2024 PC WCAB Short Course Senior Open
- September 21-24, 2024
- Larkey Park Pool, Walnut Creek, CA
- Short Course Yards
- Results on Meet Mobile
With the short course season officially kicking-off for clubs around the country, some swimmers are already dropping fast times. At the WCAB Short Course Senior Open, the athletes proved not to be an exception, as several swimmers chopped seconds off of their lifetime bests.
On the boy’s side Crow Canyon Country Club Sharks 17-year-old Blake Hill won 5 out of the 6 events he competed in, dropping 3 best times in the process. The standout opened the meet with a 3 second drop in the 200 backstroke, swimming to a time of 1:49.11. His previous best stood at 1:52.12 from almost a year ago. Hill also saw a solid .5 second drop in the 200 IM, where he finished 3rd in a 1:54.31.
However, his most impressive performance of the meet came in the 400 IM, where Hill swam to a final time of 3:55.09 for the victory ahead of teammate Jermey Ting (3:55.18). With his time, Hill knocked 2 seconds off of his personal best (3:56.95), also posting the fastest time in the country for the 17-18 age-group by over 3 seconds. Ting’s time was also a personal best, knocking about a second off of his previous PB (3:56.12), while making himself the fastest 15-16 year-old in the country this season by over 8 seconds.
Despite not winning an individual event, Ting also threw down top-ranked times nationally in the 200 breast (2:06.29), 200 fly (1:50.84), and 200 back (1:52.63), showing an impressive range. In all three events, he is currently ranked as the 2nd-fastest swimmer in the country for the 15-16 age-group.
At just 11-years-old, Ayden Tan held his own against swimmers almost twice his age. Notably, Tan posted the 41st-fastest time in 11-12 age group history in the 200 IM, dropping 4 seconds to finish in a time of 2:01.48. With his performance, he placed 12th overall. He also posted the 56th-fastest performance of all-time in 11-12 history in the 100 butterfly, where he posted a time of 54.60 to place 15th with a 1.5 second drop.
On the girl’s side, 14-year-old Mikayla Tan also threw down impressive performances. Despite only competing in 4 events, Tan managed to post victories in all 4 of her races and swim a best time. In the 200 freestyle, she went head-to-head with 16-year-old Raya Mellott and emerged victorious in a personal best of 1:50.08, chopping almost 3 seconds off of her best time (1:52.97). With her performance, Tan now holds the fastest time in the country this season for the 13-14 age-group by over 2 seconds. Mellott was just shy of her best time en route to a runner-up finish, but posted the 3rd-fastest time in the country for the 15-16 age group (1:50.93).
Tan also won the girl’s 200 IM in a blistering 2:01.73, coming in almost 2 seconds clear of the field. With that time, she now leads the national rankings in the event for the 13-14 age-group by almost 5 seconds. Notably, fellow 14-year-olds Katrin Otaegi and Daniela Linares Danzos also threw down quick performances in the event to finish 4th and 5th, respectively, with their times of 2:07.62 and 2:07.71 ranking 4th and 5th in the country this season.
In addition to her victories in the 200 free and 200 IM, Tan also added victories in the 100 breast and 200 breast, besting both fields by over 5 seconds. In the 100 breaststroke, she dropped a time of 1:01.96 to rank 1st in the country this season by 3 seconds. Well ahead of the field in the 200 breaststroke, Tan touched the wall in a time of 2:13.71, also ranking 1st this season in the 13-14 age-group. In both events, Tan is well in the position to challenge the 13-14 NAG record this season, with her best times from last year (1:01.37 and 2:11.87) ranking her 20th and 9th all-time, respectively.
the season barely talking about “2nd this season” is a kind of meaningless comparison at this point of the year