2017 YMCA Short Course Nationals
- Monday April 3 – Friday, April 7, 2017
- Greensboro Aquatic Center
- Greensboro, NC
- Mon: 5:30PM Timed Finals / Tues: 8:45AM Prelims, 5:30PM Finals / Wed-Fri: 8:45 AM Prelims, 5:15PM Finals
- Meet site
- Results
Paul DeLakis and Caitlin Tycz both finished off discipline sweeps on Friday to close the 2017 YMCA Short Course National Championships, and Ross Dant became the first YMCA swimmer under a significant barrier.
DeLakis won the men’s 200 IM, which coupled with his 400 IM win earlier in the meet. His time of 1:45.76 broke his own YMCA National Record set last year by .6 seconds. The win was not without a challenge – DeLakis was pushed throughout by Grant House of the Countryside YMCA in Ohio, who also swam better than the old record. While House hada better split on three of the four legs of the swim, DeLakis’ specialty, the breaststroke, came in of a sub-30 split, and that put enough distance on House (1.4 seconds) to give him the win.
House took 2nd in 1:46.35.
Meanwhile, Caitlin Tycz of the Bath Area YMCA in Maine won the 200 fly in 1:56.65 to finish off her meet. She earlier won the 100 fly.
Tycz led the 200 wire-to-wire, growing her lead as the race went on. The battle for 2nd came down to the touch between Mary O’Soule and Emma Seiberlich, who wound up tied at 1:58.45 – thanks to a tough Seiberlich finishing split (30.97) to chase O’Soule down.
Ross Dant after going sub-15 in the 1650 free. Courtesy: Robert Dant/Hickory Photograpphy
The most buzz-worthy finish of the day, though, went to Ross Dant. Dant from the Hickory YMCA already had wins from the 500 and 1000 frees on his side, and added a win in the 1650 on Saturday by beating his next-closest competitor by 20 seconds.
What’s more, though, is that Dant swam a 14:57.03 – which broke the old National Record by more than 10 seconds and made him the first YMCA swimmer under 15 minutes in the mile. Dant is only a high school sophomore, meaning that he could defend this title two more times.
In the supremely-important team race, while the men’s outcome was long-ago decided, the women’s battle came down to the final race.
The York YMCA 400 free relay of Marisa Gingerich, Leah Braswell, Marget Shelly, and Courtney Harnish combined for a 3:22.30 to win the girls’ 400 free relay. Harnish, a Georgia commit, was on York’s record-setting relay back in 2013 at just 13 years old, and closed her YMCA short course career on Friday with another event title.
More importantly for her team, they finished 1 place ahead of Spartanburg in the relay, which was just enough to give them a 5-point margin of victory. Had the placings been reversed, the meet would have gone to Spartanburg. Harnish hit the water with a four-tenths lead, racing against another long-time star of the YMCA circuit in her final meet Jessi Snover, and split 49.27 to pull away for victory.
Other Day 5 Winners:
- Corey Gambardella from the Soundview Family YMCA won the men’s 200 fly in 1:44.76. That broke a 16-year old Meet Record previously held from 2001 by Jayme Cramer – one of the legendary swimmers in YMCA history. Cramer went on to be a World Champion in 2005 and 2007 as part of the American 800 free relays.
- Sarah Grindals won the women’s 100 free in 48.85.
- Thomas Roark from the Boise Family YMCA edged-out Austin Katz for themen’s 100 free title 44.36-44.47. Katz swam the 200 fly and the 100 free back-to-back on Saturday.
- 15-year old Abigail Doss from the Sunbury Branch YMCA won the women’s 200 IM in 2:00.35. She had a full second to make up on Kaitlynn Wheeler on the freestyle leg, and did just that, going from 3rd to 1st over the last 50 yards.
- Leah Braswellwon the women’s 1650 free in 16:17.01 – finishing almost 11 seconds ahead of her next-closest competitor.
- The Sarasota Family YMCA boys won the 400 free relay in 3:01.44, finishing more than a second better than Somerset Valley. The Countryside YMCA took 3rd, including a 43.36 anchor from House.
Team Scores:
Women’s Top 5:
- York YMCA – 303
- Spartanburg YMCA – 298
- Boise YMCA – 269
- Cheshire YMCA – 234
- Fanwood Scotch Plains YMCA – 191
Men’s Top 5:
- Sarasota YMCA – 508
- Wilton YMCA – 260
- Upper Main Line YMCA – 238
- Countryside YMCA – 212.5
- Birmingham YMCA – 208
Roark and Katz was a great race to watch in the 100 free. The 1650 by 15 year old Dant was impressive as well.
Amazing swim for Dant. And for a sophomore, no less. Definitely going to garner some attention from big-time colleges in the distance frees, especially if he keeps improving. #4 all-time for 15-16 boys in the 1650, wow.
Would be a huge get for NC State, who loses Anton Ipsen next year and will have a big hole to fill (freshman Jack McIntyre went 15:00 this season but has a ways to go to fill that void Ipsen will leave behind).