AgonSwim Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 7/29/2015

And now it’s Championship Season. Younger age groupers all over the country are making huge strides and moving to new levels, while older age groupers are getting their first Olympic Trials cuts. It’s all very exciting. Here are the AgonSwim Weekly Wonders for the weekend of July 24-26, 2015.

David Goll, 17, Life Time Arizona Swim Team: 50m free (23.29) – Goll picked up his first ticket to 2016 Olympic Trials leading off LTAZ’s 200 free relay at the Arizona Swimming Long Course Senior State Championships hosted by Phoenix Swim Club. Goll ended 2014 with a lifetime-best 25.24. In April and May 2015 he went from 24-high to 24-low, then erased nearly a full second from his seed time in Phoenix.

William Rose, 13, Canton City Schools: 50m free (25.74) – Rose won the boys 13-14 50m free at Lake Erie Long Course Age Group Championships at Cleveland State University. Between prelims and finals he dropped 1.2 seconds off his lifetime best. Rose also went best times in the 100 free and 100/200 back.

Jackson Gurley, 12, Denver Swim Academy: 100m free (58.14) – Competing at the Colorado Swimming Long Course State Championships held at United States Air Force Academy, Gurley erased 1.4 seconds from his seed time to win the boys 11-12 100m free. Gurley is now an unbelievable 6.5 seconds faster than he was at the same meet last year. All in all, he left the meet with new PBs in the 50/100/200/400 free and 50/100/200 back.

Lauren Heller, 17, Lake Erie Silver Dolphins: 100m free (56.49) – Heller won the women’s 100 free at the Central Zone Section 3 Championships held at The Ohio State University, and earned her first Olympic Trials bid. Although she was 1/100 off her personal best, it was the first time she made the cut during the 2016 qualifying period.

Colton Paulson, 14, Peoria Area Water Wizards: 200m free (1:57.72) – Paulson won the boys 13-14 200 free at the Illinois Long Course Age Group Championships hosted by Barrington Swim Club and St. Charles Swim Team, improving his seed time by 4.3 seconds. Entered with a 2:02.07, he went 1:59.09 in prelims then 1:57.72 in finals to win by over a second. Paulson also earned new PBs in the 50/100/400 free, 100 back, 100 fly, and 200 IM.

Miranda Kirtley, 12, Virginia Gators: 400m free (4:33.30) – Kirtley dropped over 13 seconds to win the girls 11-12 400 free at the Virginia Long Course Age Group Championships at Christiansburg Aquatic Center. In the process, she broke Remedy Rule’s meet record from 2009 by 1.2 seconds. Kirtley finished the weekend with new times in the 100/400/800 free, 100/200 fly, and 200/400 IM.

Jordan Gruce, 13, Clovis Swim Club: 800m free (9:39.00) – Three weeks after aging out of the 11-12 age group, Gruce stepped up to the challenge and swept all the girls 13-14 freestyle events at the Central California Swimming Junior Olympic Championships. Beginning with a 13.5-second drop in the 800, Gruce went on to win the 50/100/200/400/1500 events. Gruce dropped a cumulative 38 seconds and achieved new PBs in all 8 events she competed in over the weekend (6 freestyles, plus the 100 fly and 400 IM).

Ashley Illenye, 18, Scarlet Aquatics: 1500m free (16:59.59) – Illenye dropped 19.4 seconds off her personal best, which was only two weeks old and already 19 seconds faster than her previous PB, at the New Jersey Long Course Junior Olympics. She earned a Winter Nationals cut and set herself up for a nice freshman year at Towson University in the fall. Illenye also won the 800 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM and was runner-up in the 400 free.

Emily Ecker, 12, Portland Porpoise Swim Club: 1500m free (18:49.87) – Ecker won the girls 11-12 100/200/400 free and 50/100 fly, and posted the top 200 IM time swimming exhibition at the Maine Swimming International Invitational. In the 11-14 category, she added a win in the 200 fly, and she posted the top 1500 swimming exhibition in the 15 & older age group. She dropped 1 minute 25 seconds in that mile, not having swum it since last year at the same meet.

Wyatt Davis, 13, Carmel Swim Club: 100m back (59.63) – Davis dropped 5 seconds and set the meet record when he won the boys 13-14 100 back at the Indiana Age Group State Championships at IU Natatorium. He also won the 200 back with a best time by 6 seconds, earning an invitation to Winter Juniors while he was at it. He finished the weekend with PBs in the 50/100/200/400 free, 50/100/200 back, and 200 fly.

Yunfan Dong, 14, Schenectady-Saratoga Swim Club: 100m back (1:04.07) – Dong notched her first-ever national time standard winning the girls 13-14 100 back at the Adirondack Long Course District Championships. She also won the 50 free and was runner-up in the 400 free and 100 fly. She earned new PBs in the 50/400 free, 50/100 back, and 100 fly during the meet.

Kyle Adams, 13, Munster Swim Club: 100m breast (1:08.48) – Adams won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the Indiana Age Group State Championships, dropping 3.4 and 12.2 seconds, respectively in the events. Adams came home from the meet with new PBs in the 50/100 free, 100/200 breast, and 100 fly. Adams is now the third-fastest 13-year-old in the country in both the 100 breast and 200 breast.

Ally Silvestri, 12, Ozaukee Aquatics: 200m breast (2:36.87) – Silvestri put up the fourth-fastest 200 breast time in history for 11-12 girls, winning the event at the Wisconsin 12 & Under Long Course State Championships. Her time of 2:36.87 beat the previous state record by 8 seconds. She also won the 100 breast (with a WI state record), 200 IM, and 400 IM. Silvestri finished the weekend with new PBs in the 50/100/200 breast, 100 fly, and 200/400 IM.

Jack Dolan, 14, Rockwood Swim Club: 100m fly (57.26) – At the Ozark Long Course Championships hosted by Rockwood Swim Club, Dolan won the boys 13-14 50/100/200/400 free and 200 back, going best times in the 200/400 free and 200 back. This was just a week after he notched personal bests in the 50/100 free, 100 back, 100 fly and 200 IM at Region VIII Summer Sectionals. He earned bids to Winter Juniors in both the 100 fly and 50 free; he moved to the top of the standings nation-wide in the 50 free and to the second rung in the 100 free and 100 fly.

Kelsey Drake, 17, Linn-Mar Swim Team: 100m fly (1:01.17) – Drake punched her ticket to 2016 Olympic Trials at the Iowa Swimming Long Course Championships, when she posted the top time in prelims of the women’s 100 fly. Over the course of the weekend Drake earned new best times in the 50 free, 100 back, 100 fly, and 400 IM.

Keegan Foulke, 17, Jeffco Hurricanes: 400m IM (4:26.73) – Foulke won the men’s 200 breast and 200/400 IM at the North Carolina Long Course Senior Championships hosted by Greensboro Community YMCA. Foulke dropped 2.6 seconds in the 400 IM and earned his first 2016 Olympic Trials cut. He finished the weekend with personal bests in the 200/400 free, 200 breast, and 200/400 IM.

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