14-Year Old Zuri Ferguson Becomes One of Youngest Trials Qualifiers in 100 Back

2021 Age Group Spring Splash

  • May 21-23, 2021
  • Jason Turcotte Competition Pool
  • Long Course Meters (LCM)
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “2021 Age Group Spring Splash”

With less than two weeks until the start of Wave I competition at Olympic Trials, 14-year old Zuri Ferguson picked up her first cut in the 100 back at the Age Group Spring Splash meet hosted by Dynamo Swim Club.

Ferguson swam a very evenly split race, going out in 30.54 before bringing the race back in 31.85 for a final time of 1:02.39. That swim marks a drop of over a second from her previous best in the event and is .3 fast than the Wave I Olympic Trials cut. In achieving the Trials standard, Ferguson is now just the 5th 14-year old to qualify to race the 100 back in Omaha this summer. The top representative of the age group this year is Levenia Sim, who is the only member of the group to have qualified for Wave II competition.

After not racing the 100 back in the long course pool since 2019, Ferguson has seen rapid improvement in the race during 2021. After starting the year with a 1:04.61, she progressively improved across her ten swims of the event this year. Of those ten, her four most recent races have all been below 1:04.00.

While she is now one of the fastest 13-14 year olds in the country, just last year she was recognized by SwimSwam as an honorable mention for the 11-12 Age Group Swimmer of the Year, despite only competing in the age group during the first few months of the year.

Ferguson wasn’t the only swimer to post an impressive swim on the day. Miles Simon, who swims for Howard University, picked up three lifetime bests racing in the 200 fly, 200 back, and 200 free. He picked up a win in both the free (2:00.26) and back (2:13.82), while finishing 5th in the fly (2:23.97). Simon is an Olympic Trials qualifier in the 50 free, having touched in 23.11 in the event in March.

Other Notable Swims

  • 13-year old Baylor Stanton was the fastest swimmer in three different events. The Gwinnett Aquatics swimmer led the field in the 200 IM (2:18.42), 50 free (25.95), and 100 fly (1:02.47). Earlier this year Stanton set an LSC record in the 100 IM in the short course pool.
  • Continuing the trend of young swimmers coming away with event wins, Ashton Tan swam to the fastest time in the 200 breast. The 13-year old won the 200 breast in 2:45.98, almost five seconds faster than his previous best of 2:49.49.

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Mark
3 years ago

Congrats Zuri! Hard work pays off!!

Coach Rob
3 years ago

Cool story bro. I have an 8 year old who, if she keeps up with her strict training regimen, should make trials in 2024. That would put her at 12 years old. Talk to me then. I’ll be waiting. #2024bound

Quick math
Reply to  Coach Rob
3 years ago

Wouldn’t she be 11? you might want to give her a stricter regimen to fast track her training

Rob Job
Reply to  Quick math
3 years ago

The training regimen is so strict, by 2024 she will be 12.