{"id":268351,"date":"2026-04-27T16:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/268351\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T16:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T16:09:13","slug":"olivia-smoliga-swims-new-lifetime-best-in-dallas-pros-at-age-group-meets-april-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/268351\/","title":{"rendered":"Olivia Smoliga Swims New Lifetime Best in Dallas (Pros at Age Group Meets April Roundup)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pros, post-grads and other senior-level contenders raced at relatively-minor meets across the country over the last few weeks, which includes a lifetime best from\u00a0Olivia Smoliga<\/a> in the most encouraging signs of her comeback so far.<\/p>\n

SMU Senior LC Meet<\/p>\n

April 24-26, 2026
\nRobson & Lindley Aquatics Center, SMU Campus, Dallas, Texas
\nLong Course Meters (50 meter)
\nResults on Meet Mobile: \u201c2026 SMU Long Course Meet\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026 SMU Senior Long Course Meet was light on participants, but Coley Stickels<\/a>\u2018 pro group from cross-town Texas Ford Aquatics provided a little boost of attention to the affair.<\/p>\n

That includes\u00a0Olivia Smoliga<\/a>, who is on her comeback trail after missing the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team. She swam for the first time at the World Aquatics World Cup in Toronto in October, and then made an appearance at the Westmont Pro Swim in March<\/p>\n

Her racing over the weekend in Dallas included a new lifetime best \u2013 albeit in an event that she hasn\u2019t swum too often historically. She posted a 26.73 to win the 50 fly, improving on the 26.92 that she swam at the Westmont Pro Swim in a time trial race.<\/p>\n

Prior to Westmont, she swam the race once as an adult, clocking a 27.42 at a college dual meet in 2023 while racing as a pro. Before that, she hadn\u2019t swum the event since she was 12.<\/p>\n

Smoliga, who was a sprint freestyler and backstroker in the earlier phases of her career, could be the poster child for the new Olympic stroke 50s keeping big names in the sport longer. In Westmont, she swam the 50 free (24.96), 50 back (28.41), and 50 fly (26.92). Her 50 free this weekend was 25.37.<\/p>\n

Those times are still a long way from challenging for the U.S. team, but seeing best times go on the board should be encouraging for the comeback.<\/p>\n

She wasn\u2019t the only Stickels swimmer who performed well at the meet.<\/p>\n

Luke Barr<\/a> won the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.65, which is just three-tenths shy of his lifetime best of 1:00.32 set a week earlier at the Bergen Swim Festival in Norway. Part of a resurgent American men\u2019s breaststroking contingent, Barr is a former Indiana Hoosier who is also now training with Texas Ford.<\/p>\n

Barr added a 2:12.96 lifetime best in the 200 breaststroke, an event where he doesn\u2019t focus as much. His previous fastest was a 2:15.4 from a Pro Swim in 2023.<\/p>\n

Barr has swum 1:00.95-1:00.32-1:00.65 in consecutive weekends, even with a trip to Norway in there, really bringing up his consistency heading into the back half of the Olympic quad.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the month, he and most of that same Texas Ford group raced at the Super League meet in Frisco.\u00a0Morgan Scott<\/a> also raced at that meet, though she wasn\u2019t at SMU, posting times of 26.22 in the 50 free and 1:01.26 in the 200 free.<\/p>\n

Other Notable Names:<\/p>\n

Texas Ford\u2019s\u00a0Mitch Mason<\/a> swam 1:02.53 in the 100 breaststroke to finish 2nd behind Barr. The former LSU Tiger is another swimmer returning from an extended break after the 2024 Olympic Trials and does have a sub-minute swim on his resume from 2023.
\nNCAA Championship qualifier\u00a0Francis Brennan<\/a> swam a best time of 1:50.01 to win the 200 free. That\u2019s a lifetime best for him by .13 seconds. Still only 18, he represented Canada at the World Junior Championships last year, and is within reach of an 800 free relay spot at the Olympic Games (he ranks 6th in Canada so far this season) if they send a relay. He just finished his freshman season at SMU, where he finished 18th in the 200 free at NCAAs.<\/p>\n

2026 Aggieland April LC Invitational<\/p>\n

April 17-19, 2026
\nTexas A&M Student Rec Center Natatorium, College Station, Texas
\nLong Course Meters (50m), Timed Finals
\nMeet Results (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple of Texas A&M current and former swimmers raced at a local meet in Aggieland last weekend. That includes\u00a0Connor Foote<\/a>, who is expected to return to the varsity team next season after taking a redshirt year for an internship<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Foote swam 23.40 in the 50 free, 24.26 in the 50 fly, and 54.90 in the 100 fly.<\/p>\n

Former Aggie\u00a0Chloe Stepanek<\/a>, whose last meet was back home racing in New York and representing the Long Island Aquatic Club, also made an appearance. She swam 2:01.46 in the 200 free, 1:04.10 in the 100 back, and 2:19.40 in the 200 IM in a casual outing.<\/p>\n

Other Aggies with notable performances at the meet include rising junior\u00a0Ella McQuinn<\/a>. She swam lifetime bests in both the 100 free 57.87) and 50 breast (33.05), and just missed her lifetime best in the 50 free (26.86).<\/p>\n

She was an individual and relay NCAA qualifier for the Aggies last season.<\/p>\n

2026 Longhorn Aquatics 11 & Over Long Course Kick Off<\/p>\n

April 24-26, 2026
\nLee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, University of Texas, Austin, Texas
\nLong Course Meters (50 meters)
\nMeet Results<\/a><\/p>\n

Because Texas is such a big state, its pro and collegiate ranks divided into at least three different meets over the last two weeks.<\/p>\n

In Austin, Texas swimmers came off their NCAA Championship on the men\u2019s side to post some early long course markers.<\/p>\n

That included a stacked field in the 200 free, where\u00a0Rex Maurer<\/a> won in 1:48.47 ahead of\u00a0Baylor Nelson<\/a> (1:49.14),\u00a0Rafael Fente-Damers (1:49.39),\u00a0and\u00a0Jacob Wimberly<\/a> (1:49.56).<\/p>\n

The finish order was flipped for the top two in the 200 IM, with Nelson winning in 2:01.02 and Maurer finishing 2nd in 2:01.53.<\/p>\n

Other Texas Men\u2019s Highlight Results:<\/p>\n

Rising sophomore and World Championship team member Campbell McKean<\/a> was 4th in the 200 IM in 2:05.13 and 2nd in the 100 breast in 1:01.73. As the reigning American champion in the 100 breast, that time is on the outside of what America\u2019s other top breaststrokers have been in the last month as part of a group that is getting better in a hurry nationwide. McKean, though, has been a really good taper swimmer, so it\u2019s no cause for panic either.
\nExample of the above: his teammate\u00a0Nate Germonprez<\/a> won in 1:00.92. He was also 2:05 in the 200 IM.
\nCooper Lucas<\/a> won the 200 fly in 1:58.58 and was 2nd in the 200 IM in 2:02.83.
\nAlexey Glivinskiy<\/a>, who on Friday entered the NCAA transfer portal after one semester with the Longhorns when he was cut by the team, still raced at this meet. He swam 1:52.18 in the 200 free and 2:08.97 in the 200 IM.<\/p>\n

Maybe the real story, though, was the quiet comeback of\u00a0Joanna Evans<\/a>, who hasn\u2019t raced in the United States since receiving a four year doping suspension in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She actually made her comeback in March at a meet in her native Bahamas, swimming 2:00.49 in the 200 free and 4:19.28 in the 400 free. Over the weekend in Austin, she swam similar times of 2:00.95 and 4:19.48.<\/p>\n

Evans represented the Bahamas at the 2016 and 2021 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

Other Notable Results<\/p>\n

The winners of the boys\u2019 100 breaststroke in the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups both had big time drops. In the 15-16 group,\u00a0Daniel Franco from Waterloo Swimming posted a 1:08.42. That ranks him 12th among 15-year-olds nationally this season. His previous best time was a 1:12.88 from last year\u2019s TAGS summer championship. He also registered big drops in the 100 back (1:07.02), 100 fly (1:14.47), and 200 breast (2:44.31).<\/p>\n

Zach Marshall from Nitro won the 100 breast in the 17-18 age group even though he\u2019s only 17. He swam 1:04.86, which drops about six-tenths off his previous best from January. A high school senior, he is committed to NCAA Division II power Colorado School of Mines. He also won the 400 IM for his age group in 4:40.45.<\/p>\n

Karly Whitehead from Alamo Area Aquatic Association won the 100 back in 1:04.97. That is a half-second drop to kick off her long course season and follows a 1.4 second improvement in yards over the winter. A high school sophomore, her recruiting cycle is scheduled to kick off over the summer.
\nNitro 15-year-old\u00a0Sophie Jones won five of her six events (and was 2nd in the 200 free). That included a big drop in the 800 to go 9:43.41.<\/p>\n

2026 Orange Committee BB Minimum LC Age Group Meet<\/p>\n

April 11-12, 2026
\nFullerton, California
\nLong Course Meters (50 meters)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in California, a group of pros training with Aquatic Sports Performance raced at a local age group meet \u2013 though they officially represented the Fullerton Aquatics Sports Team (FAST).<\/p>\n

On the men\u2019s side, that included U.S. World Championship team member and Canadian\/Italian Olympian\u00a0Santo Condorelli<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The sprinter swam 23.25 in the 50 free and 24.57 in the 50 fly. In both races, he squared off against Singaporean and training partner Tzen Teong, who swam 24.14 and 24.15, respectively. Teong was a 2022 Commonwealth Games silver medalist in the 50 fly.<\/p>\n

On the women\u2019s side, participating pros included\u00a0Maxine Parker<\/a>, who went 25.13 and 57.02 in the 50 and 100 free, respectively; and 2012 Olympic medley relay gold medalist\u00a0Breeja Larson<\/a>, who swam 1:10.99 in the 100 breaststroke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pros, post-grads and other senior-level contenders raced at relatively-minor meets across the country over the last few weeks,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268352,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[99966,32227,99967,58097,53351,53317,99968,58100,102,104,103,99969,55210,99970,99971,99972,99973,53320,99974,53321,99975,58116,99976,60859,58119,99977,99978,99979,99980],"class_list":["post-268351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-alexey-glivinskiy","tag-baylor-nelson","tag-breeja-larson","tag-campbell-mckean","tag-chloe-stepanek","tag-coley-stickels","tag-connor-foote","tag-cooper-lucas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-daniel-franco","tag-ella-mcquinn","tag-francis-brennan","tag-jacob-wimberly","tag-joanna-evans","tag-karly-whitehead","tag-luke-barr","tag-maxine-parker","tag-mitch-mason","tag-morgan-scott","tag-nate-germonprez","tag-olivia-smoliga","tag-rafael-fente-damers","tag-rex-maurer","tag-santo-condorelli","tag-sophie-jones","tag-tzen-teong","tag-zach-marshall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}