Ethan Valerio and Alexander Thomas Highlight the Gulf Age Group Championships

Gulf Age Group Championships

• December 6-8, 2024
• College Station Texas
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Full Meet Results on Meet Mobile – “2024 Gulf Age Group Championships”

Aggie Swim Club hosted the Annual Gulf Age Group Champs in early December, and a pair of 14-year-old boys stood out among the crowd. First Colony’s Ethan Valerio and Dads Club swimmer Alexander Thomas both earned numerous 13-14 top-10 times in the country in their events.

Ethan Valerio won the 13-14 high-point award after winning six of his 10 events and placing 2nd in his other four. He also earned four top-10 spots in the 13-14 season rankings.

Three of his top-10 times came in at #4. He led off the 400 freestyle relay in a new best time in the 100 free of 46.62 to drop from his 47.54 from November, and to earn his first 4th place spot. His 200 free was 1:40.27, dropping over three seconds from the 1:43.89 he went in November for the 2nd 4th place ranking, and his 3rd was his 500 free in 4:32.30, which was a huge drop from the 4:41.32 he went in March of this year.

His final top-10 event was the 400 IM where he went 4:00.82 to earn 2nd at the meet, and 6th in the event for the season. His previous best time was 4:07.12 from last November.

Overall Valerio scored 148 points to beat runner-up Thomas by 31 points.

Thomas went all personal bests at the meet, earning five top-10 positions, and winning 5 golds and 2 silvers. He started the meet off the same way as Valerio, with a new best time in the 100 free leading off the 400 free relay to go 47.29, two seconds faster than the 49.43 he came in with. This time places him 10th in the 13-14 boys season rankings.

He also made the list in the 6th spot in three of his events, the 100 back, going 50.90 to drop from his 54.03, the 200 back, where he went 1:49.95 which was a drop from the 1:53.84 he went at this meet last year, and the 400 IM, which he won in 3:57.82 to drop from his 4:14.07.

His best event was the 200 fly, which he won in 1:51.35, improving from the 1:54.11 mark he set in March, and securing the #2 spot in the country this season after Jude Burkhart.

Other Notable Swimmers:

• Laila Nwaneri, a 10-year-old from Cypress Fairbanks, went 27.03 in the 50 free to place her 8th in the 10&Under season rankings.
• Fellow 10-year-old Shelby Bigby from First Colony went 30.55 in the 50 back to rank her 5th this season, and 35.28 in the 50 breast for 9th in the 10&Under rankings.
• Molly Kate Maddan also from First Colony, went 1:56.77 in the 200 free for 6th in the 11-12 girls rankings. The 12-year-old also went 4:39.88 in the 400 IM for 9th.
• Another Cypress Fairbanks swimmer, 12-year-old Callie Romero, went 2:10.59 in the 200 fly to secure 3rd in the 11-12 girls season rankings. She also earned a top-10 spot in the 100 fly swimming 59.25.
• On the boys’ side, 10-year-old Prin Songchitruska from Cypress Fairbanks went 1:08.06 in his 100 IM for 9th this season among 10 and under boys.
• Rene Ramirez of Southwestern Aquatics team earned two top-10 times in the 11-12 boys rankings, going 2:23.05 in the 200 breast for 8th and 58.90 in the 100 IM for 10th.
• Kenny Zhou, a 14-year-old from First Colony, went 16:11.88 in the 1650 freestyle for 9th in the 13-14 season rankings.