200 Free Duel Between Williamson, Lucas, and Wimberly Highlights LAC Fall Classic

LAC Fall Classic

• November 4 – 7, 2022
• Northwest ISD Aquatic Center
• SCY (25 Yards)
• Full Results on MeetMobile: “LAC Fall Classic”

Lakeside Aquatic Club’s annual Fall Classic got off to a hot start. The boys’ 200 free–just the second event of the meet–saw a thrilling race between Maximus Williamson, Cooper Lucas, and Jacob Wimberly. The 16-year old Williamson won the race in 1:35.65, with Lucas also cracking 1:36. The lead changed hands three times, and the boys produced the second, third, and fourth-fastest 200 free times of the season for 18&under boys. The only boy who’s been faster this season is Daniel Diehl, who’s been 1:35.39.

As you can see from the splits, this was an incredibly back-and-forth race. Each of these three swimmers held the lead at some point. Lucas opened the race with the lead, going out in 22.06, and Wimberly had taken over the lead by the halfway mark. Williamson made his move on the third 50, splitting 24.57 to take a .05 second lead heading into the final 50.

He ended up extending that lead, staying ahead of a surging Lucas. Lucas split 24.28 on the final 50, the fastest of the three, passing Wimberly for second place.

Lucas and Williamson will be high school teammates this year at Keller High after Williamson transferred from Southlake Carroll. They already both swim for LAC.

Wimberly, who’s verbally committed to Texas A&M, finished third in a massive lifetime best. Coming into this meet, his best was 1:37.69, which means that he cut 1.5 seconds off that mark. In our Class of 2024 Way Too Early Rankings, we named him to the “Best of the Rest” section for his IM prowess. With this 200 free time though, he becomes an interesting prospect for the Aggies’ 800 free relay. His time at this meet would have been faster than one of the splits on their 2022 NCAA relay, which finished 21st.

He also set three other lifetime bests over the course of the meet, clocking 20.47 in the 50 free, 44.70 in the 100 free, and 47.75 in the 100 fly.

While Wimberly was the only one of the three to set a best in this race, Lucas also posted a pair of lifetime bests at the meet. The Texas commit, who we ranked #2 in the Way Too Early Rankings, is best in his class in the 500 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM. At this meet though, he was able to crack best times in shorter races, the 100 free and 100 breast. He shaved .06 seconds off his 100 free best time with a 44.20. In the 100 breast, he touched in 55.78, taking .66 seconds off his old mark.

This summer, Williamson joined Michael Phelps as the only 15-year-olds under 4:20 in the LCM 400 IM. He had a strong meet back in yards, also collecting wins in the 200 back (1:45.39) and 200 IM (1:44.93).

Other Notable Results

• NC State commit Madeleine Hebert also had a big weekend. She swept the 50/100/200 free, dropping new personal bests in all three races. She hit 22.98 in the 50 free, 49.22 in the 100, and 1:46.85 in the 200. Her time in the 100 free seems to be the fastest by an 18&under girl this season, .01 seconds ahead of Camille Spink. Her 200 free time stands up as the seventh-fastest in that same age group this season.
• 16-year-old Jacob Turner won the boys’ 200 breast in 1:59.77, edging out Lucas by .18 seconds. That marks his first time under the 2:00 barrier, and a lifetime best by a massive 2.07 seconds. He also swam a lifetime best in the 100 breast, hitting 56.53, a best by half a second, to finish third. It’s the fifth-fastest time this season for 18&under boys, and second for 16&unders.
• One of the biggest time drops of the weekend came from 15-year-old Ava Pape. She won the girls’ 400 IM in 4:20.56, which is a 6.77 second drop from her previous best, which she set in March 2022. Pape also swam best times in the 200 free (1:53.99), 200 breast (2:28.00), and 200 fly (2:02.23).