2024 NORTH CAROLINA SWIMMING AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS
- February 15-18, 2024
- Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
- Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Full Meet Results
After leading off a National Age Group Record 800 free relay to open the meet, SwimMAC’s David Sammons went on a tear at the North Carolina Age Group Swimming Championships over the weekend.
He won 8 events at the meet, swimming lifetime bests in seven (including the 100 free on a relay leadoff). He also broke four SwimMAC Carolina team records and set four new North Carolina Swimming LSC Records in the 13-14 age group.
Sammons’ Swims
- 200 free relay leadoff – 21.80
- 400 free relay leadoff – 46.91 (PB)
- 200 free individual – 1:38.89 (1st place)
- 800 free relay leadoff – 1:38.81 (PB, LSC Record)
- 100 back individual – 49.61 (1st place, PB, LSC Record)
- 200 back individual – 1:46.60 (1st place, PB, LSC Record)
- 100 fly individual – 50.45 (1st place)
- 200 fly individual – 1:47.03 (1st place, PB, LSC Record)
- 100 IM – 51.70 (1st place, PB)
- 200 IM – 1:53.02 (1st place, PB)
- 400 IM – 3:56.88 (1st place)
In the 200 back, he broke the previous record of 1:48.49 that was set by Braeden Haughey in 2018 by almost two seconds.
He now ranks in the top 25 all-time in the 100 back in the 100 back, top 10 in the 200 free, top 10 in the 200 back, and 4th in the 200 fly.
The meet was dominated by the host TAC Titans and SwimMAC, who combined to win 43 out of 54 boys’ events and 41 out of 54 girls’ events.
Team Scoring
Top 5 girls
- TAC Titans – 2,617.5
- SwimMAC Carolina – 1,870.66
- North Carolina Aquatic Club – 858
- Mecklenburg Swim Association – 697
- YMCA of the Triangle Area – 637
Top 5 boys
- TAC Titans – 2,440
- SwimMAC Carolina – 2,099.5
- North Carolina Aquatic Club – 1,274
- Marlins of Raleigh – 579
- Enfinity Aquatic Club – 547.5
Top 5 combined
- TAC Titans – 5,057.5
- SwimMAC Carolina – 3,970.16
- North Carolina Aquatic Club – 2,132
- MSA – 1,071
- Marlins of Raleigh – 1,033
With a whopping 13 gold medals (including relays), Sammons led the meet in podiums, but TAC’s depth proved the overall winner.
That included Clayton Chia, who won four individual events in the 10 & under events and swam eight lifetime bests. That included a 26.92 in the 50 free and 58.61 in the 100 free.
Another TAC swimmer, Steven Zhou-He, won the 50 fly (26.26) and 100 fly (57.67) and swam nine personal bests in the 11-12 boys’ age group.
The Titans also had two swimmers with double digit wins in the girls’ age groups.
Reina Liu, who set a number of LSC Records in the 11-12 age group, has now aged up into the 13-14s, and in spite of being in the younger end of the age group won five races – all national leaders for a 13-year-old this season and among the fastest ever.
Liu’s wins:
- 50 free – 22.46
- 100 free – 49.96 (49.16 in a 400 free relay leadoff)
- 100 back – 52.85 (52.67 leading off the medley relay)
- 200 back – 1:56.90
- 100 IM – 55.67
Her time of 52.67 in the 100 back is the fastest by a 13-year-old this season by two and a half seconds, and ranks her 6th-best all-time in the 13-14 age group – with more than a year go before aging out of the group.
The list of swimmers ahead of her is a loaded list of swimmers with tons of international appointments on their resume, including Alex Walsh, Claire Curzan, Regan Smith, and Levenia Sim. The National Record for 13-14s is Charlotte Crush, who swam 50.44 in March 2023.
She also now ranks 7th all-time in the 50 free in the age group (one spot behind multi-time Olympian Dara Torres).
In the 11-12 age group, another TAC Titan Ziva Liu won 11 gold medals, including seven in individual events. Among the highlights were a 24.44 in the 50 free, 26.58 in the 50 fly, and 52.86 in the 100 free.
Other Highlights:
- Drew Sito swam times that were it not for Sammons, would probably be headlines. He swam 50.07 in the 100 back final, 1:38.89 in the 200 free, 1:50.60 in the 200 back, and 4:00.10 in the 400 IM. That time in the 200 free ranks him in the top 20 all-time in US history in the 13-14 age group.
- Oliver Marrujo swam, and went best times, in almost every event on offer at the meet, but the highlight was the 100 breaststroke, where swam 56.72 and knocked a second-and-a-half off his prior best time from December. In all, he’s dropped about three seconds off his best time in that event in the last year.
- TAC’s Nicole Nixon won the 13-14 100 fly in 53.11 and SwimMAC Carolina’s Emma Richardson wasn’t far behind in 53.30. Nixon’s time was a drop of about three-tenths from the 4A High School State meet a week earlier, making a total of 2.3 seconds of improvement across the month of February. Richardson’s swim this weekend was an almost three-second improvement on her previous best.
- Karina Plaza from SwimMAC Carolina was 2nd to Reina Liu in the 200 back in 1:57.87 in what might have been her best swim of the meet, but grabbed individual wins in the 100 breast (1:01.79), 200 breast (2:13.77), and 200 IM (2:01.84). She had seven personal bests in total.
They didn’t mention that Karina Plaza got a US Open in 100 breast and Nicole Nixon and Emma Richardson got US Open in 10 fly
Overlooked in this article is 10u girls High Point winner TESSA JELTEMA of the TAC Titans who won 5 individual events in the 10 and under events, with 8 personal lifetime bests. That included a new NC State record of 105.29 in the 100 back, 105.63 in the 100 IM, 59.56 in the 100 free, and 1:15.58 100 breast.
An error was made in the synopsis above, and the actual result for NC State record was in the 100im at 1:05.63, not in the 100 back.
After reading the Carson Foster story, I’ll refrain from calling these two “generational talents.” But man, those are some great swims.
Go Reina!