NAG Record Holder Zoe Skirboll Swims First Post-Quarantine Races in Pittsburgh

Braden Keith
by Braden Keith 7

August 01st, 2020 Club, News

Racer X Zombie Time Trial

  • August 1, 2020
  • Fox Chapel Racquet Club, Pittsburgh, PA
  • SCY (25y) course
  • Results on Meet Mobile: “RACER X ZOMBIE TIME TRIAL”

Racer X Aquatics in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the team’s first sanctioned meet since March on Saturday.

This weekend’s meets are the first events where swimmers are allowed to swim times that will qualify them for meets beyond the LSC level, as USA Swimming’s special post-quarantine rules expired at the end of August. All swims that otherwise meet guidelines can now be used to qualify for meets like Sectionals, Junior Nationals, Futures, and Nationals.

Several lifetime bests were set at the meet. That includes one new personal record for 15-year old Talia Bugel.

She swam a new best time in the 200 yard back of 2:02.25, which was the top result in that event. That improves upon her 2:03.74 set back in 2018. While she missed her best time in the 100 back (57.27 off a best of 55.68), which is an event where she’s a Winter Junior National qualifier, swimming a best time in the longer of the two races while emerging from the training disruptions caused by the coronavirus is an encouraging sign.

In the 200 back, she was followed by fellow 15-year old Aidan Ochoa, who also swam a best time in 2:03.50 to finish as the fastest male.

Other Noteworthy Results:

  • National Age Group Record breaker and USA Swimming Junior Nationals finalist Zoe Skirboll didn’t hit any lifetime bests at the meet, but she was very close in at least one event, the 100 free. She swam 51.00 on Saturday, which just-missed her previous best time of 50.31 set at the 2019 NCSA Junior Nationals meet. Skirboll also swam 2:02.72 in the 200 IM, 1:52.26 in the 200 free, 55.60 in the 100 fly, and 23.84 in the 50 free in a busy session.
  • 15-year old Zach Zornan Ferguson, who turned 15 about a month ago, swam a new best time in the 100 free of 46.50. That cuts down his old best time of 47.33. He also swam a 21.47 in the 50 free, which is just .09 seconds away from his best time. That also ranks him among the top 50 in the 15 & under age group nationally this season.
  • 17-year old Jacob McCarran dropped almost a second from his previous lifetime best to go 2:05.53 in the 200 breaststroke. He also swam a best time in the 100 fly, which is not a primary event for him, of 55.89. McCarran is a rising high school senior who has not yet announced a commitment to swim in college.

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SwimMom
3 years ago

Thanks so much for making the correction! We’re glad to see the swimmers racing again!

SwimMom
3 years ago

Great job to the swimmers! One clarification though. This was not the first sanctioned meet in the LSC. PEAQatPITT’s time trial from 3 weeks ago was sanctioned. SANCTION # AM-071220-01.

10U DAD
3 years ago

I’m very humbly asking if someone could explain the difference between an Intrasquad meet and a time trial, or if they are just actually the same things? Bonus points if somebody can differentiate what a virtual meet is and which types of meets now are sanctioned vs non. Please explain it in a way that my 10U’s can understand. I see that our state has momentum towards these alternative meet formats and I’m struggling to understand the brand new lexicon. My kids want to race, but “for real”, not for practice (again). I used to be an age group swim meet parent pro and now I can’t even speak the language of what’s official and what’s unknown and what counts… Read more »

thezwimmer
Reply to  10U DAD
3 years ago

An intrasquad meet most likely means the team was divided into two or three “teams” to compete against one another, with each place scoring a certain number of points. Time trial probably just means the kids are racing events without scoring.

Virtual meet is kind of like a hybrid: one club is racing at their pool, while another club races at a separate pool. The results are then combined to form a dual meet score as if it were swum in that manner. Hope that helps

10U DAD
Reply to  thezwimmer
3 years ago

Thank you for the explanation, that does help. The Intrasquad format sounds fun, especially for larger teams.

Swmoffcl
Reply to  10U DAD
3 years ago

I’ll try to answer at least some of your questions. A time trial meet and an intrasquad meet are essentially the same thing….
Virtual meets-can be both sanctioned and non sanctioned. USA swimming has set up a non sanctioned format for coaches to run mock meets and enter times into a database. This is a helpful tool to compare how swimmers compare to others. Times do not “count”
However a team can apply for a sanction for a virtual meet and invite other teams to participate in the virtual meet. The meets would not necessarily have to be conducted at the same time. Each team would run the same events at their own venue and then the results… Read more »

10U DAD
Reply to  Swmoffcl
3 years ago

Thank you for the explanation!

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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