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Tosky taking her swimming to another level at USA junior national championships

by Rick Eymer

Jasmine Tosky set out to get more involved with her swimming career this summer. It was like an exploratory trip to help her understand where she is her development.

She followed a splendid effort at the USA National Swimming Championships last week with an even better performance over the first few days of the USA Junior National Championships, which are being held through Friday in Irvine.

Tosky set a meet record on each of the first two days, won a third event on Wednesday and recorded a third-place finish.

Not only has she exceeded expectations, she's earned a free trip to Hawaii for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships the final week of August.

Tosky was part of Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics' meet record 3:48.24 in the 400 free relay. Madeline Schaefer, Camille Cheng and Rachael Acker swam ahead of Tosky.

The 16-year-old Palo Alto junior is turning heads among the national swimming community. Local observers have seen this before at the Central Coast Section championships.

Tosky set a meet record in wining the 200 fly with a time of 2:09.28 on Monday and followed that with another meet record Tuesday in the 400 individual medley, swimming 4:44.85, seven seconds faster than her preliminary time.

And on the third day, Tosky went 59.43 to record the victory in the 100 fly, although she did not set a meet record this time.

PASA's Adam Hinshaw also added to his championship finals collection, placing sixth in the 400 free with a time of 3:57.79.

The fly record Tosky bettered? Stanford incoming freshman Felicia Lee went 2:09.45 last year in Federal Way.

Tosky set a blistering pace, going 28.81 through the first 50 meters, a time that was on pace for the American record. She led by a full second by then and finished more than two seconds faster than second-place Kaitlin Pawlowicz of the Curl Burke Swim Club.

She followed the same game plan in the IM, jumping out to a solid lead and maintaining it the entire distance. The Claremont's Noelle Tarazona kept within a second heading into the freestyle and that's where Tosky pulled away from the group.

Schaefer, a senior at St. Francis, went 55.48 to finish second in the 100 free, an event she dominated at the Central Coast Section championships in May. Tosky came in right behind her in 55.95.

Hinshaw, part of Saratoga High's national high school record-setting 400 free relay team of 15 months ago, finished fifth in the 1,500 free with a time of 15:38.78.

The high school senior swam in the final heat, which produced five of the top eight times in the event, including winner Ediz Yildirimer, who went 15:29.38.

In related news, Palo Alto Stanford's Alex Liang was named the TYR Age Group Swimmer of the Month in the August issue of Swimming World Magazine.

Liang, 11, had a great meet at Far Westerns while still a 10-year old competing in the 10-and-under age group, winning seven individual events.