AgonSwim Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 7/22/2015

With Sectionals taking place all over the country last weekend, we saw a gargantuan number of new Olympic Trials cuts. Which, as you know, we love to talk about here. Additionally, quite a few younger swimmers had an outstanding weekend, getting big time drops and moving to new levels in their swimming. Here are the AgonSwim Weekly Wonders for the weekend of July 17-19, 2015.

Hannah Zurmuhl, 16, Central Bucks Swim Team: 50m free (25.95) – Zurmuhl nabbed her first-ever Olympic Trial cut in time trials at the Super Sectionals in Ithaca, New York. Zurmuhl had won the 50 free with a lifetime-best 26.24, but was .05 off the Trials standard. So she went for it in time trials and this time cleared the hurdle by .24.

Jack Walker, 14, New South Swimming: 50m free (24.64) – Walker went a best time by 1.3 and was 3.2 seconds faster than he was last year at this time when he won the boys 13-14 50 free at North Carolina Long Course Age Group Championships in Greensboro. Walker missed the meet record by 1/100, but he did finish the meet with new PBs in the 50/100/200/400 free, 100 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM.

Gillian St. John, 17, Lobo Aquatic Club: 50m free (26.19) – St. John hit the Trials cut on the nose, knocking .43 off her seed time and punching her first-ever ticket to Omaha, when she won the women’s 50 free at Mt. Hood Sectionals. She also placed fourth in the 100 free and 14th in the 200.

Maddie Runge, 16, North Baltimore Aquatic Club: 800m free (8:49.26) – A drop of 6.4 seconds and a win in the women’s 800m free at NBAC’s Mid Summer Classic prompted a congratulatory tweet from Runge’s older sister, Cierra: “SO PROUD OF MY LITTLE SISTER WHO JUST GOT HER FIRST OLYMPIC TRIALS CUT IN THE 800 FREE!!!” It was, in fact, the younger Runge’s first qualification for The Big Dance. She also earned a new PB in the 200 IM.

Michael Foley, 13, Franco’s Fins: 100m back (1:03.52) – Swimming at the Louisiana Long Course State Championships at Louisiana State University Natatorium in Baton Rouge, Foley won the boys 13-14 100 back by more than 2 seconds. It was his best time by 1.9 seconds, and 4.4 better than his time from the same meet last year. Foley came away from the meet with new times in the 100/200 free, 100/200 back, 100/200 fly, and 200/400 IM.

Daniel Carr, 16, Cheyenne Mountain Aquatics: 200m back (2:01.73) – Competing at Western Sectionals hosted by Mt. Hood Aquatics, Carr swam two lifetime-bests in the 200 back, first dropping 3.4 seconds in prelims to lead the qualifiers with 2:01.73, then going 2:03.85 in finals to finish second. Carr nonetheless picked up his second Olympic Trials cut, having qualified in the 100m back last summer. By the end of the weekend he had improved his PB in the 50/100/200 back, 100 breast, and 200/400 IM.

Janessa Mathews, 14, Ohio State Swim Club: 100m breast (1:10.98) – Mathews earned her first bid to the 2016 Olympic Trials when she dipped under 1:11 at the Ohio Junior Olympics hosted by MAKO Swim Team (MAKO) and Cincinnati Aquatic Club (CAC) at Miami University. Mathews was 4 seconds faster than she had been at the 2014 Ohio JOs. So far this year she has swum 6 PBs in the event. Mathews also got new times in the 200 IM and 400 IM.

Jackson Skigen, 14, North Florida Swimming: 100m breast (1:08.72) – At the Florida Age Group Championships (FLAGS) hosted by Sarasota YMCA Sharks Swim Team, Skigen won the boys 13-14 100 breast by .14, scoring a best time by 1.6 seconds. Last year at the same meet he went a personal-best 1:12.00. Skigen finished this year’s meet with new PBs in the 50 free, 100 back, and 100/200 breast.

Madison Strathman, 18, Tsunami Swim Team of K.C.: 100m breast (1:11.46) – Swimming at the Region VIII Summer Sectionals at Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Missouri, Strathman punched her ticket to Omaha with a first-ever Olympic Trials cut in the 100 breast. Strathman has gone best times in her last three outings, but this time she made the cut by .03. She also earned new PBs in the 200 breast and 100 fly in Columbia.

Bailee Nunn, 17, Springfield Aquatics: 200m breast (2:33.06) – Nunn scored her first two Olympic Trials cuts ever, in the 100 breast and 200 breast, at Columbia Sectionals. Nunn placed second in the 200 and fourth in the 100, earning Trials cuts in both events. While she had been slightly faster last year, this was the first time in the 2016 Trials qualifying period that she has been under the standards for Omaha.

Gianni Pitto, 14, Lodi City Swim Club: 200m breast (2:38.89) – Pitto dropped 7 seconds in prelims to qualify into the “A” final of the women’s 200 breast at CA-NV Summer Sectionals hosted by Canyons Aquatic Club in Santa Clarita, California. It was her first national cut in the event, and 23.5 seconds faster than her best performance from 2014.

Braeden Knight, 12, Episcopal AmberJax: 100m fly (1:00.99) – Knight broke the Florida LSC record when he won the boys 11-12 100 fly at FLAGS. He also won the 50/100/200 free and 50 fly, and was runner-up in the 200 IM. By the end of the weekend, Knight had picked up new PBs in all six of the events he entered.

Libby Walker, 18, Columbia Swim Club: 200m fly (2:14.19) – Walker was another first-time Olympic Trials qualifier at Columbia Sectionals. Although she had a superb meet, dropping time in the 400 free, 800 free, 100 fly, 200 fly, and 400 IM, it wasn’t until the last day that she punched her ticket to Omaha with a 2-second drop in the 200 fly. Walker just missed (by 1.2) the 800 free cut, winning the event with a PB by 6 seconds.

Isabel Reis, 18, Seacoast Swimming Association: 200m fly (2:14.74) – Reis earned her first invitation to 2016 Olympic Trials when she won the women’s 200 fly at the New England Senior LCM Championship Meet at Brown University. She was .10 shy of her lifetime-best, achieved just two weeks before the 2016 Trials qualification period began last summer. Reis did score three new PBs, though: 200 free, 100 back, and 100 fly.

Sandra Freeman, 16, Boulder Swimming: 400m IM (4:53.95) – Swimming at Mt. Hood Sectionals, Freeman knocked 2 seconds off her seed time to post the top 400 IM in prelims; she also earned her first Olympic Trials qualifying time with that swim. Freeman went personal bests in the 50 free, 800 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 200/400 IM at Mt. Hood, dropping a cumulative total of 22 seconds.

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