Presenting the Weekly Wonders for the weekend of March 23-25, 2018:
Addy Lewis, 12, Missoula Aquatic Club: 50y free (24.70) – Lewis took 3/10 off a month-old PB to win the girls 12 50 free at the Northwest Region Age Group Championships at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. She was runner-up in the 50 fly and also competed in the 100 free, 50/100 back, and 100 IM. Lewis left the meet with new PBs in the 50 free, 50 fly, and 100 IM.
Micah Chambers, 15, Enid YMCA: 100y free (46.90) – Competing at the TYR ISCA Junior Championships, Chambers dropped 9/10 off his 100 free time, making him 3 seconds faster than he was a year ago. He finished the weekend with new times in the 50 free and 50 fly, as well, adding to the 200/500 free, 100 back, 100 breast, 100 fly and 200 IM PBs he notched earlier in the month.
Lucy Malys, 14, Oakland Live Y’ers: 1650y free (17:00.50) – Malys took 31.1 seconds off a 6-week-old PB to place third in the girls 13-14 1650 free at the 2018 NCSA Age Group Swimming Championship. That makes her 1:22.5 faster than she was a year ago in the mile. Malys placed 3rd in the 200 fly, 4th in the 500 free, 7th in the 200 free, 8th in the 400 IM, 14th in the 200 back, and 16th in the 200 IM and took home new times in the 100/200/500/1650 free, 200 back, 100/200 fly, and 200/400 IM.
Kennedy Noble, 14, YMCA Westside Silver Fins: 100y back (54.39) – Noble won both the women’s 100 back and 200 back at the Four Corners Speedo Sectionals. Her 100 back time was a PB by .14, landing her a Summer Juniors qualifying time. A year ago she was a 56.6 backstroker. Noble finished the weekend with new times in the 100/200 back and 100 fly, two weeks after notching PBs in the 50 back, 200 fly, 200 IM and 400 IM.
Zoe Skirboll, 13, Racer X Aquatics: 100y breast (1:01.47) – Skirboll went a PB by 4/10 to win the women’s 100 breast at Speedo Sectionals at University of Akron, going 2.4 seconds faster than she’d been at this time last year. She finished 3rd in the 50 free (23.06), 3rd in the 100 fly (54.86), and 9th in the 200 breast (2:15.83). All four times were PBs; all four broke Allegheny Mountain Swimming records for 13-14 girls. The 100 fly record was a Melanie Buddymeyer mark that had stood since 1981.
Aidan Kreiley, 15, Mercury Swimming: 100y breast (56.51) – Competing at Speedo Sectionals at Ithaca College, Kreiley lowered his 3-week-old PB (from NYSPHSAA Public School Championships, where he placed fourth) by 3/10 to finish fourth in the men’s 100 breast. It was the 5th Winter Juniors cut he swam in March, making him 3 seconds faster than he was a year ago. Kreiley also went best times in the 200 breast and 100 fly, 2 weeks after improving his 50/200/500 free and 200 IM.
Courtney Connolly, 16, Birmingham ‘Y’ Blue Dolphins: 100y fly (55.56) – Connolly notched her first Winter Juniors cut in the 100 fly with a best-by-.5 showing in the A-final at Speedo Sectionals at the University of Akron. She also won the B final of the 200 IM, was a C-finalist in the 100 back, and was a D-finalist in the 100 breast. Since the beginning of January she has improved her times in the 200 free, 200 back, and 400 IM, and is 1.5 seconds faster than she was at this time last year in the 100 fly.
Giovanni Linscheer, 13, City of Richardson Swim Team: 200y IM (1:58.39) – Swimming at NCSA Age Group Swimming Championship, Linscheeer took 8/10 off a new PB to place 5th in the boys’ 13-14 200 IM with a time that is 11 seconds faster than where he was a year ago. Linscheer was runner-up in the 200 breast and came in 3rd in the 500 free and 400 IM, 4th in the 100 breast, 9th in the 200 free and 200 back, 18th in the 100 free, and 21st in the 50 free. He improved his PBs in the 50/100/200/500 free, 200 back, 100 breast, and 200 IM.
Andrea Zeebe, 13, Kamehameha Swim Club: 400y IM (4:32.69) – Zeebe dropped a whopping 6.2 seconds in the 400 IM at the 2018 Southwest Age Group Regional Championships, bringing her total improvement to 11.2 seconds over the last six months. She not only won the girls’ 13 400 IM but set the meet record in the event. Zeebe also won the 200 back and 200 fly and placed 2nd in the 100 back and 200 IM, 3rd in the 200 free, and 4th in the 50 free. She went best times in the 50 free, 100/200 back, 200 fly, and 200 IM.
Reminder: The Weekly Wonders column is a celebration of age-group swimming, where new champions are made every day. Anyone can look up the top swims of the week. That’s not what we’re doing here. If we were only reporting on the week’s top swims we would feature the same handful of athletes every Wednesday. Instead, this is an opportunity to introduce the swimming community to athletes who have made great strides in the context of their own particular swimming worlds. By association, it also celebrates their coaches and their teams. The Weekly Wonders column, therefore, amounts to a pat on the back for a job well done, and hopefully encourages swimmers of all levels to continue to reach from within to get to that next level.
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