Our New Trier Aquatics Sharks traveled down to Orlando, Florida last week to battle the nation's fastest at the 2026 NCSA Junior Championships, and they absolutely crushed it!
The men secured 23rd place overall with 99 points, while the women tied for 14th with 233 points. Together, NTA combined for a fantastic 17th-place team finish with 332 points!
We saw some exceptional swims over the course of the week. A massive shout out goes to 14-year-old
Lubo Liu-Tchorbadjiyski for breaking the Illinois state and NTA team record in the 13-14 50 Backstroke (22.52)! Lubo didn't stop there, also shattering the team record in the 13-14 100 Backstroke with a 49.35, and dropping his team record in the 50 free to a 21.41. What a phenomenal achievement for this young Shark!
Our relays brought the heat as well, with the
Girls 200 and 800 Freestyle Relays both taking down NTA team records. The 800 Free Relay team of
Ella Houston, Sylvia Deliduka, Margaret Lietzau,
and
Ryan Vender set a new standard of 7:26.27, and the 200 Free Relay, the squad of
Sylvia Deliduka, Lia Roggi, Ryan Vender,
and
Margaret Lietzau went 1:33.32, with Sylvia setting the tone by achieving her very first Winter Junior National cut in the 50 Freestyle (23.10) on her lead-off leg!
The major milestones continued under the lights, as
Jordan Ko secured his first Winter Junior National cut with an incredible nighttime swim in the 200 Breaststroke (2:01.53). We also want to highlight
Ella Houston for kicking off our scoring in 1650 Freestyle with a 15th place finish in 16:57.49!
Achieving these major motivational standards is what NTA is all about—creating positive pathways to lifelong excellence in and out of the pool.
Individual Point Scorers & Finalists At this level of competition, scoring points is a massive accomplishment. A huge shout out goes to our individual point scorers:
- Riley McNeal (39pts): 50 Breast (11th), 200 Breast (15th), and 100 Breast (16th)
- Sylvia Deliduka (23pts): 200 Free (13th) and 100 Free (20th)
- Ella Houston (12pts): 1650 Free (15th)
- Tyler Zheng (14pts): 50 Breast (13th)
- Lia Roggi (7pts): 100 Free (18th)
- Jordan Ko (6pts): 200 Breast (19th)
In addition to scoring points, several Sharks fought their way into the Top 40 to earn hard-fought second swims against the nation's elite:
- Lia Roggi: 200 IM, 100 Breast, and 50 Breast
- Jordan Ko: 100 Breast, 50 Breast, and 50 Fly
- Lubo Liu-Tchorbadjiyski: 100 Free, 100 Back, and 50 Back
- Sylvia Deliduka: 50 Back
- Tyler Zheng: 100 Breast
- Margaret Lietzau: 200 Fly
- Nick Drcha: 100 Free
We’re so incredibly proud of all our swimmers who traveled to Florida and raced their hearts out. But the sunshine state fun isn't over yet—we are back in action this week with the NCSA Age Group Championships in Orlando. Let’s keep the momentum going!
#BetterEveryDay #FinsUp #GoSharks
