2025 Western Zone Age Group Championships
- August 6-9, 2025
- Elk Grove Aquatics Center, Elk Grove, California
- LCM (50 meters)
- Prelims/Finals
- Meet Packet
- Results
Lauren Lonsdale broke six Western Zone Records en route to seven event wins at the Western Zones Age Group Championships in Elk Grove, California in early August. The impressive 13-year-old out of Sacramento Swim Club followed up her three-win performance at Future Championships by sweeping her Western Zone lineup just two weeks later.
Western Zones marked the end of a fantastic summer for Lonsdale. At the Bill Rose Classic Championships in mid-July, Lonsdale made headlines as she broke into the 13-14 all-time top 10 with a 2:15.79 in the 200 IM. She now sits in 9th all-time, one spot ahead of Alex Walsh, an Olympian in that event. She followed that up at Futures in Sacramento the very next week, where she once again took home the gold in the 200 IM, and tacked on two more wins in the 400 free and 400 IM.
Set up nicely for a great weekend at Western Zones, Lonsdale delivered with three Western Zone Records on night one alone. In the 100 breast, she dropped over three seconds to touch first at 1:11.26, tying the seven-year-old record set by Olympic Gold medalist Lydia Jacoby. Shortly after, she claimed her second record by smashing the field in the 200 backstroke, winning by over eight seconds with a blistering 2:15.86, a five-second drop from her best time at Futures just two weeks prior. In her final race of the night, she split a 26.62 in the mixed 200 free relay, helping the Sierra Nevada squad get the win and the record by just one tenth of a second.
While her event lineup was less busy the following three days, the wins kept piling up for Lonsdale. She won the 400 IM by nearly ten seconds, and her time of 4:53.21 was just a few seconds off her prior best of 4:46.27 set at the Bill Rose Classic. She also won comfortably in the 200 breast, taking a three-second win with a 2:33.76, a one-second drop from her best time at Bill Rose.
On the final day, Lonsdale just missed out on her own all-time top-10 mark in the 200 IM, touching first with a 2:17.85. In her last swim of the weekend, she cruised to her seventh and final win in the mile, setting a new personal best time at 17:34.35. While she only swam the long course mile one time prior, she might want to try it more, as she swam over 40 seconds faster than her previous best. Her mile time may not have been a Western Zone Record, but the other times were, giving her a whopping six records throughout the weekend.
Perhaps most impressive about Lonsdale is her success at such a young age, with her sweeping Western Zones and approaching National Age-Group Records at just 13 years of age. And, with the way she’s progressing, we may have to be on record watch, as the current 200 IM NAG record holder, Teagan O’Dell (2:12.53), was actually three seconds slower than Lonsdale’s best time when she was 13 years old.
Other Highlights
- Lonsdale wasn’t the only swimmer setting records this weekend. Twelve-year-old Jett Hatchard swept the backstroke events, claiming Western Zone Records in the 50 (29.07), 100 (1:02.21), and 200 (2:13.90) back. All three of these are significant drops from his prior best marks of 29.34, 1:03.24, and 2:17.19, and they now place him 8th all-time in the 100 and 200 back in the 11-12 age group.
- Ellie Sungy had the most event wins of the weekend, taking home eight golds in her 10 events. The 10-year-old out of Colorado touched first in both of the back and breaststroke events, and tacked on wins in the 200 IM (2:38.46) and three relays.
- The men and women of Pacific Swimming totalled 39 medals each, giving them 78 total, en route to an easy win in the team scores. The Pacific Northwest and Colorado were the next closest, with 59 and 37 total medals, respectively.
Women’s Team Scores
- Pacific Swimming – 1798.5
- Pacific Northwest Swimming – 1594
- Colorado Swimming – 1510.5
- Oregon Zone Team – 725.5
- San Diego Imperial Swimming – 635.5
Men’s Team Scores
- Pacific Swimming – 1629.5
- Colorado Swimming – 1004.5
- Pacific Northwest Swimming – 942
- Sierra Nevada Swimming – 804
- Oregon Zone Team – 600
