Katie Ledecky and Kyle Whitaker lead the charge for the individual high point awards at the 2014 U.S. Winter National Championships with just one day left in the meet in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Neither swimmer is uncatchable, technically speaking, but both are in very good shape going into Saturday.
On the women’s side, Ledecky has a 7 point lead over UCLA’s Linnea Mack and a 13-point lead over Katie Meili and Kennedy Goss.
Mack has only one swim left in the 100 fly, where she enters prelims as the 6th seed. Holding seed would net her 13 points. Ledecky, however, has two swims: the top seed in the 1650 free (where she could just about swim backstroke and win), and the 3rd seed in the 100 fly (she and Mack are next to each other in prelims. If Ledecky combines for 13 points in those two events (which only a scratch in the mile would prevent in practical terms), she’s uncatchable by Mack.
Katie Meili is a little bit more of an interesting case, in that she’s also got two individual entries on Saturday, and is the 4th seed in both (which by seed is worth 30 total points). That would put just a little bit of pressure on Ledecky, especially if Meili moves up a few spots.
Goss has two entries as well, but isn’t seeded to score in either. Based on how well she’s swum this week, the Canadian from Indiana University could certainly move into the scoring, but it would seem unlikely that she could score enough to catch Ledecky.
In short, if Ledecky swims out the finals in both of her races, she should be safe for the title based on how she’s swum. Meili, however, does have some chance to catch her, so this one is not quite a done-deal.
On the men’s side, Club Wolverine holds a 12-point lead over Cal sprinter Nathan Adrian and 15 points over his teammate, distance swimmer Connor Jaeger. Both Adrian (100 free) and Jaeger (1650 free) are big favorites to win their only events on the final day of this meet, which will give them 60 and 57 points, respectively, whereas Whitaker enters the day with 52.
That means that for Whitaker to win the title outright, all he has to do is earn 9 points in the 100 fly – the equivalent of winning the B-Final. Given that Whitaker is swimming very well, and is the 3rd seed in the 200 fly, those odds are ever in his favor.
There’s a distinct difference between the two sides’ top 10’s in terms of age. On the women’s side, Meili is the only pro in the top 10. On the men’s side #5 Dylan Bosch and #7 Nolane Tesone are the only amateurs in the top 10.
Scoring system: individuals only, by place – 20, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11 – 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Women’s Top 10 through Friday
1. Katie Ledecky, NCAP, 57
2. Linnea Mack, UCLA, 50
T-3. Katie Meili, SwimMAC, 44
T-3. Kennedy Goss, Indiana, 44
5. Courtney Harnish, York YMCA, 37
6. Kelsi Worrell, Louisville, 36
T-7. Meghan Small, York YMCA, 32
T-7. Gillian Ryan, Michigan, 32
9. Miranda Tucker, Livonia Community Swim Club, 31
T-10. Haley Lips, Indiana, 30
T-10. Ali DeLoof, Michigan, 30
T-10. Clara Smiddy, Michigan, 30
Men’s Top 10 through Friday
1. Kyle Whitaker, Club Wolverine, 52
2. Nathan Adrian, California Aquatics, 40
3. Connor Jaeger, Club Wolverine, 37
4. Geoff Cheah, Club Wolverine
5. Dylan Bosch, Michigan, 33
6. Junya Koga, Club Wolverine, 32
7. Nolan Tesone, Louisville, 31
T-8. Sean Fletcher, Mason Makos, 29
T-8. Carlos Almeida, Cardinal Aquatics, 29
10. Michael Wynalda, Club Wolverine, 28