Far Western Long Course Championships: Palo Alto Beats U.S. National Age Group Record
Visit the SwimmingWorld.TV Far Western Event Landing Page for live and on-demand broadcast of finals.
CONCORD, California, July 31. DURING the fastest night of swimming of an already swift meet, Palo Alto Stanford lowered a U.S. National Age Group relay record at the Far Western Long Course Championships, and SwimmingWorld.TV was there to broadcast it LIVE and on-demand.
Palo Alto's Maddy Schaefer, Jasmine Tosky, Rachael Acker and Camille Cheng teamed to demolish the women's 15-18 U.S. National Age Group record in the 200 free relay. The quarter turned in a 1:44.65, easily beating the previous mark of 1:46.08 set by Academy Bullets Kara Savegnago, Olivia Scott, Kally Fayhee and Courtney Pope last year. Incidentally, that swim also lowered the Pacific Swimming standard of 1:46.59 clocked by the Marin Pirates in 2009 as well.
Crow Canyon's Ariana Saghafi downed the Pacific Swimming record in the girls 11-12 200 fly with a 2:21.94. That performance cleared the 2:22.23 set by Ally Howe back in 2008.
Saghafi claimed her second Pacific Swimming mark in the girls 200 free relay as Brittany Usinger, Gianna Garcia, Abigail Miller and Saghafi turned in a 1:55.78 in the 11-12 A final. That effort beat the previous standard of 1:56.40 set by Pleasant Hill way back in 1979 – 31 years ago.
Palo Alto's Andrew Liang, William Lee, Winston Wang and Sean Nguyen clipped the Pac Swim record in the boys 13-14 200 free with a 1:43.67. The foursome just beat another longstanding Pleasant Hill record of 1:43.77 clocked way back in 1980 – 20 years ago.
In the 17-18 events, Delise Batiza paced the women's 200 fly in 2:22.72, while Jose Luis Hernandez claimed the men's 200 fly in 2:10.29. Taylor Noonan finished first in the women's 100 back in 1:08.58, while Connor Stuewe topped the men's 100 back in 1:00.51. Natalie Garger hit the wall in 2:47.28 to win the women's 200 breast, while Pearson Henri captured the men's 200 breast in 2:34.29.
In the 15-16 events, Celina Li snared the girls 200 fly title in 2:18.22, while Luis Macias won the boys 200 fly in 2:06.51. Allison Brown snagged the girls 100 back in 1:06.97, while Kevin Khojasteh earned the boys 100 back crown in 1:00.46. Li doubled up with a 2:37.95 in the girls 200 breast, while Ronald Chen claimed the boys 200 breast in 2:27.73. Crow Canyon's Cody Tanabe, David Morgan, Andy Wooldridge and Dillon Williams posted a 1:39.35 to win the men's 15-18 200 free relay.
In the 13-14 events, Rachel Knowles topped the girls 200 fly in 2:25.02, while Justin Dedianous touched out Justin Lynch, 2:11.75 to 2:11.85, in the boys 200 fly. Linnea Mack turned in a 1:05.27 to win the girls 100 back, while Lynch earned some touch-out retribution with a 1:02.57 to 1:02.64 triumph over William Lee in the boys 100 back. Aileen Lee picked up the girls 200 breast win in 2:42.22, while Noah Stewart garnered the boys 200 breast in 2:28.11. Osprey's Rachel Owen, Jasmine Yaghutiel, Catherine Ladd and Mack finished first in the girls 200 free relay with a 1:51.17.
In the 11-12 events, Daichi Matsuda won the boys 200 fly in 2:19.42. Samantha Coloma and Kacey Oberlander tied for the girls 100 back title with matching 1:08.29s. Ben Ho posted a 1:06.79 to win the boys 100 back. Valerie Wang touched in 2:45.52 for the girls 200 breast win, while Curtis Shinn placed first in the boys 200 breast with a 2:41.51. Palo Alto's Kenny Joseph, Bo Field, Matsuda and Alex Liang claimed the boys 200 free relay in 1:54.21.
In 10 and under events, Jacee Frivaldo edged Audrey Trieu, 1:18.39 to 1:18.59, in the girls 100 back. Joshua Camerino captured the boys 100 back in 1:16.50. Palo Alto's Izzy Ditzler, Vicky Wong, Ferna Vejar-Richter and Claire Lin won the girls 200 free relay in 2:08.36. Santa Clara's Chris Grey, David McKenna, Nathan Yates and Gianluca Bencomo topped the boys 200 free relay in 2:09.48.