Jordan Willis Takes Down the 200 Breast LSC Record at NC Senior Championships

2023 North Carolina Senior Championships

• February 23-26
• Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center (MCAC) | Charlotte, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Full Results
• NCS SCY Records

No swimmer took home more than two individual golds at the North Carolina Senior Championships on February 23-26 in Charlotte, NC. With this meet landing just weeks before several major meets, many of NC’s top swimmers didn’t attend the meet, resulting in a feeding frenzy for 1st place in each event. Only 3 women and 3 men achieved 2 individual 1st place finishes and the rest of the event wins were grabbed by different swimmers in each event. Though he was among those who only took home one gold, SwimMac’s Jordan Willis made his 1st place swim count with a new 15-16 LSC record.

Willis swam a 1:57.45 in finals, dropping three seconds from his seed time and taking down the 15-16 LSC record of 1:57.73 set by Matthew Lucky at the ESSZ SCY Sectionals in 2021. Lucky has held many breaststroke LSC records through the years, though now only his 13-14 200 breast LSC record remains. 

The top seed from the morning, Brasen Walker of Raleigh Swimming Association, gave Willis a target to chase as he took out his first 150 yards almost a full second faster than Willis. Walker couldn’t hold onto his lead, though, as Willis finished with a blistering 30.02, outsplitting Walker by over a second on the last 50. Willis’s night swim was a two second drop from the morning.

Walker picked up his single win in the 100 breast, posting a 53.74 in prelims, a time that ranks him 6th in the country for 17-year-olds. And even with a one second add at night, Walker still beat the field by over a second. Walker is slated to swim for the NC State Wolfpack next year.

Team Scores

Combined

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 2694
2. North Carolina Aquatic Club – 1111
3. Marlins of Raleigh – 788
4. Raleigh Swimming Association – 657
5. Tac Titans – 507

Women

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 1517
2. North Carolina Aquatic Club – 505
3. Raleigh Swimming Association – 306
4. Tac Titans – 270
5. Marlins of Raleigh – 241

Men

1. SwimMAC Carolina – 1177
2. North Carolina Aquatic Club – 606
3. Marlins of Raleigh – 547
4. Raleigh Swimming Association – 351
5. Tac Titans – 237

Other Highlights

Boys

• Marlins of Raleigh’s Wilson Tuttle won the 1000 free with a 9:18.01, a massive 10 second drop from his seed time
• Caleb Maldari of SwimMAC was one of the few who took home two golds at this meet in the 400 IM and 200 fly.
• SwimMAC’s Granger Bartee only swam one individual and two relays in the meet, but he was crowned in all three. A sophomore at Providence Day School and only 16 years old, his 100 back time of 47.68 is good for a number 6 national ranking for 15-16 year olds this year. Bartee was also a member of a NAG record breaking relay back in 2021.
• 16-year-old Max Nechydyuk of SwimMAC was crowned in two individual events, the 100 fly and 400 IM. His 400 IM time of 3:56.53 was a significant drop from his entry time of 3:59.97 and barely edged out teammate Davis Dunham. Dunham’s 4.5 second drop from his seed time moved him from 7th seed to second place in the event; he captured his one individual gold with a 1:47.53 in the 200 back.
• Albert Smelzer of SwimGSA was the only other boy to capture two 1st place finishes in the 50 and 100 free
• 16-year-old Wiley Spinner of MSA took gold in the 500 free with a 4:32.25, almost a 6 second drop from his entry time.

Girls 

• NCAC’s Hayley Clark, a future Princeton Tiger, was one of the three girls to take double gold in the 1000 free and 200 fly.
• 15-year-old Zetta Grace Bartee of SwimMAC captured her two golds in the 200 and 100 free. Almost a second drop from her best time, her 50.90 100 free edged out teammate Caroline Mallard by only one tenth of a second.
• The third and final girl to grab 1st in two events was Alabama commit, Sydney Sanders, who took home gold in the 200 and 400 IM for SwimMAC. Sanders came close to being the only swimmer at the meet to grab three golds. In the 200 breast, Sanders was in 1st place until the last 50, when 16-year-old teammate Caroline Largen chased her down and edged Sanders’s 2:15.03 out with a 2:14.77.
• Sami Rydzewski of RSA faced a tough DQ in the 100 back halfway through the weekend, but she turned it around on the last day of the meet with a quick 1:56.61 in the 200 back, good for 1st place and a number 13 ranking for 17-year-old girls this year.