In our GMX7 Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming series, we celebrate swimmers of every age and experience level with age group profiles of some recent results.
Lilla Bognar, 15, Team Greenville (TG-SC): A slew of personal best times came for Bognar at the SC Senior State Champs in North Charleston Feb. 10-13, including some highly-ranked seasonal swims in her age category and a new South Carolina 15-16 State Record in the 100 back. In that event, Bognar clocked 53.63 to annihilate her previous best (54.30) and move into 13th among 15-16s this season.
Her PB of 1:47.91 in the 200 free is the eighth-fastest for a 15-year-old in the 2021-22 season, and her 1:59.91 in the 200 IM ranks ninth. She also put up a blistering 25.17 relay lead-off in the 50 back, which is the third-fastest among 15-year-olds this season. Read more on her exploits here.
Luke Green, 14, South Carolina Swim Club (SCSC-SC): Competing at the same meet as Bognar, South Carolina Swim Club’s Green checked in with new personal best showings in the 100 free (48.31), 200 free (1:46.95) and 100 fly (51.93). The 100 fly time marked a drop of nearly a full second (previously 52.85 in December prior to turning 14), and ranks 11th in the nation since the beginning of 2022 among 14-year-olds.
Sadie Buckley, 12, Mason Makos Swim Team (MAKO-PV): The 12-year-old Buckley has reset all of her SCY best times over the last three months, including doing so in four of them at the President’s Day Classic last weekend in Manassas, VA. The highlight of those four swims came in the 200 free, where Buckley clocked 1:58.22 to dip under the 2:00-barrier for the first time. In fact, her previous best time was exactly 2:00.00, set in October.
Abhay Tharakan, 14, TAC Titans (TAC-NC): Tharakan, a TAC Titans product, hit a 100 back best time of 51.71 competing as a freshman at the 4A NCHSAA State Championships last week, placing 10th and lowering his best time coming into the meet by nearly six-tenths (52.30). The time also ranks him 13th among 14-year-olds in the country in 2021-22.
Ella Busquets, 12, Diablo Aquatics (DA-PC): After climbing into the top 100 all-time rankings in girls’ 11-12 100 back in December (57.88, t-92nd), Busquets showed improvement in the 200 back last weekend at the MAC Senior Open. The 12-year-old Diablo Aquatics swimmer brought her best time down from 2:11.21 to 2:09.17 in the event, and also hit a new PB in the 200 free.
Quinn Bennet, 12, Barrington Swim Club (BSC-IL): Bennet hit five best times at the Speedo Chicagoland Championship meet in St. Charles, IL, including a trio in freestyle events. Bennet clocked 5:04.29 in the 500 free, the 17th-fastest among 12-year-olds in the 2021-22 season, and also registered a 1:52.73 in the 200 free (22nd) and 52.29 in the 100 free (31st).
David McCagg, World Champion swimmer and GMX7 Founder
About GMX7
Founded in 2018, GMX7 is based in St. Petersburg, Florida and is dedicated to changing the world of swimming by empowering competitive swimmers with the best aquatic resistance training devices ever created. GMX7 was founded by David McCagg, a 7-time gold medalist, former world record holder and winner of multiple national championships. The first device on the market by GMX7 is the X1-PRO. Designed by ROBRADY Engineering, it has already been the recipient of several awards including the 2020 International Design Excellence Award and the 2020 Red Dot Award for product design.
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just curious about the times by Quinn Bennett, the last “wonder” mentioned above: I think the answer is possibly that he’s a boy, based on the mention of where the times swum ranked in that age group so far, but- with Quinn as a first name not outright being gender specific (such as boys and girls both with the name Casey, etc) and that we HAVE had 12 & under girls go before 4:50 in the 500 and 1:50’ish in the 200 free- no specific, appropriate gender for Quinn is mentioned above. But genders ARE mentioned however in EVERY other swimmer making this week’s wonders list.
wow congrats to these amazing swimmers!