Eight Northwood High School swimmers have been selected by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) as All-Americans for individual and relay events. Headlining the list (Left to Right) Elson Lee, Derek Hitchens, Andrew Maksymowksi, Will Chen, Benton Cheng, and Ryan Xu. Not Present: Michael Abshier, Christopher Leung. Photos courtesy of Alex Tolkachev.
The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association (NISCA) distinguished eight of Northwood High School swimmers Elson Lee, Derek Hitchens,
Andrew Maksymowski, Will Chen, Benton Cheng, Ryan Xu, Michael Abshier, and Christopher Leung as First Team NISCA All-Americans, an honor reflective of their exceptional performances during the 2023 high school swim season. These eight Timberwolves led the team to their third place title podium finish at the CIF State Championships, and were pivotal in winning a consecutive Pacific Coast League Championships title.
To be eligible, a high school swimmer must finish in the top 100 times achieved in the country on an event or relay which includes all high schools, both public and private for each of the 12 contested events. California came in with the highest number of All-Americans on both the girls' and boys' side. For the boys, the state led with 119 recipients, while Texas took the 2nd spot at 99. Texas was also the next highest among girls, as they trailed California 78-127.
View the complete list of recipients by each event and state statistics here
Swimmers can automatically qualify by achieving an automatic All-America time standard
Several Northwood High School records were also broken behind these All-American performances with the eight Timberwolves leading the team with a combined total of (9) nine school records.
The All-American accolades that Northwood received for this past season are just another testament to its strength and talent as a program.
NISCA SPEEDO ALL-AMERICANS 
All-American (TOP 100) TIMES IN THE NATION
| Event |
Swimmer |
TIME |
RECORD BROKEN BY TIME |
| Boys 200 Free |
Andrew Maksymowski |
1:38.54 |
|
|
Will Chen |
1:39.02 |
|
|
Christopher Leung |
1:39.07 |
|
| Boys 200 IM |
Christopher Leung |
1:48.17 |
*NHS School Record |
|
Elson Lee |
1:49.96 |
|
| Boys 100 Back |
Derek Hitchens |
48.96 |
*NHS School Record |
| Boys 50 Free |
Christopher Leung |
20.65 |
*NHS School Record |
| Boys 100 Fly
|
Christopher Leung |
48.33 |
*NHS School Record |
|
Derek Hitchens |
49.28 |
|
Boys 100 Free
|
Derek Hitchens |
45.19 |
|
|
|
Will Chen |
45.30 |
|
|
|
Christopher Leung |
45.35 |
|
| Boys 500 Free
|
Andrew Maksymowski |
4:27.26 |
*NHS School Record |
| Boys 100 Breast |
Christopher Leung |
54.52 |
*NHS School Record |
| Boys 200 Medley Relay |
Derek Hitchens, Benton Cheng, Ryan Xu, Michael Abshier |
1:31.38 |
*NHS School Record |
| Boys 200 Free Relay |
Michael Abshier, Ryan Xu, Will Chen, Christopher Leung |
1:23.34 |
*NHS School Record |
| Boys 400 Free Relay |
Will Chen, Andrew Maksymowski, Derek Hitchens, Christopher Leung |
3:00.52 |
* NHS School Record
|
“These are tremendous achievements for these student-athletes," said Head Coach Alex Nieto "We're all very proud of their accomplishments and how they've helped elevate the entire program over the past few years."
Photos Courtesy of Alex Tolkachev
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