2024 Long Course Far Western Championship
- July 25-28, 2024
- Morgan Hill Aquatics Center
- Morgan Hill, Calif.
- LCM (50 meters)
- Results on MeetMobile: “2024 Long Course Far Western Championship”
Three meet records fell at the Long Course Far Western Championships held last month in Morgan Hill, California.
Pleasanton Seahawks 12-year-old Hanz Palattao erased a 20-year-old meet standard in the 100-meter backstroke, breaking Shayne Fleming‘s record of 1:04.57 from 2004 with a winning time of 1:04.23. Palattao dropped more than half a second off his previous-best 1:04.83 from last month, moving within a second of the Pacific Swimming 11-12 LSC record of 1:03.29 set by Benjamin Ho back in 2011.
Palattao won five more events in lifetime bests: the 100 freestyle (57.74), 200 free (2:08.16), 200 back (2:17.84), 100 breaststroke (1:12.04), and 200 IM (2:20.68). His biggest time drops came in the 200 back and 200 IM, where he lowered his best times by five seconds and two seconds, respectively.
Valley Splash 15-year-old Yury Kuzmenko took down another meet record in the 50 free at 23.45 as he shaved almost a second off his previous-best 24.34 from last August. He toppled Brian Yu‘s meet standard of 23.76 from 2017 while also closing in on Fleming’s Pacific Swimming 15-16 LSC record of 22.72 from 2008. Kuzmenko also captured the 100 free crown in 52.27, knocking more than a second off his previous-best 53.33 from June.
California Dolphins Swim Team 14-year-old Thomas Wu impressed with a 50 free victory in 24.37, breaking the meet record of 24.49 despite narrowly missing his personal-best 24.33 from last month’s Novato Sectionals. He’s from Shanghai, China, but he now trains in Fremont, California. Wu is approaching Isaac Litwiller‘s 13-14 LSC record of 24.08 from last year. He added a lifetime best in the 100 breast (1:15.33) and picked up another win in the 200 free (1:58.99), about a second off his personal-best 1:57.24 from last month.
Incoming Princeton freshman Devyn Caples collected five victories in the 400 IM (4:26.31), 800 free (8:26.20), 100 breast (1:06.06), 100 back (1:00.23), and 200 fly (2:06.42). The Crow Canyon Country Club Sharks 18-year-old dropped more than two seconds in the 100 back and more than a second in the 100 breast off his previous bests from 2022.
Crow Canyon 15-year-old Kaden Wong registered a personal best in the 800 free (8:29.47), dropping more than a second off his previous-best 8:31.06 from March. He also brought home three 1st-place finishes in the 200 free (1:55.20), 400 free (4:02.85), and 200 IM (2:09.00).
Lakeridge Swim Team 18-year-old Zach Power fired off a time of 4:03.25 to clinch the 400 free crown, sneaking under his previous-best 4:03.53 from last July.
Girls Recap
Crow Canyon 18-year-old Maddie O’Connell took more than a second off her best 100 fly time on her way to the win in 1:01.76. The UCSD commit (’24) crushed her previous-best 1:02.81 from last month.
Diablo Aquatics 15-year-old Ella Busquets had a sizable drop in the 50 free with a personal-best 26.53, slicing a few tenths off her previous-best 26.91 from just last month.
Crow Canyon 16-year-old Natalie Mak dipped under her lifetime best in the 400 IM with a time of 4:59.56, less than a tenth faster than her previous-best 4:59.64 from last July. The Princeton commit (’25) also earned a runner-up finish in the 100 back (1:05.15), dropping more than half a second off her previous-best 1:05.66 from June.
Crow Canyon 16-year-old Raya Mellott swept her specialty, the breaststroke events, along with the 200 free (2:07.19) and 200 IM (2:22.59). The Virginia commit (’25) clocked a time of 1:11.09 in the 100 breast, within a few seconds of her personal-best 1:08.26 from last July. Mellott also posted a 2:34.12 in the 200 breast, within six seconds of her best time from June.
Crow Canyon 16-year-old Lillyana Caples showed off her distance dominance with wins in the 400 free (4:22.58), 800 free (9:12.06), and 1500 free (17:16.71). She knocked almost three tenths off her lifetime best in the 400 free while coming up short of her best times in the 800 free (8:52.68 from May) and 1500 free (16:52.85 from last month).
Crow Canyon 14-year-old Daniela Linares cruised to victories in the 100 back (1:03.99) and 200 back (2:17.44), but she has been faster before in both events (1:02.78 from June/2:13.88 from May). Her 17-year-old teammate, Ellie Butler, triumphed in the 200 free (2:06.61) and 200 fly (2:17.99). The Notre Dame commit (’25) touched within a second of her personal-best 200 fly time of 2:17.26 from last month.