15-Year Old Justina Kozan Swims 1:56 in 200 Fly at Carlsbad Sectionals

2019 CARLSBAD SECTIONALS

• February 28th-March 3rd, 2019
• Carlsbad, California
• 25y (SCY)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheets
• Results on Meet Mobile “2019 SI Speedo Sectionals Carlsbad”

There were a number of noteworthy swims in a fast day 3 at the 2019 Carlsbad Sectionals in southern California. That included wins by both professional swimmers and high school students alike.

Among the pro winners was 19-year old Michael Andrew. He topped the 100 breast in 52.92 and the 50 free in 19.74. He’ll swim the long course version of both of those races at the World Championships this summer.

In the 100 breast, he was followed by 25-year old Pavel Romanov (53.76) with the top junior finisher being Ben Dillard in 53.97. In the 50 free, the top junior-aged swimmer was Stephan Lukashev in 20.21, which undercut his best time by two tenths. PEAK’s Ethan Hu placed 3rd in 20.25.

The best junior swim of the day came in the girls’ 200 fly. There, 15-year old Brea Aquatics swimmer Justina Kozan won by almost 3 seconds in 1:56.56 (over her teammate Emily Trieu, who touched in 1:59.48). That’s just .12 seconds shy of Kozan’s best time, from November, and she now has 2 of the top 7 swims nationally by 15 & unders this season.

Other Day 2 Winners and Notables:

• Danielle Herrmann, a 31-year old who is representing the Clovis Swim Club, won the women’s 100 yard breaststroke in 58.71. That’s the 7th-best time by any swimmer in the 100 yard breaststroke this season. Crow Canyon’s Zoie Hartman took 2nd in 59.81.
• Rose Bowl’s Daniel Syrkin won the boys’ 200 fly in 1:45.63. That’s his best time in the event, improving the 1:46.0 that he swam at this same meet last year for 2nd-place. He’s an uncommitted high school junior.
• In the girls’ 200 free, Cal commit Ayla Spitz won in 1:45.77, beating out the 14-year old phenom Claire Tuggle (1:46.05). Tuggle has the faster pb of the two, but on Saturday Spitz had the fastest closing speed to take the win.
• Sierra Marlins 17-year old Colby Mefford didn’t swim the 200 free at last year’s Carlsbad Sectionals. This year, though, he came away as champion, winning in 1:37.13. Clovis’ Benjamin Forbes took 2nd in 1:37.46.
• Lakeridge Swim Team’s Benedict Nagy beat her own personal best in the 400 IM by over a second to win in 4:18.40. She’s committed to Nevada next season: a program with a once-proud reputation in the 400 IM that is working to rebuild that. They only had 1 A-finalist in the event at the Mountain West Championships this year, but both of their scorers in the event were freshmen. Nagy’s time would have put her into the A-final this season.
• NOVA’s Dominic Falcon won the boys’ 400 IM in 3:51.58, using a 52.42 freestyle split to chase down 14-year old Tonahuac Zinn. Zinn finished 2nd in 3:52.08. That’s the fastest time in the country by a 14 & under this season (a title he already held with a 3:52.5 from Winter Juniors West in December).
• Former UCLA Bruin Linnea Mack, now representing OAQ as a post-grad, won the girls’ 50 free in 22.69. She beat out 17-year old Alexandra Crisera (22.73) from Beach Cities Swimming and 16-year old Anicka Delgado (22.83).
• The Brea Aquatics girls won the 800 free relay in 7:17.68 with a team of Trieu, Samantha Pearson, Marly Lough, and Kozna. Kozna anchored in 1:47.34, which beat out Tuggle’s 1:47.35 as the fastest split in the field.
• The Sierra Marlins won the boys’ 800 free relay in 6:42.14 with the team of Colby Mefford, Sean Swift, Kyle Garcia, and Ben Dillard. Mefford had the best swim with a 1:38.50 leadoff, while Dillard anchored in 1:38.31.

Team Scores After Day 3

Top 5 Boys’ Team Scores:

1. Irvine Novaquatics – 993
2. Rose Bowl Aquatics – 676.5
3. Orinda Aquatics – 553
4. Clovis Swim Club – 508
5. Rancho San Dieguito – 447

Top 5 Girls’ Team Scores:

1. Irvine Novaquatics – 961.5
2. Brea Aquatics – 829
3. North Coast Aquatics – 737
4. Crow Canyon – 541
5. Clovis Swim Club – 533

Top 5 Combined Team Scores:

1. Irvine Novaquatics – 1954.5
2. Clovis Swim Club – 1041
3. Brea Aquatics – 1091
4. Rose Bowl Aquatics – 902.5