Gretchen Walsh Ties 50 Free National Age Group Record in Knoxville

2019 SPEEDO SOUTHERN PREMIER MEET

• March 1st-3rd, 2019
• Alan Jones Aquatic Center, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
• 25y, prelims/finals
• Real-Time Results
• Psych Sheets

One National Age Group Record, and another near miss, highlighted the 2nd day of the 2019 Southern Premier Meet in Knoxville, Tennessee. In the girls’ 200 medley relay, Alex Walsh, Ella Nelson, Jordan Hurt, and Gretchen Walsh combined for a 1:37.04. That broke Fort Collins’ National Record set at Winter Juniors in 2017 by .61 seconds. (Read more about that record here).

There was very-nearly a 3rd National  Age Group Record of the Week swum.

• WATCH: Mason Manta Rays’ 800 Free Relay National Age Group Record

After breaking the 800 free relay earlier in the meet, the group of Adam Chaney, Jacob McDonald, Jake Foster, and Carson Foster combined to swim a 2:53.93 in the 400 free relay: which very-nearly missed the 15-18 National Age Group Record. That misses the old record of 2:53.81 set by the Allegheny North Swim Club in 2018.

MANTA RAYS RATTLE 400 FREE RELAY NAG! 2:53.93‼️ pic.twitter.com/utBwjYsxXT

— Mason Manta Rays (@RAYSswimming) March 3, 2019

Mason also swam a 1:26.52 to win the 200 medley relay, including a 19.01 freestyle split from the 16-year old Chaney, a 21.54 backstroke from Carson Foster, and a 23.73 breaststroke split from Jake Foster.

The NAC girls, meanwhile, wound up scratching both their A and B 400 free relays (which meant a win for the Mason Manta Rays there too), but they did have a day of successful individual racing.

That includes the 50 free, where sisters Gretchen Walsh and Alex Walsh went 1-2 in 21.82 and 22.24, respectively. For Gretchen, that matches her lifetime best and 15-16 National Age Group Record set at Winter Juniors East in December.

Then, in the 200 IM, Meaghan Raab, who is a Nashville alumnus but currently trains with the local University of Tennessee club, won in 1:56.31. That beat out Gretchen (1:58.15) and another Nashville swimmer Ella Nelson (1:59.32) for a 1-2-3 Nashville run. ULett was 4th in 1:59.48.

Other Notable Swims:

• Jean Khouzam, a 16-year old from the Dayton Raiders in Ohio, swam a 1:45.79 in the 200 fly. That ties him for 15th all-time in 15-16 age group history.
• In the women’s 200 fly, future Louisville teammates Tristen Ulett (Dynamo) and Gabi Albiero (Cardinal Aquatics) battled to a 1-2 finish. Ulett, the younger of the two, opened up a big lead of more than 2 seconds, and was able to push that by 2 more tenths over the last 50 to win. Ulett’s time of 1:55.77 jumps her into the top 20 in 15-16 age group history – to this point of her career, she’s been a much better sprinter than 200 butterflier. Albiero took 2nd in 1:58.06.
• In the women’s 500 free, Ellie Marquardt beat out the aforementioned Raab 4:42.09 to 4:44.50. For the 17-year old Marquardt, that’s a lifetime best by more than a second-and-a-half.
• We aren’t digging too far into the age group times this week, but GCAT’s Camry Baraniak had a day worth mentioning. She won the girls’ 11-12 100 fly in 57.82, the 50 free in 24.88, and the 100 IM in 1:01.12. That’s a clean sweep of the day’s individual events in her age group.
• 25-year old Erik Risolvato won the boys’ 50 free in 19.66, beating-out the top junior in the event Dillon Downing from SwimAtlanta (19.68). Mason’s Adam Chaney, after his blistering relay split, took 3rd in 19.73.
• Carson Foster won the 200 IM in 1:43.19. That’s about 6-tenths shy of his best in the event, but was still enough to win by half-a-second.
• Older brother Jake Foster won the next boys’ event by a huge margin as well. He swam 4:17.94 in the 500 free, which was more than 10 seconds better than Dynamo’s Ian Grum (4:28.23). That’s Jake’s best time in the 500 free by almost 4 seconds.

Team Scores After Day 2:

Note that this includes all of the age groups as well.

Girls’ Top 5:

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 1891
2. Dynamo Swim Club – 1088
3. Nashville Aquatic Club – 784
4. Aquatic Team of Mecklenburg – 428
5. Lakeside Swim Team – 391

Boys’ Top 5:

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 1414
2. Dynamo Swim Club – 827.5
3. Nashville Aquatic Club – 745
4. Aquatic Team of Mecklenburg – 623
5. Tennessee Aquatics – 585