2022 U.S. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS
- April 26-30, 2022
- Greensboro, NC
- Greensboro Aquatic Center
- LCM (50m)
- Start Times: Prelims – 9 am ET / Finals – 6 pm ET
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In the final heat of the women’s 1500 free tonight, Sandpipers’ Olympian Katie Grimes finished runner-up to Katie Ledecky, adding the 1500 to the 400 IM to her Budapest lineup with a new best time of 15:51.36.
The swim was a 7 tenth drop for Grimes, but it was a significant 7 tenths that moved her ahead of the legendary Janet Evans on the all time 15-16 rankings. Evans’ 1988 swim of 15:52.10 set the World Record and was her lifetime best in the event, though the 1500 was not contested at the Olympic Games until 2021. That World Record stood for almost 20 years, before Kate Ziegler broke it with a 15:42.54 in 2007.
Now, only current World Record holder Katie Ledecky sits above Grimes on the all time 15-16 rankings. Grimes’ swim also sits 3rd in the world this year.
Top 10 All Time 15-16 Girls 1500 Free
- Katie Ledecky: 15:36.53
- Katie Grimes: 15:51.36
- Janet Evans: 15:52.10
- Kim Linehan: 16:04.49
- Erica Sullivan: 16:05.83
- MaryBeth Dorst: 16:08.02
- Becca Mann: 16:08.86
- Kate Ziegler: 16:11.23
- Julie Kole: 16:14.12
- G Ryan: 16:14.67
Grimes was out fast, swimming at Ledecky’s hip over the first few hundred meters- a sight most swim fans are not used to. She then settled into 32 lows and 31 highs for the remainder of the race before closing in 1:01.29 over the final 100 meters.
Sandpipers coach Ron Aitken has built a distance freestyle powerhouse in the desert, as Grimes wasn’t the only Sandpipers 15-16 girl to impress this evening. Her teammates Bella Sims, 16, and Claire Weinstein, 15, both dropped new lifetime bests to climb the all time rankings. Sims swam a 16:15.87 to land her 12th on the all time list, while Weinstein swam a 16:22.78, now ranking her 23rd all time with another year in the age group.
The Sandpipers girls finished 2-3-4 in the 1500 at these Trials.
The Linehan time, WR when swum, is from 1979!
American Distance is looking promising when the 🐐 retires
Just insane how ahead of her time Janet was
Janet is a legend. Can only imagine what her times would have been if the mile was an Olympic event
Also Janet Evans swam without a tech suit or any dolphin kicks off the walls.
Let’s eat 🍖