Jack Aikins, Gigi Johnson Win 50 Free Shootouts To Close Peach State Champs

PEACH STATE 18 AND UNDER CHAMPIONSHIPS

• December 10-13, 2020
• Freeman Aquatic Center
• Norcross, Georgia
• SCY (25 yards)
• Psych Sheets (PDF)
• Results on Meet Mobile: “Peach State 18 and Under Championships”
• Live Stream (Spartans YouTube channel)
• USA Swimming 18 & Under Winter National Results Tool

With the majority of events already in the books, Sunday’s timed final sessions from the Peach State 18 and Under Championships featured a four-round skins 50 freestyle, along with the 500 free and some time trial events, to finish off the meet.

BOYS RECAP

In the boys session, which kicked things off, 18-year-old Jack Aikins of SwimAtlanta closed out his standout meet by winning the 50 free eliminator, taking first place over all four rounds.

The UVA commit opened up round one by cracking the 20-second barrier, touching in 19.99, before reeling off subsequent times of 20.14, 20.22 and 20.20 to seal the victory.

Aikins, who also picked up wins in the 100 free, 200 free, 100 back and 200 back over the weekend, holds a lifetime best time of 19.68 from March.

Spartans Aquatic Club’s Nate Stoffle, also 18, was the runner-up in the four-swimmer final, clocking a personal best time of 20.31 after swims of 20.53, 20.68 and 20.50 in the early rounds. Stoffle came into the meet having set a new PB just last month in 20.68.

Stoffle’s 17-year-old teammates John Beamon and Kamal Muhammad took third and fourth in the final, putting up times of 20.54 and 20.71, respectively. Beamon set a best of 20.43 in the third round, while Muhammad did so in round two (20.45).

Another SPAC swimmer, Colton Mcgrady, reset his lifetime best in both round one (20.52) and round two (20.48) before being knocked out in round three, finishing just .02 back of Stoffle for fourth.

In the 500 free, SwimAtlanta’s Sebastien Sergile picked up his third win of the meet in a time of 4:28.36, falling just under a second shy of his lifetime best 4:27.37 set last year. His teammate Jose Castro slipped under his PB in second, clocking 4:32.12.

Sergile also time-trialled the 50 free, breaking 21 seconds for the first time in 20.97. Also racing the time trial was Spartans swimmer Peter Sacca, who dropped a time of 20.43 after being knocked out of the 50 free shootout in round three. His lifetime best stands at 20.34.

You can watch the full boys session here.

GIRLS RECAP

The girls’ four-round 50 free shootout was hotly contested the whole way through, with SwimAtlanta’s Gigi Johnson prevailing in the final over Georgia Coastal’s Gaby Van Brunt.

Johnson paced the field through the opening two rounds, clocking 23.51 and 23.36, before Van Brunt grabbed the top spot in the semi-finals in 23.55 to Johnson’s 23.63.

In the final round, which included five swimmers after Allison Damron and Annie Jardina tied for fourth in round three, Johnson delivered her fastest swim of the day in 23.25 to win. Van Brunt, utilizing some fantastic underwaters, took second in 23.42.

Johnson owns a best of 23.14, set in March, while Van Brunt’s PB of 22.85  was set in November 2019. Now 15, Van Brunt’s best time also ranks her tied for 22nd all-time in the 13-14 age group.

Damron ended up taking third in the final, clocking 24.01, while both Carson Schiller and Francie Carson cracked the 24-second barrier for the first time during the event.

In the 500 free, SwimAtlanta’s Abigail McCulloh took first by over 10 seconds in 4:46.29, her second victory of the meet after winning the 200 fly on Friday. The 17-year-old holds a personal best of 4:41.53 from December of 2019.

You can watch the full girls session here.