SwimMAC Carolina 13-14 Boys Break NAG Record in 800 Free Relay in Cary
At the North Carolina Age Group Championships in Cary, SwimMAC Carolina lowered the 13-14 boys’ national age group record in the 800 freestyle relay. The group of Max Osman, Norvin Klontz, Granger Bartee and Evan Prabhu combined to swim a time of 7:49.60. That shattered the previous NAG record in the event set by Irvine Novaquatics in 2019. That foursome consisted of Nick Grulke, Joey Chang, Mitchell Schott and Allen Cai.
The SwimMAC group was victorious in their event by more than 25 seconds over the second-place team from New Wave Swim Team. Osman led off the relay in an impressive 1:55.94, but splits from the other three swimmers were unavailable because of a timing issue.
Three of these swimmers also set a 13-14 NAG record in the 800-yard free relay at the end of the short course season in March. Osman, Mason Turner, Clontz and Bartee swam a 6:55.16 to take eight tenths off the previous mark in that event. Turner has now aged out of the 13-14 age group, and he is competing this weekend an hour’s drive west at the Speedo Sectionals meet in Greensboro.
SwimMAC Carolina, a Charlotte-area club, has undergone significant transitions in recent years after Terry Fritch resigned as head coach in 2020. Megan Oesting took over as head coach last October, but she recently left the club due to philosophical differences. The Charlotte-area club achieved a great deal of success during the period 2007-2016 when David Marsh was the head coach and led up a group of professional swimmers targeting competing in the Olympics. Five of Marsh’s pupils, all representing SwimMAC, competed for the United States at the 2016 Olympics, and Marsh was the head coach of the U.S. women’s team at those Games, but he parted ways with the club in 2017.