Presenting our Weekly Wonders for the weekend of April 20-22, 2018:
Hayes Varvel, 14, Paducah Swim Team: 200m free (2:04.14) – Competing at the All American Swim Long Copurse Spring Invite hosted by Nashville Aquatic Club, Varvel lopped 4.6 seconds off his previous best time to win the boys’ 13-14 200 free with a time that was 12.3 seconds faster than where he was last year at this time. Varvel had a perfect weekend, winning all 8 of his events (200/400 free, 200 back, 100/200 breast, 100 fly, and 200/400 IM) with 8 new times.
Keaton Jones, 13, Swim Neptune: 400m free (4:27.84) – Jones dropped 9.7 seconds in the 400 free, going 18.6 seconds faster than he’d been at the same meet last year, while winning the boys’ 13-14 event at Phoenix Spring Invitational hosted by Phoenix Swim Club. He also won the 100 back, 200 back, and 200 IM, was runner-up in the 200 free, and took third in the 100 free and 200 breast. He went 7-for-7 with PBs for the weekend.
Michael Robinson, 12, Mississippi Makos Swim Team: 1500m free (18:11.53) – Robinson exploded all his PBs at the LSA Spring Invitational. He dropped 1 minute 37.2 seconds in the 1500 free to kick things off, then proceeded to go best times in the 100 breast (-5.4 seconds), 100 back (-4.3), 100 free (-2.1), 200 back, 800 free (-14.7), 200 free (-2.9), and 50 free (-.3).
Carlos Munoz Renteria, 14, Rancho San Dieguito: 200m back (2:11.66) – At the April Senior Meet hosted by La Mirada Armada, Munoz Renteria dropped 3.9 seconds in prelims of the men’s 200 back to qualify third for the final. There, he gave back 4/10 but finished second overall, and is now 8.6 seconds faster than he was at this time last year. Munoz Renteria wrapped up the weekend with new PBs in the 200 free, 200 back, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 200/400 IM.
Laura Rosado, 17, SoCo Aquatic Club: 200m back (2:17.99) – Swimming at Puerto Rico’s LC06-18 Mayaguez International Swimming Open IV at the Colegio de Mayaguez, Rosado dropped 2.6 seconds to win the girls’ 200 back by 2.2 over Florida-commit Celi Guzman. Rosado, who will swim for MIT in the fall, also improved her times in the 200 free (-2.2 seconds), 400 free (-11.24), 50 back (-1.26), 100 back (-0.58), 50 fly (-4.38), 100 fly (-0.35), and 200 IM (-10.7).
Emily Jones, 15, Wasatch Wave Warriors: 200m fly (2:18.77) – Jones picked up a pair of first-time Winter Juniors cuts in the 200 back (2:19.18) and 200 fly at the 2018 Georgina Hope Foundation Australian Age Swimming Championships. Swimming for Novocastrian, she won the girls 14 100 fly and was runner-up in the 200 fly, 100 back, and 200 back. Jones earned PBs in all four events, as well as in the 50 free and 100 free.
Youssef Bahgat, 13, Arkansas Dolphins Swim Team: 200m fly (2:20.26) – Bahgat had an outstanding meet at the 2018 AquaHawg Long Course Opener in Fayetteville. He won both the boys’ 13-14 100 fly (1:04.89) and 200 fly (2:20.26), dropping an unbelievable 19.65 seconds in the latter (and a hefty 2.17 seconds in the former). But that’s not all; he also went best times in the 50 free (-1.22 seconds), 100 free (-1.6), 200 free (-3.77), 50 back (-2.3), 200 back, (-13.43), and 200 IM (-6.76).
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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