EP club swimmers break national boys relay record

Four boys from Eden Prairie-based club swim team Aquajets broke the 15-18 boys National Age Group (NAG) 4×100 medley relay record at the 2023 Summer Junior National Championships, held July 31 to Aug. 4 in Irvine, California.

The 4×100 medley was the last event of the five-day meet, marking a thrilling finish for the team which had placed second in the event the previous year. The four relay members were:

• Luke Logue of Eden Prairie, swimming the 100 backstroke leg in 56:40. Logue just graduated from Eden Prairie High School (EPHS), where he was co-captain of the boys team, helping lead them to the 2022-23 Lake Conference and State titles. Logue will swim for Notre Dame this fall.
• Charlie Egeland of Minneapolis, swimming the 100 breaststroke leg in 1:00.13. Egeland’s split was almost two seconds faster than the old NAG record split. Egeland just graduated from Blake School, where he was on the Breck/Blake high school swim team. He will swim for Yale University starting this fall.
• Drew Ploof of Eden Prairie, swimming the 100 butterfly leg in 54.85. Ploof is a standout on the swim team at EPHS, where he is a rising junior.
• Henry Webb of Edina, swimming the 100 freestyle leg in 50.76. Webb is a rising junior at the Blake School and a member of the Breck/Blake HS swim team.

The boys swam the event in just 3:42.14, also breaking the Summer Juniors meet record and their own Minnesota state record. At the meet, they also broke three other state relay records for a total of four new state relay records for the 15-18 boys.

Watch the event here.

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The Aquajets boys were barely out-touched by SwimMAC Carolina, but SwimMAC was ultimately disqualified due to an illegal turn by its freestyler, who did a backstroke propulsion on the last turn of the event. This secured Aquajets the fastest legal swim, along with the NAG record and a first-place victory.

Watch the boys receive their awards here.

Ploof, a rising junior at EPHS, said, “Last year when we placed second by .92 of a second and were all four coming back for this meet, it really helped put our sights on lock. A whole year of training helped us gear up for what we were sure was going to be a close and tough win.”

This was the third time the 15-18 boys NAG 4×100 medley relay record was broken this season. The previous record was 3:42.71 which the TAC Titans swam in late July at the Futures Championships in Ocala, Florida. The previous meet record was 3:42.85 set last year by Coronado Swim Association.

“Having this record broken three times this season even before we got a shot was surprising, but motivating at the same time,” Ploof said. “We knew the potential this team had to go out and grab the NAG record and the way that we did was special.

“Having the same four guys including two seniors on the relay this year meant that we had the experience from last year to come through this year.  The time kept getting faster, but our vision remained the same.”

Ploof had high praise for their coach, Kate Lundsten.

“Coach Kate always knew our goal for the season,” Ploof said. “She had faith in us but was probably a bit surprised as well after five full days in the sun. Her coaching all of us day in and day out really elevated and prepared us for the challenge we set out for.”