Earlier today, we posted that 12-year old Michael Andrew posted a new 11-12 National Age Group Record in Minnesota. As it turns out, this is a huge weekend for National Age Group swimming in the United States, as at least three other National Age Group Records went down on the weekend (all in backstroke).
Ryan Murphy, 15-16, 100 Backstroke
As mentioned briefly at the Indy Grand Prix, 16-year old Ryan Murphy of the Bolles Swim School broke the 15-16 National Age Group Record with a 54.96 in the 100 long course backstroke. That breaks the old National Age Group Record set by Jack Conger last year at Summer Nationals. Here’s the comparative splits:
Conger ’11: 26.72 – 28.30
Murphy ’12: 26.82 – 28.14
These two are part of a great young American backstroke group that is coming up to replace the aging post-grad group.
Destin Lasco, 10 & under, 50 & 100 Backstrokes
The Atlantic City Aquatic Club’s Destin Lasco took down a pair of his own 10 & under yards backstroke records – and he took them down by a mile at the Eastern Zone Age Group Championships. First, down went the 50 backstroke mark in 27.96, bettering his old mark of 28.37. (Incidentally, the runner-up in this race Vinny Marciano swam a 29.06 – which is also an outstanding swim for a 10-year old).
Next, he destroyed his own mark in the 100 backstroke with a 59.81. That makes him the first swimmer at this age to go under a minute in this race, with the old record having stood at 1:00.75.
Lasco isn’t quite as versatile in strokes as Michael Andrew was at this age, but in the backstroke races specifically he’s blowing away Andrew’s records.
Among other wins, Lasco swam a 2:02 in the 200 free and a 2:13 in the 200 IM.
Thanks to Youtube user mitkoswim for posting the above video of Lasco’s record-breaking swim.
Full Eastern Zone Age Group Sectionals Results available here.