2018 Swammy Awards: Age Group Swimmer of the Year – 10 & Under

To see all of our 2018 Swammy Awards presented by TYR, click here.

2018 Honorees: Alexis Mesina and Timothy Lee

10 & Under Girls

Alexis Mesina – Pleasanton Seahawks (Pleasanton, California)

Mesina broke the only girls’ 10-and-under National Age Group record of 2018. Swimming at a meet hosted by Brentwood Sea Wolves in November, she become the first-ever 10-and-under girl to go sub-1:08 in the 100-yard breaststroke, nearly cracking the 1:07 barrier as well. Mesina notched a 1:07.30 to erase Meghan Lynch’s 2014 mark of 1:08.07.

Mesina produced impressive swims throughout the rest of 2018 as well. She finished the year with the #1 times for 10-and-under girls in the 50/100y breast, 100y IM, 50/100m breast, and 200m IM. She also ranked in the top-10 in the 200y IM (2nd), 50y back (3rd), 50m back (3rd), 100m back (4th), 100m free (6th), and 100y free (7th). She is #2 among 10-year-old girls in the IMX rankings for the 2018-19 SCY season through the end of December.

Mesina aged into the 11/12 age group in November. She has since gone lifetime bests in the 50y breast and 50/100y back.

Runners-Up

Kayla Han – Brea Aquatics (Brea, CA): Han had an outstanding 2018, finishing the year with 13 appearances on the top-ten lists. She was the top 9-year-old in IMX rankings for the 2017-18 short course season, and she leads the field for 10-year-olds so far in the 2018-19 SCY season. She concluded the 2018 LCM season with the #2 IMX score for 10-year-olds. She also wrapped up 2018 with a brand new NAG record in the 200 IM at Winter Age Group Championships in Palm Springs.

Han led the country in both SCY and LCM 100/200 free. She was also #1 in the 500y free and 200y IM; #2 in the 100y IM, 400m free, and 200m IM; #4 in the 50y free; #5 in the 100y breast and 50m free; and #7 in the 100m fly.

Davina Huang – Santa Clara Swim Club (Santa Clara, CA): Huang was consistently among the top 10-year-olds in the country this year. Although she aged up to the 11/12s in July, she nonetheless finished the 2018 long-course season ranked #1 in IMX scores. She was 2nd in the IMX rankings for the 2017-18 short-course season.

Huang finished the year with 14 top-ten performances for 10-and-under girls. She was #2 in the 100y back, 100m back, and 100m fly; #3 in the 100y fly and 200m IM; #4 in the 100y IM and 200y IM; #5 in the 50m fly; #6 in the 50y back, 400m free, and 50m back; and #7 in the 50y fly, 200m free, and 100m breast.

Honorable Mention

In alphabetical order:

• Gloria Kuang – Dragon Swim Team (Mercer Island, Washington): Kuang notched 11 top-10 performances in a variety of events. She finished the year with the #1 100y back time in the country and the #2 swim in the 100y fly. She was #3 in the 100/500y free; #4 in the 200y free and 200m free; #5 in the 200y IM and 400m free; #8 in the 50y fly; #9 in the 200m IM; and #10 in the 100m free. She is currently ranked #3 in IMX scores for the 2018-19 SCY season.
• Kelsey Zhang– Santa Clara Swim Club (Santa Clara, CA): Zhang was a consistent performer in free, fly and IM all year. She had 11 top-10 swims, including the #2 500y free; #3 400m free; #6 200m free; #7 100y fly and 100/200y IM; #8 100m fly; #9 100m free; and #10 100y free, 50y fly, and 50m back.

10 & Under Boys

Timothy Lee – Waverunners (Tenafly, New Jersey)

Photo courtesy of Heejun Lee

Lee dominated the 10-and-under age group throughout 2018. He showed his depth by excelling across the board, finishing in the top-10 (in fact, in the top-7) at year-end in 20 of 23 possible events including free, back, breast, fly, and IM. He was the #2 9-year-old in IMX rankings for the 2017-18 short-course season, and the #1 10-year-old for the 2018 long-course season. He currently tops the list of 10-year-olds for the 2018-19 SCY season.

Lee closed out 2018 ranked #1 in the country for the 10-and-under category in the 50/100m free, 50/100m fly, and 200m IM. He was #2 in the 100y fly, 100/200y IM, and 50/100m breast; #3 in the 50y fly and 200m free; #4 in the 100y breast and 400m free; #5 in the 50/100/200y free and 50y breast; and #7 in the 50y back and 100m back.

Runners-Up:

Trevan Valena – Texas Ford Aquatics (Frisco, TX): Although he only resided in the age group for a month, Valena unleashed several big swims at the 2018 Wave into 18 meet hosted by San Antonio Wave. Most memorably, he broke the National Age Group Record in the 500-yard free with 5:06.32, taking down a mark that had been set 9 months earlier by Florida’s Kaii Winkler with 5:08.77. Valena closed out 2018 with the #1 IMX score for 10-year-old boys in the 2017-18 SCY season.

Thomas Heilman – Piedmont Family YMCA/CYAC (Charlottesville, VA): Like Valena, Heilman only competed as a 10-year-old for a month in 2018. That was all it took, though, to erase the National Age Group Record in the 100-yard fly. Swimming at Winterfest hosted by SPY Swimming he clocked a 58.36 to take down the record of 59.37 that was set in 2017 by Winkler. Heilman left the age group with the #2 IMX score for the 2017-18 short-course season. In addition to finishing 2018 with the #1 100-yard fly time for the year, he signed the #2 50/100y free and 50y fly, the #4 100y IM, the #8 100y back, and the #10 200y free.

Honorable Mention

• Clark Apuada – Monterey County Aquatic Team (Monterey, CA): Apuada wrapped up 2018 with 14 top-10 appearances. He notched the #1 50y back and 50m back times among all 10-and-under boys in the country and was #2 in the 100y back and 50m free; #3 in the 100y fly, 100m back, and 50/100m fly; #4 in the 50y free; #5 in the 50y fly, 100y IM, and 100m free; and #9 in the 100y free and 200m IM.
• Parker Macho – Eastern Iowa Swim Federation (Cedar Rapids, IA): Macho turned 10 after the first two months of 2018 but still held on to the #1 IMX ranking for 9-year-old boys for the 2017-18 short-course season. He also ranked 3rd among 10-year-old boys for that same 2017-18 SCY season. Currently he’s the #2 10-year-old for the 2018-19 season. Macho left 2018 with 10 top-10 times. He was #1 in the 400m free; #2 in the 200/500y free and 200m free; #3 in the 100m free; #6 in the 200y IM and 200m IM; #7 in the 100m fly; and #10 in the 100y back and 100m back.
• Daniel Zhou – University of Denver Hilltoppers (Denver, CO): Zhou was only 10 through the first half of the summer but he nevertheless finished the year with 10 top-10 rankings for 10-and-under boys. He was 2nd in the 100m free and 100m back; 3rd in the 50m free; 4th in the 200y IM and 50m fly; 5th in the 100m fly; 6th in the 200m IM; 7th in the 50y fly; and 8th in the 100y fly and 100y IM.