Long Course Far Western Championship 2024
- 25 – 28 July 2024
- Morgan Hill Aquatic Center
- kgV (50 meters)
- Results on MeetMobile: “2024 Long Course Far Western Championship”
Three competition records were broken at the Long Course Far Western Championships held last month in Morgan Hill, California.
Pleasanton Seahawks 12 years old Hanz Palattao erased a 20-year-old competition standard in the 100-meter backstroke and broke Shayne Flemingfrom 2004 with a winning time of 1:04.23. Palattao lost more than half a second from his previous best of 1:04.83 from last month and came within one second of the Pacific Swimming 11-12 LSC record of 1:03.29 set by Benjamin Ho in 2011.
Palattao won five other events in personal bests: 100m freestyle (57.74), 200m freestyle (2:08.16), 200m backstroke (2:17.84), 100m breaststroke (1:12.04) and 200m individual medley (2:20.68). His biggest time losses came in the 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, where he improved his best times by five and two seconds respectively.
Valley Splash 15 years old Yuri Kuzmenko set another competition record in the 50 m freestyle with 23.45 seconds, beating his previous best time of 24.34 seconds from last August by almost a second. He fell Brian Yuof 23.76 from 2017, while also closing in on Fleming’s Pacific Swimming 15-16 LSC record of 22.72 from 2008. Kuzmenko also took the crown in the 100m freestyle with a time of 52.27, beating his previous best of 53.33 from June by more than a second.
14-year-old from the California Dolphins swim team Thomas Wu impressed with a win in the 50m freestyle in 24.37, breaking the meet record of 24.49, although he narrowly missed his personal best of 24.33 at the Novato Sectionals last month. He is from Shanghai, China, but now trains in Fremont, California. Wu is approaching Isaac Litwiller‘s 13-14 LSC record of 24.08 from last year. He added a personal best in the 100 breaststroke (1:15.33) and picked up another win in the 200 freestyle (1:58.99), about a second slower than his personal best of 1:57.24 from last month.
Princeton freshman incoming Devyn Caples collected five wins in the 400 individual medley (4:26.31), 800 freestyle (8:26.20), 100 breaststroke (1:06.06), 100 backstroke (1:00.23) and 200 butterfly (2:06.42). The 18-year-old of the Crow Canyon Country Club Sharks lost more than two seconds in the 100 backstroke and more than a second in the 100 breaststroke compared to his previous bests from 2022.
Crow Canyon, 15 years old Kaden Wong achieved a personal best in the 800 m freestyle (8:29.47), more than a second faster than his previous best of 8:31.06 from March. He also took three first places in the 200 m freestyle (1:55.20), 400 m freestyle (4:02.85) and 200 m individual medley (2:09.00).
Lakeridge Swim Team, 18 years old Zach Power clocked a time of 4:03.25 to secure the crown in the 400m freestyle, beating his previous best of 4:03.53 set last July.
Summary for girls
Crow Canyon, 18 years old Maddie O’Connell En route to victory, she improved her previous best time in the 100-meter butterfly by more than a second to 1:01.76. The UCSD freshman (’24) beat her previous best of 1:02.81 set last month.
Diablo Aquatics 15 years old Ella Busquets In the 50-meter freestyle, she suffered a significant drop in performance, with a personal best of 26.53, which was several tenths of a second below her previous best of 26.91 from last month.
Crow Canyon, 16 years old Natalie Mak She broke her personal best in the 400 medley with a time of 4:59.56, less than a tenth faster than her previous best of 4:59.64 set last July. The Princeton student (’25) also took second place in the 100 backstroke (1:05.15), more than half a second faster than her previous best of 1:05.66 set in June.
Crow Canyon, 16 years old Raya Mellott She won her specialty, the breaststroke events, along with the 200 freestyle (2:07.19) and 200 individual medley (2:22.59). The Virginia freshman (’25) posted a time of 1:11.09 in the 100 breaststroke, just seconds under her personal best of 1:08.26 from last July. Mellott also posted a time of 2:34.12 in the 200 breaststroke, just six seconds under her best from June.
Crow Canyon, 16 years old Lillyana Caples She demonstrated her distance dominance with victories in the 400m freestyle (4:22.58), 800m freestyle (9:12.06) and 1500m freestyle (17:16.71). In the 400m freestyle she improved her personal best by almost three tenths, while she did not reach her best times in the 800m freestyle (8:52.68 from May) and 1500m freestyle (16:52.85 from last month).
Crow Canyon, 14 years old Daniela Linares Easily won the 100 m backstroke (1:03.99) and 200 m backstroke (2:17.44), but she has been faster in both disciplines before (1:02.78 in June/2:13.88 in May). Her 17-year-old teammate, Ellie Butlerwon the 200 freestyle (2:06.61) and 200 butterfly (2:17.99). The 25-year-old, who has committed to Notre Dame, came within one second of her personal best in the 200 butterfly of 2:17.26 from last month.
