2024 Iowa City Spring Sectionals
- March 7-11, 2024
- LCM (50 meters)
- Iowa City, Iowa
- Meet Mobile “2024 USA Swimming Speedo Championship Series”
Some of the top swimmers in the country are competing in Iowa City this weekend at sectionals. Night 1 included the 800 free as well as the 800 free relay.
15 year old Paige Downey (Gold Medal Swim Club) won the women’s 800 free in a 8:43.24, finishing about 15 seconds ahead of teammate Ellie Kayser who touched in a 8:58.06. Downey’s previous best was a 8:46.80 which she swam last July at US Summer Juniors to finish 9th. Kayser had a huge drop from her previous best of a 9:07.22. Skylar Knowlton was 3rd in a 9:02.06.
Raymond Hesser led the way in the men’s 800 free touching in a 8:04.74. Hesser’s previous best stood at a 8:08.07 which he swam to finish 6th at Summer Juniors Nationals last July. Lukas Vetkoetter finished behind Hesser in a 8:07.07, faster than his previous best from Summer Juniors by over five seconds. Vetkoetter is headed to Georgia Tech this fall. Miles Cratsenberg was 3rd in a 8:24.48.
Iowa Flyers Swim Club led the way in the boys 800 free relay. The team of Jozsef Polyak, Max Gerke, Owen Chiles, and Hayden Hakes touched in a 7:42.34 to finish over two seconds ahead of Bluefish Swim Club who was 2nd in a 7:44.82. Polyak led off in a new personal best of a 1:53.15, faster than his old best of a 1:54.01. Chiles notably split a 1:53.29 flying start. The Iowa Flyers relay set a new team as well as Iowa LSC record.
The women’s 800 free relay results do not show up on Meet Mobile yet and are not available on a website yet. Gold Medal Swim club won in a 8:27.07, finishing ahead of Sioux Falls Swim Team who was 2nd. Pleasant Prarie Patriots was 3rd.
8:43 for a 15 yo girl?
Flashback:
Jenny Turral broke 800m Freestyle WR (8:43.48) in 1975 when she had just turned 15. A year earlier she broke 800 free WR as a 13 yo.
Can someone please check if that is the youngest swimmer to break WR?
When I was 12 y/o, I set a WR @ the Y:
Least laps swum during a 5-minute warm down without breaking stroke.
That’s nice
only younger person is jeremy reingold who claims to have broken the 200 im wr at 12 years old, only to never swim again. I should add that this record is undoubtably fraudulent, despite its place in the wr progression.
Jenny Turrall is the youngest to break a wr
Depends on your scope for WR. Karen Muir is the name I heard floated most, she broke the WR in the 100 yards backstroke in 1965 when she was 12, which obviously no longer is an event where World Aquatics tracks a World Record.
Here are the youngest among the long course meters records that AQUA still officially keeps: https://swimswam.com/at-16-years-222-days-young-how-does-summer-mcintoshs-world-record-rank/
Donna de Varona was 13 years, 80 days when she got the 400 IM in 1960. Turrall is the youngest to break the 800, and that wasn’t even the first WR she broke – she got the 1500 about a month earlier. Her 1500 is the 4th-youngest among the current WRs.
Donna de Varona is a legend where I swam