Swimming

2022 Swammy Awards: Age Group Swimmer of the Year – 10 & Under

December 27, 2022

To see all of our 2022 Swammy Awards, click here.

2022 Honorees: Drue Rogers & Ayden Tan

Editor’s note: because of ongoing challenges with the USA Swimming results database, identifying all of the top candidates for this year’s age group awards in an objective way has been challenging. We’ve done our best to find them, but it’s possible that we missed someone obvious. If that’s the case, please let us know in the comments!

There were no individual 10 & under National Age Group Records this year, which leaves a wide-open competition for this year’s age group honors.

Girls Award: Drue Rogers, Lakeside Aquatic Club (TX)

Three swimmers from the girls’ 10 & under group stood out in 2022, but one stood out even above that group Drue Rogers from the Lakeside Aquatic Club in Texas.

Last year’s award winner Delaney O’Toole aged up before she raced in 2022, leaving room for some of the later-in-the-year birthday swimmers to step into the vacuum in the spring of 2022.

Rogers won all 7 individual events she entered at the North Texas age group championships in March, and also had the fastest time in prelims of each of those events.

Rogers’ Best Times, 9-10, SCY:

50 free – 27.13
100 free – 56.20
200 free – 2:01.26
500 free – 5:31.25
100 back – 1:04.31
100 fly – 1:01.16
200 IM – 2:17.38

Girls’ Honorable Mentions:

Lauren Lonsdale, Sacramento Aquatics Club – Lonsdale has been the dominant performer of the current group who will turn the year over still at 10-years old, leading the current long course and short course IMX and IMR rankings. At the 2022 Far Western Championships in April in yards, she won a whopping 7 individual events.
- 50y free – 26.32
- 100y free – 56.98
- 200y free – 2:02.44
- 500y free – 5:25.40
- 100y back – 1:04.66
- 100y breast – 1:09.75
- 100y fly – 1:07.05
- 100y IM – 1:04.61
- 200y IM – 2:18.60
Penelope Lopez-Casula, Eagle Aquatics – Lopez-Casula aged-up early in the year, but not before she did some damage in the 10 & under age group. She won six races at the Florida Gold Coast Short Course Junior Olympics in March, with the only blemish being a 2nd-place finish in the 50 fly. After aging up, she had four runner-up finishes in the long course edition of that meet in July, even being barely-11 and racing in the 11-12 age group.
- 50y free – 25.44
- 100y free – 56.27
- 200y free – 2:00.12
- 500y free – 5:28.21
- 100y back – 1:06.60

Boys Award: Ayden Tan, DART Swimming

Ayden Tan started his run in the 10 & under age group last season, where even as a 9-year-old he had impressive national rankings in the 10 & under age group. That includes the country’s fastest 10 & under 100 IM and tied-for-fastest 10 & under 50 free.

Now, even with about nine months left still in the age group, he has risen to a new level this season, ranking #1 nationally in 7 events already this season.

100 free – 55.32 (#2)
200 free – 2:00.29 (#2)
500 free – 5:21.73 (#1)
100 back – 1:01.76 (#1)
100 breast – 1:10.98 (#1)
100 fly – 1:01.51 (#1)
100 IM – 1:03.19 (#1) – also led last season
200 IM – 2:13.20 (#1)

In all of the events besides the 50 free, 200 free, and 500 free, his time is faster than any 10 & under has been this season or last season.

At Far Westerns in long course meters over the summer, he won the 100 free (1:03.61), 100 back (1:12.88), 50 breast (38.22), 50 fly (32.47), 100 fly (1:11.35), and 200 IM (2:32.88). Punctuating his high versatility, he won that 200 IM by more than 16 seconds.

At the spring LSC Championships in yards, swimming against mostly-older swimmers in the 10 & under age group, he won six events as well.

Boys’ Honorable Mentions:

Joaquin Seay, Alamo Area Aquatic Association – Seay’s 25.57 in the 50 free two weeks ago at a San Antonio-hosted meet was the fastest 50 yard free we’ve seen by a 10 & under since before the pandemic hit in early 2020. He won the 50 and 100 free at the summer long course TAGS Championships.
Aiden Nguyen, Mansfield Aquatics – Nguyen went ham at last week’s COR Classic to stake his claim on an honorable mention award, winning 8 events and crushing his best times almost across-the-board. He’s the only swimmer nationally who has been faster than Tan in the 100 (55.09) and 200 (1:58.14) free this year, including by almost two seconds in the 200. He also swam 1:03.61 in the 100-yard back, 1:01.87 in the 100-yard fly, and 2:15.38 in the 200-yard IM. Nguyen also won 4 long course titles over the summer in long course TAGS.

PAST WINNERS

YEAR	10-U GIRL	10-U BOY
2021	Drue Rogers	Ayden Tan
2021	Delaney O’Toole	Reef McMeeking
2020	Lexi Sereno	Spencer Belbot
2019	Kayla Han	Joey Campagnola
2018	Alexis Mesina	Timothy Lee
2017	Erika Pelaez	Kaii Winkler
2016	Leah Hayes	Jaeddan Gamilla
2015	Miriam Sheehan	Ronald Dalmacio
2014	Meghan Lynch	Andrew Rogers
2013	Lillie Nordmann	Winn Aung
2012	Regan Smith	Destin Lasco