62nd Annual Christmas Meet
- December 11 – 15, 2024
- University of Pittsburgh Trees Pool
- SCY (25y) Pool
- Results on Meet Mobile
At the 62nd Annual Christmas Meet in Pittsburgh, PA, swimmers from the Mount Pleasant Aqua Club (MPAC) set a new 18 & under 400 mixed medley relay record. In the final of the event, MPAC’s Kiersten O’Connor (backstroke), Joseph Gardner (breaststroke), David Mutter (butterfly), and Lily King (freestyle) swam a time of 3:25.86, finishing first, but narrowly missing the National Age Group (NAG) record by just 0.02 seconds.
In a time trial later, the same MPAC quartet clocked an even faster time of 3:25.59, breaking the previous 15-18 mixed 400 medley relay record. The former record, 3:25.84, was set by Phoebe Bacon, Georgia Johnson, Landon Gentry, and Trace Wall in 2019. The MPAC relay also broke SwimAtlanta’s 17-18 mixed medley NAG record. SwimAtlanta’s team of Ben Irwin, Katie Christopherson, Nicholas Kjaerulff, and Natalie Gilson had set the record in 2023 with a time of 3:28.70. Notably, each record-breaking relay used a different order: MPAC (F-M-M-F), NCAP 2019 (F-F-M-M), and SwimAtlanta (M-F-M-F).
Split Comparisons
| NCAP 15-18 Mixed 400 Medley Relay | SwimAtlanta 17-18 Mixed Medley Relay | MPAC 15-18 Mixed 400 Medley Relay (Time Trial) | |
| Back | Bacon – 50.94 | Irwin – 47.52 | O’Connor – 56.05 |
| Breast | Johnson – 1:02.61 | Christopherson – 1:00.89 | Gardner – 54.26 |
| Fly | Gentry – 48.09 | Kjaerulff – 49.56 | Mutter – 47.73 |
| Free | Wall – 44.20 | Gilson – 50.73 | King – 47.55 |
| 3:25.84 | 3:25.70 | 3:25.59 |
In addition to their NAG record-breaking relay performance, the MPAC quartet also had impressive individual swims throughout the meet. Lily King, a 17-year-old NC State commit, dominated several events, winning the 200 IM (2:02.08), 200 free (1:47.87), 100 back (55.52), 50 free (22.53), and 100 free (48.55).
Similarly, 17-year-old UConn commit Kiersten O’Connor had a strong showing, earning 2nd place in both the 100 backstroke (56.58) and 50 freestyle (23.86). Joseph Gardner, an 18-year-old University of Pittsburgh commit, claimed victory in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.74 and finished 2nd in the 200 breaststroke (2:00.62). David Mutter, a 17-year-old University of Alabama commit, had an exceptional meet as well, winning the 200 freestyle with a lifetime best of 1:41.15 and the 100 freestyle (46.59). He also placed 2nd in the 50 freestyle (21.17) and the 100 butterfly (48.08).
