SAN JOSE, California, August 6. THE 2012 Long Course Far Western Championships, hosted by West Coast Aquatics, wrapped up yesterday after five days of racing in San Jose. Championship finals were contested across six age groups: 10 and under, 11-12, 13-14, 15-16 and 17-18.
The meet was streamed by SwimmingWorld.TV and was highlighted by a new national age group record by Scottsdale Aquatic Club's foursome of Hunter Ruck, Nicholas Salvino, Daniel Simmons and Matthew LeBlanc in the boys' 10 and under 200m freestyle relay. They posted a 2:02.37 to erase Westchester Aquatic Club's 2:02.52 from July 28 from the books. Watch On-Demand Races Here
Pleasanton took the top two spots in the women's 13-18 400m free, with Allison Brown touching first in 4:24.30, ahead of teammate Moriah Simonds' 4:26.54. Cat Ladd of Santa Clara rounded out the top three in 4:29.10.
In the girls' 15-16 50m free, Osprey Aquatics' Linnea Mack just out-touched Pleasanton's Iris Brand, 26.87 to 26.97, for the victory. Rachel Owen, also of Osprey Aquatics, and Vivy Hua of Mission San Jose, shared third place with matching 27.53s. Brand got her revenge in the 100m free, however, hitting the wall first in 58.99. Mission San Jose's Megan Crook touched second in 59.13, with Mack in third at 59.38. The 200m free title went to Santa Clara's Sandra Soe, as she posted a 2:06.68. Mack picked up another top three finish with a second place effort of 2:08.36. San Ramon Valley's Paige Matherson rounded out the top three in 2:08.77.
Mack earned her second win of the meet in the 100m back, winning comfortably in 1:03.32, well ahead of Crow Canyon's Jenny Barcellona (1:05.26). Santa Clara's Cat Ladd was right behind in third with a 1:05.34. The race in the 200m back came down to three swimmers, with Ravensong Aquatics' Maran Kokoszka leading the way in 2:20.12. Mack was three tenths behind in 2:20.42, followed by Ladd in 2:20.68.
Davie Nadadores' Emily Kopas brought home the 15-16 100m breast title with a 1:14.49, only .03 in front of Crow Canyon's Aileen Lee (1:14.52). Kristin Schumann, also of Crow Canyon, wound up third in 1:16.57. Kopas swept the breaststroke events after posting a 2:38.01 to win the 200m. Tualatin Hills' Charlene Yuan stayed with her to take second in 2:38.51, while Lee picked up another medal with a third place effort of 2:42.39.
Linnea Mack continued her dominating meet with a strong showing in the 15-16 100m fly. Mack stopped the clock in 1:02.52, more than two seconds ahead of Palo Alto Stanford's Jayna Wittenbrink (1:04.57). Marita Sailor of Tualatin Hills rounded out the top three in 1:05.81. Tiger Aquatics' Halli Garza was the top finisher in the 200m fly as she posted a 2:21.68 to knock off Pleasanton's Rachel Knowles (2:22.15) and Ravensong's Laura Romkes (2:22.16).
In the 15-16 200m IM, Arden Hills' Taylor Yamahata picked up the win in 2:24.14. Davie Nadadores' Emily Kopas earned another podium finish with a 2:25.35 for second, while Tualatin Hills' Marita Sailor swam a 2:25.40 to take third.
Crow Canyon's Jenny Barcellona, Heidi Poppe, Marissa Neel and Dani Taylor toppe the 15-18 200m medley relay in 2:01.40, while Madison White, Poppe, Neel and Taylor joined forces to win the 400m medley relay in 4:21.74.
Pleasanton captured the 15-18 200m free relay in 1:49.34, led by Iris Brand, Marissa Bergh, Allison Brown and Kirsten Brand. In the 15-18 400m free relay, Crow Canyon touched out Tualatin Hills by just .01, 3:58.28 to 3:58.29. Pleasanton was right in the mix as well with a 3:58.31. Tualatin Hills' Celia Keany, Marita Sailor, Emily Cheng and Blaise Wittenauer-Lee posted the fastest time in the 800m free relay, an 8:44.92.
In the girls' 17-18 division, Celina Li of Pleasanton captured the 50m free in 27.21. Kristen Clarno of De Anza Cupertino wasn't far behind as she posted a 27.33. Pleasanton's Kirsten Brand snuck into third with a 27.44. Arlyn Upshaw of the Terrapins posted the quickest time in the 100m free at 59.08, with Pleasanton's Allison Brown in second (59.22). Clarno earned another podium finish with a 59.25 for third. Li returned to win the 200m free in 2:07.05 for her second individual victory. Teammate Marissa Brown swam a 2:08.40 for second, while Upshaw took home another medal with a 2:09.20 for third.
Crow Canyon swept the top two spots in the 100m back, with Marissa Neel and Devin Madsen battling it out to the end. Neel got to the wall just ahead of Madsen, 1:06.34 to 1:06.36. Arlyn Upshaw of the Terrapins swam a 1:07.49 to take third. Celina Li picked up her third win of the meet after posting a 2:22.60 to take the 200m back title. Madsen took second in 2:23.63, while Tualatin Hills' Caitlin McMahon rounded out the top three in 2:26.10.
Pleasanton's Kortney Kay dropped two and a half seconds from her prelim swim to take the 100m breast in 1:15.87. Blaise Wittenauer-Lee of Tualatin Hills also dropped more than two seconds to finish second in 1:17.08, with Mission San Jose's Jennifer Xu in third (1:17.72). Wittenauer-Lee returned to win the longer distance, as she dominated the 200m breast in 2:41.02. Michelle Berry of Santa Clara swam a 2:44.61 for second, with Mission San Jose's Austine Lee in third (2:46.96).
Marissa Neel's second victory of the meet came in the 100m fly, as she claimed the title with a 1:02.46. Teammate Daniella Orlandi touched half a second behind in 1:03.44. Peak's Michi Aisawa rounded out the top three in 1:03.75. Orlandi moved up a step on the podium in the 200m fly, winning in 2:24.88. Acuatica's Grecia Gonzales out-touched Blaise Wittenauer-Lee for second, 2:25.69 to 2:25.93.
Pleasanton's Allison Brown finished well ahead of her heat in the women's 200m IM final, touching in a final time of 2:21.06. Tualatin Hills' Caitlin McMahon wound up second in 2:24.21, just ahead of Terrapins' Arlyn Upshaw (2:24.26). Ariana Saghafi of the Terrapins claimed the open 400m IM title in a close race. Saghafi swam a 5:04.60 to narrowly beat Tualatin Hills' Blaise Wittenauer-Lee (5:04.93) and Santa Clara's Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou (5:06.47).
In the men's meet, the 13-18 400m free went to Santa Clara's Jared Yongyuth in 4:22.68, comfortably in front of De Anza Cupertino's Bradley Newton (4:25.24). Crow Canyon's Sharif Shaker snuck into third with a 4:25.27.
Valley Splash's Zachary Lowenstein earned his first victory of the meet in a tight finish over Scottsdale's Nicholas Magana. Lowenstein got to the wall first in the 15-16 50m free in 24.60, with Mangana .02 behind in 24.62. Maxwell Montour of Phoenix Swim Club placed third in 25.28. In the 100m free, Pleasanton's Nick Silverthorn topped the field with a 53.19. Mangana picked up a second silver medal in 53.88, while Lowenstein touched third this time in 54.08. Pleasanton's Tony Shen clocked a 1:57.90 for a half second victory in the 15-16 200m free. Michal Zyla of the Terrapins came in second in 1:58.46, while Jason Chen, also of Pleasanton, posted a 1:59.36 for third.
Chen ascended to the top step of the podium in the 100m back with a 59.33, the only sub-1:00 swim. Justin Bertelsman of Pearland Aquatics recorded a 1:00.83 for second, with Jerome Sun of Mission San Jose in third (1:01.43). Bertelsman then posted the best time in the 200m distance at 2:08.63, four seconds better than Keith Eriks of the Vancouver Dolphins (2:12.69). Sun took third in 2:12.77.
Lynbrook Aquatics' Derek Tanizaki-Hudson topped the 100m breast finale with a 1:08.66. Ian Ordes of host team West Coast Aquatics earned silver in 1:08.87, while Santa Clara's Timothy Kou placed third in 1:09.24. Tanizaki-Hudson doubled in the breaststrokes with a 2:29.17 in the 200m, coming out on top of a four-way race to the finish. De Anza Cupertino's Martin Kushnerov (2:29.28) and Scottsdale's Marcello Quarante (2:29.30).
Mission San Jose's Jerome Sun picked up another podium finish, winning the 100m fly in 58.57. Crow Canyon's Arjun Sharma also broke the one-minute mark with a 59.49, while Justin Bertelsman of Pearland Aquatics came in third with a 1:00.14. Colin Eriks of the Vancouver Dolphins outlasted the field to win the 200m fly in 2:11.56. Bertelsman touched second in 2:12.41, while Flying Fish's Garrett Chan wound up third (2:15.51).
Pleasanton's Nick Silverthorn added a second individual victory to his collection, winning the 200m IM in 2:11.06, .60 ahead of Jerome Sun (2:11.66). Keith Eriks of Vancouver swam a 2:12.61 for third.
The Vancouver Dolphins (1:52.23) and Pleasanton (4:02.65) captured the 200m and 400m medley relays, respectively. Scottsdale (1:39.20) and Vancouver (3:40.51) had the top times in the 200m and 400m free relays, while Pleasanton won the 800m free relay in 7:57.15.
In the boys' 17-18 division, Scottsdale's Garrett Swanson proved to be the fastest in the pool, posting the top time in the 50m free at 24.53. Nicolas Kasting of the Vancouver Dolphins also broke 25 with a 24.92 for second. Byron Held of Tualatin Hills followed in 25.26. Swanson couldn't quite duplicate that feat in the 100m free, however, as he was touched out in one of the closest finishes of the entire meet. Peak's AJ Zavala hit the wall first in 54.46, with Swanson and Santa Clara's Chris Scheaffer tying for second in 54.47. Kasting took fourth in 54.49. Howie Chang of Santa Clara picked up the 200m free title in 1:56.60, nearly two seconds faster than Nick Johnston of Pleasanton (1:58.43). Brett Usinger of Crow Canyon took third in 1:58.66.
In the 100m back, Nick Johnston topped the championship final in his first win, with a 59.66. Chris Scheaffer of Santa Clara clocked a 1:01.52 to take second, while teammate Matt Webster was third (1:01.75). Johnston swept the backstrokes with a 2:08.77 in the 200m event, well ahead of Peak's Kevin Khojaseth (2:10.68). Pleasanton's Christopher Dourov finished a distant third in 2:15.09.
Crow Canyon's Brett Usinger staked claim to the 100m breast with a 1:08.66. Teammate Rolland Lee came in second in 1:09.70, while Peak's Brandon Conroy placed third in 1:09.98. Another exciting race unfolded in the 200m breast, as the top three were within less than half a second of each other. Kasey Kwong of Tualatin Hills led the way in 2:28.52, followed by Palo Alto Stanford's Matt Molinari (2:28.88). Rolland Lee was right behind in third in 2:28.91.
Chris Scheaffer of Santa Clara topped the 100m fly in 57.94, with Vancouver's Steven Zheng (58.75) and Otter Swim Club's Ivan Garin (59.37) in second and third. In the 200m fly, Jacob Weitzel of Tualatin Hills edged Zheng, 2:12.07 to 2:12.50. Travis Kim of Quicksilver took third in 2:15.81.
In the 200m IM, Crow Canyon's Bryan Hughes just out-touched Justin Burton-McCarthy of Sudbury, 2:15.21 to 2:15.22. Oakland's Michael Nguyen was right behind in third in 2:15.25.
Check out the results link for results from every age group.
