Andy Zhu exhibits leading times at the Viral Summer Invite II

Viral Summer Invite II

• July 25-July 26, 2020
• Swim Macon Aquatics Club – Macon, GA
• SCY Pool, Timed finals
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Viral Summer Invite II”

Gwinnett Aquatics led the way against Swim Macon Aquatic Club and Columbus Aquatics Club in the outdoor Viral Summer Invite II last weekend, earning 112 points, men and women combined. This was the second Viral Summer Invite that Macon has hosted since COVID restrictions have loosened within athletics.

16-year-old Andy Zhu earned best times in the 100 and 200 breast, as well as in the 200 and 400 IM.

On Saturday, Zhu swam the 200 IM, getting second place with a 1:53.78 to his teammate Alex Norcini, who finished with a 1:51.83. Zhu improved his previous best time of 1:55.90 by over two seconds, a time he had just dropped on March 7 at the 2020 GA Speedo Southern Premier just before meet cancellations began as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic.

Later that day, Zhu competed in the 200 breast, finishing first with a 2:05.66. His time is almost 6 seconds faster than his time from the first Viral Summer Invite, just a few weekends before on July 12, where he went a 2:11.27.

On Sunday, Zhu won the 100 breast with a time of 57.61, another drop by almost 3 seconds from his previous best from the 2020 GA Speedo Southern Premier, a 1:00.06.

In his final race, Zhu finished third in the 400 IM, with a 4:17.21. Easily his largest drop of the meet by over 7 seconds, Zhu crushed his time of 4:24.83 from the 2020 GA Eastern Classic-Presented in January. The first and second finishers were Alex Norcini, with a time of 4:01.97, and Graham Simmon, with a 4:12.84.

Alex Norcini of Gwinnett Aquatics also produced fast times over last weekend’s meet. Winning 4 out of his 6 races, Norcini beat his competitors in the 200 fly by over 5 seconds, with a time of 1:53.61.

Other top finishers:

•  Sarah Jahns, a freshman at the University of Evansville, finished first in the women’s 100 backstroke with a 59.85, as well as in the 500 free, with a time of 5:04.26.
• Columbus Aquatic Club’s Leah Gringrich swam a top time of 2:02.39 in the women’s 200 fly.
• Jacob Rees, an incoming sophomore at Brigham Young University, won the men’s 100 backstroke with a 53.40.
• Darnell Mitchell’s (Gwinnett Aquatics) time of 46.32, over half a second faster than his previous best time of 46.96, won him the top spot in the men’s 100 freestyle.
• 12-year-old Baylor Stanton broke the 11-12 Georgia Swimming Record in the men’s 200 fly, with a time of 2:03.12. The previous record was a 2:03.27, set in 2002 by Eric Moore. His time places third in the 11-12 top times list for the 2019-2020 season on USA Swimming, next to Riccardo Osio, with a 1:58.59, and Thomas Heilman, with a 1:53.66.
• Graham Simmon placed second in the men’s 200 breast with a time of 2:07.80, almost half a second faster than his time from the 2019 GA Short Course Seni, where he went a 2:08.18.