2023 Illinois Swimming LC Age Group Championships
- July 20-23, 2023
- FMC Natatorium, Westmont, IL
- LCM (50 meters)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2023 IL LC Age Group Championships”
The 2023 Illinois Swimming Long Course Age Group Championships are in the books after being held this past weekend in Westmont. Topping the combined team scores this year was NASA Wildcat Aquatics, who posted a grand total of 2200 points over the course of the weekend.
Team Scores (Combined):
- NASA Wildcat Aquatics – 2200
- Academy Bullets Swim Club – 1833
- Chicago Wolfpack Aquatic Club – 1650
- FMC Aquatic Club – 1523
- Fox Valley Swim Team – 1335
The Academy Bullets’ 13-14 boys established two new state records in the 800 freestyle relay and 400 medley relay. Leading off both was Brayden Capen, who logged personal best times of 1:57.61 and 57.16. Both marked best times by about two seconds, with his performance in the 100 backstroke moving him up to 5th all-time among 13-14 boys and establishing a new Illinois Swimming state record.
12-year-old Jordan Ko also took down Illinois Swimming state records in the 50 and 1oo breaststroke. In the 50, he logged a 32.16 to climb to 9th all-time nationally in the age group. He also moved up big time in the 100 breast rankings, going a record time of 1:10.49 to become the 15th-fastest performer ever in the age group. In addition to the breaststroke events, he won and set personal bests in the the sprint freestyle races with times of 26.44 and 58.73 in the 50 and 100 freestyle, respectively.
12-year-old Blake Torpey from Fox Valley won a total of six events of his own in the boys 11-12 age group. One of his highlights was the 50 fly, where he clocked a best time of 28.23 to climb to 79th on the all-time list. He also had a phenomenal race in the 100 fly, where he knocked off over five seconds his previous best to win with a 1:03.61.
Grace Koenig-Song of the NASA Wildcats dominated the breaststroke races for the girls 13-14 year-olds. Koenig-Song, 13, dropped nearly a second in the 100 breast to go a 1:10.53 in finals and move to 23rd in the all-time rankings. In addition to sweeping the breaststroke events Koenig-Song also took 1st in both IM events, going best times of 2:21.93 and 5:06.84, respectively.
Koenig-Song was also a member of the NASA Wildcats’ record-breaking 400 medley relay team. She teamed up with Olivia Musick, Brianna Barnes, and Addy Koenig-Song to combine for a final time of 4:19.76 and shatter the Academy Bullets’ previous mark of 4:22.62 from 2015.
Fellow 13-year-old Lia Roggi from New Trier also climbed the 13-14 rankings with her performance in the 50 freestyle. Roggi stopped the clock at 26.27, marking a best time by almost a second and making her the 49th-fastest performer in the age group. Roggi was also the runner-up finisher (57.91) to Aria Grossenbach in the 100 freestyle, with Grossenbach posting a best time of 57.53.
Another standout swimmer on the girls’ side of the meet was Kam Gardiner from the Peoria Area Water Wizards. The 12-year-old collected five victories over the course of the weekend, setting best times in four of them. She narrowly won a tight race in the 100 backstroke, where she got her hand on the wall first at 1:10.00 for a best time by two and half seconds.
Winning four events each in the boys 13-14 category was Thomas McMillan from St. Charles and Luke Vatev of the Hornet Swim Club. McMillan, 13, swept the butterfly and backstroke events. His meet was highlighted by his performance in the 200 back, where he won the event by five seconds with a personal best time of 2:09.65. Vatev, 14, won all the freestyle events ranging from the 50 to the 400. His top swim was the 100 free, as he stopped the clock at 53.49 to notch a personal best by nearly two seconds.
Luke Vatev – multi-time 12&U state champ almost completely walked away from the sport, took a break and reflected and grew for about a good part of the school year in fall, and made his comeback this spring and is a 13-14 state champ.