2022 USA Swimming Futures Championships – Santa Clara
- July 27-30, 2022
- George F. Haines International Swim Center, Santa Clara, CA
- LCM (50m)
- Results on MeetMobile
The final day of the 2022 Futures Championships in Santa Clara saw some great racing to close out the meet.
Bellevue Club Swim Team 16-year-old Piper Enge took the women’s 200 IM in 2:17.45, claiming victory by 1.71 seconds. Enge was just off her personal best of 2:17.3, which she set in June at the Mel Zajac Jr. International meet. Although it wasn’t a personal best, Enge put together a great race, including a speedy 38.19 breaststroke split. She was also solid on the front half of the race, splitting 30.32 on fly and 35.84 on back, for a 1:06.16 on the first 100.
Palo Alto Stanford Aquatic’s Arthur Blake Balva, 17, took the men’s 200 IM in a new personal best of 2:05.23. It was a monumental swim for Balva, coming in nearly 3 seconds under his best time heading into the day, which stood at 2:08.23. He was quick on the front half of the race, swimming a 26.05 on fly and 32.16 on back, for a 58.21 on the first 100 of the race. He was able to tack on a 37.08 breast split, and came home in 3019 to get the job done.
The women’s 50 free went to Sandpipers of Nevada 17-year-old Audrey Yu. She won the race handily, clocking a 25.81 to touch the wall first by over half a second. The swim was huge for Yu, who entered the meet with a personal best of 26.24 and swam a 26.24 in prelims. Therefore, the performance marks Yu’s first time under 26 seconds in the event.
The men’s 50 free was an incredible race, seeing 1st-7th decided by just 0.17 seconds. Leading the way was Clovis Swim Club’s Colby Hatton, who managed to get his on the wall in 23.27, just 0.01 seconds ahead of Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics’ Ethan Harrington. Coronado Swim Assocation’s Lucius Brown was next in, hitting the wall in 23.32. Marre Gattnar (23.39), Donovan Jeng (23.41), John Donovan (23.42), and Hayden Ghufran (23.44) were next in.
Sandpipers of Navada 17-year-old Paige Kuwata won another event on the final day of the meet, taking the women’s 200 back in 2:16.43. Primarily a mid-distance and distance freestyler, the swim was a bit off Kuwata’s personal best of 2:14.75. She was incredibly consistent in her race, splitting 34.48, 34.93, and 34.41 on the final 3 50s.
Another Sandpiper, 15-year-old Luke Ellis, won the men’s 200 back, swimming a 2:03.95. The swim marked a huge personal best, coming in 2.45 seconds under his entry time coming into the day. He also swam a great race, nearly even splitting. Ellis was 29.38 on the first 50, then posted splits of 31.85, 31.67, and 30.39 on the remaining 50s.
The men’s 800 free was also won by a Sandpiper, seeing 16-year-old Dillon Wright speed to a huge new personal best of 8:16.63. In true Sandpipers fashion, Wright even-split the race, going 4:08.06 on the first 400, then coming home in 4:08.57. He was incredibly consistent through the bulk of his swim, settling into 31.5/31.6 50 splits.
Team Santa Monica 17-year-old Mattea Sokolow took the women’s 1500 in 17:11.32. The swim was a bit off Sokolow’s personal best of 16:59.96.