11-Year-Old Lia Roggi Posts 1:01.46 100 Freestyle Split at IL Age Groups Champs

2021 Illinois Age Group Championships

• July 22-25, 2021
• FMC Natatorium, Westmont, IL
• Long Course Meters
• Results

The Academy Bullets Swim Club dominated the Illinois Long Course Age Group Championships, winning both the women’s and combined team titles.

The swimmers from Academy Bullets scored a total of 2078.5 points to win the title over 400 points ahead of the Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club. 1447.5 of those points were scored on the women’s side, leading Academy Bullets to a decisive win.

Team Scores – Combined

1. Academy Bullets Swim Club – 2078.5
2. Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club – 1608.5
3. FMC Aquatic – 1521
4. Nasa Wildcat Aquatics – 1428.5
5. Hinsdale Swim Club – 1238.5

Team Scores – Women

1. Academy Bullets Swim Club – 1447.5
2. Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club – 1107.5
3. FMC Aquatic – 884
4. Patriot Aquatic Club – 775
5. Nasa Wildcat Aquatics – 682.5

Team Scores – Men

1. Fox Valley Swim Team – 783.5
2. Nasa Wildcat Aquatics – 746
3. Hinsdale Swim Club – 690
4. Palatine Park District Swim Team – 686.5
5. Barrington Swim Club – 659

The Bullet girls were led by 12-year-old Adeline Gawel and 14-year-old Sadie Murphy, who scored 133 and 132 points, respectively. However, 11-year-old Lia Roggi had one of the strongest performances of the meet on the 400 freestyle relay.

On the relay, Roggi combined with Gawel, Josephine Dumm, and Julia Bartula for the victory in a time of 4:14.76. On the second leg, Roggi posted a split of 1:01.46, one of the fastest splits in history for someone her age. Gawel led-off the relay in a time of 1:03.55.

In addition to her 400 freestyle relay victory, Gawel also won both the 200 and 400 freestyle events and contributed to the Bullets’ winning400 medley relay team. In the 200 freestyle, Gawel posted a time of 2:14.49 to claim the victory, cutting a tenth off of her best time in the process. Gawel later swam the 400 freestyle in a time of 4:42.29, slashing a second and a half off of her best time.

The same relay team from the 400 freestyle relay combined for the win on the 400 medley relay, touching in a time of 4:46.99. On that relay, Gawel split 1:01.75 on the freestyle leg, while Roggi swam a time of 1:11.87 on the backstroke lead-off.

Murphy had strong performances in the distance events as well, winning the 200 freestyle and the 400 freestyle, along with coming in 2nd overall in the 800 freestyle.

Murphy kicked-off her weekend with a huge drop in the 800 freestyle, where she placed 2nd overall behind Emma Overall. Murphy’s time of 9:15.86 came under her previous best of 9:23.27 by over 7 seconds.

In the 400 freestyle, Murphy swam to a time of 4:28.56 to slash 5 seconds off of her personal best, claiming first overall in the process. With her performance, Murphy earned her first Futures cut in the event, just getting under the standard of 4:28.79.

Murphy also swam under the Futures cut in the 200 freestyle, where she posted a winning time of 2:05.80 to cut over a second off of her best time. Although Murphy already owned the Futures cut in that event, her new personal best falls less than a second shy of the Junior National’s cut of 2:04.99.

On the men’s side, 14-year-old Keian Lam from Fox Valley had a fantastic meet, winning 4 individual events and dropping time almost every time he entered the water.

Lam kicked-off his weekend by winning the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:12.26, slicing 5 seconds off of his personal best in the process. He followed that up with a victory in the 200 breaststroke, where he posted a time of 2:26.29 to claim first by over a half second. With his performance, Lam sliced over 9 seconds off of his personal best entering the meet, which stood at 2:35.60.

Lam also won the 100 breaststroke by three seconds, cutting over a second off of his best time to touch in 1:06.68 for the victory. Shortly afterwards, Lam won the 200 IM with a time of 2:13.29, coming in almost 3 seconds below his best time of 2:15.88.

Lam also contributed to his team’s winning 400 medley relay, splitting a 1:06.99 on the breaststroke leg. The team of Lam, Shaun Bahl, Peter Carroll, and Arpan Dhar combined for final time of 4:11.89, cutting over 6 seconds off of their seed time.