John Simmons Climbs Age Group Rankings with Major Drop at Gulf Senior Champs

2024 Gulf 13 & Over Championships

• March 1-4, 2024
• 25 yards (SCY)
• Houston, TX
• Meet Mobile “TEST 2024 Gulf 13 & Over Champs”

One week after competing at the UIL 6A State Championships in Texas, 16-year-old John Simmons threw down even more top times at the 2024 Gulf 13 & Over Championships in Houston last weekend.

A University of Texas commit, the current high school junior posted best times in three of his individual events, climbing the national age group rankings in the 2023-24 season.

Simmons won the 100 back in a time of 47.94, dropping half a second from his prelims time and setting a new personal best by 1.5 seconds; his previous fastest time was 49.56 from February 2023. Simmons’ performance this past weekend catapulted him up the national rankings, as he now sits at 5th on the list of top times in the 15-16 100 back this season. His time also tied him for 58th on the ranking of all-time top 100 times in the age group and landed him a summer Juniors cut.

Simmons went on to take home a victory in the 200 back as well. He turned in another personal best by finishing in a time of 1:47.16, a full two seconds faster than his previous time of 1:49.19.

He also posted nearly a two-second drop in his 200 IM, touching in a time of 1:50.61 to lower his best time that had been set just months earlier at the start of this season.

A member of Blue Tide Aquatics, Simmons will graduate from Atascocita High School in 2025 before heading to the University of Texas to join the Longhorns.

Other Notable Swims

• 14-year-old Reid Chapman of Blue Tide Aquatics posted eight personal best times over the course of the meet. Most notably, Chapman dropped two seconds in the 50 back (27.66), 31 seconds in the 500 free (5:16.69), over three seconds in the 100 fly (1:00.92) and nearly three seconds in the 200 back (2:09.03). He won both the 50 and 100 back (58.52).
• Izzy Krantzcke, a 19-year-old on the Houston Bridge Bats who swam at Arizona State last year, swept all eight of her races and threw down a personal best in the 400 IM (4:22.44). She contributed 160 points to the Bats over the course of the weekend.

Top 5 Boys Team Scores 

1. Dads Club Swim Team – 1769.5
2. Blue Tide Aquatics – 834
3. Fulshear Racing Swim Team – 821.5
4. Magnolia Aquatic Club – 642
5. Texas Elite Swim Team – 590.5

Top 5 Girls Team Scores

1. Dads Club Swim Team – 1125
2. Texas Elite Swim Team – 1019
3. Blue Tide Aquatics – 1015.5
4. Houston Bridge Bats – 849
5. Fulshear Racing Swim Team – 725.5