2020 CARLSBAD SECTIONAL
- Thursday, February 27 – Sunday, March 1, 2020
- Alga Norte Aquatics Center, Carlsbad, CA
- SCY Format
- Thursday: Finals 4:00 PM
- Friday-Sunday: Prelims 8:30 AM / Finals 5:00 PM
- Results available on Meet Mobile under “2020 SI Speedo Sectionals Carlsbad”
18-year-old Samantha Pearson won the 100 free and 200 back in back-to-back events Sunday, capping off the Carlsbad Sectional.
Pearson, who swims for SOCAL Aquatics, smashed her personal best in the backstroke, going 1:54.83. Previously, she had been 1:56.74, though that best time was from December of 2017. Pearson also won the 100 free in 48.97, but was a tick faster (48.92) in prelims to shave a few hundredths from her personal best set at this meet last year.
Pearson is a Stanford signee for next year, and last spring, we ranked her among the top 30 or so recruits in her class nationally. She also led Socal to the women’s 400 free relay win on Sunday, splitting 48.91 on the end of a 3:24.39 relay.
It was yet another distance sweep for the Williams twins of Riverside Aquatics Association. Liberty Williams won the women’s 1650 free and Jude Williams the men’s 1000 free. The pair of 18-year-olds each swept the 500, 1000, and 1650 freestyles in Carlsbad. Liberty (a Louisville signee) was 16:33.96 in the mile, twelve seconds off her best. Jude (a Wisconsin signee) was 9:04.41, just about seven tenths off his best.
Other Day 4 Winners:
- University of the Pacific alum Neil Franka (Swim San Diego) won the 100 free in 44.03. That was actually about a half-second off his prelims swim (43.39), but both times sit as the two best swims of Franka’s career at age 24.
- 17-year-old Jonathan Affeld won the men’s 200 back, cutting 1.4 seconds from his career-best to go 1:46.77. Affeld swims for Alto Swim Club and will attend Stanford in the fall. He also split 44.1 on the end of Alto’s winning men’s 400 free relay team, which went 3:03.79.
- 13-year-old Teagan O’Dell touched out 17-year-old Gabrielle Wei by .01 to win the 200 breast. O’Dell, who swims unattached, was two tenths off her best, which ranks #41 all-time in USA Swimming’s 13-14 historical ranks. O’Dell was 2:15.06 and Wei (of Irvine Novaquatics) 2:15.07.
- Fusion Aquatics’ Scott Tolman (listed in results as “Eric”) won the men’s 200 breast in 1:56.18. Tolman won the CSCAA National Invite for California Baptist last year as a junior, but isn’t competing at the college level this season.