14yo Joseph Campagnola Breaks Four FL LSC Records, Goes 1:48.87 200 IM at Spring FLAGS

2023 FLORIDA SWIMMING SPRING AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS

• March 2-5, 2023
• North Site: National Training Center, Clermont, FL
• South Site: Long Center, Clearwater, FL
• SCY (25 yards)
• COMBINED RESULTS
  • North Site Results
  • South Site Results

NORTH SITE TOP 5 TEAM SCORES (COMBINED)

1. Bolles School Sharks – 4223
2. Southwest Stars Swim Club – 1990
3. Loggerhead Aquatics – 1818.50
4. Patriot Aquatics – 1709.50
5. Planet Swim Aquatics – 1318

SOUTH SITE TOP 5 TEAM SCORES (COMBINED)

1. Sarasota Sharks – 2242
2. T2 Aquatics – 1076.5
3. Saint Petersburg Aquatics – 884.5
4. Tampa Bay Aquatic Club – 765
5. Swim Florida – Cape Coral – 724

Florida Swimming held their 2023 Spring Age Group Championship meets in early March. Florida Swimming held FLAGS at two different sites, a North site, and a South site. The North site was held at the National Training Center in Clermont, while the South site competed at the Long Center in Clearwater. Bolles School Sharks were absolutely dominant in the North site team scoring, winning the team title by 2333 points over runner-up Southwest Stars Swim Club. Meanwhile, Sarasota Sharks won the South site team title by a considerable margin as well, beating out runner-up T2 Aquatics by 1163.5 points.

West Florida Lightning Aquatic 14-year-old Joseph Campagnola was on fire at the South site in Clearwater, not only winning all six of his events at the South meet but winning the North/South combined events in all six events as well. On top of that, Campagnola broke the Florida Swimming LSC Records for 13-14 boys in five of his events.

Campagnola’s best race arguably came in the 200 IM, where he won in a blistering new lifetime best of 1:48.87. That performance came on the heels of Campagnola initially breaking Ryan Murphy‘s 13-14 boys LSC Record of 1:51.67 in prelims, where he clocked a 1:51.44. Not only did Campagnola’s finals performance mark a massive new personal best and shatter the LSC Record, it also lifted the 14-year-old all the to #6 all-time in the 13-14 boys rankings in the event. Here is a look at the all-time top ten performers in the 13-14 boys age group in the SCY 200 IM:

Notably, at the time Campagnola swam his 1:48.87 200 IM, it was actually the #5 performance all-time in the age group, however, Tim Wu would go on to clock a faster time at Far Westerns at the end of March, which bumped Campagnola down to sixth.

While Campagnola’s performance in the 200 IM was spectacular, he wasn’t the only swimmer at the FLAGS-South meet to go under the previous LSC Record. Sarasota Sharks 14-year-old Bogdan Zverev came in second in finals behind Campagnola, swimming a 1:50.59, which also was well under Murphy’s LSC Record mark.

Zverev would go on to break a FLAGS Meet Record himself. The 14-year-old won the 13-14 boys 50 fly in 23.05, taking 0.21 seconds off his previous best and dipping under the meet record of 23.27.

Campagnola also cracked the LSC Record in the 13-14 boys 400 IM, winning the race convincingly. He swam a 3:57.59, breaking a 15-year-old LSC Record of 3:58.22, which was held by Nicholas Caldwell from 2008. That performance puts Campagnola 29th all-time in the 13-14 age group.

He was also exceptional in the breaststroke events. In the 200 breast, Campagnola ripped a new lifetime best of 2:01.84 in prelims, shattering the LSC Record of 2:03.76, which was held by Paul Degrado from 2016. Campagnola got out to a fantastic start, splitting 57.15 on the first 100 to establish a giant lead. In terms of the all-time rankings, this was Campagnola’s second-best event of the meet, putting him tenth all-time in the age group.

Of note, Campagnola wasn’t the only swimmer in the event to swim under the previous LSC Record. Planet Swim Aquatics’ Luke Zardavets won the event at the North site, swimming a new personal best of 2:02.95. Montverde Aquatic Club 14-year-old Cobi Wu came in second at the North site, swimming a 2:03.40 in finals, also a personal best.

In the 100 breast, Campagnola swam another lifetime best of 56.40, dipping under James Daugherty’s LSC Record of 56.72, which had stood since 2013. He was out to a speedy start, splitting 26.39 on the first 50, then came home in 30.01. With that swim, Campagnola rose to #11 all-time in the 13-14 boys age group.

Similar to the 200 breast, both Zardavets and Wu were under the previous FLAGS Meet Record of 58.40, however, neither came in under the previous LSC Record of 56.72. Zardavets won the race at the North site, swimming a 56.87 for a new lifetime best. Wu came in second, swimming a 57.17, also a personal best.

Campagnola didn’t break the LSC Record in the 13-14 boys 100 back, however, he did break the FLAGS Meet Record of 50.38, which was held by Austin Katz. Campagnola clocked a 49.96 in finals, breaking the meet record and dipping under 50 seconds for the first time. The Florida LSC Record is held by Ryan Murphy at 49.47. His performance in the 100 back puts Campagnola #34 all-time in the 13-14 boys age group in the event.

At the South site, Area Tallahassee Aquatic Club 14-year-old Owen Ekk won the event in 50.16, also dipping under the previous meet record.

Campagnola also won the 13-14 boys 200 back, swimming a 1:49.72. That swim comes in just off his personal best of 1:49.44, which he swam back in December.

At the South site of the meet, Sarasota Sharks 14-year-old Angelina Lista cracked the FLAGS meet record in the 13-14 girls 50 fly, speeding to a new personal best of 24.72. It was a massive swim for Lista, taking half a second off her previous best of 25.27. The meet record stood at 24.93 in the event.

Though he swam under the meet record in the other two breaststroke events but didn’t win the races, Cobi Wu got his in the 13-14 boys 50 breast. Wu won the event in 26.51, blowing away the previous FLAGS meet record of 27.10. It was also a personal best for the 14-year-old, taking 0.34 seconds off his previous mark.

Bolles School Sharks 14-year-old Krish Jain won the 13-14 boys 50 back in a new meet record of 23.48. He shattered the previous meet record of 24.12, also clearing his previous lifetime best of 23.99 by 0.51 seconds.

Windermere Lakers 13-year-old Rylee Erisman also had a huge meet, taking down a pair of meet records in the 13-14 girls sprint free events. Swimming at the North site, Erisman won the 13-14 girls 50 free in 22.99, dipping under the meet record of 23.07. It was also a huge swim for Erisman, taking 0.46 seconds off her previous best.

Erisman went on to clock a 49.62 to win the 13-14 girls 100 free, tearing down the meet record of 50.16. That swim makes Erisman the fifth-fastest 13-year-old all-time in the event, behind only Missy Franklin, Erika Pelaez, Lia Neal, and Gretchen Walsh.