Presenting the Weekly Wonders for the weekend of June 1-3, 2018:
Jack Callan, 17, Trident Aquatics Club (TAC-OK): 200m free (1:57.86) – Notching his first sub-2:00 200 free in prelims Callan earned a spot in the B final at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Open hosted by Club Wolverine. From there he dropped another 1.5 seconds and finished 14th overall, improving his seed time by 3.2 seconds and swimming 6.6 seconds faster than he’d been at this time last year. Callan also went best times in the 100 free and 400 free. Last month he swam PBs in the 50 and 800.
Will Gallant, 16, West Hartford Aquatic Team (WHAT-CT): 400m free (4:04.84) – Gallant earned his first Winter Juniors cut in the 400 free with a 3.4-second drop at the Wilton Wahoos Summer Invitational. He has improved 9.3 in the event since this time last year. Gallant left the meet with new PBs in the 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 400 free, 1500 free, 200 back, and 200 IM.
Zach Zornan Ferguson, 12, Racer X Aquatics (RXA-AM): 400m free (4:38.52) – Competing in Ohio State Swim Club’s Spring into Summer Meet at Ohio State University, Zornan Ferguson won the boys’ 11-12 400 free and took a 3-second bite out of Carson Foster’s meet record from 2014. Zornan Ferguson has dropped 18.1 seconds in the event since last year. He also won the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free; he was runner-up in the 50 fly, 100 fly and 400 IM; and he placed third in the 50 breast. He went 8-for-8 with best times and won High Point Award for his age group.
Aaron Seymour, 14, Georgia Coastal Aquatic Team (GCAT-GA): 100m back (59.92) – Seymour broke 1 minute for the first time while winning the boys’ 13-14 100 back at the 48th Annual Dixie Classic hosted by Dynamo Swim Club. He took 1.6 seconds off a 2-week-old PB, going 6.3 seconds faster than he’d been at this time a year ago. He also won the 50 free, 100 free, 200 back, 100 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM, and was runner-up in the 100 breast. He finished the weekend with new PBs in everything but the 200 IM.
Ziyad Saleem, 15, Schroeder YMCA Swim Team (SSTY-WI): 100m back (1:01.36) – Swimming at the Pirate Plunge hosted by South Eastern Aquatics, Saleem won the boys’ 15-and-over 100 back with a best time by 1.9 seconds. He was 3.9 seconds faster than he’d been at this point in the season a year ago. Saleem left the meet with lifetime bests in the 50 free, 100 back, and 200 back.
Nick Vance, 16, West Chicago Sharks (WCS-IL): 200m back (2:04.35) – Vance snagged his first U.S. Open cut in the 200 back with a best-by-4.6-seconds win at Cedar Rapids Aquatics Association’s Long Course Kick Off. That makes him 5.8 seconds faster than he was at this time last year. Vance also won the 400 free, 800 free, 100 back, 200 breast, 200 fly, and 400 IM. He updated his PBs during the weekend in the 400 free, 800 free, 100 back, 200 back, 200 breast, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM.
Sophia Tuinman, 15, Club Wolverine (CW-WI): 200m back (2:14.96) – Tuinman won the women’s 200 back at the Eric Namesnik Memorial Open with the 3rd-fastest time in the nation for 18-and-under girls. She went a best time by .2 and was 2.8 seconds faster than she’d been at the same meet a year ago. She also scored PBs in the 100 free, 200 free, and 400 free. She was runner-up in the 100 back, 3rd in the 400 IM, 5th in the 400 free, 6th in the 200 free, and 12th in the 100 free.
Edie Simecek, 13, Flatiron Athletic Club (FAC-CO): 100m fly (1:05.99) – Swimming at the CUDA STAR Long Course Open, Simecek improved her seed time by 1.3 seconds and won the girls’ 13-and-over 100 fly. She was 5.1 seconds faster than she’d been in this event at the same meet last year. Simecek was runner-up in the 50 fly and 200 fly. She wrapped up the weekend with new PBs in the 200 free, 50 back, 100 back, 50 breast, 100 breast, 100 fly, 200 fly, and 200 IM.
Sumner Chmielewski, 14, Sarasota YMCA Sharks (SYS-FL): 400m IM (5:03.26) – Chmielewski won the women’s 400 IM at the Tampa Bay Swim Classic, dropping 5.5 seconds and going 10 seconds faster than she’d been at this time last year. She also won the 200 back and 200 fly, was runner-up in the 200 IM, and placed third in the 200 free, 200 breast, and 400 free. In addition to her PB in the 400 IM, Chmielewski finished the weekend with new lifetime bests in the 200 back 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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Hi, Anne! Would it be possible to list the place where the athletes train, not just their club name? So many swim teams have similar names! For example, Trident Aquatic Club may be known to everybody else, but I’d have to guess; is it associated with ASU? As a reader, it would be helpful, to see “Tempe, AZ” written after the name. Anyway, thanks for all you do to keep us informed!
Hi DANJOHNROB, I would be happy to add the club and LSC codes, information I gather and publish in the year-end summary.