2025 GOAT Team Challenge
- January 18-19, 2025
- Rosen Aquatic Center, Orlando, Florida
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Team Challenge – Prelims/Ultra Finals
- Swim Your Own Age – Separate timed finals sessions with single age finals
- Results on Meet Mobile
Capturing the wave of seeking more exciting swim meet formats, the Greater Orlando Aquatic Team (GOAT) hosted a prelims/finals meet that looked a lot like what we’ve been seeing college teams like the University of Virginia employ in recent years.
The meet saw 20 swimmers return for finals in each event during the team challenge sessions:
- Bonus finals for seeds 13-20 (8 swimmers)
- Consolation Finals for 7th-12th (6 swimmers)
- Super Final for 3rd-6th (4 swimmers)
- Ultra Final for 1st-2nd (2 swimmers)
There were also Swim Your Own Age sessions with single age timed finals.
Among the swimmers who took advantage of the spotlight was 15-year-old Rylee Erisman, a member of the U.S. National Team. She picked up 4 wins in 4 starts at the meet, all without swimming her primary 50 and 100 freestyle events, racing in the Ultra Final.
Rylee Erisman‘s Results:
- 200 free – 1:44.64 (previous PB – 1:45.28)
- 500 free – 4:43.35 (previous PB – 4:46.25)
- 200 back – 1:54.28 (previous PB – 1:54.44)
- 200 IM – 1:58.16
She won each of those ultra finals by at least 8 seconds.
That 200 free climbs Erisman into 25th place in the all-time rankings in the 15-16 age group. A high school sophomore, Erisman won Winter Junior East titles in the 50 and 100 free in December, setting LSC Records in both; was 5th in the 50 free at the U.S. Olympic Trials; and won the 100 free at the Junior Pan Pac Championships in August.
Erisman wasn’t the only siwmmer from the Laker Swim Club who had a good meet. Her 14-year-old teammate Lizzy Johnson won the 100 free in 51.30 ahead of another teammate, Carolina Daher. That was a best time for Johnson, which she later matched with a best time in the 500 free (5:04.85).
Other Notable Results
- On the boys’ side, 13-year-old Jayden Tsai swam hard in open age brackets, including winning the 200 fly in a best time of 1:52.57. That ranks him as the top 13-year-old nationally in the event by more than a second and 7th among 13-14s this season. He also swam 1:54.67 in the 200 IM and 4:03.81 in the 400 IM.
- Luke McIntosh from Tampa Bay Aquatics, won thde 100 back in a best time of 49.21. In one of the most-exciting Ultra Finals of the day, he beat out Erkhes Enkhtur by .25 seconds after the two turned halfway in a dead heat.