Sandpiper Girls Sweep Freestyle Events at Road to Paris Invite

Road to Paris Senior Invitational

• January 11-14, 2024
• La Mirada, California
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Meet Results (Finals Only)

The Sandpipers of Nevada competed in their first meet of 2024 at the Road to Paris Senior Invitational.

Katie Grimes clocked a season best time in the 1500 free (16:04.27), just six-hundredths of a second slower than what she swam to place 8th at the 2023 World Championship (16:04.21). Her time moves her up to 4th in the world rankings this season.

Grimes also competed in the 800 free (8:27.56), 200 back (2:10.97), 200 fly (2:11.83), and 400 IM (4:38.97), placing 1st in all of them. She was already ranked 5th this season in the 800 free from her performance at the Berlin leg of the World Cup (8:25.16), Grimes also clocked 2:01.46 in the prelims of the 200 free to qualify 1st, but ended up scratching finals. The 200 free, 400 IM, and 1500 free were all on the same day.

Teammate Claire Weinstein took the win in the 200 free (1:59.35), the only swimmer to dip under 2:00. She also won the 100 free (55.77) and 400 free (4:11.94), and placed 2nd in the 800 free (8:34.55) and 1500 free (16:49.96) to Grimes.

Michigan-commit Rebecca Diaconescu completed the Sandpipers’ sweep of the women’s freestyle events with her win in the 50 free (26.01). Diaconescu also won the 100 back (1:03.96) and recorded four runner-up finishes in the 200 back (2:17.70), 100 free (56.49), 200 free (2:02.58), and 400 free (4:16.08). Her time in the 400 free was a personal best by over four seconds.

On the men’s side, Josh Brown swept the distance free events for the Sandpipers. He was no more than three seconds off his best times in the 400 free (3:56.23), 800 free (8:02.81), and 1500 free (15:27.02) en route to the win.

In his first meet since the 2022 DI NCAA Championship, Daniel Roy swept the breaststroke events. He clocked 1:01.20 in the 100 and 2:13.12 in the 200 to hit a pair of Olympic Trials cuts. This was his first recorded time in both events since the last Trials meet in 2021, where he ultimately placed 7th in the 200 breast (2:11.87).

Other Highlights:

• Applejean Gwinn (SAND) hit a trio of best times in the 200 free (2:05.37), 400 IM (4:49.95) and 200 back (2:19.68).
• Shareef Elaydi (SCSC), the 4th fastest performer in the 100-meter fly for 13-14 boys, didn’t quite match his best time of 54.73, but threw down a 56.59 to place 4th as the youngest finalist in the event.
• 15-year-old Drew Eubanks (TDPS), primarily known as a breaststroker, dipped under 1:00 for the first time in the 100 fly (59.71). He also swam 1:05.35 in the 100 breast and 2:20.50 in the 200 breast, just off his best times of 1:04.57 and 2:19.22 from last summer.
• Another 15-year-old, Elonzo Santos (RMDA), had a huge drop in the 800 free (8:55.20), dropping nearly 20 seconds from his previous best in only his second time swimming the event.