Metropolitan Senior Championships
- July 9-12, 2026
- Nassau County Aquatic Center, East Meadow, NY
- LCM (50 meters)
- “2026 MR TYR Senior Metropolitan Summer Champ” on Meet Mobile
Badger Swim Club’s Declan McDonald was nearly perfect in his outing at the Metropolitan Senior Championships in East Meadow, clocking six lifetime best times in each of the six events in which he competed.
The 14-year-old, though he did not find the top of the podium in any event, made the most of each opportunity that he was presented with. From sprint fly to distance free, McDonald managed to swim lifetime bests in everything that he swam. He notched a best 400 free time in the prelims in 4:09.69, nearly two seconds faster than his former best from the GRYM June Invite just over a month earlier in 4:11.54. He also raced the 800 free, where he dropped nearly 20 seconds en route to an 8:28.05, which also moved him up into the top 100 all-time in the 13-14 age group at #75.
McDonald also raced both the 50 and 200 butterfly; in the shorter of the two, he clocked a lifetime best 26.03 in the prelims, before touching in 26.05 in finals, both of which were faster than his former top time of 26.50 from early January. In the 200 fly, it was another major drop: entering the meet with a best time of 2:13.47, he stormed to the touch in 2:10.89, marking a more than two-and-a-half-second improvement over his former best from just a month earlier.
McDonald’s other two races were both the 200 IM and 400 IM; his 200 IM was another near two-second time drop from his former best of 2:12.44 from the Winter Invitational in January. In East Meadow, McDonald stopped the clock in 2:10.67; that time sits just over three tenths outside of the top 100 performers list all-time in the 13-14 age group. One of his biggest drops of the meet came in the 400 IM, where he touched in 4:30.98, a near ten-second improvement from the 4:40.19 that he swam in January. That time not only makes for an impressive best time, but also slots him in as the 13th fastest 13-14 year old in NAG history.
On the women’s side of the meet, it was Chloe Stepanek of Long Island Aquatic Club who was as close to unstoppable as one could be. Stepanek, the former Texas A&M Aggie, was a three-time individual champion at this meet and added another four relay golds to her medal haul.
Her individual wins were highlighted by a pair of freestyle victories in the 100 and 200 freestyles, touching in 55.10 and 2:00.24, respectively. She then notched another top time in the 100 back, clocking 1:02.86. Despite her individual success, Stepanek swam crucial legs on several winning relays, such as the 200 free relay (25.41 leadoff), 20 medley (24.91 anchor), 400 free (54.83 anchor), and 400 medley (54.38 anchor).
On the men’s side, Aiden Moy saw similar success to Stepanek, winning three individual events and surging to several lifetime bests. The future Michigan Wolverine was the fastest performer in the 100 fly (54.45), 200 fly (2:01.61), and 200 IM (2:03.05); his 100 fly and 200 IM also doubled as the fastest performances of his career. He also swam a lifetime best in the 50 fly, finishing 5th overall in 25.26.
