2023 Fran Crippen SMOC Day 4: Weinstein Clocks 8:25.95 800 Free, #8 All-Time 15-16

2023 CA Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions

• April 13-16, 2023
• Marguerite Aquatic Center, Mission Viejo, CA
• Hosted by Mission Viejo Nadadores
• LCM (50 meters)
• Psych Sheet
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Recap
• Day 2 Finals Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Recap
• Day 3 Finals Recap

The 800 freestyle was yet another 1-2-3-4-5 place finish for the Sandpipers of Nevada on the last day of the 2023 Fran Crippen Swim Meet of Champions. 16-year-old Claire Weinstein won the race in a best time of 8:25.95, ranking herself as the 8th all-time fastest 15-16-year-old in the event. Her previous best time, 8:29.34, from the 2022 International Team Trials last April ranked her 12th.

Weinstein’s finishing speed made all the difference in her time improvement. Last April, she was holding 32-high’s and even dipped into the 33-range on her splits. But, this weekend she held strong with 32-low’s and 31-high’s, even finishing her final 50 in a sub-30-second split of 29.56,.

Split Comparison:

Earlier in the meet, Weinstein blasted a lifetime best 1500 free time of 16:09.85 to win second and become the 8th all-time fastest swimmer in her age group.

 1500 free winner Katie Grimes took second place in the 800 free (8:26.22), followed by Bella Sims in third (8:30.85), Macky Hodges in fourth (8:51.08), and Sianna Savarda in fifth place (9:07.91). The Sandpipers went on to win the men’s 800 free too when 16-year-old Luke Ellis hit the wall first in a lifetime best time of 8:06.34, dropping 11 seconds from his previous best time from January.

Another big swim of the night came in the women’s 100 back where 16-year-old Teagan O’Dell of Mission Viejo won with a 2-second lead over the field in a time of 1:00.23, ranking herself as the 11th all-time fastest 15-16-year-old in the event. Her swim bumps Summer McIntosh’s time from February to #11. O’Dell’s previous best time was a 1:01.40 from the 2022 Junior Nationals in August, a time that ranked her #37 on the same list.

14-year-old Kayla Han of Armada was another young star of the night, clocking a 2:16.40 in the 200 IM to place third. This makes her the 12th all-time fastest 13-14-year-old in the event. She crushed her previous best time of 2:17.23 from the 2022 Summer Nationals. British Olympian Alicia Wilson, a Cal alumnus, won in a time of 2:14.76, finishing ahead of her Mission Viejo teammate Asia Kozan in second place (2:16.27). Kozan will be an incoming freshman at UCSD next year and, before this weekend, she owned a previous best time of 2:19.58 from last summer.

On the men’s side, Mission Viejo’s Trenton Julian won the 200 IM handily in a 2:00.90, about 2.5 seconds off his lifetime best time. 18-year-old Rex Maurer, an incoming freshman at Stanford next year, took second place (2:02.38). This was Maurer’s second swim of the night after he won the 100 back in a 55.80, making himself the 69th fastest swimmer in the 17-18 age group. His previous best time was a 56.25 from January.

In the men’s 100 breast, 27-year-old Man Hou Chao of Nova, who competes for Macau internationally, won in a time of 1:02.63, out touching second-place finisher Daniel Li of Rosebowl by .04 (1:02.67). This time ranks Li as the 67th all-time fastest 17-18-year-old in the event.

Other Day 4 Event Winners:

• Women’s 50 fly: 18-year-old Maggie Schalow of Nova – 27.47
• Men’s 50 fly: Mission Viejo’s Jarod Hatch, a Cal alumnus, – 24.34
• Women’s 100 fly: Schalow also won this, sweeping the sprint butterfly events with a time of 1:00.78. She came within .50 of her lifetime best time from the 2022 Junior Nationals.
• Men’s 100 fly: 18-year-old David Schmitt of Evolution Racing Club hit the wall first in 54.46 after a close race with Pitt’s Drew Jalbert who finished second (54.66)
• Women’s 400 medley relay: San Jose State University (Megan Legarth, Cali Rowland, Ela Freiman, Lais e Silva) – 4:26.55
• Men’s 400 medley relay: Mission Viejo (Kevin Gillooly, Trenton Julian, Jarod Hatch, Jerome Heidrich) – 3:49.06