Ella Cosgrove Scares Taylor Ruck’s Arizona LSC Record in 100 Free at AZ Senior State Champs

Arizona Senior State Championships

• Feb. 29 – March 3, 2024
• Kino Aquatic Center
• Mesa, Arizona
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results on MeetMobile: “Arizona Swimming 2024 Short Course Senior St”

Scottsdale Aquatic Club 16-year-old Ella Cosgrove scared fellow Canadian Taylor Ruck’s Arizona Swimming LSC record in the 100-yard freestyle at the Arizona Senior State Championships last month in Mesa.

Cosgrove, a Cal commit (‘25), clocked a winning time of 49.19, dropping almost a second off her previous-best 50.05 from last March. In the process, she came just a hundredth of a second shy of Ruck’s 15-16 LSC record of 49.18 from 2016. Cosgrove’s new lifetime best would rank 92nd in the U.S. girls 15-16 national age group (NAG) rankings if she wasn’t Canadian.

Cosgrove also pulled out victories in the 100 back (54.68) and 200 back (1:56.82), matching her best 100 back time from last March and knocking almost two seconds off her best 200 back time from last March. She posted another personal best in the 50 free (23.05), shaving a couple hundredths off her best time from December. Cosgrove added a 1:47.44 leadoff on Scottsdale Aquatic Club’s triumphant 800 free relay (7:23.55) along with Caelle Armijo (1:53.82 split), Emmy Therrien (1:52.49 split), and Emma Sayers (1:49.80 split).

Arizona Dolphins 15-year-old Delaney Barbee began closing in on another one of Ruck’s LSC records. She won the 50 free in 22.60, taking .14 seconds off her previous-best 22.74 from last March that stands as the 13-14 LSC record. Barbee is now within a few tenths of Ruck’s LSC standard (22.31) from 2017. She also placed 2nd in the 100 free (50.41) behind Cosgrove, 11th in the 200 free (1:53.33), and 17th in the 100 back (58.16).

Life Time Arizona Swim Team 17-year-old Gabbie Primiano triumphed in the 100 breast with a winning time of 1:01.90. The Richmond commit (‘24) dropped almost a second off her previous-best 1:02.76 that she clocked last March and December.

Swim Neptune 17-year-old Cali Watts dropped almost two seconds on her way to a runner-up finish in the 100 breast right behind Primiano at 1:02.03. She added personal bests in the 200 IM (2:04.66, 3rd place), 50 free (23.44, 4th place), and 400 IM (4:43.92, 6th place).

The fastest 100 breast time of the day belonged to Breeja Larson, a 31-year-old NCAA and Olympic champion who has been competing for Phoenix Swim Club the past couple months following a three-year break. The Texas A&M graduate went 1:01.59 in prelims, about four seconds off her personal-best (and former American-record) 57.23 that earned her an NCAA title in 2014. Larson was slightly faster last month (1:01.18) after not swimming the event for almost five years.

Scottsdale Aquatic Club 17-year-old Emma Sayers took the 200 breast title in 2:12.79, just about a second off her best time from December (2:11.59). The UNC commit (‘24) also posted a 1:02.55 in the breast, within half a second of her personal best (1:02.09 from last March.

Men’s Recap

Larson wasn’t the only Olympic swimmer representing Phoenix Swim Club at the Arizona Senior State Championships. Former Japanese Olympian (Rio 2016) Hiromasa Fujimori collected victories in the 100 breast (53.09), 200 breast (1:56.27), 200 IM (1:46.66), and 400 IM (3:52.32), all in best times. The 32-year-old has only ever raced SCY a few times over the past year. Fujimori didn’t compete for a couple years after placing 4th in the 200 IM at the 2021 Japanese Olympic Trials following his doping suspension in 2019.

Swim Neptune 17-year-old August Vetsch was close behind Fujimori in the 200 IM with a runner-up finish in 1:47.31, knocking almost a second off his previous-best 1:48.03 from November. In the process, the Cal commit (‘24) moved up to 59th in the U.S. boys 17-18 national age group (NAG) rankings.

Vetsch topped the podium in the 50 free (19.71), 100 free (43.60), and 100 fly (47.25) while adding a huge time drop in the 400 IM (3:53.56) en route to 2nd place. He lowered his best 400 IM time from 2022 (4:16.81) by more than 23 seconds. He added another lifetime best in the 100 breast (55.66), dropping more than two seconds off his previous-best 57.83 from October on his way to 4th place.

Vetsch had a close battle with Leo Roden in the 100 free (43.67), eking past the Arizona State freshman by less than a tenth of a second. Rounding out the 100 free podium was Swim Neptune 16-year-old Jason Sugihara, who narrowly missed cracking the top 100 NAG rankings in the event with a personal-best 44.52. He dropped more than a second off his previous-best 45.64 from last March. Sugihara also notched best times in the 200 IM (1:50.97), 400 IM (4:02.79), 100 fly (50.21), 50 free (20.83), and 100 breast (56.14) throughout the meet.

Arizona State freshman Quinland Gould secured a pair of victories in the 100 back (48.82) and 200 back (1:44.63) while recording best times in the 50 free (20.86) and 100 free (45.32). He dropped .15 seconds in the 50 free and .05 seconds in the 100 free off his previous bests from a year ago.