Swims You Might Have Missed on Day 4 of the Knoxville Pro Swim: Juan Vallmitjana (and More)

2024 PRO SWIM SERIES – KNOXVILLE

• July 23 to 30, 2023
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Marine Messe Fukuoka
• LCM (50m)
• WORLD CHAMPS WATCH PARTY – DAILY
• Meet Central
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Entry Book
• Live Results (Omega)
• Day 1 Prelims Live Recap | Day 1 Finals Live Recap
• Day 2 Prelims Live Recap | Day 2 Finals Live Recap
• Day 3 Prelims Live Recap | Day 3 Finals Live Recap
• Day 4 Prelims Live Recap | Day 4 Finals Live Recap

Kate Douglass‘ unexpected American Record in the 200 breaststroke was the headline on the final day of racing at the 2024 Pro Swim Series in Knoxville, but let’s take a look at the swims that weren’t headlines, but are still worth noticing.

A swim that really jumped out was Jason Park in the C Final of the 100 back. A Texas high school state champion and Winter Nationals finalist when he committed to Texas in 2017, Park qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2020 as a sophomore. After that meet was canceled, though, never really recaptured that level of success again.

After 19 months without a meet, though, he returned in the fall competing with his home club Metroplex Aquatics and has shown some sparks since then.

On Saturday, he made the C-Final of the 100 back and placed 18th in 56.91. That’s within nine-tenths of a second of his previous best time of 56.02 – which was done in 2017 at Junior Nationals between his junior and senior years of high school.

The Olympic Trials cut in that race in 55.69. If Park finds a way back to that time, it would be a great story.

His Metroplex Aquatics teammate Watson Nguyen won the B-Final in 2:14.81, which is more than a second better than his previous best time and is his first Olympic Trials cut. The 18-year-old is committed to swim at Penn next year alongside Olympic front-runner in the 200 breast Matt Fallon.

Quick Hits:

• 14-year-old Juan Vallmitjana from South Florida Aquatics swam 8:21.58 in the 800 free for 13th place. That is a nine second improvement on his previous personal best and moves him up to 20th place all-time in the 13-14 age group. Along with the new National Age Group Record holder Luka Mijatovic, there is a wave of young distance swimmers through the ranks. That includes Ellis Crisci who went 8:15 last year, and Colin Jacobs who went 8:18 last year.
• Another 14-year-old Floridian, Rylee Erisman from Laker Swimming, knocked half-a-second off her previous best time for a 1:01.70 in the 100 back B-Final. That gives her a first Olympic Trials cut (1:01.89).
• World Champion backstroker Katharine Berkoff swam 25.26 in the 50 free prelims before adding time to finish 8th in the final in 25.62. Her prelims swim is a .05 second improvement on her personal best as Berkoff continues to progress in the sprint freestyles alongside the sprint backstrokes over the last few years. She’s still outside the top 25 in the Olympic Trials qualifying period, but she is inching her way up that ranking.
• A group of swimmers from Rice had nice swims for January. Imogen Meers swam 1:04.56 in the 100 back, about a second shy of her personal best, and Ella Dyson finished 6th in the 800 free, about two seconds away from her best.
• University of Texas Angie Coe had a huge breakthrough in the 200 IM, winning the B Final in 2:15.18 and hitting an Olympic Trials cut. Coming out of high school as a very good short course swimmer, this 3.4 second drop in long course follows a midseason 2.4 second drop in yards.
• 200 back World Junior Champion Teagan O’Dell, a high school junior and Cal commit, was casual in prelims of the 200 IM but erupted for a 2:13.69 in the C-Final. While about a second away from her personal best, that time was the 5th-best overall on the day.
• Drew Loy, a former Ohio State Buckeye and member of the DC Trident of the ISL, swam his first meet in more than two years (since the 2021 ISL season) this week. Representing the Phoenix Swim Club, he swam 22.84 in prelims of the 50 free, missing his Olympic Trials cut by .05 seconds.
• 17-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh swam 2:07.16 in the 200 IM to break the Pro Swim Record – but you saw that. What you might have missed was the performance of her Sarasota Sharks training partners. That includes 16-year-old Clare Custer, who dropped 5 seconds to place 8th in the 800 free in 8:53.22.