Carmel Swim Club Breaks Another National Age Group Record Amid Fast Session

CARMEL SWIM CLUB V. LAKESIDE WINTER DUAL

• December 18-21, 2020
• Erik Clark Activity Center, Carmel, IN
• Friday: Long Course Meters, Saturday-Monday: Short Course Yards
• Results on Meet Mobile: 2020 CSC-Lakeside Winter Dual

Racing on day 2 of the Carmel Swim Club’s three-day tri meet with nearby Lakeside Aquatic Club and far-away Fort Collins Area Swim Team, the 13-14 boys of the host team set another National Age Group Record in the 400 free relay on Sunday.

Following the record-setting swim in the 400 medley relay from Saturday, the group of Carter Lancaster, Lewis Zhang, Emile Haig, and Gregg Enoch combined for a 3:08.77 in the 400 free relay during a time trial session on Sunday.

That swim breaks the old record of 3:09.70 set by Irvine NOVAquatics in 2015.

Comparative Splits:

The new face on the relay was 13-year old Lewis Zhang, who replaced breaststroker Brandon Malicki from the medley relay. Otherwise, the two relays were the same, including swim order.

Notably, Lancaster’s leadoff leg makes him the 20th-fastest 100 freestyler in 13-14 age group history.

That group was fast elsewhere in the session as well. Zhang swam 1:55.02 in the 200 backstroke, which is a 4-second drop off his previous lifetime best. That ranks him as the fastest 13-year old in the country in that event and the 5th-fastest 13-year old in the event over the last decade.

Lancaster, who is racing individually in the ‘open’ age races rather than the 14 & under sessions this week, was 3rd in the 100 fly in 49.15. That’s an improvement of just over 2 seconds on his best time and jumps him into 12th in the all-time 13-14 rankings. Also on Sunday, his 1:46.52 in the 200 yard back moves him to 6th all-time in the age group, a drop of more than 3 seconds.

Including his leadoff leg on the 400 medley relay, he has swum times in four different events that now rank him among the top 20 all-time in 13-14s across two days of competition:

Lancaster’s Swims:

• 100 free – 45.68 (20th all-time, NAG Record – 43.90)
• 100 back – 49.10 (8th all-time, NAG Record – 47.44)
• 200 back – 1:46.52 (6th all-time, NAG Record – 1:43.15)
• 100 fly – 49.15 (12th all-time, NAG Record – 46.95)
• 400 IM – 3:58.22 (T-26th all-time, NAG Record – 3:51.54)

Lancaster is scheduled to swim the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke on the meet’s closing day on Monday.

Other Noteworthy Sunday Swims:

• 17-year old Carmel swimmer Madelyn Christman swam a new best time of 1:54.85 in the girls’ 200 backstroke. That’s a drop of 2.3 seconds off her previous best, and in the process she cruised past US National Junior Team member Annabel Crush, who was 2nd in 1:57.02. Christman, a Notre Dame commit, would rank 4th in ND program history in the 200 back if she repeated that time in college. That time would have put her in the A final at last year’s ACC Championship meet.
• Her Carmel Swim Club teammate Griffin Hadley won the boys’ 200 back in 1:44.84, a more modest drop of .17 seconds. The runner-up was Fort Collins 17-year old Wylie Kruse, who had one of his team’s best performances of the meet to drop a second and touch in 1:45.32.
• Ryan Malicki of the Carmel Swim Club dropped 1.2 seconds to win the boys’ 50 free in 21.05, a tenth ahead of Kruse. The swim adds some versatility to the repertoire of Malicki, another Notre Dame commit who is primarily a breaststroker. On Saturday, he won the 100 breastsroke in 54.42, which is also a lifetime best, and on Sunday he swam 50.56 in the 100 fly to drop a full second. He also split 45.8 on a rolling start on a 400 free relay.
• Madelyn’s younger sister Meghan Christman won the girls’ 50 free in 23.16, also beating-out Crush (23.29). Neither swim was a best time.
• FAST went 1-2 in the girls’ 100 fly, with Lucy Bell winning in 52.81 and Renee Gillilan taking 2nd in 53.55. Both swims were about 6-tenths short of their respective lifetime bests.
• Lakeside’s Lucas Thomas, an uncommitted high school junior, swam 48.77 in the boys’ 100 fly, dropping two-tenths of a second to get the win. A deep field saw the top 8 finishers swim under 50 seconds, with 6 of those going lifetime bests.
• Carmel showed off their depth in the 400 free relays. In the girls’ event, they went 1-2 in 3:21.59 and 3:22.03, and in the boys’ race they went 1-2 in 3:04.75 and 3:04.82. Combining the best splits of the girls’ relays would have put the team around a 3:18-high, and combining the best splits of the boys’ relays would have put them at a 2:59-mid.
• US National Junior Teamer Mariah Denigan from Lakeside won the girls’ 500 free in 4:45.67. Of note, 13-year old Lexie Ward broke 5 minutes for the first time in that event, posting a time of 4:59.79.
• The “Open” session closed with the boys’ 500 free, where Carmel 15-year old Kayden Lancaster finished on top in 4:29.84.