TAC Titans Summer Sizzler
- 2 to 4 August 2024
- Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
- Short Course Yards (25 Yards)
- Complete competition results
The TAC Titans Summer Sizzler may not have featured the star-studded lineup of past years, but there were a few new names to look out for at the 2024 edition of the late-summer short-course meet.
This included 15-year-old Davis-Jacksonwho won the 100m backstroke in 48.53 and the 200m individual medley in 1:49.49. This time in the 100m backstroke was eight tenths of a second better than his previous best, and the 200m individual medley was almost three seconds better than his previous best.
Jackson, a rising sophomore at Leesville Road High School, will be a contender for the North Carolina 4A state title next year: The top three finishers in the 100-meter backstroke, including the only two boys to swim faster than him in that meet at 48.5, have all graduated.
With his new time in the 200 m individual medley, he would have finished 4th at the national championships last year, as two of the three better boys would have graduated.
Jackson also swam new personal bests in the 100-meter butterfly (50.36) and 100-meter freestyle (47.34).
This year’s meeting was barely an internal Titans meeting. One of the few swimmers representing other clubs was Jerry Fox of Wolfpack Elite. He trained with the Titans as a kid but now represents the club at NC State, where he will be a sophomore next season.
Fox swept the short freestyle races, winning the 50m in 19.26, the 100m in 42.22 and the 200m in 1:35.51 (with a time of 1:35.15 in the prelims). Fox is coming off a successful first season of collegiate swimming that included an 8th-place finish in the 100m freestyle at the ACC Championships (42.20) and a berth at the NCAA Championships.
Classes at NC State begin on Monday.
For the girls: rising high school junior and US Olympic qualifier Caden Martin won the 50 m freestyle (22.74) and 100 m freestyle (50.17). Even though neither of these were personal bests, the move to the Titans is the notable news – she previously trained in Arkansas with the Aquahawgs from Fayetteville.
Nikki Nixona rising high school sophomore, won four races, including personal bests in the 100-meter backstroke (55.37), 200-meter individual medley (2:03.60), and 400-meter individual medley (4:21.95).
The 400m individual medley result is a revelation for her: it’s a PB by nearly nine seconds. Her improvements in the 200m individual medley and 400m individual medley showed up in different places, suggesting there could be more big drops ahead this season as she becomes more comfortable with her improvements.
Further highlights:
- 15 years old Jonny Palamar took second place in the 200m backstroke in 1:48.63, a new personal best by almost two seconds. He finished just behind his 17-year-old teammate Leo O’Keefewho won that race in 1:48.57 — a big time loss for him too. O’Keefe, a rising high school student, has not yet announced a college commitment, but that win and top times in five events to start his senior season should give his recruitment a boost.
- Another 15-year-old TAC Oliver Marrujo swam a new personal best and came second in the 200-meter breaststroke with 2:02.75.
- 17-year-old TAC swimmer Brian Lee won the 200-meter butterfly in 1:47.67. Lee has spent time at clubs around the world, including Montreal, Shanghai and the famed Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and that was his best time by more than two seconds.
