Here’s what you missed at club meetings across the country during the U.S. Olympic Trials

While the United States was fielding its Olympic swim team at the Trials last week, rising American talent was also climbing the all-time national age group (NAG) rankings at club competitions across the country.

At the Shark Open last week in Sarasota, Florida, Cobe Hehenberger made it into the top 10 of the NAG rankings with his personal best in the 800-meter freestyle. The 14-year-old from Saint Petersburg Aquatics stopped the clock at 8:17.55, losing more than 12 seconds and shooting from 81st to 9th place in the NAG rankings for boys aged 13 to 14 years.

In the course of this, Hehenberger also took Matthew Hirschberger‘s Florida LSC record of 8:19.44 set in 2013. His previous best was 8:29.74 set last month. Hirschberger also posted personal bests in the 100 freestyle (55.30), 100 butterfly (1:02.91), 200 individual medley (2:13.94) and 400 individual medley (4:42.56).

Ranking 800 m freestyle for boys (13-14)

1. Luka Mijatovic – 7:59.64, 2023
2. Evan Pinion – 8:08.75, 2009
3. Lleyton Plattel – 8:09.74, 2017
4. Ellis Crisci – 8:15.30, 2023
5. Andrew Abruzzo – 8:15.84, 2014
6. Michael Phelps – 8:16.10, 2000
7. Cooper Lucas – 8:17.05, 2019
8. Josh Parent – ​​8:17.28, 2019
9. Cobe Hehenberger – 8:17.55, 2024

At the Age Group Invite in June in Santa Clarita, just a few days before the start of the Olympic trials, Gabi Brito achieved a personal best of 56.68 in the 100 m freestyle, moving her to 32nd place in the NAG rankings for girls 13-14. The 13-year-old from Beach Cities Swimming broke the 57-second mark for the first time; her previous best was 57.32.

Brito posted three more personal bests in the 50 backstroke (31.27), 100 backstroke (1:03.96) and 200 breaststroke (2:38.63) to become the 24th fastest 13-year-old American in the 100 backstroke. She lost more than half a second from her previous best in the 50 backstroke set last month (31.84), more than a second from her previous best in the 100 backstroke set last month (1:05.58) and nearly a second from her previous best in the 200 breaststroke set in April (2:39.54).

Polish sprinter Kasia Wasick participated in her final pre-Olympic warm-up at the Texas Senior Circuit meet in Dallas. The 32-year-old posted a 50-meter freestyle time of 24.64, more than half a second off her season best of 23.95, which won her bronze at the 2024 World Championships in February. Wasick is ranked third in the world this season, behind only Kate Douglas (23.91) and Sarah Sjostrom (23.69). Since the World Championships, Wasick posted a time of 24.20 at the Pro Swim Series stop in San Antonio in April and a time of 24.28 at the Longhorn Elite meet in May.

Rockwall Aquatic Center of Excellence, 13 years old Elizabeth Chiu She also impressed in Dallas with a personal best of 2:18.99 in the 200-meter breaststroke, making her the 51st fastest 13-year-old American of all time.

Rochester Swim Club, 12 years old Elliot Leasure At last week’s Aquajet Summer Spectacular, hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, he showed off his talent in the backstroke with some top-50 times for his age group. He posted personal bests in the 100 backstroke (1:02.77) and 200 backstroke (2:14.43), which put him 11th and 10th, respectively, in the NAG boys 11-12 rankings. Leasure lost nearly two seconds in the 100 backstroke and nearly 23 seconds in the 200 backstroke.

Leasure also ran 29.84 seconds in the 50-meter backstroke, improving his personal best by nearly two seconds and rocketing him to 43rd place on the 11-12 NAG rankings. He added three more personal bests: in the 200-meter freestyle (2:09.41, 15 seconds slower), the 200-meter butterfly (2:20.78, 27 seconds slower) and the 400-meter individual medley (5:05.00, 34 seconds slower).

Another star of the Aquajet Summer Spectacular was the 14-year-old swimmer from the Sioux Falls Swim Team. Rachel Knightwho set personal bests in six events and made futures cuts in the 100 and 200 backstroke. The 14-year-old jumped into 85th all-time in the 13-14 age group (and 8th this season) in the 200 backstroke, improving her PB by two seconds to 2:16.30, and in the 100 backstroke she broke the 1:04 mark for the first time with a time of 1:03.95, good for 11th in the age group this season. In the 200 individual medley, her time of 2:22.19 ranks 13th this season in the 13-14 girls’ PB, improving her previous PB by more than four seconds.

At the TAC Triangle Classic two weeks ago, the 14-year-old TAC Titans Reina Liu set a huge personal best in the 200 medley of 2:19.11, a six-second improvement over her previous best of 2:25.29 set in August of last year. She is now ranked 70th in the NAG 13-14 rankings.

TAC Titans 15 years old Davis-Jackson achieved three personal bests in the 100 m backstroke (58.01), 200 m backstroke (2:05.08) and 400 m individual medley (4:33.82). He lost about half a second in the 100 m backstroke, one second in the 200 m backstroke and two seconds in the 400 m individual medley.

At the OAPB LC Senior Open in Moraga, California, last week, Crow Canyon Sharks 14-year-old Daniela Linares recorded three personal bests in the 200m freestyle (2:07.67), 100m backstroke (1:02.78) and 200m individual medley (2:30.32). In the 100m backstroke, she lost nearly two-tenths of her previous best of 1:02.96 and moved up to 45th in the NAG 13-14 rankings. Linares also improved her previous bests in the 200m freestyle (previously 2:10.92 from 2022) and the 200m individual medley (previously 2:33.54 from last May) by more than three seconds.

Just before they grow out of the 11- to 12-year-old age group, Aya Gillis-Pade posted five of five personal bests at the OAPB LC Senior Open, with her 1500 freestyle being the highlight. The Santa Clara Swim Club product clocked a time of 17:53.20, ranking 43rd all-time in the girls 11-12 age group, shaving five seconds off her previous best set in March. She remains the only 11-12-year-old female to go under 18:00 this season. Gillis-Pade, now 13, added her personal best in the 200 backstroke (2:25.43, good for 98th all-time for 11-12-year-olds). Earlier this month, she also ran a time of 1:06.66 in the 100 backstroke, ranking 49th all-time in her age group.

At the LIAC Summer Fun Invitational last weekend in East Meadow, New York, the 14-year-old Team Suffolk Swim Club Antonia Cuthbertson swam the LCM 200 breaststroke for the first time ever, racing to 13th place all-time in the 13-14 age group with a time of 2:30.22. She also dropped more than a second in the 100 backstroke (1:20.54), nearly three seconds in the 100 freestyle (1:10.26), and nearly 14 seconds in the 200 individual medley (2:52.54).

SwimMAC Carolina 14 years old David Sammons delivered some fast performances at the 68th Annual Eastern Invitational hosted by the Greensboro Aquatic Center in North Carolina. He posted personal bests in the 50 freestyle (24.83), 100 freestyle (53.72) and 200 individual medley (2:08.14), the latter of which ranks 26th in the NAG 13-14 rankings. He dropped nearly a second in the 200 individual medley and about half a second in the 50 and 100 freestyle.

At the RMDA Championships in June, just before the US Olympic qualifiers, Desert Storm Swimming, 13-year-old Sullivan Benes improved his best time in the 400 freestyle by nearly nine seconds, moving up to 18th among 13-year-old American boys. He crossed the finish line in 4:10.43, beating his previous best of 4:19.32 set in April.

South Jersey Aquatic Club, 13 years old Shelby Hutchinson moved into the top 100 of the NAG rankings with her 1:03.69 100-meter dash at last weekend’s Summer Solstice meet in Sewell, New Jersey. She improved her previous best of 1:03.74 set earlier this month by 0.05 seconds and moved up to 95th in the 13-14 age group.

At the Lake Western Great Lakes Open last weekend, 14-year-old Madison Aquatic Club Max Garbacz delivered two stunning performances in the backstroke. He now ranks 47th in his age group in the 100m backstroke (58.84) and 50th in the 200m backstroke (2:07.31) after losing more than a second in the 100m backstroke and two seconds in the 200m backstroke.

At the NOVA June Age Group Championships two weekends ago, 13-year-old Evolution Racing Club Matthew Lanskikh lost almost four seconds in the 400 m individual medley and won with a time of 4:41.91. He is number 22 among all 13-year-old American boys in this discipline.