2026 Far Westerns Championships Highlights
2026 Far Westerns Championships Highlights
A group of BTSC athletes were competing in Concord, California (near San Francisco) from July 30 to August 2 at the Far Westerns Championships hosted by the Terrapins Swim Team. This was a unique opportunity for these swimmers to compete internationally in a 50M outdoor pool. BTSC was one of 86 Clubs participating including teams from Mexico and Western Canada. The meet was also different in that the younger swimmers also took part in preliminary and finals sessions.
The first day of swimming was highlighted by Sophie Bowen racing to the 1500M gold medal for 11-12 year olds. Elijah Hutzal had a double medal day, claiming silver medals in the 100M freestyle and 200M individual medley. Harrison Levene was also a first day medalist, earning a bronze medal in the 200M individual medley.
The girls 200M medley relay team of Marissa Battrick, Sam Brundage, Avah-Skye Miller and Blayke Taylor won the bronze medal in the 15-18 year old age category (the three later girls racing in an older age group in order to make up a BTSC relay team!!)
There were a number of BTSC top 9 (number of pool lanes) finishers. 100M freestyle racing saw Avah-Skye Miller and Blayke Taylor finish 5th and 8th respectively. In the 200M individual medley, Marissa Battrick and Griff Seguin both placed 6th and Kenzie Sparrow placed 9th.
BTSC swimmers were featured again in the finals entry lists for the second day of swimming.
Sam Brundage sprinted to the 50M breaststroke gold medal.
Harrison Levene improved his 200M butterfly time by 6 seconds throughout the course of the day resulting in a silver medal win.
Blayke Taylor claimed bronze medals in both the 200M freestyle and the 400M individual medley.
Griff Seguin was a bronze medalist in his 400M individual medley race.
The 200M freestyle relay team of Blayke Taylor, Kenzie Sparrow, Sam Brundage and Avah-Skye Miller raced to the 15-18 year old silver medal. (Blayke, Sam and Avah raced in an older age group yet again to make up a BTSC relay team!)
Top 9 finishes were achieved by the following swimmers.
In 200M freestyle events, Elijah Hutzal finished 4th, Marissa Battrick placed 6th, Harrison Levene came 8th, and Sophie Bowen and Griff Seguin were 9th.
Marissa Battrick placed 5th and Sophie Bowen was 9th in 200M butterfly racing.
All eight BTSC team members qualified for the finals session on Saturday which was highlighted by 9 medal swims. The session schedule included 50M freestyle, 200M backstroke, 100M breaststroke, 50M butterfly and 400M freestyle.
Avah-Skye Miller and Marissa Battrick led the podium parade with two medals each. Avah-Skye sprinted to the wall first in the 50M freestyle to earn gold and claimed a 50M butterfly silver. Marissa was fastest in 400M freestyle to get the gold and she earned a bronze medal in 200M backstroke.
Sam Brundage was also a gold medalist, claiming the 100M breaststroke top spot in a Club record time of 1:14.58.
Elijah Hutzal snagged the 50M butterfly gold medal in the 15-17 year old age category.
Harrison Levene grabbed a silver medal in his 200M backstroke final.
Sophie Bowen and Blayke Taylor were silver medalists in the 400M freestyle. Sophie’s time was the 2nd fastest for 11-12 year olds in BTSC history.
Griff Seguin achieved a 4th place finish in his 400M freestyle final.
In their respective age group categories: Elijah Hutzal and Blayke Taylor achieved 4th place results in 50M freestyle while Kenzie Sparrow finished 7th overall in her 50M freestyle final. Kenzie finished in 8th place in 50M and Blayke was 9th in 50M butterfly.
The final day of the championships had the BTSC team competing in 50M backstroke, 200M breaststroke, 100M butterfly and 800M freestyle.
Marissa Battrick and Elijah Hutzal led the way with gold medal swims in 800M freestyle and 100M butterfly respectively.
Sophie Bowen also used a 2nd fastest historical BTSC time to win the 800M freestyle silver medal for 11-12 year olds.
Blayke Taylor was awarded the silver medal for her 100M butterfly final and Griff Seguin is the 800M freestyle bronze medalist for his age group.
Harrison Levene finished 5th in the 50M backstroke. Kenzie Sparrow also had a top 9 result, finishing 8th in the 100M butterfly. Avah-Skye Miller and Sam Brundage had 9th place finishes in 100M butterfly and 200M breaststroke respectively.
A number of BTSC swimmers were in the individual scoring top 10.
Elijah Hutzal led all swimmers in his boys 17 year old and over category scoring the most individual points.
Marissa Battrick scored the 2nd most points for 15-16 year old girls.
Harrison Levene was 3rd overall for 15-16 year old boys.
Blayke Taylor and Avah-Skye Miller were 5th and 7th for 13-14 year old girls.
Sophie Bowen placed 8th for 11-12 year old girls.
Congratulations swimmers on your achievements at the 2026 Far Westerns.
Thank you to our Club sponsors for their continued support. They are:
Platinum Sponsors: Career Marketing Center, Sora Group, Rockwater Wealth Management
Gold Sponsors: Georgian BMW, Homestead Artisan Bakery
Bronze Sponsors: Theta TTS, Brandy's Cove Yachting Center, Watt's Trophies and Engraving
Go Trojans!
