US Jr. National Teamer Grace Sheble Swims First Post-Quarantine Races

NOVA July Intrasquad Meet

• July 18-19, 2020
• NOVA Aquatic Center, Richmond, Virginia
• SCY (25 yard) course
• Results on Meet Mobile: “NOVA Intra-Squad Meet”

NOVA of Virginia held an intrasquad meet over the weekend that posted, especially on the girls’ side of the pool, a handful of post-coronavirus-quarantine leading times nationally.

The meet featured, among others, USA Swimming Junior National Team member and the #3 recruit in the high school class of 2021 Grace Sheble swimming her first meet since the Virginia LSC Senior Championships in early March. Sheble is an NC State commit.

Sheble swam four races at the intrasquad, leading the field in each:

• 100 breast – 1:03.88
• 100 fly – 55.19
• 200 fly – 2:00.17
• 200 IM – 2:00.29

The versatility that has Sheble ranked so highly in the class was on display. Her 2:00.29 in the 200 IM is the top post-quarantine time in the country by almost 2 seconds. Her times were mostly similar, with one exception, to the results from her first meet of the 2019-2020 season, the last ‘restart’ racing she would have done. In mid-October, she swam 1:03.11 in the 100 breast, 55.79 in the 100 fly, 2:00.91 in the 200 IM, and 1:57.81 in the 200 fly.

Other Highlights from the Intrasquad

• 17-year old rising high school senior Josephine Fuller, a Tennessee commit, swam 54.12 in the 100 yard back and 1:58.52 in the 200 yard back. Her 100 back time from the weekend is faster than she swam at the Virginia High School Class 5 State Championship in February, which was her last time swimming the event prior to quarantine. Her time in the 200 back is a new lifetime best, breaking the 1:59.16 that she swam at NCSAs in 2019.
• 16-year old Zoe Dixon wasn’t far behind fuller in either backstroke event, finishing the 100 in 55.64 and the 200 in 1:59.05. Her best times in those races are 53.81 and 1:55.42, respectively, both of which were done in early March at her last meet before quarantine.
• Notre Dame commit Sydney Whiting, scheduled to join the Irish this fall, swam times of 24.22/51.34/1:50.42 in the 50/100/200 yard freestyles. In February, she won both the 50 and 100 freestyles at the VISAA Virginia State Championship meet (designated for private and other independent schools).