2019 Florida Swimming Summer Age Group Championships
- July 18th-21st, 2019
- Rosen YMCA Aquatic Center, Orlando, Florida
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2019 Summer Age Group Championships”
Racing on Thursday at the 2019 Florida Swimming Summer Age Group Championships in Orlando, the 13-14 boys from the Sarasota Tsunami Swim Team have absolutely crushed the National Age Group Record in the 800 free relay.
The group of Luis Gustavo Junqueira, Evan Keogh, Frank Runge, and Dimiter Zafirov combined for a 7:55.79 in the event, which takes more than 2 seconds off the 2014 record set by Irvine Novaquatics.
Comparative Splits:
| Irvine’s 1st Record | Irvine’s 2nd Record | Sarasota’s New Record | ||
| Irvine’s Relay | 6/28/2014 | 7/27/2014 | Sarasota’s Relay | 7/18/2019 |
| Owen Kao | 1:56.51 | 1:56.48 | Luis Gustavo Junqueira | 1:58.30 |
| Justin Nguyen | 2:01.71 | 2:01.13 | Evan Keogh | 2:00.26 |
| Andrew Koustik | 2:03.43 | 2:03.23 | Frank Runge | 2:02.12 |
| Hunter Hitchens | 1:59.16 | 1:57.19 | Dimiter Zafirov | 1:55.11 |
| Final time | 8:00.81 | 7:58.03 | 7:55.79 |
When the Irvine relay broke the record, they actually did so twice in the same summer. The second occasion made them the first US 13-14 relay to break 8 minutes in this event, and only two other relays have done so since: the Cincinnati Marlins, which included a 13-year old Jake Foster, and another Irvine Novaquatics relay earlier this year.
Zafirov’s 1:55 anchor split is the fastest of any of the three relays above, and he also holds the top seed in this week’s individual 200 free at the same meet.
Proud to be a member of this fine team led by Ira Klein and a great team of Coaches. I’m happy for my son to have these boys to look up to – champions in and out of the pool.
As a former swimmer of Ira’s who had the opportunity to train at Arlington Park when it was brand new (1989) and then again with him in Las Vegas, I can only say that this is not surprising, but it is REALLY fast for 4 13-14 year old boys! Chuck, I completely agree with your comments!!! Ira truly sets the bar for developing age group swimmers to the next level. Keep up the great work Ira! Geaux Tsunamis!
What an amazing group of dedicated athletes and friends making their dreams of reality. Way to represent!!!🌊
Ira had produced elite swimmers all over the country in his career. A simply amazing coach.
I swim with the Sarasota Tsunami Masters. It’s awesome sharing the pool with these hard-working kids every morning.
Congrats to Coach Ira Klein & the rest of the Tsunami family.
Ira Klein getting it done yet again!
Way to go Sarasota Tsunami!!! Coach Klein is like a fine wine: he doesn’t get old, he gets better.