Daisy Collins and Owen Miklos Dazzle at the NC TAC Blizzard Blitz Extravaganza!

TAC Blizzard Blitz

TAC organized their yearly Blizzard Blitz Invitational earlier this month, showcasing the distance swimmers’ talents impressively. Competitors from North Carolina Aquatic Club, Daisy Collins, and Nova of Virginia, Owen Miklos, excelled.

Collins, a sophomore in high school, technically participated in just one event at the competition, the mile, emerging victorious. She also established a new personal record in her 1000 free during the first part of her mile, clocking in at 9:46.57. This time surpassed her earlier best of 9:49.22 from last January, positioning her 3rd among the 15-16 girls in the nation for this season.

She continued to perform exceptionally, sustaining her pace in the final 650, achieving a new best time in the mile. She concluded with a time of 16:10.33, which was over four seconds quicker than her previous 16:14.52 at the East-Winter Juniors earlier in December. This season, she has improved more than 30 seconds, having started with a top time of 16:42.04 from Winter Juniors in 2023. This performance ranks her 3rd this season and 48th all-time within the 15-16 age category.

Owen Miklos, a 14-year-old from Nova, also demonstrated strong results, achieving personal bests in all eight events he competed in. He commenced the meet by recording a new best in the 1000 free, finishing in 9:27.20—a 12-second improvement from the 9:39.30 he posted in March. This time ranks him 5th among 13-14 boys this season.

Miklos also secured new top-10 times in other distance freestyle events, managing a time of 4:34.84 in the 500 free, breaking the 4:40 barrier for the first time and improving almost nine seconds from his previous 4:43.49 in March. This achievement ranks him 9th in the country for his age this season.

His mile time was 16:06.17, placing him 8th this season, marking a decrease of just over four seconds from the 16:10.36 he recorded in March.

Miklos garnered two additional top-10 times in butterfly events. His 100 fly time was 51.09, a drop of a second and a half from his prior best of 52.72, ranking him 6th in the event for this season. For the 200 fly, he recorded a time of 1:51.95, which was a four-second improvement from the 1:56.45 he achieved in March, ranking him 4th in his age group this season.

Other distance swimmers also set impressive times. 14-year-olds David Gellin and Charlie Hilton made their way onto the top-10 list in the 1000 free on the event’s first day. Gellin finished with a time of 9:31.76, eight seconds faster than the 9:39.99 he swam in November, securing 5th place in the 13-14 season rankings. Hilton nearly dropped 30 seconds in the same event, finishing at 9:39.59 to place 10th. His prior best was 10:05.09 from March.

Other Remarkable Performances:

• Coyle Moore, a 14-year-old from Tide, achieved three top-three times in the 13-14 age category in the shorter freestyle events. He clocked 20.97 in the 50 free, ranking 3rd this season. His 100 free time was 45.72, placing him 2nd in the country for his age, and he swam the 200 freestyle in 1:39.87, securing 3rd place nationwide.
• Austin Temple, a 16-year-old swimmer from Tide, also made the top-10 chart in the 15-16 rankings for the 50 free, completing the race in 20.03, earning him 8th place this season.