Our Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming series celebrates swimmers of every age and experience level with age group profiles of some recent results.
Luke Ellis, 16, Sandpipers of Nevada (CA): Ellis was on fire at the Sandpipers Pumpkin Invite two weeks ago, notably dropping a time of 15:05.93 in the 1650 free at altitude (converts to an altitude-adjusted 14:54.93). Ellis owns a best of 14:49.79 from the 2022 Winter Juniors, a time that ranks #3 all-time in the boys’ 15-16 age group, and appears to be well on track to lower that this season. The 16-year-old also recorded new personal bests in the 200 breast (2:09.21), 100 IM (52.84) and 200 IM (1:50.74)—without adjusting for altitude—and swam times of 1:51.34 in the 200 fly and 3:55.95 in the 400 IM.
Lucy Velte, 14, Ad Astra Area Aquatics (MV): Velte set five lifetime bests at the Jim Devine Invitational last weekend in Missouri, highlighted by her effort in the 100 free. Leading off Ad Astra Area Aquatics’ 400 free relay, Velte clocked 50.49, setting a new Missouri Valley Swimming LSC Record for 13-14 girls, lowering the previous mark of 50.54 set by Kelley Tackett in 2013. The 14-year-old Velte also set personal best times in the 50 free (23.07), 200 free (1:52.18) and 200 IM (2:03.87), all new club records, and she also recorded a PB of 55.68 in the 100 back leading off the 400 medley relay.
Ayden Tan, 11, DART Swimming (SN): Tan set a pair of personal bests during DART Swimming’s dual with the Santa Clara Swim Club over the weekend, logging times of 2:06.32 in the 200 back and 4:37.00 in the 400 IM. Despite being in the younger half of the age group, Tan now ranks 5th among 11-12 boys this season in the 200 back and 8th in the 400 IM, with him sitting 2nd among 11-year-olds in both behind NBAC’s Jude Burkhart.
Vanessa Delev, 10, Badger Swim Club (MR): Delev knocked more than six seconds off her month-old best time in the 500 free during the WYW Halloween Spooktakular last weekend, putting up a time of 5:26.53 to rank 28th all-time in the girls’ 10 & under age group. The swim also marked a new Connecticut Swimming Record by nearly 10 seconds, lowering Megan Lynch‘s 2014 mark of 5:36.24. The Badger Swim Club product also notched a five-second PB in the 200 free, touching in 2:07.72 to rank #1 among 10 & unders this season.
Ewan Dalrymple, 14, Columbia Swimming (SC): Dalrymple rattled off seven lifetime bests at last weekend’s CA Autumn Splash, including a 1:52.51 clocking in the 200 fly that marked a near three-second drop from his previous PB set in February. That swim ranks the Columbia Swimming product 2nd in the boys’ 13-14 age group this season, while he also sits 5th in the 200 IM (1:54.88) and 6th in the 400 IM (4:05.33) as a result of his swims last weekend.
Delaney O’Toole, 12, Team Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics (AM): O’Toole established a trio of personal bests during Pittsburgh Elite Aquatics’ South Halloween Invitational, taking over the top spot in the girls’ 11-12 age group this season in both the 100 free (52.37) and 100 IM (59.75). O’Toole also moved into a tie for 63rd all-time with her 100 free performance, while a lifetime best of 24.05 in the 50 free ranks 2nd in the age group this season and tied for 68th all-time.
Shareef Elaydi, 14, Santa Clara Swim Club (PC): One swim that fell through the cracks from two weeks ago was Elaydi’s 200 fly at the OAPB Short Course Senior Open, where he dropped a time of 1:47.46 to move into 4th all-time in the boys’ 13-14 age group. His previous PB, set in April, stood at 1:50.19.
It’s also worth mentioning that all three of Ewan’s swims set South Carolina LSC records, one of which (the 200 fly) had been standing for over 30 years!
Vanessa also broke Meghan Lynch’s 2014 500 SCY CT record by almost 10 seconds. The prior record was 5:36:24