14-Year-Old Finola Whelehan Dominates at Cary Age Group Sectional Championships

ESSZ Age Group Sectional Championships

• March 19-22, 2026
• Triangle Aquatic Center Indoor Competition Pool, Cary, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• “2026 NC TAC ESSZ Age Group Sectionals”  on Meet Mobile

Continuing her impressive 2026 campaign, 14-year-old Finola Whelehan was untouchable in Cary at the Age Group Sectional Championships, finishing the meet with an unblemished record of 6 wins in all six of her individual events, and another three wins as a member of TAC Titans’ relays.

Though she did not set any best times at this meet, Whelehan still managed a dominant showing, winning the 100- and 200-yard freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly races.

She was 49.80/1:45.07 in the freestyles, both sitting less than a second off of her lifetime bests. She clocked 54.69/1:58.64 in the backstroke; both performances were just over a second slower than her fastest-ever times, while her 100 fly (52.34) was only a quarter of a second slower than her career best. Whelehan’s 200 fly was the biggest add of the meet for her, still winning by nearly nine full seconds in 1:57.04, two and a half seconds slower than her best time.

She also swam the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay, splitting 1:06.22, which is nearly two seconds faster than her best 100 breast time of 1:08.15, which she swam in October in a dual meet between TAC and NOVA.

His teammate David Bao, 11, did not come away with any individual wins, but did manage to drop good chunks of time; his biggest time drop came in the 200 IM, where he was nearly 1.25 seconds faster than he has ever been in this race, touching 6th in 2:13.97. His highest finish was in the 400 IM, where he swam a career best of 4:41.47.

Bao also touched 3rd in the 200 back in 2:11.02, and dropped nearly a full second (.99) from his 50 fly best in 27.97.

14-year-old Frederic Burks of Excel Aquatics notched a pair of breaststroke best times, winning both the 100 and 200 breast in 58.15 and 2:03.69. That 200 breast was nearly seven-tenths better than his previous best of 2:04.36 from the Southern Championships, just three weeks earlier.

Other Notable Performances:

• North Carolina Aquatics Club’s Penelope Chao, 12, was a nine-time winner at this meet; among her highlights was a 1:51.33 in the 200 free, dropping over two seconds from her previous best of 1:53.74 from the North Carolina Short Course Age Group Championships in late February. She also cracked the 5:00 barrier for the first time in her career, dropping over eight seconds to win in 4:59.61.
• Raleigh Swimming Association’s Jackson Pereira, 15, swam a more than two-second career best in the 200 back, taking the event win in 1:50.48. He also swam a trio of freestyle best times in the 200 free (1L44.38), 500 free (4:47.17), and 1000 free (9:43.26).