TOPS August Intrasquad
- August 29-30, 2020
- El Pomar Natatorium, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado
- 25 Yard (SCY) Course
- Full Meet Results
- Meet Results by Swimmer
The University of Denver Hilltoppers, a USA Swimming club based out of the University of Denver, held an intrasquad meet this weekend at the University of Denver’s indoor 50-meter pool.
Each session had around 40 athletes, which in combination with 4 officials, 3 coaches, and a console operator, put the event in compliance with the current Colorado Public Health Order limiting gatherings to 50 people or fewer.
In a marathon meet, athletes ran back-up buttons, coaches timed, and 6 sessions were run per day. The first session was a “prelims” for elite athletes with a 200 relay and some individual events, and the day concluded with a “finals” session for the elite swimmers. In that “finals” session, the team ran through the entire event line-up, took a 15 minute break, and did it again. On top of that, there were time trials at the end of every session to accommodate any one-off needs.
It was a strenuous and hectic undertaking and an unusual format, but in the end, all of the work paid off with a number of best times and nationally-ranked results.
That included a pair of Pool Records.
One such record was set by rising high school senior and Stanford commit Anna Shaw. She swam a 48.88 in the 100-yard freestyle, which knocked a second off her previous best time of 49.85 set at Winter Juniors – West in December.
Already a sub-23 second swimmer in the 50 free, that swim elevated Shaw’s event profile for Stanford. Stanford had a 48.5 on their 3rd-place 400 free relay, on a rolling start, at last year’s Pac-12 Championships, and it took a 48.9 to qualify for the A-final at Pac-12s last season.
That swim makes Shaw the 6th-ranked 100-yard freestyler inthe high school class of 2021.
That swim by Shaw took out the University of Denver Pool Record of 49.86 that was set by Lauren Votava in 2016 during her senior season at Minnesota.
Shaw’s Full Results from the meet:
- 100 free – 49.28
- 100 free – 48.88 (Previous PB – 49.85)
- 50 free – 23.37
- 50 free (relay leadoff) – 23.35
- 50 free – 22.83 (Previous PB – 22.94)
- 200 free – 1:50.81 (Previous PB – 1:51.66)
- 100 back – 55.79 (Previous PB – 59.14)
Shaw swam best times in all 4 events she raced, including twice in the 100 free.
The other swimmer to break an El Pomar Record at the meet was uncommitted rising high school junior Emma Weber. She only swam the 100 breaststroke once, but posted a new Pool Record of 1:00.71. That broke the old Pool Record of 1:01.68 that was set in 2006 by Florida Atlantic’s Ellie Weberg.
That 10 breaststroke record was one of two records set in 2006 that shared the honor of oldest Pool Record. The remaining mark was also set in the 100 breaststroke by an FAU swimmer – Kevin Bartell, who holds the men’s mark in 54.30.
Unlike Shaw, Weber’s record-setting swim wasn’t a lifetime best – she’s been 59.74 in the 100-yard breaststroke.
She did, however, set a new best time, taking about a tenth off her PB for a 56.38.
According to head coach Shawn Smith, the team was completely out of the water for 96 days during the pandemic. The team began slowly returning to the water on June 17, with limited pool time, and since July 22 the team’s top groups have been swimming 7 sessions per week at 80-85 minutes each.
Because of limitations on doing drylands at the University of Denver, athletes have continued to do dryland training on their own, Smith says. He says that his team had “extensive” dryland training pre-COVID that equipped them for success in independent dryland work.
Other Highlights and Event Winners:
- Uncommitted high school senior Henry Batson may get some more attention after his breakout meet that saw him swim 5 lifetime bests in 6 splashes. The most substantial of those was a 3-and-a-half second drop in the 100 fly, going from his previous best of 54.69 set earlier this August to a 50.97. He also swam a 2:02.71 in the 200 breast (-.89 seconds), 21.68 in the 50 free (-1.25 seconds), 56.55 in the 100 breast (-1.58 seconds), 4:07.75 in the 400 IM (-1.80 seconds), and a 1:57.06 in the 200 IM, which was not a best time.
- Another uncommitted high school senior, Claire Chahbandour, swam 4 personal best times in 4 events. Primarily a breaststroker, she dropped over 6 seconds in the 200 breast to finish in 2:17.55 and more than a second in the 100 breast to finish in 1:02.16. She also posted a 24.03 in the 50 free and 59.71 in the 100 fly.
- High school junior Xavier Hill joined the PB club, swimming one in each of 6 unique events that he swam. That included a 20.97 in the 50 free and a 45.87 in the 100 free – the latter of which knocked more than 2 seconds off his best time. He also added a 1:55.17 in the 200 IM, which was a 6-and-a-half second improvement.
- Another uncommitted senior, 17-year old Hunter Foehner, swam 4 lifetime bests in 4 individual swims. That includes dropping 7-tenths of a second in the 100 fly to touch in 48.71, and dropping a full second in the 200 fly for a 1:51.25.
- The girls’ 200 medley relay of Abigail Storm, Emma Weber, Alexis Greenhawt, and Chase Davison combined for a 1:42.38 that stands as the fastest 15-16 200 medley relay in the country this season, based on times coming into the weekend.