14-Year-Old Emily Way Drops 22.7 50 Free Relay Split at York YMCA Meet

Brian Gunn Invitational Championship

• December 4-6, 2020
• Graham Aquatic Center-YMCA, York, Pennsylvania
• Short Course Yards (25 yard)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “TYR Brian Gunn Championship”
• Results

14-year-old Emily Way of York YMCA racked up a total of 12 best times in 8 events during the prelims/finals sessions of the Brian Gunn Championship meet over the weekend. She was one of many YMCA athletes whose results will count towards the USA Swimming 18 & Under Winter Championships which concludes on December 13th.

Way, who qualifies for Winter Juniors in the 50 free, showed off her sprint prowess by anchoring the 200 free relay in a time of 22.73 on Friday. She nearly repeated that speed on Saturday, anchoring the York 200 medley relay in a time of 22.88. Both of these splits would have earned her spots on most of the top 10 fastest NCAA Division I 200 free relays swum over the weekend, even at just 14 years old:

Top 10 Women’s NCAA DI 200 Free Relays From December 3rd – 6th, 2020

*Note that NCAA DI’s list of top times does not include more than 1 relay per school. NC State’s ‘B’ team posted a 1:30.59 at the same meet.

York’s 200 free relay of Virginia Tech commit Caroline Foltz (24.21), Camryn Leydig (24.26), Julia Havice (23.44), and Way (22.73) finished with a time of 1:34.64 which would be ranked 16th out of the Division I relays swam last weekend. In the individual 50 free Way swam a 23.13 which ties her for 74th place on the all-time top list of 50 freestyles swam by 13-14 year-olds.

On Friday, Way placed 2nd in the 100 free (50.43) and 2nd in the 100 breast (1:04.58). Both races lowered  her previous best times from August. Way ended the day with a 4 second time drop in her 100 IM, posting the fastest 100IM time by a 13-14 year-old this season at 57.49. 

In the 100 free, Way claimed 2nd place behind 16-year-old Alexa Fulton of Upper Main Line YMCA who dropped .81 from her best time, touching the wall at 49.95. Fulton also swept the 50 free (22.9), 200 free (1:49.60), and the 100 fly (55.32), all with best times.

Fulton had already secured Winter Juniors in both the 50 and 100 free. She posted her previous best 50 free, 23.16, for a 3rd place finish at the PIAA AAA Girls State Championships in March. Her previous best 100 free, 50.35, was even more recent, from August. 

On the boy’s side, high school junior Daniel Gordon of York YMCA dropped a 20.80 in his 50 free for 1st place, adding .57 to the Summer Juniors qualifying time that he secured in August. He later went up against Florida Atlantic University junior Alec Peckmann in the 200IM. Peckmann won with a time of 1:50.67, 1.4 seconds off of his best time from the 2019 B1G Championships. Gordon placed 4th, adding about 3 seconds to his best from August for a time of 1:56.65. 

Gordon also posted a 20.50 relay split on the lead-off leg of York 200 free relay. He was 2nd only to his 17-year-old teammate Levi Morgan who finished the 2nd leg in 20.48, with the advantage of a relay start.

Other Notable Swims

• High school junior Meaghan Harnish of York nearly matched the Winter Juniors qualifying time she swam in August, posting a 2:16.54 in the 200 breast. She then swept the 400IM with a best time of 4:18.48. She is the younger sister of the University of Georgia’s Courtney Harnish, who was the #1 ranked recruit in the high school class of 2017.
• 13-year-old Emily Hamill of Upper Main Line swam the 4th fastest mile in the 13-14 age group this year: 17:20.30. Hamill, who already qualifies for Futures in the 100 back and 200 back, is now 6 seconds away from the Futures qualifying time in this event and she has only swam it twice. Her first swim was in February where she posted a 18:04.06 at 12 years old.