January 14th and 15th saw Club Trident Aquatics’ second appearance at the TAAF Winter Games, in Victoria Texas. Thirty three swimmers from CTA competed with the entire group (100 %) earning personal bests, half the team (50 %) made the podium with a Top Eight finish, and a third (33 %) of the team qualified for Nationals, for the State Games of America, in San Diego, California in July 2024.
CTA’s Coach Javonte Herbert continued his record breaking streak with TAAF, by breaking yet again another record. This was his second Winter Games, and his third TAAF Championship Meet, in which he has broken a record in succession, hence all three Championships. Like last year, he broke the men’s 25-29, 100 Yard Freestyle record with a time of 50.79, bettering the previous record of 52.76 from 2014. In addition, he requalified for Nationals.
Along with Javonte we had two other Swimmers rebook their trips to San Diego as well, Jazalynn Vasquez in the Girls 11-12, and Lori LaBombarb-Sandberg in the women’s 50-54 age group. The qualifications continued to flow over the weekend, and by the time the Championship closed, we had a total of ten qualifiers from the meet inclusive of the three above. Bringing the Total for CTA to eleven National qualifiers for the State Games of America in San Diego, California.
The additional seven qualifiers were Khue Do, Charley Everett, Iris Ho, Sheldon Ho, Bryan Torres, Miguely Torres and Olivia Zibili, along with Orine Davis, who qualified from the TAAF Summer Games Championship Meet.
Below is the performances of the swimmers earning their appearance at the National Meet:
- Bryan Torres (Men 15-17) – 100 Yard Freestyle 2nd Place Finish, 50 Yard Freestyle 2nd Place Finish
- Sheldon Ho (Men 15-17) – 50 Yard Backstroke 2nd Place Finish
- Khue Do (Girls 11-12) – 50 Yard Backstroke 3rd Place Finish, 50 Yard Butterfly 3rd Place Finish
- Jazalynn Vazquez (Girls 11-12) – 50 Yard Butterfly 1st Place Finish
- Iris Ho (Girls 13-14) – 50 Yard Butterfly 3rd Place Finish, 50 Yard Backstroke 1st Place Finish, 100 Yard IM 2nd Place Finish
- Miguely Torres (Girls 6 and Under) – 25 Yard Freestyle 1st Place Finish, 25 Yard Backstroke 1st Place Finish
- Charley Everett (Girls 7-8) – 25 Yard Backstroke 2nd Place Finish, 25 Yard Butterfly 3rd Place Finish
- Olivia Zibili (Girls 7-8) – 25 Yard Freestyle 1st Place Finish, 50 Yard Freestyle 1st Place Finish
- Lori LaBombarb-Sandberg (Women 50-54) – 50 Freestyle 3rd Place Finish, 100 Yard Freestyle 1st Place Finish
- Javonte Herbert (Men 25-29) – 50 Yard Freestyle 1st Place Finish, 100 Yard Freestyle 1st Place Finish, 50 Yard Butterfly 1st Place Finish
Performances making the podium Top 8, and who just missed out on a medal and a chance for Nationals. Earning a ribbon for 4th through 8th place were:
- Olivia Zibili (Girls 7-8) – 25 Yard Butterfly 5th Place Finish
- Charley Everett (Girls 7-8) – 25 Yard Freestyle 6th Place Finish
- Amaryllis Rowell (Girls 7-8) – 25 Yard Backstroke 7th Place Finish
- Yelitza Miranda (Women 15-17) – 100 Yard Freestyle 5th Place Finish, 50 Yard Freestyle 8th Place Finish
- Jazalynn Vazquez (Girls 11-12) – 100 Yard IM 5th Place Finish, 50 Yard Freestyle 5th Place Finish
- Khue Do (Girls 11-12) – 50 Yard Freestyle 5th Place Finish
- Bryan Torres (Men 15-17) – 50 Yard Butterfly 4th Place Finish
- Sheldon Ho (Men 15-17) – 50 Yard Freestyle 4th Place Finish, 100 Yard Freestyle 4th Place Finish
- Samuel Longo-Mora (Boys 9-10) – 25 Yard Freestyle 7th Place Finish
- Valentina Longo-Mora (Girls 11-12) – 50 Yard Freestyle 8th Place Finish
- Isabella Wright (Girls 13-14) – 50 Yard Backstroke 7th Place Finish
- Yasmine Garcia (Girls 15-17) – 100 Yard Freestyle 7th Place Finish
