In her first year as the co-coach of San Benito Aquatics, Shelli Reed sees a future with seemingly no limits.
Now we know why. In the two major meets of the summer swim season for the 10-and-under age group, SBA had three swimmers flourish at the Junior Olympics and Far Western Championships.
In the July 11-13 Junior Olympics at Independence High in San Jose, SBA’s terrific trio of Allie Lucas, Brandon So and Jaya Waller all established personal-records (PRs) in every single event they competed in.
It’s no wonder Reed said the word amazing no less than half a dozen times to describe the trio’s stunning performance.
“It’s remarkable what these kids did,” Reed said. “They didn’t just set their best marks, they took big chunks of time off them. I’ve never seen kids drop times this big.”
To qualify for the Junior Olympics, a swimmer has to meet a certain qualifying time in every event. The Far Western Championships have slightly tougher qualifying standards, making it one of the most prestigious meets for the 10-and-under age group on the West Coast.
Lucas was competing at a long course meet for the first time. SBA trains at a 25-yard pool at Rovella’s Gym and Health Spa, and its swimmers only see the official Olympic-sized standard pools when they go to major meets.
But the unfamiliar surroundings hardly affected Lucas, who set PRs in the 50 freestyle (37.87 seconds), 200 individual medley (3:37.14) and100 breast stroke (2:03.56).
“Allie went all in and toughed it out,” Reed said. “It can be intimidating for a swimmer to go from a short course to a long course pool at an event like the Junior Olympics because you know you’re swimming against top swimmers and on top of that, the pool feels twice as long. But Allie handled everything well.”
So and Waller also had spectacular results in both meets. At the Far Western Championships last weekend in Concord, So went 1:24.10 in the backstroke, good for a top-20 finish. He also competed in the 100 free, finishing in 1:15.23.
Waller also had a strong showing in Concord, recording times of 1:29.44 in the 100 backstroke, 45.54 in the 50 breast, 1:14.71 in the 100 free, 32.83 in the 50 free and a 3:06.58 in the 200 IM.
However, So and Waller had their best times in the Junior Olympics. So qualified for the 100 free in the Far Western Championships after he went 1:13.74 at the Junior Olympics, where he also dropped an amazing eight seconds off his previous PR in the 200 IM, finishing in 3:08.42.
So hit another huge PR in the100 breast, going 1:42.71 to take six seconds off his previous best. So also hit a PR in the 50 back, going 38.48. Waller also hit Far Western qualifying times at the Junior Olympics, where she went 1:13.53 in the 100 free, 39.74 in the 50 back, 45.56 in the 50 breast, 1:26.67 in the 100 back and 3:04.12 in the 200 IM.
Waller, who already had qualified for the Far Western Championships in the 50 fly, went 36.12 in the fly at the Junior Olympics and 33.45 in the 50 free. At the Junior Olympics, Waller recorded top-10 finishes in the 50 free, 50 fly, 50 back and 100 back, while So had top-10 finishes in the 50 back and 100 free.
For Lucas, So and Waller, it’s been a memorable last month, featuring the first of what Reed hopes are many more career-defining performances.
“They have a huge, huge future in front of them if they stick with swimming,” Reed said. “I’ve never seen kids drop times this big, just huge chunks. It’s remarkable and I think it has to do with the fact that they had to rise up to the level of competition that was out there. Plus, they’ve been working their bottoms off all summer to get to this point. They’re all young, they’re fast and they’re only going to get faster.”