Carson Foster Hits 1:48.9 In 200 Free To Close Mako Senior Meet

2020 OHIO MAKO SENIOR MEET

• February 27th-March 1st, 2020
• Corwin Nixon Aquatic Center, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio
• LCM (50m)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “2020 OH MAKO Senior Meet”

On the heels of a pair of 1:58s in the 200 IM, Carson Foster finished off the Mako Senior Meet with a 1:48.98 win in the 200 free.

The 18-year-old Foster is a high school senior, Texas signee, and Olympic hopeful tuning up for this summer’s Olympic Trials. The Mason Manta Rays swimmer spent the past two days working on a prelims-semifinals-finals simulation in the 200 IM, which is probably his event with the best shot at an individual Olympic berth. The 200 free, on the other hand, might actually be Foster’s best shot at making the Olympics, given that Team USA will likely select six athletes to fill out its 4×200 free relay, compared to just the top two finishers in all individual events.

Foster went a lifetime-best 1:47.47 in the 200 free at World Juniors last summer, and was 1:47.7 in-season just two months ago at the Knoxville Pro Swim Series. His 1:48.98 from this weekend ranks up there with Foster’s best in-season swims in previous years. He sat 13th among Americans last summer in the 200 free, but a 1:46.1 split on the winning 4×200 free relay at World Juniors suggested Foster had room to move up from his best individual time.

Other event winners on day 4 of the Mako Senior Meet:

• Upper Arlington Swim Club’s Riley Huddleston continued her huge meet, winning the 200 free in 2:06.79. Though that wasn’t a lifetime-best, it gives her a sweep of the 50, 100 and 200 frees this weekend.
• Ohio State Swim Club 16-year-old Cameron Kuriger won the women’s 100 fly in 1:01.56. That’s a drop of eight tenths from her previous career-best, and puts her within a second of the Olympic Trials cut (1:00.69).
• Fellow Ohio State Swim Clubber Martina Peroni (also 16) won the 400 IM in 4:52.59. Peroni won by nearly ten seconds, adding to her 200 fly win from a day earlier. That’s a best time by half a second, and gets her within eight tenths of a second of the Olympic Trials cut.
• University of Cincinnati redshirt freshman Michael Balcerak won the 100 fly for the men in 55.74. He was 55.51 at U.S. Open last summer.
• 14-year-old Abby Woolford blasted three seconds off her personal best in the 200 back. The Dayton Raider was 2:17.25 to win by seven tenths of a second. That moves her to #90 all-time in USA Swimming’s 13-14 age group historical ranks.
• Foster didn’t swim the 200 back (another of his top events), leaving it wide open for teammate Jacob McDonald. The Mason Manta Rays 18-year-old went 2:04.50 to win by three and a half seconds. McDonald’s best time is 2:03.11, which is just two tenths off the Olympic Trials cut, a goal for the senior and Tennessee signee in his later meets this spring.
• Another Mason Manta Ray won the 400 IM on the men’s side: Ian Van Gorp, 18, was 4:30.69 to win that event by seven seconds. That was a 2.6-second drop for the high school senior and Ohio State signee.