Henrico teen wins swimming gold for Team USA at international event
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Douglas Freeman High School sophomore and NOVA of Virginia Aquatics swimmer Nathan Szobota won a gold medal at his first international competition representing Team USA during an event in Seychelles, off the East Coast of Africa.
Competing in the FINA (Fédération internationale de natation) World Junior Open Water Championships, Szobota won the 5k event by 0.10 seconds over an Italian swimmer and by 0.60 seconds over a German swimmer. (FINA is the international governing body for aquatic sports.)
Team USA includes 12 swimmers 18 and younger and is led by NOVA Head Coach Norm Wright.
Szobota had qualified for the event, his first in FINA competition, April 2 at the USA Swimming Open Water Nationals in For Myers Beach, Florida.
NOVA alum Will Glass (a freshman at William & Mary) also is competing in Seychelles this weekend for Team USA.
Charlie Swanson, another NOVA swimmer, recently was named to the 2022-2023 USA Swimming National Team and this summer competed at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary in the 400 Individual Medley.
Former National Junior Team members Grace Sheble (a sophomore at NC State) and Zoe Dixon (a freshman at Florida) also represented Team USA in recent years at FINA World Cup and Junior World Championship competitions.
And 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Townley Haas, now retired from competitive swimming, competed in two Olympic Games (Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020) as well as numerous other International competitions, in addition to enjoying an impressive NCAA career at the University of Texas.
