Santa Barbara’s Alex Valente, 17, placed first in the men’s 100 butterfly C Final on Friday at the USA Swimming Championships in Irvine.
Valente, swimming for Buenaventura Swim Club, posted a winning time of 52.81. The mark is the seventh fastest in American swimming history for the 17-18 age-group.
Swimming in lane 5, Valente made the turn in a virtual dead heat with Michael Andrew and Justin Lynch but beat both with a second leg of 27.76. Lynch was second at 53.21 and Andrew in third at 53.59.
RESULTS: 2014 USA SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Valente recently won a Gold Medal in the same event at the USA Junior National Championships that feature the best swimmers 18 years or younger in the country, but the Senior National Championships included everyone, from Valente to Michael Phelps to Missy Franklin.
Valente, a soon-to-be high school senior at Dos Pueblos, also competed in the 50 and 200 fly at USA Senior Nationals. On Wednesday, Valente started out with a 36th overall finish in the 200 as the second-youngest competitor in the top 50. In the 50 on Thursday, Valente came in 28th overall in the preliminary heats with a time of 24.61. He was the youngest swimmer in the top 40.
Next up for Valente is the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii at the end of August with the USA Junior National Team.
