The annual Black History Invitational was held this past weekend in Washington, D.C. The competition, now in its 35th year, celebrates Black swimmers, coaches, parents and officials and has featured numerous top-level talents including Cullen Jones, Sabir Muhammad and more. 

Here were some of the top performers from this last weekend’s action:

10-and-unders
Nine-year-old Kennedy Masten of Machine Aquatics stole the show among 10-and-under competitors, capturing first-place finishes in the 50-yard backstroke (34.35), 50y breaststroke (40.94) and 50-yard fly (31.93) and as part of Machine Aquatics’ 4x50y freestyle relay and 4x50y medley relay. Masten competed in eight events at the meet and never finished below third place. In each of her six individual events, she was the only nine-year-old to finish inside the top-10. 

11-12’s
Maryland Suburban Swim Club’s Sydney Campbell posted a 25.57 (prelim) and a 25.21 (final) in the competition’s 50y freestyle to give her the top-two swims based on Hy-Tek Power Points out of all performances of any age group at the meet. Her finals swim was more than two seconds ahead of the field in the 11-12 division and gave her one of her three individual titles on the meet.

13-14’s
The last time Billy Weber (Machine Aquatics) competed at the Black History Invitational, he set an 11-12 meet record in the 100y breaststroke with his 1:08.09 performance. This year, as a 14-year-old, he once again proved himself to be one of the top breaststroke talents at the meet by going 1:02.12 to finish first in his division. He also went on to win the 50y freestyle in 22.54 and swim the anchor on Machine Aquatics’ title-winning 4x50y freestyle relay team.

15-16’s
Western YMCA Wahoos’ Aaron Stevens swam a 1:55.31 in the 200y IM to finish first in an open division that featured four athletes who were at least two years older than him. Stevens posted splits of 25.10, 30.17 and 33.76 before bringing it home with a 26.28, making him the only swimmer to go sub-:27 on the final leg. Stevens also captured the boys 50y freestyle title with a 21.63.

17-18’s
Michael Venit of Patuxent Aquatics Club had an incredibly busy meet, swimming 13 times over the three-day competition. Venit completed the breaststroke sweep, winning the 100y event in 58.99 and the 200y event in a meet-record time of 2:11.14, more than two seconds faster than the previous meet record. Venit went on to finish fourth in both the 200- and 400y IM as well and helped two Patuxent Aquatics Club relay teams to top-three finishes. 

To watch a replay of the 2022 Black History Invitational, view results and more, visit https://blackhistoryswim2022.splashthat.com/.