TAC Titans Take Down Mixed 400 Free, 400 Medley Relay 11-12 NAG Records

The TAC Titans broke two mixed relay national age group records on June 29 to close out the 2024 TAC Titans LC Qualifier.

That brings the Cary, North Carolina-based team to 12 NAG relay records across yards and meters. The Titans already held the following records:

• 11-12 Mixed 400 Medley (SCY); 400 Free (LCM)
• 13-14 Girls 200 Free, 200 Medley, 400 Medley (SCY); 200 Free, 200 Medley, 400 Medley (LCM)
• 17-18 Girls 400 Medley (LCM)
• 17-18 Boys 400 Medley (LCM)

Now, they add the 11-12 mixed 400 Free and 11-12 mixed 400 medley to their already impressive resume.

In the mixed 400-meter medley relay, Finola Whelehan, Landon Marrujo, Steven Zhou-He, and Ziva Liu combined to obliterate the old record by over nine seconds. The previous record had stood since 2019, held by New England’s Bluefish Swim Club.

Whelehan kicked things off with a personal best in the 100 backstroke. She handed things off to Marrujo, who split over three seconds faster than his flat-start 100 breast (1:22.51). Next up was Zhou-He, who looks to be due for a drop on his personal best of 1:07.76. Finally, Liu brought them home, splitting 59.13.

Bluefish also opted for a FMMF order when they set the record. the Titans were just over a second behind the old record at the halfway mark, but their back-half made all the difference.

Split Comparison, 11-12 Mixed 400 Medley Relay NAG:

Three of the same squad returned in the mixed 400-meter freestyle relay, with Stokes Oxrieder as the newcomer on the anchor leg. Combined, they slashed nearly eight seconds off the previous record held by North Baltimore Aquatic Club (NBAC) and set last year.

On the international stage, a MMFF relay order is the dominant strategy, but with such a young age group with less variation between sexes, the Titans opted for the opposite order.

Liu got things rolling with a personal best, followed by Whelehan who split nearly a second under her flat-start best of 1:00.58. Zhou-He was also under his personal best (1:02.61), as was Oxrieder who set his best time earlier in the same meet (59.97).

The quartet averaged 1:00.20 across all four legs, with only 1.34-seconds separating the fastest leg from the slowest. That easily clears the previous record, which averaged 1:02.08 with a 4.37-second delta.

Split Comparison, 11-12 Mixed 400 Free Relay NAG:

Oxrieder was the only record-setting swimmer who entered individual events at this meet, hitting personal best times in the 100 back (1:10.20), 50 free (27.59), 100 free (59.97), and 400 IM (5:17.29).