The Washington Township Swim Club Waves have broken the 13-14 Boys’ National Age Group Record in the 200 free relay – the second time this record has gone down in the month of July after it stood for 6 years.
The team of Andrew Couchon, Parker Hershberger, Jackson Miller, and Drew Kibler took a big chunk out of the old record with a 1:39,56. That beat the 1:41.00 done by Irvine Novaquatics just over a week ago (still not officially recognized by USA Swimming), as well as the 1:41.34 from the Lake Oswego Swim Club that is currently on the public books on USA Swimming’s website.
The splits:
- Andrew Couchon (24.83)
- Parker Hershberger (24.84)
- Jackson Miller (25.66)
- Drew Kibler (24.23)
That takes a huge chunk out of what any group of American 13-14 boys has done in the past. Irvine’s splits were 25.46/24.67/25.81/25.06 – that’s just one swimmer under 25 seconds. Washington Township had three go under 25 seconds, including their leadoff leg.
Washington Township is really putting themselves on the map in the last few seasons in Indiana swimming. They’ve turned out a few solid Division I swimmers in the past, but led by Matt Papachornis for the last three years (who took over for 20-year veteran Tom Jewell), along with his assistants Todd Griner and Dennis Davis, the program is having a bigger-and-bigger local and national impact.
The same group of swimmers would come close to another record a few hours later at the IUPUI Natatorium on Friday night, swimming a 1:52.89 in the 200 medley relay. KING holds that record in 1:52.78.