Syunta Lee Swims 2:14.16 200 Back, #1 in the U.S for 11-12 Boys This Season

2022 PN Senior Long Course Championships

• July 21 – July 24, 2022
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center
• Federal Way, WA
• LCM (50m)
• Results on MeetMobile: “2022 PN Senior Long Course Championships”

West Coast Aquatics’ Syunta Lee had an incredible meet at the 2022 PN Senior LC Championships, highlighted by his 2:14.16 in the 200 back. That’s the fastest time swum by anyone in his age group this season, and also rockets him up the all-time age group rankings to ninth. Only six boys have ever broken 2:14 while in the 11-12 age group.

The swim is a huge personal best for the 12-year-old, who entered the meet with a 2:22.61. In prelims, Lee got down to a 2:17.75 before lowering his mark again in finals. In total, he dropped 8.45 seconds over the course of the day.

In finals, Lee was faster than his prelims self on every 50 of the race. However, it’s the improvements made to his middle hundred that particularly stand out. He dropped over a second on both the second and third 50 from prelims to finals, which is where he picked up the majority of his time.

It wasn’t just the 200 back where Lee shone though. He also put up 2:18.48 in the 200 IM, good for second best in his age group this season. That was a 2.08 second drop for him, and his first time under 2:20. He also set new personal bests in the 100 free and 400 free, dropping over six seconds in the latter to get down to 4:29.53.

Other Notable Results

15-year-old Ella Jablonski cracked 1:00 in the 100 fly for the first time. The Seattle Metropolitan Aquatic Club swimmer won the race in 59.70. It was a .73 drop on the day for her, as she’d gone 1:00.27 in prelims before getting under the barrier in finals. Jablonski swam at Santa Clara Futures this weekend. She was unable to get under again, but it’s still a huge personal best for her.

Lee’s West Coast Aquatics teammate Aiden Hammer dropped an 8:26.22 in the 800 free. That was a huge swim for the 14-year-old, and an almost 16 second drop. However, Hammer wasn’t done. At the Santa Clara Futures meet, Hammer dropped even more time, clocking 8:21.93 for the second fastest swim in his age group this season, and 20th all time.

Noah Laird and Ben Bricca both hit multiple junior national cuts. Laird qualified in the 200 and 400 IMs, swimming 2:07.78 and 4:32.89, respectively. For the 18-year-old, the 400 IM cut is especially impressive; he entered with a 4:43.14 and dropped over ten seconds on the day to make his cut. Bricca swam 57.38 in the 100 back and 2:05.95 in the 200 back to qualify in both those events.