TVA Swimmers at LC Far Westerns Championships!

 The Far Westerns Championships are the most prestigious of age group competitions held by Pacific Swimming. This past weekend, teams came from thousands of miles around – some coming from even New York, Canada, Mexico – to compete at the meet in Concord. Tri Valley Aquatics brought seven swimmers to the five-day meet: Hannah Bergh, Marissa Bergh, Connor Daly, Chris Dotson, Chris Jhong, Brent Reed, and Natalie Tang.

To make the finals that swam later in the day, swimmers had to post times in the top nine for their event during the preliminary heats. Chris Dotson, who swam two events in the meet, made finals in both of his events, the 50 and 100 meter freestyles. He took first in both races, scoring 20 points for Tri Valley Aquatics. Brent Reed also made finals in the 50 and 100 meter freestyles, taking third and fourth. Chris Jhong (10 & Un), who had a significant drop in his 100 meter breaststroke at the Junior Olympics two weeks earlier, swam two more best times – one in prelims and one at finals – and took seventh place. Marissa Bergh swam to eighth place in her 50 meter freestyle.

All of the Tri Valley swimmers put in some best times. Hannah Bergh swam a best time in both the 400 meter individual medley and the 50 free, the latter of which was a new Sectional qualifying time. Marissa Bergh dropped time in her 200 meter backstroke. Connor Daly managed to drop time in his 50 meter backstroke. Chris Jhong went his fastest in the 50 freestyle and 200 IM. Brent Reed took down his personal best in the 100 meter butterfly, almost making finals in it. Natalie Tang swam best times in her 800 free, 100 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM. 

Far Westerns Relay swimmers: Julian Wagner, Chris Fernainy

Tri Valley swimmers saw the Far Westerns as a successful meet to end their summer swim seasons on. However three more swimmers (Marissa Bergh, Chris Dotson, and Brent Reed) each have one more meet to compete at. Marissa and Chris will be competing for Pacific All-Star Team at the prestigious North American Challenge Cup, an international age group meet. Brent was selected to swim at the Western Zones Championships meet, where he’ll score points for Pacific against USA Swimming’s other eight westernmost teams. Swimmers for both Championship meets were selected by Pacific Swimming.