It didn’t take long for things to heat up in prelims in Indianapolis at the 2012 U.S. Open Swimming Championships. Even in prelims on Tuesday morning, there were plenty of big swims to establish this meet as still one of the best meets in the world, even without Olympians.
In the women’s 100 free, 34-year old Erika Erndl took the top seed in 54.86. She was one of T2’s best performers at the Olympic Trials, and here is again just .05 from her time at that meet. She closed especially well, going out in 26.6 and coming home in 28.2.
Behind her were Megan Romano (55.62) and Chelsea Chenault (55.77). Also notable in this final is Cal sophomore Catherine Breed in a best time of 55.86 for the 4th seed and her teammate Liv Jensen in 55.89.
Perhaps the most notable swim, though, came from 13-year old Australian Shayna Jack. She took the 6th seed in 55.92, making her just the 2nd 13-and-under in Australian history to go under 56 seconds in the race. The only other is future Olympian Yolane Kukla – one of the best 13-year old swimmers the world has ever seen.
Otherwise, future USC Trojan Jasmine Tosky was the fastest in the heats of the women’s 200 fly in 2:10.23, followed by Tennessee’s Kelsey Floyd and Kim Vandenberg: the expected top three of this event. UCLA/Bluefish swimmer Anna Senko knocked two full seconds off of her best time to stand as the 4th seed in 2:12.49, with Emma Nunn from the great NOVA of Virginia 200 fly tradition a few hundreths behind her.
A trio of men cleared the two-minute mark in the 200 fly, topped by Thomas Luchsinger in 1:59.61. Iain McMillan, part of the British roster, was 2nd in 1:59.88, and Michigan’s Kyle Whitaker was 3rd in 1:59.954.
The only junior swimmer in the A-Final is Britain’s Matthew Johnson in 2:00.50, though that’s still a full two seconds off of his National Age record in the event.
Finally, in the men’s 100 free prelims, Australian Kenneth To earned top honors in 48.88, followed by teammate Matthew Abood (49.33). After hitting a bit of a plateau between 2011 and 2012, this is again easily a best time for the 20-year old To.
France’s Meghdy Metella was 3rd in 50.01, with the top-finishing American in the heats being Minnesota’s Derek Toomey in 50.12. Kyle Owens (50.20) and Tyler Reed (50.22), the two other big candidates to grab the spots on the World University Games team, also made this final.
“Future Olympian Yolane Kukla” … Yolane swam prelims in London in the 4×100 – which happened to be Australia’s only gold in the pool
Correct. She was future when she was 13 though.
ahhh, misinterpreted. Thanks
Erika Erndl needs more vowels.
Just to Know.. How Good is a 58,26 100 back (LCM) for a 14 year old boy? (He will be fifteen on February 2013). I Know that Murphy has a 57 high.. is there anyone else in the world at this leve except murphy?
That’s EXTREMELY fast for a 14-year old. Only three Americans who have been better at that age are Murphy, Peirsol, and a guy named Dan Westcott from the mid-90’s.
Just found out a Brazilian with that time.. didn´t know about him till last couple of days.. I saw he was far ahead of the field.. but wanted to see how good is he considering the rest of the world..
Australia’s best 14 y.o. backstroke is from April this year – Nick Groenewald in an impressive 57.56.
Olympic medallist Kosuke Hagino went 56.25 as a 14 year old, and I don’t know if anyone has been quicker than that.
Kosuke Time was with a Suit? If yes, impressive, if not… Amazingly Impressive.. and why he did not try for 100 back!??!
Almost certainly a suit – born August 1994, so would have been 14 for the end of 2008 and much of 2009.
Rafael,
That time is really impressive, but i think Felipe Ribeiro de Souza 100 and 50 free more impressive(53.49 and 24.71) at 14 years-old.Remember:He is two seconds faster than Cielo in 100 free and half-second in 50 free at that age.
I disagree DDias,
In Australia, 53.49 and 24.71 would not get you in to the top 10 at age 14. In fact, they would be only 2nd and 3rd quickest as 13 year old times (Kyle Chalmers was 52.29 and 24.00 aged 13 this year). 58.26 for 100 back would rank 3rd fastest ever aged 14, and is quicker than all 13 year olds.
In the US, 24.71 would make you the 57th ranked 14 year old omn record, and 53.49 would rank 22nd.
As Braden said, only Peirsol, Murphy and Westcott have been quicker for the 100 back in the U.S.
Also improessive is the fact that his birthday isn’t until Feb..
The name of the boy is Andre Augusto dos Santos,, he will probably have same races yet this year.. Felipe Times are not really outstanding if you compare with US NAG records..
Scuba Steve,
comparing with USA, maybe not, but in Brazil, training is a bit different than US-Australia.
The improvement in sprints is always higher than other events(i dont know why).
The top young stud from Brazil, Matheus Santana, 16 years-old(he made in April), was only 54.40 at 14years-old and 24.85 in 50 free.
Today, he is 51.30 and 23.23 and probably will go faster till the end of he year.
That’s interesting DDias. Could it be that US-Australia develop their talent younger, so the 14 year records are tough, but Brazil catches up with later talent development? I don’t know the answer, but I still maintain that 58.26 is a ‘better’ time for 100 back than 53.49 or 24.71
To had his appendix out a few weeks from Australian trials which hindered his performances. Except big things from him this week as this his olympics!