The 2016 Speedo Sectionals Championship Series took place in College Station, Texas this past weekend with many notable names taking part. There were many established professionals, including American Olympians Cammile Adams and Breeja Larson, Swedish multi-Olympic medalist Therese Alshammar,and Zimbabwean Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry. Also competing were Texas A&M stars Sarah Henry and Beryl Gastaldello, and teenage up and comer Sean Grieshop from Nitro.
On day 1 we saw Coventry win gold in her best event, the 200 back, in a time of 2:09.66. Texas A&M’s Lisa Bratton was 2nd in 2:15.73. Sarah Henry won the women’s 100 freestyle in a time of 56.47, ahead of Alshammar who was 3rd in 56.88, and Gastaldello who was 4th in 57.18. Cammile Adams won her signature event the 200 fly easily in a time of 2:08.38. Sean Grieshop picked up his first win of the meet in the men’s race, defeating Palo Alto Stanford swimmer Alex Liang. Grieshop won in 2:02.45, with Liang close behind in 2:02.90. Teenage up and comer Gabrielle Kopenski won the women’s 400 free in a time of 4:14.65, while Grieshop doubled up on the evening winning the men’s race in 3:56.60.
On night 2 Grieshop picked up two more wins while Cammile Adams won 2 two more of her own. Grieshop was victorious in the 200 free (1:52.50) and the 400 IM (4:23.15). Adams won the 100 fly in 59.40, narrowly defeating Sarah Gibson of Texas A&M who was 2nd in 59.50, and Therese Alshammar who finished 4th in 1:01.46. Adams also won the 400 IM in a time of 4:41.08. Henry did have a win of her own, taking the 200 free in a time of 2:00.56. Breeja Larson (2:25.70) and Bernard Johnson (2:14.01) each won the 200 breaststroke. Texas A&M’s Esther Gonzalez Medina was 2nd in the women’s race in 2:31.38, and workhorse Sean Grieshop won the men’s B final in 2:23.35.
On day 3 Gabrielle Kopenski and Sarah Henry battled it out in the 800 free, with Kopenski ultimately coming out on top, 8:43.10 to 8:43.77. Kirsty Coventry picked up two more wins on the final day, claiming the 100 back (1:00.08) and the 200 IM (2:13.18). Breeja Larson (1:07.66) and Bernard Johnson (1:02.20) both completed a sweep of the breaststroke events winning the 100, and Alshammar picked up her first win of the meet in the 50 free (25.70). In the final individual race of the meet, Sean Grieshop put an exclamation point on his meet with his 5th win in the 200 IM, touching first in 2:04.20. Sarah Henry finished her fantastic showing at this meet finishing 2nd to Coventry in the 200 IM in 2:15.16.
Full Results Available via Meet Mobile.
That sounds like it was a pretty fast meet! Good times by Adams, she is a very consistent swimmer.
Sarah GIBSON was second in the 100 fly.
1ANDA2- thanks for the catch, will update.