Shawmut Aquatic Club (SAC) established itself as the best New England program at the Winter Junior Championships – East meet earlier this month by placing 20th in the combined standings.
Three different SAC swimmers broke multiple team records in Columbus, Ohio. William Mulgrew, a 16-year-old Harvard commit (class of 2025), dropped four seconds in the 500 free (4:22.24), 12 seconds in the 1650 free (15:05.90), and four seconds in the 400 IM (3:56.20). Quinn White, 16, lowered her lifetime best by a couple tenths in the 200 free (1:48.32), 100 back (54.17), and about half a second in the 200 back (1:56.21). Clara Renner, a 17-year-old Bucknell commit, dropped six seconds in the 500 free (4:48.38) and 21 seconds in the 1650 free (16:35.45).
The performance was impressive, but what happened a week later at the New England Swimming Senior Championships defied expectations. Somehow, the SAC trio got even faster — especially Mulgrew, who dropped another 17 seconds in the 1650 free with a winning time 14:48.26 to become the first male in the history of New England Swimming to go under 14:50.
He broke the LSC open record of 14:56.60 set last year by Josh Parent, who’s now a freshman at the University of Florida. After dropping 45 seconds over the past year, Mulgrew’s new lifetime best ranks 4th all-time in the U.S. boys’ 15-16 national age group (NAG) rankings. It also would have scored at the 2023 NCAA Championships (15th place) and won the title at Winter Juniors – East, where he took 4th place.
BOYS 15-16 1650 FREE ALL-TIME TOP 5
- Liam Custer, 14:37.86 (2020)
- Gabriel Manteufel, 14:41.11 (2023)
- Sean Grieshop, 14:45.40 (2014)
- William Mulgrew, 14:48.26 (2023)
- Luke Ellis, 14:49.79 (2022)
Mulgrew also achieved a major milestone by breaking nine minutes in the 1000 free. His personal-best 8:58.95 dropped more than eight seconds off his previous best from just a week prior, just missing Alex Kostich‘s LSC open record of 8:56.18 from the 1987 Senior Nationals more than 35 years ago. Mulgrew added three more best times in 200 free (1:40.77), 100 back (51.56), and 200 back (1:49.25).
Mulgrew wasn’t the only SAC swimmer who somehow got even faster just a week after Winter Juniors. White broke the 54-second barrier in the 100 back (53.85) and 1:56 in the 200 back (1:55.52) while also taking down program records in the 100 free (50.28) and 200 IM (2:01.58). Renner lowered her week-old program record in the 1000 free from 10:01.26 to 9:53.79.
At just 15 years old, Enzo Desviat Ruiz erased a 19-year-old program record in the 100 free set by future Michigan standout Sal Barba back in 2004 (46.03) with a time of 45.72, shaving almost half a second off his previous-best 46.19 from Winter Juniors a week prior. Desviat Ruiz is a recent transfer from Patriot Aquatic Club in Illinois.
Another 15-year-old SAC standout, Emma Miner, has been on a crazy improvement curve in the 200 breast that culminated in a new team record of 2:17.51 last week. She shaved more than three seconds off her lifetime best from earlier this month (2:20.61) and more than 10 seconds off her best time from a year ago (2:27.66). In the process, Miner shattered a 15-year-old team record that belonged to future Harvard swimmer Clare Foster (2:18.46) from 2008.
SAC is led by head coach Susan Trainer, who was awarded coach of the year for New England Swimming in September. The next month, she attended USA Swimming’s National Select Camp with Mulgrew at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Trainer was an NCAA All-American at Florida and UCLA before a cardiac condition forced her early retirement following her sophomore season. She began her coaching career at UCLA, and the Bruins won their first Pac-10 title during her final year on staff.
SAC has not been recognized in USA Swimming’s club excellence rankings since the 2017-18 season (bronze), but there’s no denying the momentum Trainer & Co. are building in Massachusetts at the moment. Established in 1974, the club operates out of two practice facilities in Framingham (Keefe Technical High School) and Wellesley (Dana Hall School).
Keep an eye out for Mulgrew at Olympic Trials next June at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. He earned his cut in the 1500-meter free at the 2023 Pro Swim Series stop in Mission Viejo this May with a personal-best 15:36.10, dropping nearly 35 seconds off his previous-best 16:11.06 from last summer. Mulgrew is the son of two Division I swimmers, Kevin and Suzanne, who both competed at Miami University in Ohio. After placing 2nd in the 500 free (4:35.63) and 3rd in the 200 free (1:41.90) at the 2023 MIAA Boys Division I State Championships, he will be aiming to top the podium for his first state title next February as a junior at Xaverian Brothers High School.