14-Year Old Reid O’Connell Swims 1:49.16 in the 200 IM at Senior Metro Champs

Braden Keith
by Braden Keith 0

March 07th, 2024 Club, News

2024 Senior Mets (Metro Swimming LSC SCY Championships)

A trio of boys stole the show for the Long Island Aquatic Club two weeks ago at the 2024 Metro Swimming Senior Championships.

17-year-old Martin Perecinsky, 16-year-old Sean Green, and 14-year-old Reid O’Connell* were the three highest individual point scorers on the boys’ side of the meet, combining for 7 individual event wins and a pair of relay wins as well.

*O’Connell tied with Oliver Shao from Asphalt Green and Aaron Mendoza from Team Suffolk with 69 points.

Perecinsky grabbed an individual win the 100 back, though on three other occasions he was the top seed in prelims but finished runner-up in finals. That includes the 100 free, where he swam a new personal best of 44.52, placing him behind 24-year-old NYAC swimmer and Harvard alum Mahlon Reihman, who set a Meet Record in 43.37.

Green picked up wins in the 200 free (1:36.41), the 500 free (4:18.63 – best time), 1650 free (15:06.03), the 400 IM (3:47.95 – best time) and was the fastest swimmer of the day in the 200 IM (1:47.91) before scratching the final.

For Perecinsky, an Ohio State commit (2024), sprint free is exactly where the Buckeyes need him most. Green, meanwhile, is a Georgia commit (2025) and fits perfectly into the box of where Georgia has done so well over the last decade – a distance freestyler/400 IMer.

Their younger teammate O’Connell, who is still a few years from announcing a college decision, didn’t win any races, but maybe had the best meet of the trio. He swam best times in the 200 backstroke (1:49.64), 200 breaststroke (2:06.82), 100 free (47.16), and 200 IM (1:50.18) – finishing 2nd in the latter of those races.

In a month where attention was focused on the 14-year-olds racing across the country in California, O’Connell moved up the all-time 13-14 age group rankings in several events. He’s now in the top 65th all-time in the 200 back, while the 1.9 second drop in the 200 IM vaults him up to 15th place all-time in the age group.

Other Highlights from the Meet

  • 13-year-old Bruce Qian from Asphalt Green swam a 51.81 in the 100 fly. That’s slightly-slower than his 51.75 in December that ranks him as the 4th-best 13-year-old in the country so far this season.
  • Noah Cakir of Team Suffolk Swim Club entered the meet as the defending Metros champion in the 200 breast in long course and short course, not swimming the 100 yard race at last February’s short course championship. This year, though, he didn’t swim the 200 but instead won the 100 in 53.55.
  • 17-year-old Cornelia Fox from Condors Swim Club, a USC commit, dominated the girls’ scoring with 114 individual points. That includes wins in the 100 free (50.35), 100 back (53.57 – PB), and 400 IM (4:15.90), plus 2nd-place finishes in the 50 free (23.09 – PB), 100 free (50.35), and 200 back (1:56.94 – PB). In total, including relays, she had 6 wins in the meet.
  • 16-year-old Lily Gormsen, whose older sister Cavan is on the US Junior National Team, won the 200 free in a best time of 1:48.45, the 500 free in 4:50.25, the 1000 in 9:54.87, and the 1650 free in 16:34.37. This is almost the exact-same age where Cavan’s 200 free began to dramatically improve, which led to her placing 4th as a freshman at last month’s ACC Championship in the event (she won the 500 and 1650 frees).
  • Carly Afanasewicz of the Phoenix Aquatic Club swept the backstroke events, winning the 100 in 54.16 and the 200 in 1:56.89. Only 14, she already ranked in the top 50 all-time in the age group in the 200 back, and now does in the 200 back as well.
  • 13-year-old Julia Bak finished 3rd in the 100 back in 55.94, taking almost seven-tenths off her previous best time. In total, she’s dropped more than two seconds already this season.

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About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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