Triton Blog

Seven TNT alumni swimmers had returned to share their experiences during our 2008 Christmas dinner held at the La Fiesta Mexican Restaurant in Tulare. The farthest traveled in attendance was now married, Mr. & Mrs. Jared Hopper. Jared is currently serving in the United State Air Force and is stationed in German.

Ben Hansen returned from Tulane University in Louisiana and shared his experiences and goals about college with our families. His brother Zach Hansen returned from UC Davis and shared his swimming experiences there and his recent performance at his college meet in Texas. David Lombardi attending Stanford University shared the challenges of getting into a college and encouraged tenacity among our swimmers. Kohlton Norys came back from Auburn to share his most recent competition at Nationals and life of a college student (including the need for cooking and ironing). Samantha Goates returned from Louisiana State to share her experiences in club swimming, and the team atmosphere at her college. Jordan Stotts came in from Fresno Pacific to explain some differences between NAIA and NCAA requirements.

A long-time TNT swimmer, and one of the original team members as the club regained momentum during a re-birth, has committed to marriage. Jared was the first individual who transferred from the Visalia program to Tulare in pursuit of swimming accomplishments. He currently maintains six team records in multiple age groups, has competed at the Western Zones, Grand Prix, Sectional and Junior National levels in club swimming, and was one of only two of our swimmers to have had the opportunity to compete in the same heat against world renowned Michael Phelps. Jared swam against Michael Phelps at the Grand Prix meet held at Stanford University approximately three years ago.

Jared lived in Visalia where he graduated from Golden West High School, and his family had moved to Exeter. Soon after graduation from high school, Jared joined the Air Force to serve his country, and is currently stationed in Germany. Jared is now happily married to a young lady from Germany, and has moved into their first house with already a new addition to their newly created family – a puppy Weimaraner

March is the month for the NCAA championships. Going in, Kohlton is ranked 6th in the 100 backstroke event. He had qualified with the A cut during a long course meet against Florida. That meet also brought Kohlton his second Olympic Trial cut. Currently out of the 89 swimmers who have qualified for Olympic Trials, Kohlton has the 24th fastest time in the 100 back, and out of 63 swimmers who currently have cuts in the 200 back he is the 41st fastest . Kohlton currently appears to be the fastest Auburn backstroker—an admiral feat considering that Auburn is arguably the top swim school in the nation (5 time NCAA champion) and Kohlton is only a freshman.

So where did all that come from? Realize that in 2005, when Kohlton was only a sophomore in high school, he swam a 49.66 in the 100 back. For the 15-16 age group, that time places him on the All-time Top 100 list for all swimmers in America. For instance, this list has Michael Phelps as 3rd with a time of 48.64. Kohlton was just over a second away from Michael while at the same age. Even before that, Kohlton’s drive took him to multiple National Age Group Top-16 rankings, as well as setting records in Central California Swimming. His goals and aspirations were truly beyond the norm—and more importantly, his level of commitment in training to reach those goals matched. This is reflective of the amount of effort and consistency that Kohlton exhibited in training early on in his swimming career, and characteristics that his current coaches have recognized as still going strong.