The Palmetto Masters Swim Team competed at Nationals held in Greensboro, NC April 28-May 1. 75 adults ranging in age from 18-69 from around the area took on 1,800 athletes from 200 swim teams representing every region of the country.
Palmetto Masters finished 2nd at US Masters Nationals. The highest finish ever for a team from South Carolina over the past 30 years of Masters swimming.
The team was led by 27 year-old North Charleston resident Jessica Ballard. She placed 2nd in the 1000 Free, 1650 Free, 200 Back and broke the State Record in each. Jessica went on to place 3rd in the 50 Back and 8th in the 100 IM and also broke those State Records.
City of North Charleston Aquatics Director Bora Yatagan competed and finished in the top-10 in the nation for the 50 Free, 100 Free, 50 Fly and 100 Breast.
Another North Charleston resident, 41 year-old Ken Immer, started swimming about a year or so ago just for some exercise. Just a year later he was competing with the best in the country and went lifetime bests.
Danny Jones lifeguard and North Charleston resident Jesse Turner placed in the top-10 for the 1000 Free and 1650 Free.
34 year-old North Charleston resident Mike Malik led the men’s team with top-10 finishes in the 200 Free, 200 Breast, 200 Fly, 500 Free and 400 IM.
Erin Moro was the National Champion in the 200 Fly for the second year in a row. During the 2 years she has trained at Danny Jones Erin has won 7 Individual National Titles and was rewritten the State Record books. As a team Palmetto Masters won 9 different individual National titles this past weekend.
Next year Masters World Championships will be held in Budapest, Hungary and we hope to have athletes from Danny Jones on the medal stand representing the City of North Charleston.