Spartans Aquatic Club Go Big and Crush National Age Group Record in Mixed 200 Free Relay

2023 Georgia LSC Senior Champs

• July 21-24, 2023
• Columbus Aquatic Center, Columbus, Georgia
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Georgia LC Senior State Championships 2023”

The Spartans Aquatic Club out of Norcross, Georgia came into this weekend’s Georgia LSC Senior Champs with three 15-18 National Age Group relay records, and kicked off the meet in style on Friday with another.

The team of Jensen Nelson, Leyton Roe, Abigail Zboran, and Abigail Heizer combined for a 1:38.67 in the 200 meter mixed free relay. That knocked a full second off the old National Record of 1:39.67 that was set by the Aquatic Team of Mecklenberg in 2019.

ATOM’s swim remains the 15-16 National Age Group Record, as all four swimmers were 16-or-younger at the time of the performance.

Splits Comparison:

Unlike the former ATOM relay, Spartans began with their two male swimmers and finished with their two female swimmers. Both records were set in time trials at LSC Championships – ATOM’s was done at the 2019 North Carolina Swimming Long Course Senior Championships.

What’s remarkable about the relay is how substantially-well all four swimmers performed relative to their personal bests. Roe and Zboran both split two seconds better than their lifetime flat-start bests, Nelson was a full second better on the leadoff leg than his previous best, and Heizer was 1.3 seconds better than her flat-start best on the anchor leg.

Flat-Start PBs versus relay splits:

• Nelson – 24.94 (Split – 23.93 flat)
• Roe – 25.01 (Split – 23.01)
• Zboran – 28.50 (split 26.46)
• Heizer – 26.54 (split 25.27)

Nelson and Zboran are 18, while Roe is 17 and Heizer is 16. Nelson is committed to Pitt for 2023 and Zboran is committed to Queens for 2023. Roe, a rising senior, is uncommitted, while Heizer is a rising junior who has just begun the recruiting process.

USA Swimming began recognizing National Age Group Records in mixed relays in 2018, coinciding with the events becoming more popular at the international level.