Rising Aggie Sophomore Shaine Casas Swims 1:57.3 200 Back at Austin Sectionals

2019 ST TXLA SPEEDO SOUTHERN SECTIONALS

• July 11-14th
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, TX
• Hosted by Longhorn Aquatics
• Long Course Meters
• Psych Sheet
• Results on MeetMobile

The first day of Speedo Sectionals in Austin kicked off with a bang. Day one played host to the 200 backstroke, 1oo breast, 200 fly, and 100 free. Rising Texas A&M sophomore Shaine Casas ran (or swam) away with the men’s 200 back. Casas blew past his old personal best of 1:58.65, clocking a 1:57.34. He was out in a speedy 26.91, then posted very consistent splits of 30.21, 30.02, and 30.20 on the last three 50s. Additionally, Casas won the race by 5.5 seconds.

Another big swim came in the men’s 100 free, where Drew Kibler won the race just ahead of Texas teammate Daniel Krueger. Kibler touched the wall in 49.45, just 0.17 seconds off his personal best from Nationals last Summer. Krueger was also within a second of his personal best (48.87), finishing in 49.63. Texas A&M’s Adam Koster broke 50 seconds for the first time in his career, swimming a 49.99 for 3rd. Texas also had a strong showing in the women’s 100 free, where Julia Cook and Anelise Diener went 1-2. Cook posted a 55.62, Diener a 55.78, both time close to their personal bests.

Texas A&M’s Karling Hemstreet and Houston’s Monique Rae battled it out in the women’s 200 back, with Hemstreet pulling out a narrow victory. Hemstreet held the lead throughout the race, narrowly outsplitting Rae on the first three 50s. Rae then came home in a 33.74, making up much of the ground Hemstreet (34.15) had built. Ultimately, Hemstreet finished in 2:15.61, while Rae touched in 2:15.88. 16-year-olds Rylee Moore and Lillie Nordmann were 3rd and 4th respectively. Moore’s finish of 2:16.56 shed over a second off her personal best of 2:17.84. Nordmann, who recently committed to Stanford, had a massive drop from her personal best of 2:24.65, clocking a 2:16.99.

Anna Belousova and Madisyn Cox had a tight race in the women’s 100 breast. Cox got out to a very slight early lead, hitting the turn at 31.85 to Belousova’s 31.99. Belousova was about half a second faster coming home, however, spliting a 35.51 to Cox’s 36.06. Belousova ended up finishing on top in 1:07.50, with Cox at 1:07.91. The time was nearly a best for Cox, who has a personal best of 1:07.59 from the Bloomington Pro Swim Series earlier this year. Bethany Galat was 3rd in the race, touching in 1:09.14. Benjamin Walker won the men’s 100 breast with a 1:02.39, beating out Charlie Scheinfeld (1:02.58) and Michael Couet (1:02.75). Walker had been 1:01.95 in prelims, marking the only swimmer to crack 1:02 in the field.

Lauren Case won the women’s 200 fly with a 2:11.53. Case has been as fast as 2:10.36 in her career, which she did at the 2016 Olympic Trials, but her time tonight was faster than her best from last season by over a second. Sarah Gibson, who came in as the only swimmer at the meet who had broken 2:10 before, finished 2nd with a 2:12.83, after swimming a 2:12.19 in prelims. Clark Smith won the men’s 200 fly, racing to a 1:59.12. Smith was the only swimmer in the field to break 2:00.