Lucy Simmons Posts Top Time This Season in Girls’ 11-12 100 Back At Gulf Age Group Champs

2025 Gulf Age Group Championships

• December 5-7, 2025
• College Station, TX
• 25 yards (SCY)
• Results

Blue Tide Aquatics’ Lucy Simmons enjoyed a stellar weekend of racing at the 2025 Gulf Age Group Championships, winning all nine of her individual races and climbing the national rankings in a number of events.

The 12-year-old posted the fastest time in the country so far this season in the girls’ 11-12 age group in the 100 back, throwing down a winning time of 58.14 and marking a huge personal performance.

Simmons came into the meet with a lifetime best time of 1:00.72 from March 2025, only to knock almost two seconds off of that time and shatter the 1:00 barrier with a time of 58.91 during prelims. Her finals’ performance shaved another .76 off of her personal best and officially placed her at the top of this season’s national rankings.

Simmons was on fire throughout the meet, as she turned in top performances in each of her other events as well.

She won the 50 back in a lifetime best time of 27.03, dropping almost a full second over the course of the day and charging into the wall nearly a second and a half ahead of runner-up Tracy Wang (28.50). Simmons’ race marked the 2nd-fastest time in the 11-12 age group this season and propelled her up to #78 all-time in the event, where she is part of an eight-way tie for that spot on the ranking.

Simmons also took home the title in the 200 back (2:07.17) and 100 IM (59.86), logging new personal best times and landing at 2nd on the ranking of top times this season in the 11-12 age group for both events.

Simmons’ other victories included the 50 free (25.26), 100 free (54.19), 200 free (1:58.16), 200 IM (2:15.37) and 400 IM (4:42.56), with lifetime bests in all but the 200 IM. Simmons notably lowered that time in the 50 free even further, throwing down a time of 24.80 as the leadoff on the 200 free relay.

Simmons is now one of the top-ranking competitors in her age group in the country in each of those events.

Other Notable Performers

• Ten-year-old Katherine Ballis of The Woodlands Swim Team walked away from the weekend with five individual victories and a slew of new personal best times. She prevailed in the 100 breast (1:15.07), 100 fly (1:07.35), 100 IM (1:07.06) and 200 IM (2:28.57), clocking lifetime bests in each event. Ballis also won the 50 breast in 34.49 after posting a best time of 33.86 during prelims, in addition to placing 2nd in the 100 free (1:01.01 – PB) and 50 fly (29.95 – PB), 3rd in the 50 free (28.35 – PB) and 4th in the 200 free (2:16.93). She cracked the top ten performances in her age group this season in three events, with her times ranking her 7th in the country in the 50 and 100 breast and 8th in the 100 IM.
• First Colony Swim Team’s Shelby Bigby swept the breaststroke events, with the 11-year-old claiming the victory in the 50 breast (31.57), 100 breast (1:10.47) and 200 breast (2:34.26). Clocking new personal best times in both the 50 and 200 distances, those performances bumped her up to #11 and #47, respectively, on the ranking of top times this season in the 11-12 age group. Another noteworthy swim from Bigby came during the 100 IM, in which she was the runner-up behind Simmons in 1:01.19, marking the 7th-fastest time this season in her age group in the event.
• Amy Martin, who swims for Dads Club Swim Team, won five of her individual events in lifetime best fashion. The 14-year-old prevailed in the 100 free (51.54), 100 breast (1:03.93), 200 breast (2:18.84), 100 fly (56.43) and 200 free (1:52.48). Martin’s performance in the 100 breast marked a huge improvement, as she came into this season with a best time of 1:12.03 from January 2025 before logging a time of 1:09.27 in September. She delivered another huge personal time at this meet, knocking off over five seconds, and now ranks 19th in the 13-14 age group in the event this season.
• Houston Bridge Bats’ Albert Chen was one of the biggest performers of the meet on the boys’ side; the 12-year-old won all nine of his individual events. Highlights from his races include his victories in the backstroke events, as well as the 100 IM and 400 IM. Chen threw down a best time of 2:05.40 in the 200 back, marking the 4th-fastest time in the country so far this season in the 11-12 age group. He also logged new lifetime bests in the 100 back (56.82), 100 IM (58.41) and 400 IM (4:25.29) and now ranks 5th in the country in both the 100 back and 400 IM and 6th in the 100 IM in his age group this season.
• Ten-year-old William Ying of Katy Aquatics racked up five individual victories and an array of lifetime best times over the course of the weekend. He won the 50 back in 30.77, dropping almost a full second and marking the 13th-fastest time this season in the boys’ 10 & under age group in the event. In another top swim, Ying won the 100 IM in 1:07.78 and now ranks 16th in the age group so far this season. Ying also bumped himself up to 28th on the ranking of top times this season in his age group in the 50 fly with a time of 29.78, breaking 30 seconds for the first time.
• First Colony Swim Team’s Andrew Nguyen dominated the freestyle events, winning the 100 free (47.06), 200 free (1:42.57) and 500 free (4:41.68). Nguyen, who is 14 years old, logged a new personal best time in each event; his performance in the 200 free knocked over two seconds off of his time, while he dropped almost 14 seconds in the 500 free. He now ranks 8th in the boys’ 13-14 100 free so far this season, 10th in the 200 free and 25th in the 500 free. He also threw down a top swim in the 400 IM, winning the event in 4:09.54 and jumping to 31st on the ranking of top times this season in his age group.

Top 5 Girls Team Scores

1. The Woodlands Swim Team – 1239.5
2. First Colony Swim Team – 1175.5
3. Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club – 1175.5
4. Swim Streamline at Northampton – 912
5. Blue Tide Aquatics – 772

Top 5 Boys Team Scores

1. First Colony Swim Team – 1423
2. Katy Aquatics – 1414
3. Cypress Fairbanks Swim Club – 828
4. Houston Hydra – 464.5
5. Houston Bridge Bats – 441