76 swim teams from across the state competed in last weekend’s Age Group State Championships at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IU- Indianapolis.
Club Olympia took 22 swimmers to State, with 18 competing, 10 in individual events and 8 more on relays, to finish in 17th over-all, with the boys breaking into the top ten, getting 7th. The boys were led by the Pendleton brothers, Joshua and Chad Pendleton, who scored 78 and 73 points respectively.
Joshua, 13, placed second in the 13-14 Boys 1000 and 1650 Free, 4th in the 500 Free, 8th in the 200 Fly and 400 IM and 10th in the 200 Free. Joshua’s times currently rank him 7th in the 1650 Free, as well as 12th in the nation for 13 year olds in the 500 and 1000 Free,
Chad, 9, won the 10&U Boys 200 Free, as well as placing 4th in the 100 Fly and 200 IM, 6th in the 100 Free and 12th in the 50 Fly and 100 Breaststroke. Chad’s time in the 200 IM ranks ranks him 24th in the nation for 9 year old boys and his 200 Free time is the 25th fastest time to date.
Aahan Gupta, 10, scored 48.5 points, placing 7th in the 100 Fly and 200 Free, 9th in the 50 Fly, 10th in the 50 Free and 12th in the 100 Free and 200 IM.
The younger Pendleton and Gupta also combined with Sarthak Deshmukh, 10, and Vivan Shah, 10, to podium in the 200 Free relay, placing 8th, and finishing in 10th in the 200 Medley relay.
Connelly Furnish, who turned 15 on the final day of the meet, scored 45 points by placing 3rd in the 13-14 Girls 1000 Free, 5th in the 1650 Free, 7th in the 500 Free and 14th in the 200 Free, all in personal best times.
Camila Mejia Murguia, 12, scored 9 points by placing 13th in the 11-12 Girls 100 Fly, 14th in the 50 Fly and 15th in the 200 Free. She was also 18th in the 500 Free, 21st in the 50 Free and 25th in the 100 Free.
Rebeca Mejia Murguia, 12, also scored by placing 15th in the 11-12 Girls 50 Breaststroke. She just missed making finals and scoring by placing 18th to be the second alternate in the 100 Breaststroke.
Lexi Miller, 12, just missed scoring in the 11-12 Girls 500 Free, placing 17th. She also dropped almost three seconds in the 200 Free to move up from 35th to 26th. Kay Payne, 12, was 23rd in the 11-12 Girls 100 Fly. Lily Pendleton was 65th in the 50 Free and 68th in the 100 Free.
The Mejia Murguia sisters combined with Miller and Payne to score points by placing 12th in the 11-12 Girls 200 Medley relay. The Mejia Muguias and Miller also combined with Lily Pendleton to place 19th in the 200 Free relay. Pendleton combined with Gargi Gupta, 12, Vibha Nagiligari, 11, and Aashka Shah, 12, to place 23rd in the 200 Medley relay.
Shreyan Kulkarni, 11, placed 30th in the 11-12 Boys 500 Free, 34th in the 200 Free and 200 IM, 45th in the 50 Fly and 100 Free, and 50th in the 50 Free. Kulkarni, Adir Joshi, 12, Xavier Zhang, and Arjun Agarkar, 12, placed 25th in the 11-12 Boys 200 Free relay.
