2014 YMCA National Championships Preview, Plus All the Links You Need to Follow the Meet

All The Links You Need

• Unofficial Psych Sheets.
• Live video for all four days of the meet: here.
• On demand video for all four days of the meet: here.
• Pictures of the meet: here.
• Championship central, which will include daily heat sheets and results: here.
• Live results: Not yet available.
• Meet Mobile: search “2014 YMCA Nationals Short Course”

Schedule

All races are swum in a prelims-finals format except for the 1000 and 1650 freestyles. Prelims will begin at 8:30 AM every day, and finals begin at 5:30 every day (except for Tuesday, where they begin at 5:45 due to the parade of athletes).

Further, to keep things simple, the YMCA swims the men’s and women’s races of the same event back-to-back.

day 1:

• M 100 Fly
• W 100 Fly
• W 200 Breast
• M 200 Breast
• W 50 Free
• M 50 Free
• W 200 Free Relay
• M 200 Free Relay
• W 1000 Free
• M 1000 Free

day 2:

• W 100 Back
• M 100 Back
• W 400 IM
• M 400 IM
• W 200 Free
• M 200 Free
• W 400 Medley Relay
• M 400 Medley Relay

day 3:

• W 200 Medley Relay
• M 200 Medley Relay
• W 500 Free
• M 500 Free
• W 100 Breast
• M 100 Breast
• W 200 Back
• M 200 Back
• W 800 Free Relay
• M 800 Free Relay

day 4:

• W 200 Fly
• M 200 Fly
• W 100 Free
• M 100 Free
• W 200 IM
• M 200 IM
• W 400 Medley Relay
• M 400 Medley Relay
• W 1650 Free
• M 1650 Free

5 Big Things to Watch

1. Courtney Weaver’s Last YMCA Nationals – Greater Flint YMCA’s Courtney Weaver is headed off to Georgia in the fall, but first she will have one more shot to bring home some YMCA hardware. For the last four-or-five years, she has been a star of the YMCA National Championships, winning 9 overall national titles (3 short course + 6 long course). This year, she’ll try to cap that off with at least one more, in her best event, the 100 fly, where she’s won two in short course and two in long course. She’s the National Record holder with a 53.22 and the top seed, but Remedy Rule from Waynesboro, Virginia will be challenging her for the crown this year.

2. Middle Tyger Girls Growing Up – Last year, the Middle Tyger girls took 3rd in the team standings with a whole lot of very young swimmers carrying a big load. Though they lost some stars (like Danielle Galyer), overall this is a team that will have the benefit of one more year of experience for an incredibly talented group. That includes names like 15-year old breaststroker Savanna Faulconer, 15-year old backstroker Ali Galyer, 15-year old freestyler Jessi Snover, 14-year old middle distance freestylers Sydney Baker and Maddie Baker, and 16-year old butterflier Katrina Konopka. With the defending girls’ champions from the Sarasota YMCA losing a lot to graduation, Middle Tyger and York should be able to challenge them for the team crown this year.

3. Harnish Running for Records – While the Middle Tyger 14-year olds last year were pretty impressive, a York YMCA 13-year old may have been even more impressive. Courtney Harnish was the runner-up in the 500 free, the 1650 free, the 400 IM, and was 3rd in the 1000 free. In all of those races where she was runner-up, the event’s winner (Danielle Valley) has graduated. Harnish could win three, or even more, individual titles at just 14, and possibly challenge some National Age Group Records as well. She’ll probably also be a part of at least three defending-champion York relays (200/400/800 free relays) that return largely intact, with the likes of Niki Price, Meghan Small, and Emily Ilgenfritz joining her. That’s a strong group.

4. Pair of Future NC State Teammates Star in Men’s Sprints – the top two sprinters, at least on paper, in this meet are Ryan Held from Springfield, Illinois and Colin Ellington from the YMCA of the Triangle Area, as they will be the top seeds in both the 50 (19.76/20.12) and 100 (43.73/44.49) freestyles. Though here, they’ll be competing against one another, in the fall, they’ll be competing with each other, as both are signed to swim for North Carolina State. As if the Wolfpack’s freestyle group wasn’t deep enough…

5. New club, same Creekmore – Delaware high school star Ben Creekmore had a great 2013 YMCA Nationals, winning a pair of events for Brandywine YMCA. This year, Creekmore has switched club affiliations, training with the Upper Mainline YMCA for his senior season before heading off to UNC in the fall. But one thing hasn’t changed for Creekmore, and that’s his middle-distance speed. The 17-year-old is the top seed in both the 200 fly and 200 free, the combo he won last year, plus has high seeds in the 100 free, 100 fly and 100 back. He’ll get a chance to show what a new training home has done for him, plus give the Tar Heels something to look forward to in their incoming freshman.