14-Year-Old Kelsey Zhang Posts 1:56.56 200 Fly, Moves Up to No. 8 All-Time

by Riley Overend 0

November 28th, 2022 Club, News, Previews & Recaps

2022 Joyce Lanphere Invitational

  • Nov. 5-6
  • Rinconada Park Pool
    • Palo Alto, CA
  • SCY (25 yards)
  • Results on MeetMobile: “2022 Joyce Lanphere Invitational”

Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics (PASA) 14-year-old Kelsey Zhang entered the top-10 national age group (NAG) rankings with her 1:56.56 in the 200-yard butterfly at the Joyce Lanphere Invitational earlier this month.

Zhang’s new personal best ties her with Levenia Sim as the eighth-fastest performer ever in the 13-14 NAG. It’s also the top time in the country this season by more than three seconds.

Zhang tallied another nation-leading mark in the 100 fly with a 53.41, more than a second faster than anyone else in her NAG this season. She’s now the 19th-fastest performer ever in her NAG. Zhang placed sixth in the 100 fly this summer at Junior Nationals.

Zhang registered a third victory in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.00, just off her personal-best 2:02.70 that ranks her as the second-fastest performer this season behind Kayla Han.

DART Swimming 10-year-old Ayden Tan had an impressive showing on the boys’ side. He racked up three more nation-leading times, four personal bests and five wins. Tan is now the fastest 10-and-under swimmer nationally in the 100 back (1:01.76), 100 breast (1:10.98) and 100 fly (1:01.51). His new personal best in the 100 free (55.32) makes him the second-fastest performer in his NAG.

Tan kept his momentum going from the week prior, when he posted a pair of nation-leading marks in the 200 IM (2:12.17) and 200 free (1:58.43) at last month’s DART Short Course Invitational. Notably, his lifetime best in the 200 IM put him just .38 seconds behind Trevan Valena’s 10-and-under NAG record (2:11.79) from 2017.

Fastest 200 IMers, 10-And-Under NAG Rankings

  1. Trevan Valena (2017) – 2:11.79
  2. Ayden Tan (2022) – 2:12.17
  3. Joshua Zuchowski (2015) – 2:12.67
  4. Kaii Winkler (2017) – 2:12.86
  5. Jaeddan Gamilla (2016) – 2:14.83

Other Highlights:

  • Santa Clara Swim Club 13-year-old Shareef Elaydi broke into the top-10 NAG rankings this season with runner-up finishes in both the 100 breast (59.19) and 100 fly (51.39). He’s now ranked as the ninth-fastest in the 100 breast and 10th-fastest in the 100 fly this season among 13- and 14-year-old boys. Elaydi also picked up a victory in the 200 breast (2;09.13), where now ranks No. 14 this season in his NAG, in addition to another runner-up finish in the 100 free (48.85).
  • Fellow Santa Clara Swim Club 16-year-old Eunice Lee hit a Winter Juniors cut in the 200 breast (2:17.58) to move up to No. 18 this season in her NAG. She also posted a personal best in the 50 free prelims with a 24.64 that earned her ninth place.
  • Also meeting the Winter Juniors standard was PASA 15-year-old Ella Detter, who highlighted her big meet with a 54.86 in the 100 fly prelims and a first-place finish in the 100 free (51.81). She added personal bests in the 50 free (24.09, second place), 100 back (57.08, second place), 200 back (2:06.60, sixth place) and 200 fly prelims (2:03.27).

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About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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