*Refresh Often, updated live!* (We’ll add relay recaps after the session)It’s day 2 in Knoxville Tennessee, and the start lists show that Kathleen Baker has kept her four-event finals schedule in-play. This could be interesting to watch after a 200 IM victory on night one of the meet.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
Kathleen Baker kicked off her meet with win number 1, as she teamed with Caitlin Casazza, Elsa Welshofer, and Nora McCullagh to win the girls’ 200 medley relay in a new Meet Record of 1:40.82. That took out a 1:41.63 mark swum by Saint Andrew’s in 2011 (with a dynamite front-half of Tasija Karosas and Lindsay McKnight).
Baker split a 24.84 in the 50 backstroke, showing that four swims this morning, at least, didn’t affect her too bad. She was the only swimmer in the A-final to go under 25 seconds on that opening split (Keaton Blovad from the Phoenix Swim Club did it in the B-Final). Her teammate Welshofer, with a 24.42 fly leg, and McCullagh, anchoring in 22.63, really carried this relay to a come-from-behind win ahead of Crow Canyon (1:41.44 – also ahead of the old Meet record). Crow Canyon had a 27.0 split from Heidi Poppe on the breaststroke, which always helps, but they couldn’t add a 200 win to their 400 title from Thursday evening.
PASA was 3rd in 1:41.77.
Other impressive splits include a 22.14 freestyle anchor from Lindsey Engel and the Orange County Waves as they rode to a 5th-place finish.
Men’s 200 Medley Relay
The boys from Bolles moved to three-for-three in relays so far at this meet, as Joseph Schooling, Marijn van Zundert, Santo Condorelli, and Caeleb Dressel roared to a 1:27.80 that missed by just .03 the Meet Record set by their teammates from last year’s meet.
The two carryovers from the 2012 relay were Schooling (though this time he swam backstroke – and an impressive split of 22.36) and Dressel (who was 19.40 on the anchor). Van Zundert split a 25.3 on the breaststroke leg and Condorelli was a 20.7 on the fly. Bolles rearranged their relays from prelims after splitting to ensure both got into the A-Final.
SwimMAC, runner’s-up in 1:28.29, also made some adjustments to the relay, and they worked out well for a 3.5 second drop. Matthew Josa was a 20.82 on the fly leg, showing why he eschewed the offers of major programs to stay close to home and attend Division II Queens University next year – if it isn’t broken, then don’t try to fix it. His teammate Kyle Darmody, headed to Auburn, was a 19.20 anchor.
Nashville Aquatics, who are climbing their way back into the national scene, took 3rd in 1:31.25.
Women’s 400 IM
Just like she did in Thursday’s 200 IM, Ella Eastin perfectly played the prelims of the 400 IM to make sure her best swim came in the evening. Unlike that 200 IM, where she was 2nd, nobody came close to touching Eastin in this race, as she tied the Meet Record of Tanja Kylliainen with a 4:09.66 win.
That time for Eastin ranks 3rd among 15-year olds in US history with only Katie Hoff and Missy Franklin having been faster at that age.
Eastin doesn’t swim this IM with any particular stroke where she dominates; she’s an Ariana-Kukors type of IM’er who is just balanced and strong across all four strokes. The trend differences in her IM and most of her competition are notable. Whereas her competitors are obviously trying to build each 100, Eastin’s splits stay flat throughout each stroke; she makes up most of her ground on the opening 50 of each 100. Whereas most of her competitors taper off on the second-half of the breaststroke, Eastin gets faster. That’s where she takes this race away – strength and willpower.
In 2nd was Firestone Akron’s Katelyn Miller with a 4:13.92. She still hasn’t been able to match her time from this meet in 2010, when she was just 15, but that swim is two-plus seconds better than she was last year. The Raleigh Swimming Asssociation’s Hannah Moore was 3rd in 4:15.50.
A special congrats goes to Eagle Swim Team’s Georgie Enoch, who was 5th in 4:16.81. That’s another two-second drop from prelims for her, making a total of four over the course of the two rounds. Ozaukee Aquatics’ Katherine Drabot was 9th in 4:16.82.
Men’s 400 IM
In the 200 IM, Curtis Ogren wasn’t able to match his prelims speed in finals and slid to 2nd. In this 400, much like Eastin, there was nobody even close tot he PASA swimmer, as he roared to a 3:44.87 that, by more than a second, broke his own Junior National Meet Record set this morning. In total, that’s almost three seconds off of Carlos Omana’s 3:47.60 from 2010 that was the old Meet Record.
Ogren does have a dominant leg, and that’s the breaststroke. Despite being in the lead at the halfway mark, he still was able to split a 1:02.9 on his breaststroke and open up a huge margin. He started to run out of steam a bit on his freestyle leg, but by then his lead was insurmountable, at the least. He’s now 2nd on the all-time list in the event among 15-16’s, behind only the great Michael Phelps.
In 2nd place was the North Texas Nadadores’ Jonathan Roberts in 3:49.60. Another very good swim from the Dallas-area club and a personal best by 9 seconds as compared to coming into the meet. He did some serious work over the summers to make himself from a strong college prospect into one of the top junior swimmers in the country.
Steven Stumph, winner of the shorter IM, was the only swimmer even close to matching Ogren on the breaststroke, and even then he was five seconds slower headed into that leg. He took 3rd here in 3:50.06.
Women’s 100 Fly
Linnea Mack had a breakout swim in the 50 free on Thursday, and now added one in the 100 fly on Friday. This time, though, the UCLA commit took the title in 53.02 – a best time by more than a second-and-a-half.
Just like she did in the 50, Mack made a small improvement in prelims (54.24), but even that didn’t indicate how good she’d be in finals. The back-half of her race was very strong after turning in 7th-place (out of 8) – not the kind of discipline often seen from sprinters.
She overtook Danielle Nack of the Mantas Swim Club, leader at the turn. Nack’s time of 53.22 was also easily the best of her young career. Lindsey Engel of the Orange County Waves was 3rd in 53.34, and the morning’s best swimmer Megan Kingsleywas 4th in the final in 53.56.
Baker, in her second swim of the night, finished 5th in 53.84. That’s better than she was in prelims, but wasn’t good enough to move up the rankings.
Olivia Barker of Sandpipers of Nevada won the B-Final in 53.85; she’ll go to an Indiana program that is continuing to build up their butterfly group with top-flight recruits like Barker.
Bolles’ Joseph Schooling (17) en route to a new Winter Junior Nationals Meet Record in the 100 fly in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo Courtesy: Melissa Lundie)
Men’s 100 Fly
In Friday morning’s prelims, Bolles’ Joseph Schooling was twice beaten by his teammate Santo Condorelli in butterfly races: once in the 200 medley relay, and once in the individual 100 fly.
In finals, Schooling wouldn’t let that happen again. He hung-back on the first 50, turning in 21.96, but put on a 24.74 on the second to win in 46.70. That’s two-tenths slower than his National High School Record from the Florida HS State Championship meet, but is still a new Junior Nationals Meet Record. It downed the 46.83 swum by Maclin Davis (currently at USC) at last year’s meet.
Condorelli, meanwhile, pushed the pace even harder than he did in prelims. He closed a full second slower than his teammate, however, and took second in 47.26. That’s still two seconds better than he’d ever been coming into the meet, however.
SwimMAC’s Matthew Josa was again just behind the Bolles swimmers with a 47.52 for 3rd (best time for him), and Texas commit William Glass was 4th in 48.33. Glass will be an important part of rebuilding a depleted butterfly group for Eddie Reese next fall.
16-year old Harrison Pierce won the B-Final in 48.85. The Tide (VA) swimmer had never broken 50 seconds coming into this meet.
Women’s 200 Free
There was no second-session slide for Hershey’s Meaghan Raab tonight, as she dropped a full second from prelims to run-away with the women’s 200 free title in 1:45.79. That gave his a full-second win over North Mecklenburg 15-year old Emily Allen (1:46.78). Not a best time for Raab, but she’s still got her Pennsylvania High School State Championship meet, where she’s the defending champ in this event, to look forward to in the spring.
For Allen, however, that is a statement swim – and five seconds better than she was coming into the meet. She’s very young, but a pop of that size in one meet is amazing (though the trend really started over the summer). Based on this swim, look out for her to be under 49 seconds in the 100 free as well. Allen all of a sudden moves into the stratosphere among the fastest 15-year old freestylers ever with this swim.
Alexandra Malazdrewicz from the Jeffco Hurricanes took 3rd in 1:47.08, and Area Tallahassee’s Ceci Williams, more of a 500 freestyler, was a 1:47.72 (almost matching her best time, even on a second taper).
Paige Madden from City of Mobile, the only 14-year old in the final, was 1:48.47 for 5th. That club, almost singlehandedly, is overtaking Alabama swimming, which is great news for their two major D-1 programs (Auburn and Alabama). Those teams hopefully will start finding a way to keep more of the top in-state recruits at home to further develop the sport in that state.
Leah Stevens and Madison White both scratched this final, though both were in the C-heat.
Men’s 200 Free
We’re awaiting confirmation, but it’s possible that two National Age Group Records went down in the same race on Friday in Knoxville – a rare occurance.
Davie Nadadores swimmer Dylan Carter touched for the win in the men’s 200 yard free in 1:35.29, more than two-and-a-half seconds better than anyone else in the field. In the least, that’s a new Junior Nationals Meet Record (bettering his prelims swim, and before that a 1:36.20 from Will Hamilton in 2010). It’s also the fastest 200 yard free ever swum by a 15-16 year old, beating out Michael Domagala’s 1:35.49 that was set just a week ago at Senior Winter Nationals.
The question comes into play where Carter is a dual citizen of the United States and Trinidad & Tobago. Last night, his coaches weren’t certain about where that left him for National Age Group Records, but he has competed at Carribean regional meets for T&T. That’s the difference between his situation and that of someone like Milorad Cavic, who broke a NAG Record before any international appearances.
We’ve asked USA Swimming for a clarifiation, and will let you know when we hear back.
The second went to 14-year old Maxime Rooney in 1:38.42 (read more about that record here). That placed him 5th overall despite being the only 14-year old to even enter the race. He broke a 1:38.94 set by Nick Silverthorn in 2010.
In between, Josh Booth, a British swimmer at Bolles, took 2nd in 1:37.80, followed by Upper Dublin Aquatics’ Bob Bantley in 1:38.01.
Women’s 100 Breast
Heidi Poppe never got much of a battle in this women’s 100 breaststroke, taking a big lead early and cruising home to a 1:00.50. That’s slower than she was in prelims, but still gave her victory by over a second.
The runner-up was Indianan Lillia King in 1:01.73, followed by Kathleen Baker on swim number three of the night in 1:01.92 – best times for both swimmers.
Lindsey Horejsi was 4th in 1:02.62 as she was challenged to carry her taper over from the Minnesota HS State Championship meet just before Thanksgiving.
Central Iowa Aquatics’ Katharine Ross recovered from a bad morning swim to win the B-Final in 1:01.89 – third-best time overall. Future Texas Longhorn Madisyn Cox was a 1:02.8 in prelims but scratched the final.
Men’s 100 Breast
In a race (for a change at this meet) dominated by older, more experienced swimmers, a pair of 18-year olds outdueled their 16-year old counterpart in the men’s 100 breaststroke.
Steven Stumph, Michael Duderstadt, and Curtis Ogren all turned in 25.6’s. None of the three really garnered much separation on the second half of this race, but it was a touch by the 18-year old Stumph that took the win in 54.46, just missing a four-year old Meet Record. Another 18-year old, Duderstadt, was 2nd in 54.56, and the 16-year old Ogren was 3rd in 54.60.
18-year old Tim Cottam was 4th in 55.38; he’s an Australian swimming in his first-ever yards meet. Though he’s registered in California for competition purposes, he trains under coach Angus Barnes in Sydney.
Women’s 100 Backstroke
Phoenix Swim Club 14-year old Keaton Blovad went out hard in this 100 back, flipping with clear separation between her and the field at the 50 meter mark.
As she faded, though, SwimMAC 15-year old Kathleen Baker took control of the race. She turned in the middle of a tight-pack behind Blovad, but just didn’t let down on the back-half. She split 25.7-26.8 to win this race in 52.63, moving her already into the top-10 of the 15-16 age group all-time. That’s her best time by two-tenths: not a huge drop, but considering this is her 4th swim of a marathon session, that’s incredibly impressive.
Linnea Mack was just behind her in 2nd in 53.30, followed by Michigan Lakeshore’s Taylor Garcia in 53.34. That’s a 1-2-3 finish from three highly underrated swimmers.
Lindsey Engel took 4th in 53.59, and Blovad ended up 5th in 53.61 – rewarded for her bold start with a best time as well.
400 IM winner Ella Eastin was much better in the evening than she was in the prelims of this race, winning the B-Final in 53.72.
Men’s 100 Backstroke
Just for good measure, Davie’s Dylan Carter showed that he’s more than a freestyler (and in fact may be even a better abckstroker) by winning the men’s 100 in 47.22 – over a full second in margin of victory. The only 15-16 in history who’s been faster than that is the age group backstroker: Ryan Murphy. Watch for Carter at next year’s World Junior Championships to see what he can do in long course.
William Glass was 2nd in 48.31, another big swim for the future Longhorn, and the NT Nadadores’ Aaron Greene finally made his appearance on the podium, refusing to let his teammates have all the fun, with a 48.44 in the 100 back. Greene, who thus far in his career has shown the best long course abilities out of the NTN swimmers, seems a bit less rested than his teammates at this meet.
Women’s 800 Free Relay
The Santa Clara Swim Club broke through with their first big headlines of the meet with a new Meet Record of 7:18.56 in the women’s 800 free relay. That included a 1:48.66 leadoff from 15-year old Sandra Soe – a shout better than she was in the individual race. Sarah Shimomura, Catherine Ladd, and Elise Locke joined her on the record-setting relay
SwimMAC, this time without Baker’s services, was 2nd in 7:21.46, with Jeffco 3rd in 7:22.82.
Men’s 800 Free Relay
The Bolles School moved to a perfect four-for-four with yet another win, this time in the men’s 800 free relay. None of the times were really mindblowing, and they didn’t scare the Meet Record set by their teammates last year, but Santo Condorelli, Josh Booth, Joseph Schooling, and Caeleb Dressel won in 6:37.77 by a fair margin. Schooling was the fastest split in a 1:37.81.
SwimMAC Carolina took 2nd in 6:39.29 (sprinter Kyle Darmody anchored in 1:38.8), and the Dayton Raiders were 3rd in 6:40.38.
Eastin according to the Orange County Register went to SoCal, a club team at Foothill high school.
Better form shown by Kristen Vredeveld with her split in the relay. Perhaps she will finally swim a decent time in the 100 free on day 3.
I didn’t know Dylan Carter before this meet and he will be the breakout swimmer of the meet on the men’s side. He’s very impressive. I believe Frank Busch hope he will swim for USA.
I had spoken about a possible NAG record for Maxime Rooney before the 200 free and he did it.
Curtis Ogren has, as expected, dominated the 400 IM in a great time. He’s with Gunnar Bentz, Josh Prenot and Chase Kalisz the future of USA in the men’s 400 IM.
Impressed by the finish… Read more »
I have forgotten to mention Andrew Seliskar in the list of future great American swimmers in the 400 IM. He has very well swum at the Tom Dolan Invitational. His strongest stroke is breaststroke like Chase Kalisz, Gunnar Bentz, Josh Prenot and Curtis Ogren. It’s interesting to notice.
The SCSC girls are mentioned in this article for their meet record in 800 Free at JR Nationals…
Why is Eastin Unatt? Did she switch clubs? I think it is too early for hs swimming in California.
Engel and Eastin also good backstrokers like Tran since they are from the same area but Eastin can do IM and Engel is also a sprinter.
The SCSC girls are mentioned in this article for their meet record in the 800 free relay…
I believe Curtis Ogren is now actually 2nd (not 4th) on the 15-16 400 IM all-time list…behind the one and only MP.
Keaton Blovad also went a 24.9 lead off in the B final of the 200 medley relay… Smokin!