Oct 052015
 

67 TNT swimmers competed at the one-day Hanford Fall Classic held on September 12th which was the first short course meet of the new season. Thirty swimmers led the team improvement rate of nearly 70% by improving 100% of their times that had been previously recorded with the team in events 50 yards and longer. Congratulations to : Sienna Abernathy (improving 5 of 5 event), Emma Bettencourt (3 of 3), Drew Black (4 of 4), Joanna-Lee Bush (3 of 3), Rylie Conway (2 of 2), Peyton Costa (4 of 4), Kate Frost (4 of 4), Jillian Gaines (4 of 4), Kate Geiger (2 of 2), Diego Gutierez (2 of 2), Xavier Gutierrez (2 of 2), Dylan Hunt (4 of 4), Tanner Kelm (4 of 4), Isabella Klawitter (3 of 3), Rylee Lord (4 of 4), Mson Macias (1 of 1), Corinne Maxfield (3 of 3), Rylee Noronha (2 of 2), Jacquelyn Oliveira (2 of 2), Mariah Oliveira (4 of 4), Ava Olson (3 of 3), Jenna Surratt (2 of 2), and Claire Welborn (2 of 2).

Four of our swimmers were undefeated while at the meet. Selma’s eight year old Sienna Abernathy took home the gold in the 7-8 50 free (33.85), 50 breast (51.23), 100 fly (1:34.91), and 50 back (42.24), as well as the 8-under 100 IM (1:34.17). Twelve year old Danielle Albright swept the 11-12 girls 50 free (27.29), 100 fly (1:05.23), 50 back (31.94), and 100 IM (1:05.91) events, as well as the 11-over 1650 free (18:53.65). A newcomer to the block, Porterville’s six year old Nathan Boudreaux took home the gold in the 6-under 25 free (27.70), while Visalia’s six year old Cienna Clarke was uncontested in the 6-under 25 free (22.12) and 25 back (26.88) Other event champions included: Ella Bettencourt (9-10 50 back), Peyton Costa (11-12 100 fly & 100 IM), Layla Flores (11-12 50 breast), Tristan Gaines (9-over 500 free), Mackenzie Garza (13-over 50 free), Lauren Geiger (13-over 100 back & 200 IM), Diego Gutierrez (11-12 50 free & 50 breast), Preston Niayesh (13-over 100 breast, 200 fly, 100 back & 200 IM), Ava Olson (9-10 50 free, 50 breast, 100 fly & 100 IM), Megan Ridenour (13-over 100 breast), Katherine Sullivan (13-over 200 fly & 9-over 500 free), and Benjamin Wheeler (11-12 50 back).

Congratulations also to the following 20 swimmers for posting their first short course times with the team: Sydney Abernathy, Trinity Aceves, Alyssa Bodoh, Natalie Boudreaux, Nathan Boudreaux, Isabel Burrough, John Cemo, Paulina Cemo, Aidan Champagne, Duncan Champagne, Alyssa Fagundes, Logan Fagundes, Isabella Freitas, Audrey Gutierrez, Tegan Hunt Joseph Ross, Blake Sifton, Brayden Souza, Catherine Taylor and Kate Welborn. Welcome to the team.

 Posted by at 16:55
Oct 052015
 

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Three TNT swimmers attended the 2015 Age Group (14-under) Zone meet held in Kihei, Maui, Hawaii over the August 5-9 weekend including 14-year old Preston Niayesh who set the CCS record in the 13-14 boys 100 meter breaststroke event becoming our team’s highest finisher in an individual event. His time of 1:09.06 finished 3rd, and broke a Central California Swimming record that was set back in 1995 by AJ Brownell as a 1:09.10. Preston’s new record currently stands as the 22nd fastest nationally for boys at age 14. Preston went on to break our team record in the 200 meter breaststroke swimming 2:31.89 in the preliminary heats, finished 7th place in the event, and achieved his second Sectional cut based on the past meets. The time was fast enough to be under Nathan Rhea’s team record of 2:32.13 set at the Sectional meet in 2009, and his new record stands as the 43rd fastest national for the age. Preston also earned a second swim in the 200 meter butterfly after swimming a life-time best of 2:21.00 in the preliminary heats.

Danielle Albright was not only a repeat finalist, but earned top-16 finishes in all events that she competed in, and thereby was our team’s highest point getter from individual events. Her highest finishes came in a pair of 6th place finishes, one in the 200 IM after swimming 2:34.48 in prelims, improving her time, and previous team record of 2:35.96 from the Clovis meet in June. Her other 6th place finish was in the 100 meter breaststroke (1:19.90). She also had two 7th place finishes that included the 400 IM (5:27.61), and 200 breaststroke (2:53.86) events, then went on to place 8th in the 400 free (4:46.67), and 14th in the 50 breast (after swimming 36.99 in the preliminary heats). Danielle also participated in the open water swim, and finished 4th there.

Selma’s Jackson Hucabay celebrated his 13th birthday while at the meet, and earned two top-16 finishes in the 11-12 age division, his highest being a 14th place finish in the 200 meter freestyle after swimming a 2:17.89 in the preliminary heats. His second scoring event was from the 4:48.24 in the 400 meter freestyle resulting in a 14th place finish there.

 Posted by at 16:54
Oct 052015
 

Missy

While our swimmers were competing at the USA Swimming Nationals in San Antonio, Texas, Missy Lestrange was among the 2,600 triathletes that competed at the 2015 Olympic Distance Age Group Triathlon Nationals over the August 8-9 weekend, placing third in her age group that consisted of 70 competitors, and only six minutes behind leader, Karen Mckeachie of Ann Arbor Michigan whose time was 2h:30m:16s. Missy’s swim time of 24:48 was the second fastest split only to Karen Mckeachie’s 24:46 when considering any of the 70 contestants in the age group. The Olympic distance is composed of a 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometer bike, and 10 kilometer run.

AJ Reid was another local, and former TNT swimmer, who competed at this year’s Nationals, and placed 21st in his age division of 20-24 year old triathletes that totaled 110 contestants. AJ’s swim time of 19:27 was the 10th fastest among the field, and his overall time of 2h:00m:31s was only six minutes behind Ann Arbor’s Lois Cayedito’s time of 1h:54m:35s.

Entering high school senior, Mallory Korenwinder, competed in the 100 meter breaststroke (1:13.09) at her second long course national meet in San Antonio, and joined college senior, Wesley Coles who swam the 100 meter butterfly (55.10), and college sophomore Chris Nolan who competed in the 200 meter butterfly (2:02.55) as each swam one event at the meet.

 Posted by at 16:53
Oct 052015
 

2015 Junior Nationals - Copy

Improving nearly a full second from his preliminary swim and entered time, Kyle Grissom wins the bonus heat with the sixth fastest time at the meet, outperforming all swimmers in both the bonus heat and the consolation heat, to achieve his first Olympic Trial time standard in the 100 meter butterfly. His time of 54.18 is the fifth fastest time in the nation for male swimmers of age 17, one spot behind Alex Valente within this current reporting cycle. He becomes the 11th fastest 18-under qualifier for the Olympic Trials, and his time ranks approximately 47th among the approximately 80 current Olympic Trial qualifies from across the nation. Kyle’s time is also under the previous Central California Swimming 17-18 record that was set by Matt Scanlan of Bakersfield back in 2004 who later went on to compete for Cal Berkley, making Kyle’s swim the fastest in the history of the LSC for any 17-18 year old.

Mallory Korenwinder, using Junior Nationals as her tune-up meet for Nationals, swam her highest place of 34th in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:12.84.

 Posted by at 16:50
Oct 052015
 

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Not to be denied, Selma’s Sierra Jett achieved her first USA Swimming Junior National time standard while competing at the inaugural 2015 Futures meet in Gresham, Oregon over the last weekend of July, swimming 26.92 in the first half of the 100 meter freestyle, and becoming our first swimmer in the history of our team to swim under the 27-second mark. She is our only finalist at the meet, competing in the bonus final for the individual 50 freestyle event. She is the 74th fastest female 17-year old swimmer in the nation, among all foreign and domestic athletes. The previous fastest time for our team was posted as 27.02 by past Olympic Trial Qualifier, and University of Kentucky graduate, Megan Eppler set at the Speedo Grand Challenge in 2011 at age 19. At age 17, Sierra’s time is the fastest on record in the history of Central California Swimming as the previous CCS Record for 17-18 year old female swimmers stood at Megan’s time of 27.02, and held by Mary Hanson and set in 2009.

Sierra was joined by Khloe McCarthy who had her highest finish as 49th in the 400 IM after swimming 5:17.01 during the preliminary heats, and fourteen year old Visalia swimmer, Megan Ridenour who finished 57th in the 100 meter breaststroke with a time of 1:17.23.

 Posted by at 16:48
Oct 052015
 

Twelve TNT swimmers competed at the Senior Zone meet in Clovis over the last weekend of July, and TNT came away with one swimmer to earn second swims in one of three heats. Owen Ansel swam a 1:08.34 in the 100 meter breaststroke to finish 17thin the event from the bonus heat, and with a time that would have qualified him under the 1:08.69 time standard for this year’s Futures meet that took place in Oregon over this same weekend. Owen’s time is a new team record, as he swims under Chris Nolan’s previous 15-18 record of 1:08.72 that he set at the LA Invitational last summer. Owen’s time currently ranks 207th nationally for swimmers of age 17. He had also earned a second swim in the 200 meter breaststroke with a time of 2:30.89, which is nearly a two-second drop for him.

Our other competitors in the meet included Bre Abell who finished 75th in the 50 free (28.84), along with Visalia’s Justin Bos who finished 223rd in the 100 fly (1:06.07), and his training partner, Janessa Bringe who finished 40th in the 1500 freestyle as a 13-year old, while  their training partner, Lauren Geiger finished 94th in the 100 fly. Alonso Escobedo placed 111th in the 400 IM (5:05.46), while Selma’s Noah Haworth finished 63rd in the 100 fly (1:01.45), along with his training partners,  Jonas Huckabay, who swam to a 41st place finish in the 1500 free (17:52.31), and Satoshi Shinkawa who finished 119th in the 200 breast (2:47.87). Josh Koster’s highest place was 109th in the 100 back (1:06.76), while Blake Wong finished 128th in his 100 breast (1:16.55) event.

A new Sectional cut was achieved by Visalia’s 13-year old Mackenzie Garza during a time trial swim in an event where she had achieved an LA Invitational cut just this summer, and now her 28.45 is under this past summer’s Sectional cut. Her time in the individual event placed 97th there.

 Posted by at 16:47
Oct 052015
 

2015 LC JO1

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.

2015 LC JO2

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.

2015 LCJO3

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.

 Posted by at 16:46
Aug 112015
 

LA Invite1 - Copy

Fourteen TNT swimmers competed at the Los Angeles Invitational held at the University of Southern California alongside swimmers such as Nathan Adrian, Simone Manuel, and Matt Grievers, and among teams representing establishments such as Cal Berkley, USC, and Stanford. Four of our swimmers performed well enough to earn a spot in one of four finals, one CCS Record was broken, and five team records had been set.

Veterans to the meet included graduating senior Kyle Grissom who came away with the most second swims with his highest place of 13th in the consolation heat of the 100 meter butterfly resulting from his time of 55.57 that tops his best time, and team record that was previously set as 55.71 at Junior Nationals last summer. Kyle’s time currently stands as the 12th fastest nationally among male 17-year olds. His next highest finish came in the 22nd overall place finish from the bonus heat in the 50 free after swimming a 24.06 in the prelims. Kyle also improved over three seconds in the 200 freestyle during prelims (1:57.74), and then finished 30th overall from the 18-under D-final. Entering high school senior, Mallory Korenwinder, earned two second swims, her highest also a 13th place finish overall, but in the 100 meter breaststroke event from the consolation heat where she swam a time of 1:12.80. Her second final resulted from her time 2:42.96 in the 200 meter breaststroke where she finished 28th overall from the 18-under D-final. Our next highest finisher was Selma swimmer, Sierra Jett, setting a new team record of 27.10 that breaks a shared record in the event that was set by Jillian Hatch at Sectionals last year, and tied by Sierra this past March while competing at the NASA Junior National meet in Florida. Her time currently stands as the 61st fastest nationally for all girls of age seventeen. Visalia’s Megan Ridenour was our only other finalist, an impressive accomplishment considering she is only 14 years old. Megan established a new Futures time standard in the 100 meter breaststroke with her time of 1:15.85 in the preliminary heats, and she finished 31st overall from the 18-under D-final.
The most impressive record came from the 2:49.10 in the 200 meter breaststroke event of Danielle Albright. At age 12, Danielle’s time is not only a team record, but is also the fastest time posted in the history of Central California Swimming for any female 12-year old swimmer. This time surpassed one of the remaining long-standing records on our books, and held by Danielle’s coach, Joclyn Theissen (formerly Ford) who is responsible for Danielle’s success. Danielle’s time is also the highest national ranking time resulting from TNT swims over the weekend, as it stands as the 11th fastest for girls of age 12, a mere one position away from national recognition. She was also the only TNT swimmer to set multiple team records, and she added the 800 freestyle where her time of 9:45.81 was under Allison Duffy’s 9:53.75 set at the Clovis meet four years ago, and her current time is the 19th fastest nationally for the age and gender. Her final record came in the 400 IM where her time of 5:25.93 topped her own previous record of 5:38.36 that she set at the Reedley meet in March, and now stands as the 35th fastest nationally.

LAI4

 Posted by at 01:22
Aug 112015
 

AGI2

Five of our fifteen TNT swimmers who competed at the 2015 June Age Group Invitational in Ventura over the June 18-21 weekend scored in their individual events this summer. Twelve year old Danielle Albright placed in each of the six evets she entered, and became the event champion in the 50 meter breaststroke where her time of 36.52 was a new team record, breaking Mallory Korenwinder’s record of 36.94 that was set at the Zones in Hawaii in 2009 when Mallory was 11 years old. Danielle’s new record currently stands as the 30th fastest nationally for girls at age 12. Danielle was the runner up in the 100 meter breaststroke, and her time of 1:19.65 once again went under Mallory Korenwinder’s team record that was set at the Merced meet in 2011. This time ranks 32nd nationally, and was the second of only two team records broken over the weekend. Danielle also finished 2nd in the 200 IM (2:36.34), 5th in the 200 free (2:20.42), 7th in the 11-14 200 breaststroke (2:55.69), and 11th in the 400 free (5:00.34).

Our next highest point getter was Selma’s 12-year old male counterpart, Jackson Huckabay who finished both in both the 200 free (2:19.49) and 50 free (29.86). He had an 8th place finish in the 50 fly (33.15), and a 10th place finish in the 400 freestyle (5:02.92) event. Jackson also scored in all six events he competed in, and he finished his scoring performance with a 12th place finish in the 100 free (1:06.47) and 14th place finish in the 200 IM (2:43.76).

Other scoring performances came from Visalia’s 13-year old, Janessa Bringe, who finished 13th in the 11-14 400 IM (5:37.57), and 14th in the 11-14 200 fly (2:38.07), along with her training partner, 11-year old Layla Flores who finished 8th in the 11-12 50 breaststroke (40.50) and 13th in the 11-12 100 breaststroke (1:29.97) events. Peyton Costa was our only other point getter, and like Layla, while on the bottom of the age group, finished 15th in the 11-12 100 backstroke (1:19.40), and 16th in the 11-12 50 backstroke (37.22) events.

AGI5

Our other competitors, along with their highest placed event, included:

  • Alonso Escobedo (age 15): 22nd in the 15-over 200 back (2:25.64)
  • Tristan Gaines (age 18): 26th in the 15-over 1500 free (20:00.53)
  • Mackenzie Garza (age 13): 17th in the 13-14 50 free (29.46)
  • Gage Price (age 11): 31st in the 11-12 100 fly (1:24.42)
  • Garrison Price (age 14): 44th in the 11-14 200 back (2:49.21)
  • Katherine Sullivan (age 13): 19th in the 11-14 400 IM (5:46.47)
  • Benjamin Wheeler (age 12): 18th in the 11-12 100 back (1:20.23)
  • Alexa Wong (age 9): 22nd in the 7-10 50 fly (39.74)
  • Blake Wong (age 16): 31st in the 15-over 100 breast (1:16.00)
  • Bryan Wong (age 11): 19th in the 11-12 50 breast (42.24)
 Posted by at 01:19
Aug 112015
 

An astounding mid-season improvement percentage of 72.6% was maintained by 25 TNT swimmers who attended and Fresno AB Modified Invitational long course meet over the July 19-21 weekend, and this high percentage was led by ten swimmers who improved 100% of their times. Perfect performances were had by Gwendolyn Adriaansen (improving 3 or 3 events), sister Libby Adriaansen (4 of 4), Isabel Burrough (3 of 3), Katie Frost (3 of 3), Amanda Garabedian (3 of 3), Audrey Gutierrez (2 of 2), Xavier Gutierrez (5 of 5), Lucas Huckabay (5 of 5) and Sofia Mora (6 of 6). Three additional swimmers were above the average, and these included: Jillian Gaines (80%), Gabriela Mora (80%), and Dominic Colvin (75%).

Eight year old Sienna Abernathy became our only event champion by winning the 8-under 50 meter freestyle event with a time of 41.50. Top-8 finishers included Visalia swimmer Justin Bos who finished 3rd in the 13-over 100 fly (1:07.08), Selma Swimmer Katie Frost who finished 6th in the 9-10 50 breast (52.77), Selma’s Olivia Garabedian finishing 4th in the 13-over 50 free (29.78), Porterville’s Diego Gutierrez who claimed a 5th place in the 100 breast (1:35.00), 6th in the 50 breast (45.29) and 8th in the 50 fly (38.53) along with his brother, Xavier Gutierrez, who finished 5th in the 50 breast (44.37) and 6th in the 100 breast (1:35.94). The Selma Huckabay duo of Jonas and Lucas once again proved competitive as Jonas Huckabay placed 2nd in the 1500 free (18:53.46), 3rd in the 200 breast (2:56.33), 200 back (2:37.13), and 7th in the 200 free (2:14.42) and 200 IM (2:34.22) events for the 11-over and 13-over events. His brother Lucas Huckabay was our highest point getter, finishing 2nd in four events that included the 8-under 100 fly (1:45.11), 50 back (48.91), 50 breast (55.47), and 100 back (1:41.33), as well as a pair of 3rd place finishes in the 50 free (40.43) and 50 fly (49.74) events for the 8-under division. Hanford’s 12-yer old Rylee Lord came away with a pair of 6th place finishes in the 50 fly (38.34) and 100 free (1:15.22), while Genoveve Mcilwaine had a pair of 7th place finishes in the 50 back (41.94) and 50 breaststroke (45.49) while competing on the bottom of the 11-12 girls division. Visalia’s Sofia Mora had three top-8 finishes that included a pair of 7th place finishes in the 11-12 girls 100 fly (1:33.45) and 50 fly (38.52), along with an 8th place finish in the 200 free (2:42.08). Ava Olson was another multi top-8 finisher for the 9-10 division by placing 5th in the 200 IM (3:23.26), 6th in the 50 fly (41.72), and 7th in a pair of events that included the 200 free (3:01.08) and 100 breast (1:56.92) events. Elizabeth Torres also finished 8th in the 11-12 girls 100 breaststroke event with a time of 1:37.35.

 Posted by at 01:15