Four swimmers from the Jackson Barracudas leave for the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa, this week, chasing medals in a meet that draws more than 14,000 young athletes. Alex Slayton, Xander Otten, Liam Gorton and Barrett Brown all qualified this summer swimming for the small southeast Missouri club. Competition opens Tuesday at the Wellmark YMCA Natatorium.
They are leaving behind a pool that almost did not make it through the season that got them there. A mechanical failure shut down one of the Barracudas’ biggest home meets on July 11, sixteen days before the four swimmers left for Iowa, and the fifty-year-old facility still has no permanent fix or replacement plan.
Four Tickets Out of Jackson
All four swimmers train with the Jackson Barracudas, a club team based in Jackson, Missouri, a small city outside Cape Girardeau. Slayton, a junior, also swims for Jackson High School’s Indians, whose boys swimming and diving schedule is set by the Missouri State High School Activities Association. This is his second trip to the Junior Olympics after competing last year in Houston.
“Last year I was able to get one of the medals,” Slayton said. “I got 7th for the 200M back, and I’m hoping this year I’m also going to be able to get another medal, in one of my different events.”
Otten, Gorton and Brown are newer to the national stage but not to the club. Otten has swum with the Barracudas for three years and starts his freshman year this fall, ahead of starting high school. Gorton is an 8th grader making his first trip out of Missouri to compete. Brown, the youngest, is entering 6th grade.
| Swimmer | Grade or School | Junior Olympics Note |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Slayton | Junior, Jackson High School | Returning after placing 7th in the 200 back in Houston |
| Xander Otten | Incoming freshman | First national meet after three years with the Barracudas |
| Liam Gorton | 8th grade | First swim competition outside Missouri |
| Barrett Brown | Incoming 6th grader | Youngest of the four qualifiers |
Some of the swimmers travel to Des Moines as soon as Monday, with competition beginning Tuesday and continuing through the week at the Wellmark YMCA.
What Does It Take to Reach Des Moines?
Swimmers earn a spot by beating AAU-published qualifying times at a sanctioned meet during the regular season, then competing against the rest of the country in a field that has swelled into one of the largest youth sports gatherings in America. Only a fraction of any given club’s roster ever posts a time fast enough to go.
This year’s Games, the 57th edition, bring more than 14,000 athletes to Des Moines across dozens of sports, according to AAU’s own preview of the event. Swimming is just one piece of that field, run at the Wellmark YMCA Natatorium while other sports fill venues around the city.
- Post an AAU age-group qualifying time at a sanctioned meet before entries close
- Compete under a club, like the Barracudas, rather than a school
- Cover travel to whatever city AAU selects as host that year
- Race against a national field that grows most years
Swimmers and coaches can check the exact marks against the AAU’s own published qualifying time standards, which set a different bar for every age group, gender and stroke. Regional programs feed that pipeline the same way nationwide; one nearby program recently sent more than 60 local kids to compete at Junior Olympics in a different sport, an illustration of how many hopefuls chase a handful of qualifying slots each spring.
A Pump Failure Sixteen Days Before Send-Off
The Barracudas’ path to Des Moines ran through a much rockier July than the celebratory send-off suggests. On Saturday, July 11, a mechanical failure cut short one of the club’s biggest meets of the season, a gathering of seven teams and about 250 athletes, according to Cape Girardeau’s KBSI.
The meet was 15 events into a scheduled 80 when Jackson Parks and Recreation staff discovered the problem during a routine morning check. Jason Lipe, the department’s director, told KBSI a wiring failure between the service panel and the recirculation pump knocked out the pool’s ability to filter and treat its water, dropping levels to a point unsafe for diving and forcing officials to stop competition. Some of the youngest swimmers there were supposed to be racing in their first meet ever; a handful of families never got to watch their child swim.
The shutdown reopened a debate the city has been circling for a while: what to do about a pool built roughly fifty years ago.
If we want to continue to be able to have swim programs in Jackson, we’re going to have to have a new facility.
Brayden Walters, the Barracudas’ team manager, said that after the July 11 failure, per KBSI’s reporting. The city’s own listing for the facility places it among Jackson’s older recreational assets, and no public timeline for a replacement had been set as the four qualifiers packed for Iowa.
Four Different Starting Lines
Each swimmer is carrying a different stake into this week’s meet. Slayton, back for a second year, wants to build on last year’s Houston result, where the Games ran through early August at venues including the Cy-Fair Natatorium, according to AAU’s own hosting announcement distributed through a 2025 press release confirming the host city. He is chasing a medal in a different event this time, not just a repeat of the 200 back.
Otten’s timing is its own story. He qualified in the same year he is leaving middle school behind, and he framed the trip as validation of three years of club training before a single high school practice.
“I’ve swam with the Barracudas for the last three years, and the opportunity for me to qualify came to me this year, and I’m really excited for it,” Otten said.
Gorton, an 8th grader, is measuring the trip by distance as much as competition. “I’m really excited because it’s my first time going to a completely new state (to swim), far, far away from here,” he said.
Brown, the youngest at just entering 6th grade, downplayed the results before he has even raced. “It doesn’t matter how I place,” Brown said. “Just the experience; not many people go there. There are four people at Jackson, not a lot of people through this area.”
The Program Ahead of Its Pool
Jackson’s swim program has produced qualifiers before. A previous class of the city’s young athletes shined at the Junior Olympics in 2024, and Jackson High School’s swim team, which Slayton also races for, has kept the same coach, Montz, since 2015, a run of stability rare for a program this size. That continuity is part of why four swimmers from one small club made it to a national meet in the same summer their home pool broke down mid-competition.
The math is not comfortable. A club producing national qualifiers across three grade levels, from an incoming 6th grader to a graduating junior, is training on equipment old enough that a single wiring failure can end a home meet after 15 events. Whether Jackson replaces the pool or patches it again will shape which of the club’s younger swimmers get the same shot Slayton, Otten, Gorton and Brown have this week.
Slayton, Otten, Gorton and Brown race through the week at the Wellmark YMCA. Back home, the pump that failed on July 11 still needs a permanent fix, and Jackson has not set a date to decide the pool’s future.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the AAU Junior Olympic Games?
It is a national multi-sport championship for athletes age 8 to 18 run by the Amateur Athletic Union. The first Games drew 523 athletes to Washington, D.C., in 1967; by 1997 the field had grown past 12,000, and this year’s Des Moines edition draws more than 14,000 competitors across dozens of sports.
How do swimmers qualify for the AAU Junior Olympic Games?
Swimmers must hit AAU-published qualifying times in their age group at a sanctioned meet during the season. The national meet then splits competitors into two separately scored championships, one for swimmers 12 and under and another for ages 13 through 18.
Where is swimming held at the 2026 AAU Junior Olympic Games?
Swimming runs July 27 through July 30 at the Wellmark YMCA Natatorium, 501 Grand Avenue in downtown Des Moines, while the wider Junior Olympic Games continue with other sports at venues around the city.
What other sports are part of the Junior Olympic Games?
Track and field is one of the largest draws under the same banner, big enough that a single club once sent 17 athletes to a previous Junior Olympics. The Games also include sports like basketball and gymnastics, each scored separately from swimming.
