14-Year-Old Amelie Blocksidge Rips Another British Junior Record in SCM 800 Free (8:19.85)

2023 ONTARIO JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL

• December 14-17, 2023
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Short Course Meters (25 meters), 18 & Under/Open Para Categories
• Live Stream
• Meet Central
• Live Results (or on the SplashMe app)
• Day 1 Recap
• Day 2 Recap
• Day 3 Recap

At just 14 years old, Amelie Blocksidge continued her assault on the British junior record book with a stunning SCM 800 freestyle victory on Sunday night at the Ontario Junior International.

Blocksidge reached the wall in 8:19.85, almost 10 seconds ahead of the field and more than two seconds faster than her own national junior standard of 8:21.97 from earlier this month. Her winning time ranks her as the 8th-fastest performer among all Brits ever, and the quickest of any age in seven years since Holly Hibbott (8:19.19) in 2016. She would have placed 4th at the European Short Course Championships last week.

At the British Championships in April, Blocksidge placed 2nd in the LCM 800 free with a time of 8:38.33. On Thursday, she posted a personal-best 15:48.59 in the SCM 1500 free to win the event by more than 30 seconds and smash her previous British junior record of 15:56.79 from May.

In the final event of the meet, the boys’ 400 medley relay, the University of Calgary Swim Club (UCSC) annihilated its own 15-17 national age group (NAG) record from last December by more than three seconds. Aiden Norman, 17, went 51.82 on the backstroke leadoff, 15-year-old newcomer Laon Kim clocked a 1:00.41 breaststroke split, 17-year-old butterfly specialist Nicholas Duncan dropped more than a second down to 52.76, and 17-year-old Florida commit Paul Dardis anchored with a 47.91 freestyle split. Their combined total of 3:32.90 blew away their previous standard of 3:36.18.

Splits Comparison

Individually, Norman took the 200 back title by more than four seconds with a winning time of 1:52.05. The Florida commit shaved almost a second off his previous-best 1:52.81 from last December, but he couldn’t chase down Cole Pratt‘s NAG record of 1:51.30 from 2019.

The first event of the night saw 18-year-old Tennessee commit Ella Jansen set a new lifetime best in the 100 free. She triumphed in 53.85, dropping almost half a second off her previous-best 54.27 from last month.

In the boys’ 100 free, 17-year-old Ali Sayed blazed a massive personal best with a 47.70, shaving nearly two seconds off his previous-best 48.63 from prelims. Before today, his best time was 49.46 from earlier this month, and before that it was 50.32 from October. Sayed’s incredible progression brought him within a couple tenths of Josh Liendo‘s Canadian NAG record of 47.51 from 2019.

Other Day 4 Winners

• Madison Kryger, 15, dropped almost two seconds in the girls’ 200 back to capture the title in 2:05.82. She beat 16-year-old Ohio State commit Delia Lloyd (2:06.35) by about half a second. Kryger still has a couple more years to chase Taylor Ruck’s 15-17 NAG record of 2:01.66 from 2017.
• In the boys’ 1500 free, 18-year-old Lorne Wigginton won by more than seconds with a time of 15:06.90. The Michigan commit narrowly missed his lifetime best of 15:06.81 from last month.
• Canada’s Halle West, 15, held off 14-year-old Brit Theodora Taylor (31.51) in the girls’ 50 breast with a time of 30.88. West came into the meet with a best time of 32.22 before going 31.32 in prelims.
• Filip Nowacki, 16, took the boys’ 50 breast title in 27.88, his first time under the 28-second barrier. His best time before today was a 28.57. Nowacki is closing in on the British junior record of 27.10 that Max Morgan set last month.
• In the girls’ 400 medley relay, Team Britain (4:02.05) cruised past UCSC (4:05.15). The British squad was made up of Evie Dilley (1:00.50 back), Theodora Taylor (1:08.35 breast), Phoebe Cooper (59.46 fly), and Eva Okaro (53.74 free)