Irvine Novaquatics crushed the National Age Group record in the boys’ 15-16 200 meter freestyle relay on Thursday night at the Lakeside Stampede in the Westside Aquatic Center in Lewisville, Texas. Benjamin Blevins-Boor, Hunter Hitchens, Justin Nguyen, and Owen Kao combined for 1:34.63, taking a huge bite out of the prior NAG, 1:35.91, established by YMCA of the Triangle Area (YOTA) in 2013.
YOTA’s Seth Maslowski, Alex Carson, Chris Kohut, and Colin Ellington had swum to a national record in prelims at the 2013 YMCA National Long Course Championships. YOTA replaced Maslowski and Carson with 18-year-olds Bailey Mahoney and Ben Mayes in finals to go 1:34.64.
Here is a comparison of the two 15-16 NAG records:
| Irvine Novaquatics | 2016 | YMCA of the Triangle Area | 2013 |
| Benjamin Blevins-Boor, 16 | 24.22 | Seth Maslowski, 16 | 24.41 |
| Hunter Hitchens, 15 | 23.72 | Alex Carson, 16 | 24.23 |
| Justin Nguyen, 16 | 23.45 | Chris Kohut, 16 | 23.97 |
| Owen Kao, 15 | 23.24 | Colin Ellington, 16 | 23.30 |
| 1:34.63 | 1:35.91 |
Even more amazing is two of these NOVA boys on the National record breaker squad only 15 years old.
Awesome accomplishment! Stay the course and remember you know the bigger picture in everything. GREAT things are ahead for each one of you. Your team, family and friends are all behind you.
NTN WON the event with an out touch of 1:34.41
The young guns in 1:34.63! To be apart of a combined sprint talent that is the fastest in United States history for this event. Another showing of the Michael Phelps generation?