Day 1 at the 2012 YMCA Long Course National Championships kicked off with a pair of 1500’s, both from the women and the men.
In the women’s 1500, the Wilton Wahoos’ Verity Abel won in 17:04.29. That’s a 37-second drop since the last time she swam this race at this same meet in 2011. The 16-year old Abel could have a future in open water (or if the International Olympic Committee decides to swap this 1500 in as the primary distance event for women), as she gets faster-and-faster as the distances get longer. Her 2nd-to-last 100 meters (1:08.57) was nearly as fast as her 2nd 100 meters (1:08.40).
Wilton is one of the powerhouse YMCA programs in the country, and their swimmers should appear on podiums throughout this meet.
Shaylynn Spelman from the ME Lyons YMCA in Cincinnati took 2nd in 17:09.23, and India Boland from the North Shore YMCA in Massachusetts was 3rd in 17:09.49. Boland had a scorcher of a finish, faster even than the winner, but just ran out of pool.
In the men’s 1500, Seahorse Swim Team’s Sava Turcanu won in 16:08.23. That’s a 20-second lifetime best, and he would need every bit of that drop to prevent a Wilton sweep on day 1. With a 4-second deficit to make up at the halfway mark, Matthew Moen started chipping away at Turcanu’s lead with a build-by-100 strategy. On the way home of each lap, he’d get a bit closer, but ultimately came up a stroke short in 16:08.37.
Somerset Hills’ Bradley Wachenfeld was 3rd in 16:09.00.