2021 Speedo Winter Junior Championships West
- December 8-11, 2021
- Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
- Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Prelims: 9 am (ET)
- Finals: 5 pm (ET) – Wed. relays at 6 pm
- Meet Central
- Live Results
- Psych Sheets
The Speedo Winter Junior Championships West gest going tonight with timed finals of the men’s and women’s 200 medley and 800 free relays. The relays will be swum fastest to slowest, so keep checking in for updates as the session progresses.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay – Timed Finals
- Meet: 1:37.65 Fort Collins Area Swim Team (B. Stewart, Z. Bartel, C. Gillilan, K. Alons) – 12/6/2017
Top 3:
- University of Denver Hilltoppers – 1:39.41
- Sandpipers of Nevada – 1:40.33
- DART Swimming – 1:40.41
The fastest times of the evening came out of the second heat, as the University of Denver Hilltoppers and the Sandpipers of Nevada dueled out of lanes 4 and 1, respectively.
The Hilltoppers got a 25.39 leadoff from Charlotte Wilson, then Emma Weber cranked out a 27.49 breaststroke leg. That’d be a solid split for a college swimmer, and Weber is heading to UVA, which has one of the stronger breaststroke groups in the country. Lexi Greenhawt split 24.10 on fly, and Lawson Ficken anchored in 22.43 as the Hilltoppers won in 1:39.41.
Olympic distance swimmer Katie Grimes led off in 25.58 for the Sandpipers, followed by Audrey Yu and a 28.13 breast leg. Bella Sims, who earned an Olympic silver medal as part of the USA’s 4×200 relay, split 24.02 on the fly leg, while Claire Weinstein anchored in 22.60, good for a total time of 1:40.33.
Two heats later, DART swimming put up a 1:40.41, taking 3rd overall.
Men’s 200 Medley Relay – Timed Finals
- Meet: 1:26.52 Mason Manta Rays (C. Foster, J. Foster, J. McDonald, A. Chaney) – 12/5/2018
Top 3:
- Nitro Swim Club – 1:28.87
- Coronado Swim Association Team – 1:29.14
- Rose Bowl Aquatics – 1:29.28
Swimming in heat 4, Nitro put together four legs that didn’t have any eye popping splits, but were strong all the way around and enough to win by just over a quarter of a second. Logan Walker led off in 22.49, then Thomas Wu split 25.28 in breast, George Flanders split 21.44 on fly, and Jeremy Kelly anchored in 19.66, stopping the clock in 1:28.87.
Two heats later, Coronado had fairly similar splits that combined for a 1:29.14, second overall. Adam Ladman led off in 22.80, then Max Gilsenan clocked a 25.56 breaststroke leg, Samuel Quarles split 21.40 on fly, and Lucius Brown brought it home in 19.38. Brown’s time was one of the fastest free legs in the field, but Nate Germonprez anchored iNspire’s relay in 19.31.
Rose Bowl Aquatics took 3rd overall in 1:29.28, just behind Coronado. Tommy Park had one of the fastest leadoff legs in the field at 22.39, Daniel Lin also had a fast 25.03 breast leg, Ronald Dalmacio went 21.27 on fly, and Zach Larrick anchored in 20.59.
Women’s 800 Free Relay – Timed Finals
- Meet: 7:05.85 Nashville Aquatic Club (A. Raab, G. Walsh, E. Nelson, A. Walsh) – 12/6/2017
Top 3:
- Sandpipers – 7:02.90
- Irvine Novaquatics – 7:14.79
- Elevation Athletics – 7:19.13
No, that’s not a smudge on your screen. The Sandpipers took down the overall Winter Juniors record by nearly three seconds, with a pair of Olympians bookending the relay.
Katie Grimes led off in 1:44.96, 14 year-old Claire Weinstein split 1:45.50 on the second leg, Paige Kuwata went 1:48.98 on the third leg, and then Bella Sims anchored in 1:43.56. While that time is faster than the 15-18 National Age Group record of 7:05.91, it may not actually count for any NAGs since Weinstein is only 14.
Irvine took a distance second in 7:14.79, led by a 1:44.49 split from Teagen O’Dell, while Elevation Athletics took 3rd in 7:19.13, thanks to a 1:47.75 anchor leg from Mary Codevilla.
Men’s 800 Free Relay – Timed Finals
- Meet: 6:23.21 Carmel Swim Club (W. Davis, A. Rothrock, G. Hadley, J. Mitchell) – 12/11/2019
Top 3:
- Rose Bowl – 6:29.57
- Lakeside – 6:29.66
- First Colony – 6:34.16
Anyone watching, whether in person or online, got to see a great race as Rose Bowl and Lakeside swam in the heat, pushing each other to both break the previous Juniors West record in this event
Andrew Zettle led off for Lakeside in 1:37.28, just ahead of Rose Bowl’s Rex Maurer‘s time of 1:37.35. Cooper Lucas kept Rose Bowl in the lead with a 1:35.29 on the second leg, against Ronald Dalmacio‘s 1:37.84. Maru Kim closed to the gap to roughly one second after the third leg, as he split 1:38.39 to Jacob Pishko‘s 1:40.02. On the anchor legs, Rose Bowl’s Zach Larrick outsplit Lakeside’s Conor McKenna 1:35.99 to 1:37.07, providing almost the exact margin Rose Bowl needed to come away with the win.
Rose Bowl’s time of 6:29.57 set a new Juniors West record, eclipsing the previous mark of 6:31.93 set by Scottsdale Aquatic Club. Lakeside was also under the old mark after touching in 6:29.66. First Colony took 3rd overall in 6:34.16.
Lucas appears to have had the fastest overall split in the field, while 15 year-old Maximus Williamson of the North Texas Nadadores had the fastest leadoff with a 1:35.70. That looks to be the 2nd-fastest time ever by a 15 year-old, behind only Jack Walker’s 1:33.73. Williamson’s time moves him up to #15 all-time in the 15-16 age group.
Can someone please explain the rationale behind swimmers being unable to break older age group NAGs? Doesn’t seem to make sense… if a 15 YO goes faster than the 17-18 NAG they should get their name on the 17-18 NAG.
I mean, it’s quite funny to see swimmers aging up and chasing the new NAGs which are slower than their PBs. I remember quite a few such instances(G. Walsh and MA being the first to come to mind) and it feels absurd every time to read “such and such broke the NAG, swimming just 0.5s off their PB from last season” on SwimSwam.
Worldwide, if a 14YO goes a 15 NAG they get it.
In many countries this is true, but not in all countries. I can look for specific examples, but I know this because in some “smaller swimming nations,” where they don’t have a deep history, it’s fairly common for this to happen, where a star age grouper rolls through in an event where a country has never been good before.
Makes you think — there should be 18&U relay NAGS
Sandpipers would have place 16th in the 800FR in 2021 ncaa. Beating Tennessee and Ncst. With a 14 year old. Insane! 👏🏽
Goddamn I did not realize that Bella has been sub 1:43 in the 200 already. I was wondering why a 1:43.5 relay split wasn’t getting more attention, but that makes sense now.
When’s the last time a high school swimmer was under 1:43? Ledecky? And to think that Bella still has half a year before her junior year is over.
Edit: yeah I checked past recruitment rankings and it looks like Ledecky was the last female (possibly the only?) to be sub 1:43 before the end of junior year. Even Missy didn’t break that barrier until her senior year, although she was under 1:42 by graduation.
Dagny Knutson was 1:42.8 in HS.
you’re right, I just checked the top age group times and Ledecky and Knutson are the only ones (besides Sims) to be under 1:43 in the 15-16 group. 8 of them in the 17-18 group counting Ledecky and Knutson, but all of their PBs (except Knutson) come from a college meet and it doesn’t look like anyone else was under 1:43 before the end of high school.
The live results are wrong
Of note, Teagan O’Dell produced a 144 leg as an IMer.
Sand smashed the meet record held by the Walsh sisters.
Also, it is three more seconds faster than the 15-18 NAG.
doesn’t count bc there is a 14 year old 🙂
What’s the deal with that, really? Why doesn’t it count? It’s not like they got an advantage over other teams out of swimming a 14YO…
It’s just kind of one of those old school things. Some countries have age-protected records, some countries have only “& under” records. I wonder if it went back to a time where an athlete, especially a female athlete, might peak at 14 and get slower into 15-18?
That’s quite a hypothesis. I like it!
Claire Weinstein!! Wow!!! Great swim for the youngster !!!
SANDPIPERS 7.02.9!!!!!! if im not mistaken thats the 5th fastest time of the year AND THEY ONLY HAD ONE SENIOR AND A 14 YEAR OLD WTFFFFFFFFF
How do they not have swimmer names on the relay results? What a mess.