26), and Caroline Mendyk who won the 11-12 girls 50 meter breaststroke (43.63).

Despite the heat, our team still managed to maintain an improvement rate of 48% which was led by Visalia’s Daniel Haley who entered six events and improved all six. He was followed by three other swimmers who improved 100% of their times, and these included JD Koster (4 out of 4), Mackenzie Sepeda (2 of 2), and Visalia’s Luke Vanwoudenberg (2 of 2). Other swimmers who maintained an improvement percentage at or above 50% included Ethan Enquist (75%), Selma’s Chesney Watson (75%), Raquel Mecum (67%), Caroline Mendyk (63%), Lemoore’s Michelle Murphy (57%), Jillian Gaines (50%), Visalia’s Tyson Phillips (50%), Visalia’s Maryn Vanwoudenberg (50%), and Selma’s Kylie Walker (50%).

WONG DUO COMBINE FOR FOUR TEAM RECORDS AT MIKE SNYDER

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Jun 062017

Nine TNT swimmers were event champions at the Mike Snyder Memorial Meet that took place over the Memorial Day weekend, and these gold medal performances were led by ten year old Alexa Wong who entered five events, and won four of them. Alexa took home a first place in the 100 meter freestyle (1:10.82), 200 IM (2:52.08), 50 fly (36.24), and 50 free (33.32). Of these events, she set new team records in two of them. Her 100 meter freestyle time of 1:10.82 currently stands as the 52^nd fastest nationally for girls at age 10, and falls under Skylar Ford’s previous record of 1:11.31 that was set five years ago while competing at the Junior Olympics in 2012. Alexa’s 200 IM swim of 2:52.08 is nearly two and half seconds under Danielle Albright’s previous team record set at JO’s in 2013 and stands as the 31^st fastest nationally for girls at her age. Her only second place was in the 400 meter freestyle, where her time of 5:22.23 slides under Danielle’s previous tem record of 5:24.37 set at the Fresno meet in 2013 and maintains her highest current national ranking at 29^th.

The only other team record set at the Mike Snyder meet was from brother, Bryan Wong, who returned from a stellar performance at the Speedo Grand Challenge with the sole purpose of winning, and breaking the team record, at the Mike Snyder meet in the 11-12 400 freestyle, an apparent goal when watching his first 25 meters of his swim. Bryan did just that, and swam over ten seconds under Jackson Huckabay’s previous record of 4:44.10 set at JO’s two years ago in 2015. Bryan’s new team record of 4:34.32 is currently posted as the 8^th fastest time nationally for boys at age 12, and we’ll see if it maintains the top-10 in the current reporting cycle that ends at the close of August. USA Swimming recognizes the top-10 age group swimmers who are 12 to 16 years old annually.

Besides Alexa Wong and Bryan Wong, our team had seven additional event champions who included Visalia’s Layla Flores, our current team record holder in the 11-12 100 meter backstroke, who won the 100 meter backstroke with a time of 1:13.60, and also took home the win in the 200 IM with a time of 2:42.56 for the 13-14 girls division. Our only other double winner was Layla’s previous training partner, now training in Selma, Kylie Walker, who currently holds six 10-under team records, and she won the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:09.32, and the 100 free with a time of 1:04.48 also in the 13-14 division. Drew Black was the winner of the 10-under 50 back with a time of 39.00 and improving over four seconds, while Peyton Costa continues a characteristic 100% improvement rate as he won the 400 free for the 13-14 division with a time of 4:40.35. Jillian Gaines was the winner of the 15-16 mile (1500 free) event with a time of 23.02.24 after improving over a minute in the event, and Katherine Mendyk took home the gold in the 15-16 200 breaststroke with a time of 3:03.98. Finally, 11-year old Ava Olson was the winner of the 12-under 400 IM after posting a time of 6:21.58.

Forty-three TNT swimmers competed at the meet, and forty-one of them had previously recorded times with the team and as a group, they maintained an astounding improvement percentage that exceeded 70%. Fourteen of our swimmers improved 100% of their times, and these included: Visalia’s Ella Bettencourt (improving 7 of 7 events), Peyton Costa (8 of 8), Riley Duffy (4 of 4), Diego Gutierrez (6 of 6), Ashton King (2 of 2), Hanford’s Genoveve Mcilwaine (5 of 5), Visalia’s Tyson Phillips (2 of 2), Visalia’s Emelia Rasner (4 of 4), Selma’s Delbert Salvadalena (1 of 1), Blake Sifton (1 of 1), Selma’s Chesney Watson (6 of 6), Bryan Wong (1 of 1), and Bryce Wong (1 of 1). The following nineteen swimmers maintained an improvement rate at or above 50%: Caroline Mendyk (88%), Daniel Haley (86%), Sienna Abernathy (83%), Drew Black (83%), Isabella Klawitter (83%), Jade Perez (80%), Duncan Champagne (75%), Laney Cox (75%), Xavier Gutierrez (75%), Benjamin Wheeler (75%), Aidan Champagne (71%), Addison Mccullough (71%), Emma Bettencourt (67%), Ciena Clarke (67%), Connor Bruton (60%), Alexa Wong (60%), Nathan Hunt (57%), Ava Olson (56%), and Jacob Wheeler (50%).

A warm welcome goes to sisters Amy Murphy and Michelle Murphy who posted new times with the club.

THREE FINAL AT SPEEDO GRAND CHALLENGE

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Jun 062017

Six TNT swimmers traveled to the Irvine pool over the Memorial Day weekend to compete at a venue that has played host to Team USA selection meets such as US Nationals, and this weekend played host to swimmers representing programs such as USC, Stanford, Cal Berkley, and Auburn University to name only a few.

Three of our swimmers earned second swims, and these were led by twelve year old Bryan Wong who competed in the 12-under division of the senior-level meet, raced in three events, and earned three championship final swims. Bryan finished 2^nd in the 50 meter breaststroke, where he posted a time of 34.10 improving nearly three seconds in the event, and swimming a full two seconds under the pre-existing team record that was set by Preston Niayesh at Junior Olympics in 2013. His time currently stands as the fourth fastest nationally for boys at age 12, with the top time in the nation being posted by the individual who won the event at Speedo Grand Challenge. Bryan’s next event was the 100 breaststroke, and once again he finished second, and with a time of 1:13.98 in the championship final that followed an improvement from his preliminary swim. He was once again well under Preston Niayesh’s previous team record of 1:18.33 set at the same JO’s in 2013. Bryan’s time ties for the third spot nationally in the reporting cycle that will close at the end of August. The top 10 swimmers will be recognized by USA Swimming. His final championship swam was in the 200 IM, where once again he improved his time twice, and this time to a 2:25.62 falling under Peyton Costa’s previous team record of 2:31.24 set at the Junior Olympic meet last year. His current time ranks 10^th among 12-year old boys.

Fourteen year old Danielle Albright had been competing at the meet since she was in the 11-12 age division, and earned a championship final swim when she first arrived at age 11. She continues earning that second swim, this time by making it to the A-consolation final of the 200 meter breaststroke and finishing 11^th with a time of 2:42.85 which was nearly a three second improvement. Danielle also swam to a 15^th place finish in the B-consolation on day 1 in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:15.70 which was an improvement over her preliminary swim. Preston Niayesh was our only other finalist, moving from 26^th in the preliminary heats to finish 17^th in the B-consolation final of his 200 breaststroke with a time improvement of nearly two seconds to a 2:30.02.

Alonso Escobedo earned his highest finish as 38^th in the 200 IM (2:17.34), while Sierra Jett returned from Auburn University to join us, and finished 47^th in her top event of the 50 free (28.20). JD Koster had his highest finish as 30^th in the 400 IM (4:48.94) after improving over five seconds there.

FOUR FINAL AT SMOC

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May 052017

Five TNT swimmers competed at the 2017 Swim Meet of Champions, this year held at the Irvine complex opposed to the traditional Mission Viejo venue due to re-construction of the Mission Viejo pool, and our swimmers came away with three time improvements, a rate that was led by Visalia’s Lauren Geiger who improved one of her three events, but improved it twice: once as a time trial event, and then again in the actual event. Lauren’s highest place was in the 100 meter butterfly, where her improvement to 1:08.05 finished 70th there.

Four of our swimmers performed well enough in the preliminary heats to either earn a spot in one of three final heats outright, or close enough to be scratched into a C-final heat. Danielle Albright was the top seed in the C-final of the 200 breaststroke after swimming a 2:46.64 in the preliminary heats, and then her time of 2:47.96 in the C-final was enough for a 21st place finish in the event. She also swam 1:18.88 in the preliminary heats of the 100 breaststroke, enough for a 31st place finish, and then scratches left her at the 1st alternate position (25th) where she was able to compete in lane 1 of the C-final, swim a full two seconds faster than the morning swim to a time of 1:16.89, and finished 18th overall.

Alonso Escobedo competed in the 200 meter backstroke, and swam a 2:25.45 in the preliminary heats to also finish 31st, and then was scratched into finals where he didn’t compete. However, he did finish 37th in preliminary heats of the 200 IM on the last day of the meet with a time of 2:18.56, which was close enough to scratch him into the C-finals where his time of 2:19.47 finished 23rd in the event.

JD Koster earned a final swim in three of his six total events that he competed in for the meet, and all three of his finals took place on day one and two. He swam 2:14.46 in his strongest event, 200 fly, during the preliminary heats to finish 24th, and then improved his preliminary time to 2:13.19 and finished 18th overall. On day two he posted a time of 2:36.33 in the preliminary heats of the 200 breaststroke to place 28th going into finals, and then swam 2:39.96 to actually move up to 22nd overall. His last final was also on day two, but in the 400 IM where he posted a lifetime best of 4:54.34 to finish 25th in the morning, one place out of finals, and then scratched into the C-final where he swam a time of 5:00.34 to finish 24th overall.

Our last finalist was Preston Niayesh who competed in two events, and swam two finals, first by posting a time of 2:36.98 in the 200 meter breaststroke to finish 29th, but close enough to scratch into the C-final where he posted a time of 2:37.20, and finished 21st in the event. His last final was in the 100 meter breaststroke, where his preliminary time of 1:10.03 was 28th, and again close enough to scratch into the C-finals where he posted a time of 1:09.33 to again finish 21st in the event.

WONGS ENTER ONTO LONG COURSE RECORD BOARDS

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Apr 272017

The sister-brother duo of 10-year old Alexa Wong and 12-year old brother Bryan Wong had previously made their initial marks on the short course team record board for TNT, and as a result of the Reedley meet that took place over the last weekend of April, are now beginning their impact onto the long course realm. Each of the two marked this early season long course meet with two new team records, the accumulation of their efforts over time being a notable reflection on the level of commitment considering a two-hour commute from Coalinga and back (one hour each way) to make it to practice nightly.

Ten year old Alexa Wong started her meet with a bang, improving nearly two seconds in the 200 meter freestyle, finishing 2^nd in the event, but swimming a time of 2:33.85, falling just over a second and a half under Daniel Albright’s previous team record of 2:35.42 that was set at Junior Olympics in the summer of 2013, and posting the 10^th fastest time in the nation for girls at age 10 to date. Her second team record came in the 100 meter backstroke, placing her as the owner now of both the 100 yard and 100 meter record in the stroke. Her first-place finish in the 100 meter backstroke, and time of 1:21.79 slides under Layla Flores’s previous record of 1:22.24 that was set at Junior Olympics in 2014. This time now stands as the 18^th fastest nationally, in a reporting period that extends through August.

Brother Bryan Wong posted a new team record, also in the 200 meter freestyle, but in the 11-12 age division. His 2:14.05 just slides under Jonas Huckabay’s previous record of 2:14.70 that was set two years ago at Junior Olympics, and Bryan’s new record currently stands as the 11^th fastest nationally for boys at age 12. There are currently only four California swimmers who are 12 years old among the top 10 in the nation. Bryan also set a new team record in the 100 meter freestyle, where his time of 1:02.68 edges under Peyton Costa’s previous record of 1:02.94 set just last year at JO’s. Bryan’s time currently stands as the 22^nd fastest nationally for boys at age 12, in this early phase of the long course season.

Two of our Visalia swimmers were uncontested at the meet, winning all four events they entered. These two include 13-year old Layla Flores who won the 200 breast (3:07.14), 400 IM (5:44.56), 100 breast (1:26.25), and 200 IM (2:41.33) events, along with her 13-year old training partner, Kylie Walker, who won the 100 fly (1:09.48), 50 free (29.26), 100 free (1:06.47), and 100 breast (1:27.44). Other event champions included: Sienna Abernathy (age 10 – winning 1 event), Danielle Albright (14 – winning 3 events), Ella Bettencourt (11 – 1), Drew Black (10 – 1), Connor Bruton (14 – 1), Riley Carpenter (13 – 1), Aidan Champagne (12 – 2), Ciara Clarke (11 – 1), Peyton Costa (13 – 5), Riley Duffy (12 – 1), Diego Gutierrez (13 – 3), Daniel Haley (13 – 3), Nathan Hunt (12 – 1), JD Koster (16 – 3), Addison Mccullough (10 – 2), Genoveve Mcilwaine (13 – 1), Caroline Mendyk (12 – 1), Katherine Mendyk (16 – 1), Axel Miller (10 – 3), Preston Niayesh (16 – 1), Tyson Phillips (8 – 2), Chesney Watson (12 – 2), Benjamin Wheeler (13 – 3), Jacob Wheeler (8 – 1), Alexa Wong (10 – 5), and Bryan Wong (12 – 5).

With an improvement rate of 50% or greater as an indicator of successful improvement, our team maintained a 54% improvement rate, with eleven swimmers improving 100% of their events that had been previously recorded with our team. Congratulations to: Emma Bettencourt (improving 2 of 2 events), Paulina Cemo (1 of 1), Riley Duffy (2 of 2), Diego Gutierrez (4 of 4), Xavier Gutierrez (3 of 3), Addison Mccullough (7 of 7), Jojo Mecum (3 of 3), Marcus Mecum (3 of 3), Finnlee Morgan (3 of 3), Luke Vanwoudenberg (1 of 1), and Maryan Vanwoudenberg (1 of 1). The following 22 swimmers improved 50% or more of their times. Congratulations also go to: Isabel Burrough (86%), Sydney King (83%), Rylee Noronha (83%), Ella Bettencourt (80%), Madalynn Lady (80%), Genoveve Mcilwaine (80%), Bryan Wong (80%), Kate Geiger (75%), Chesney Watson (75%), Drew Black (71%), Carlos Garcia-Lemus (67%), Daniel Haley (67%), Isabella Klawitter (67%), Raquel Mecum (67%), Addia Watson (60%), Benjamin Wheeler (57%), Alexa Wong (57%), John Cemo (50%), Aidan Champagne (50%), Peyton Costa (50%), Nathan Hunt (50%), and Luke Pena (50%).

The following nine swimmers entered only new events. A long course welcome to: Connor Bruton, Riley Carpenter, Brayden Coppola, Morgan Darpli, Axel Miller, Tyson Phillips, Mackenzie Sepeda, Arya Shrestha, and Avani Shrestha.

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