10-year-old Trevan Valena broke the second-oldest short course National Age Group record on the books with a 2:11.79 in the 200 IM.
The breakout swim came at the TXLA Jingle Bell Splash in Austin, Texas. Valena swam the session-ending 200 IM on Saturday night, winning not only the 10-and-under class but also topping all of the 12-and-unders in the meet. Valena was 2:11.79 to take down a NAG record set to 2:12.29 by the great Chas Morton in 1982.
On the short course side, there’s not an older NAG record to be found on the men’s side, and the only overall short course NAG set before 1982 was a 1981 Mary T. Meagher record in the 15-16 200 fly. (Meagher went 1:52.99).
Competing for Texas Ford Aquatics, Valena will age up early next year, but does still have at least one more meet as a 10-year-old in January, according to his coach.
“Trevan is the whole package,” said his coach Lindsay Kenney. “Besides the fact that he is busting at the seams with talent; he works hard, he focuses on technique, and he’s a great teammate.
“Trevan is very detail-oriented. He’ll ask me if he should glide for a second or a second and a half on his breaststroke or he will ask what energy system he should use to take him swims out in. These are both very mature and methodical questions for a 10 year old. It’s a lot of fun to talk strategy with him.”
Valena was elated with his swim:
“It felt really, really good when I saw the scoreboard, and my time beat it by less than a second,” he said. “I splashed the water so hard [in celebration] and I was so happy that I got it. I shook hands with the swimmers who pushed me through the event, then I looked at my family with a humongous smile on my face. It was over!”
You can check out race video of his swim below, courtesy of the Valena family on YouTube:
And one of the classiest kids/guys ever. When he was 10 he chose not to swim the 100 IM at South Easterns, his best even. He chose not to swim because he know I had a chance to win without him swimming. He told me to go and win it for the team. Great guy.
There’s a couple names out there like Chas Morton and Maverick Smalley that every age grouper from my time knows. I’m lucky enough to have known and trained with some of my heroes at Texas, and to know them better makes their accomplishments even greater. They’re just normal people that worked hard and accomplished feats not thought possible.
To be able to say that you were the best ever among your peers, no matter what the age, is priceless. Who said being better at 20 is better than at 10? What if the kid decides he wants to pursue something else at 13? The fact that he can say he was the best at something at 10 can give him the confidence to strive to be the best at something else at 13 or 20 or 50 . . . If your self-image is the #1 factor controlling what you achieve in life, then knowing you are the best, not just believing, but knowing, can have tremendous existential ramifications…. Very happy for Trevan and if he never breaks… Read more »
serious question – what the hell happened to Bobogigio?
I HAVE BEEN THINKING THE SAME THING… hope he is ok!
I just saw a post from him on SwimSwam yesterday!
Thanks for checking up on me!
I’m fine. I was just very busy since last summer. Add the fact that I can’t watch the USA swimming meets on their website anymore because of their new NBC partnership which prevents international viewers from watching. So it’s useless for me to comment live on swimswam a meet that I can’t watch anymore. Great decision by USA swimming!
I’m back on swimswam since last Friday. I’ve posted all the race videos of SCM European championships.
And congrats to Trevan Valena on breaking that antique NAG record.
Welcome back bobo. This comment section is not the same without you :).
Get a Virtual Private Network!! I pay $50 a year, I’m not sure if you can find a free one, but watching eurosport and canadian broadcasts for big meets (along with a few downloads here and there 😉 ) has made it soooo worth it.
Why is a ten year old wearing a tech suit!? No doubt he’s a very good swimmer but without the suit that bag would still be there
Something to take into consideration. When Chas was swimming………he didn’t wear goggles, no cap, and had really thick hair and a tiny Speedo. Chas Morton’s name is rings with other greats who have come before…….even greater than MP or MA.
uh, they had caps and goggles in the 80s…
by 1976 goggles were pretty common and caps followed suit (pardon the pun)
not sure where you pulled you’re info from
Goggles were common for training. Many people did not wear them in competition in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Caps were common for girls and women. Many guys (boys and men) did not wear them in competition in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Starting blocks were pretty horrible. Starts were pretty horrible. Underwaters were pretty horrible (and sometimes, nonexistent). Turns were different (and pretty horrible). The info isn’t all that wrong.
They also wore full body wool suits, swam in 20 yard pools, and practiced every other day for an hour. He was also swimming the 150 IM because breaststroke hadn’t been invented yet.
sorry, meant butterfly hadn’t been invented yet
WOW.
We all remember age group swimming, and looking at the records on the heat sheets. Chas Morton was always a name that just made the NAG record not make sense. I got obliterated by Michael Phelps when even he was a few seconds off those records.
WOW.
Keep going Trevan.
Don’t feel sorry for Chas not making an Olympic team. He was a highly respected college teammate and helped lead Stanford to two NCAA championships (1992 and 1993), and four PAC-10 conference championships!
Chas Morton swimming today…. ….2:04
Not to take away from Trevan. Keep kickin’ butt Trevan!