2022 SPEEDO JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
- August 1 to 5, 2022
- William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, California
- Long Course Meters (50m)
- Meet Central
- Event Page
- Psych Sheets
- Live Stream (USA Swimming)
- Live Results (OMEGA) (also can be found on MeetMobile)
The girls 50 free at Junior Nationals in Irvine saw some drama this morning, as there was a 5-way tie for 24th in prelims. Not only are 5-way ties a rare occurrence, but it was also compounded by the fact that it was for 24th, the last remaining spot in the ‘C’ final. That meant those 5 girls had to do a swim-off, and only 1 would make it back to finals. The stakes were high, but that didn’t stop all 5 of these young swimmers from delivering great performances.
It actually seemed there was magic in the water for this swim-off. All 5 girls in the swim-off dropped time from prelims, with 3 of the 5 clocking lifetime bests as well. Here are the results from the swim-off:
- Jada Scott (Alamo Area Aquatic Association) – 26.02
- Julia Wozniak (Lakeside Aquatic Club – TX) – 26.07
- Trinity Hoang (Nitro Swimming) – 26.11
- Katie Lawrence (Wyckoff Family YMCA) – 26.12
- Emma Kern (Aquatjets Swim Team) – 26.17
Not only did all 5 swimmers blow away the 26.39 they swam in prelims, all 5 of their times in the swim-off would have put them in the top 16 in prelims, which would have put them in the ‘B’ final. Leading the way was Jada Scott, who clocked a 26.02. That swim comes in just 0.01 seconds off Scott’s personal best, which she just swam leading off the 200 free relay on Wednesday night.
Julia Wozniak had another massive performance in this swim-off. Wozniak entered the day with a personal best of 26.70, a time which she shattered with the 26.39 in prelims. She then took another 0.32 seconds off her time in the swim-off, marking a total improvement of 0.63 seconds over both swims.
Trinity Hoang clocked a 26.11, which was a strong performance for her. Not only was the time 0.28 seconds off her prelims swim, it comes in just off her personal best of 26.00 from last summer. Katie Lawrence tied her personal best, finishing 4th with a 26.12. Lawrence just swam her personal best of 26.12 at the YMCA Nationals meet two weeks ago, matching the performance today.
Lastly, Emma Kern touched in 26.17, taking 0.08 seconds off her lifetime best.
There was also a swim-off for 25th place in the boys 50 free. Competing for the first alternate spot, Gator Swim Club’s James Misto and Team Eugene Aquatics’ Charley Page-Jones went head-to-head in a swim-off. After tying at 25.52 in prelims, Misto won the swim-off handily, clocking a 23.49. He touched 0.40 seconds ahead of Page-Jones, coming in just 0.06 seconds off his personal best.