2023 Winter Juniors – East: Swims You Might Have Missed On Day 4

2023 SPEEDO WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – EAST

• December 6-9, 2023
• McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• Prelims: 9:00 am (EST)/ Finals: 5:00 pm (EST)
  • Wednesday finals (relays only): 6:00 pm (EST)
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central (USA Swimming)
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results (Also available on MeetMobile)
• Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap
• Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap
• Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap
• Day 4 Finals Live Recap

The final day of competition at Winter Juniors – East did not disappoint as Alex Shackell and Thomas Heilman stole the show with meet and National Age Group records in the 200 fly. Here are some other notable races that may have been lost in the action.

Carmel’s Lexie Ward, a UNC commit, knocked over twenty seconds off her entry time en route to a 3rd-place finish in the 1650 (16:17.93). Ward still has a year and a half before arriving in North Carolina, but her performance tonight would make her the fastest on the team so far this season. 

14-year-old Audrey Derivaux from the Jersey Wahoos had a fantastic performance in the 200 backstroke to capture 3rd. She stopped the clock 1:52.75, taking her nearly a second under her previous best from March. Her time moves her from 8th up to 6th all-time in the 13-14 age group. 

Derivaux followed the 200 backstroke up with another big best time in the 200 fly. She recorded a 1:55.90 for 4th, taking about two seconds off the best time she had set in prelims. As with the 200 backstroke, Derivaux climbed the all-time rankings with this swim to land at 5th in the age group.

Stanford commit Annam Olasewere dropped about half a second to secure 1st in the B-final of the 100 free. She logged a 49.03, clearing the field by about four-tenths of a second.

Molly Yacoviello clocked a best time of 2:12.14 to earn 4th in the 200 breaststroke. Yacoviello, who has committed to Wisconsin, was entered at 26th with a 2:15.45 but had set a best time of 2:14.03 a week prior to Juniors.

On the boys’ side, Harvard commit William Mulgrew knocked over 12 seconds off his personal best time to take 4th in the 1650 with a 15:05.90. Ian Platts-Mills also put on a show in the early heats with a time of 15:15.41. His performance held on for 8th overall, and marked a personal best by almost 20 seconds.

In the 200 back, Landon Kyser from the Bolles School Sharks took the top spot in the B-final with a best time of 1:43.98. The Wisconsin recruit dropped well over two seconds on the day, as he entered the meet seeded 17th with a 1:46.44. 

Jake Wang and Andy Kravchenko each dropped about a second from their respective entry times in the 100 freestyle. Both competed in the B-final, with Wang getting his hand on the wall 1st at 43.39 and Kravchenko trailing at 43.66.

Cal commit Norvin Clontz improved his personal best time in the 200 breast by almost four seconds over the course of the day. Clontz cracked the 2:00 barrier for the first time in prelims (1:58.97), then took another two seconds off tonight to record a 1:56.63 for 5th.

Rounding out the notable individual swims was Thomas Mercer‘s 200 fly. Mercer entered the meet at 20th (1:48.60), then moved to 8th with his prelims time of 1:46.53. The Virginia recruit found another second to knock off in finals, as he ultimately placed 6th in 1:45.55.