AgonSwim Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 12/3/2014

With the very light activity over Thanksgiving weekend, this column covers both the weekends of November 21-23 and 28-30. We saw superb swimming at various high school championships, as well as at the Arena Grand Prix at Minneapolis. Here is our AgonSwim Weekly Wonders list for November 21-30, 2014.

Drew Kibler, 14, Washington Township Swim Club: 50y free (21.21) – We thought Kibler was pretty good when he went 22.08 in his 50 free last January; since then he’s slice nearly a tenth off every time he has swum it. At Washington Township Swim Club’s Holiday Championships Invitational, he was almost 9/10 faster than in January 2014 and 1.5 seconds faster than at the same meet last year. This new time bumps Kibler up to tied-for-28th of all time for 13-14 boys, with another two months to swim before he ages up. Kibler finished the weekend with new PBs in the 50/100/200/500 free, 50/100 back, and 100/200 fly.

Torie Buerger, 12, Allegheny North Swim Club: 100y free (53.08) – Swimming at the Mark J. Braun Fall Classic hosted by Lake Erie Silver Dolphins, Buerger whacked 1.3 seconds off her seed time between prelims and finals to win the girls 11-12 100 free. She also won the 200/500 free, 50/100 back, 100 fly, and 100/200 IM. Buerger won high point award for 11-12 girls.

Clayton Black, 16, Unattached (Tiger Aquatics): 200y free (1:49.19) – Black went 2.5 seconds under her PB in winning the 200 back at the Louisiana High School Division 1 Championship Swim Meet. Representing St Joseph’s Academy, Black broke the D1 record and came with .20 of the overall state record in the 200 free. She was also runner-up in the 500 free.

Lindsay Stone, 15, Unattached (PACK Swim Team of Pittsford): 500y free (4:48.86) – Swimming for Pittsford High School at the New York State Public Schools Girls Swimming Championships, Stone won the 500 free and 200 free (1:48.89), earning the co-swimmer/diver of the meet title. Her 500 was a best time by nearly 3 seconds.

Ross Dant, 13, Hickory Foundation YMCA Seahorse Swim Team: 1000y free (10:07.29) – Dant went a best time by 5.5 seconds and was more than 47 seconds ahead of last year’s pace when he placed sixth in the boys open 1000 at Swim GSA’s John Dewey Invitational. In addition, Dant finished the weekend with best times in the 200 free, 100/200 back, 200 breast, and 200/400 IM.

Sean Workman, 17, Edwardsville YMCA: 100y back (48:87) – At the Ozark A Championship Meet hosted by Chuck Fruit Aquatic Center and Ozark Swimming, Workman won the 100 breast and 100 back, dropping 3.6 and .5 seconds, respectively. He also won the 100 fly (best by 1.5) and the 100 free (best by 1.2).

Sophie Skinner, 14, Northern KY Clippers Swimming: 200y back (1:59.47) – Skinner dipped under 2:00 for the first time at the Arena Grand Prix at Minneapolis, going 4.3 seconds faster than where she was last fall. Skinner finaled in all her events (50/100/200 free and 100/200 back).

Joe Schaefer, 12, The Fish: 100y breast (1:03.36) – Schaefer dropped 3.3 seconds en route to winning the boys 11-12 100 breast at Swim & Rock sponsored by SDS. He won the 50 breast and the 200 breast, both with best times. He also left the meet with new PBs in the 50/500 free, 50 fly, and 200 IM.

Joshua Withers, 15, Team Foxjet: 100 fly (50.67) – Withers was nearly two seconds faster this year than last in the 100 fly at the Fall Western Great Lakes Open hosted by Lake Country Phoenix Swim Team. He finaled in every event he swam and came away with new best times in the 200 free, 100/200 fly, and 200/400 IM.

Alex Dillmann, 17, Maverick Swim Club: 200y fly (1:49.17) – Dillmann broke 1:50 for the first time and got his first national cut in the 200y fly at the Fall Western Great Lakes Open. He won the boys open 100 fly and 200 fly and finished the weekend with new times in the 50 free and 200 fly.

Will Chan, 14, Great Lakes Sailfish Swimming: 200y IM (1:54.51) – At the Mark J. Braun Fall Classic, Chan placed second in the 200 IM and went a best time. He also set meet records when he won the 50 free (21.21) and 200 free (1:43.68). All told, he had six new times by the end of the weekend: 50/200 free, 200 back, 100 breast, and 200/400 IM.

Zachary Hils, 13, Wildcat Aquatics: 400y IM (4:02.16) – Maybe it will be easier to talk about what Hils didn’t go a best time in at the Wildcat Aquatics Autumn Classic. He won the boys 13-14 500/1000 free and 400 IM, and the open 200 free and 200 IM. He also had a slew of second-place finishes. When the dust settled, Hils had new PBs in 50/100/200/500/1000 free, 100/200 back, and 200/400 IM. In the 400 IM, for example, he was 16.1 seconds ahead of where he was at the same meet last year. Really quite a performance.