Our Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming series celebrates swimmers of every age and experience level with age group profiles of some recent results.
Note: All results are in long course meters in this edition.
Delaney O’Toole, 12, Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics (AM): O’Toole set a trio of personal best times at the Club Mountaineer June LC Invitational, winning all seven events she contested. Highlighting that effort was the 50 back, where O’Toole clocked 31.67 to rank fifth in the girls’ 11-12 age group this season. She also went 2:13.55 in the 200 free, ranking third this season for 11-12s, and her 2:29.91 ranks fifth.
Tim Wu, 14, Pleasanton Seahawks (PC): Wu had a number of standout performances at the George Haines International meet last weekend in San Jose, including clocking 56.18 in the 100 fly. That performance ranks Wu tied for 13th all-time in the boys’ 13-14 age group, and he also went 2:08.85 in the 200 IM to rank 26th. Wu also went 1:55.92 in the 200 free to rank 57th all-time, and 53.29 in the 100 free to rank 61st.
Rylee Erisman, 14, Laker Swimming (FL): Erisman dropped more than two seconds in the 200 back to rank 53rd all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group in the 200 back, clocking 2:15.17. It also ranks her third in the age group this season. Erisman also notched a PB of 2:20.48 in the 200 IM, ranking her fourth this season, and added a best of 2:25.73 in the 200 fly. She also went 26.15 in the 50 free, just shy of her PB of 26.02 set at the Atlanta Classic in May, which sits #1 in the age group this season.
Eli Henley, 11, AnglerFish Aquatics (NE): Henley registered lifetime bests in all six events he contested at the CRA & USC June LC meet in Boston two weeks ago, particularly performing well in the breaststroke events. Henley went 1:19.71 in the 100 breast, ranking him second in the U.S. this season among 11-year-old boys, and also went 36.52 in the 50 breast and 2:56.50 in the 200 breast, which both rank fifth.
Grace Gannon, 11, Fishers Area Swimming Tigers (IN): Gannon won seven gold medals and added three runner-up finishes at the FAST Summer Jam last weekend in Fishers, Indiana, scoring new lifetime bests in every event she raced. The 11-year-old’s highlights included going 1:26.70 in the 100 breast, 1:14.57 in the 100 fly and 2:43.64 in the 200 IM.
Jayden Tsai, 11, Laker Swimming (FL): Tsai was on fire at the RAFC Summer Solstice meet in Orlando. He dropped a time of 4:28.12 in the 400 free, making him the fastest 11-year-old boy this season by 11 seconds (and top five all-time). It also puts him second in the 11-12 age group in 2022-23. Tsai also now ranks first among 11-year-olds this season with his swims in the 200 IM (2:22.92), 100 fly (1:06.35) and 50 breast (36.18). He also went 5:10.16 in the 400 IM, having set a best of 5:07.99 in May which ranks first among 11-year-olds and fifth for 11-12s this season.
Grace Gannon is 10 … at least as of yesterday when she won the 10&U Girls 1.25K at the Central Zone Open Water Championships at Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin. She is definitely fun to watch as is her teammate, Annie Hare, who placed second!