2021 Speedo Winter Junior Championships West
- December 8-11, 2021
- Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
- Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Prelims: 9 am (ET)
- Finals: 5 pm (ET) – Wed. relays at 6 pm
- Meet Central
- Live Results
- Psych Sheets
The Speedo Winter Junior Championships West gest going tonight with timed finals of the men’s and women’s 200 medley and 800 free relays. The relays will be swum fastest to slowest, so USA Swimming has uploaded the first two heats from each gender to their YouTube channel.
Scroll down to watch the Sandpipers of Nevada smash the 800 free relay meet record with a relay that was bookended with a pair of U.S. Olympians.
Women’s 200 Medley Relay – Timed Finals
Heat 1
Heat 2
Top 3:
- University of Denver Hilltoppers – 1:39.41
- Sandpipers of Nevada – 1:40.33
- DART Swimming – 1:40.41
The fastest times of the evening came out of the second heat, as the University of Denver Hilltoppers and the Sandpipers of Nevada dueled out of lanes 4 and 1, respectively.
Men’s 200 Medley Relay – Timed Finals
Heat 1
Heat 2
Top 3:
- Nitro Swim Club – 1:28.87
- Coronado Swim Association Team – 1:29.14
- Rose Bowl Aquatics – 1:29.28
Swimming in heat 4 (men’s heat 2), Nitro put together four legs that didn’t have any eye popping splits, but were strong all the way around and enough to win by just over a quarter of a second. Logan Walker led off in 22.49, then Thomas Wu split 25.28 in breast, George Flanders split 21.44 on fly, and Jeremy Kelly anchored in 19.66, stopping the clock in 1:28.87.
Women’s 800 Free Relay – Timed Finals
Heat 1
Heat 2 – Sandpipers Meet Record
Top 3:
- Sandpipers – 7:02.90
- Irvine Novaquatics – 7:14.79
- Elevation Athletics – 7:19.13
No, that’s not a smudge on your screen. The Sandpipers took down the overall Winter Juniors record by nearly three seconds, with a pair of Olympians bookending the relay.
In heat 2, Katie Grimes led off in 1:44.96, 14 year-old Claire Weinstein split 1:45.50 on the second leg, Paige Kuwata went 1:48.98 on the third leg, and then Bella Sims anchored in 1:43.56. While that time is faster than the 15-18 National Age Group record of 7:05.91, it may not actually count for any NAGs since Weinstein is only 14.
Irvine took a distance second in 7:14.79, led by a 1:44.49 split from Teagen O’Dell, while Elevation Athletics took 3rd in 7:19.13, thanks to a 1:47.75 anchor leg from Mary Codevilla.
Men’s 800 Free Relay – Timed Finals
Heat 1
Heat 2
Top 3:
- Rose Bowl – 6:29.57
- Lakeside – 6:29.66
- First Colony – 6:34.16
Anyone watching, whether in person or online, got to see a great race in heat 2 as Rose Bowl and Lakeside swam in the heat, pushing each other to both break the previous Juniors West record in this event
Andrew Zettle led off for Lakeside in 1:37.28, just ahead of Rose Bowl’s Rex Maurer‘s time of 1:37.35. Cooper Lucas kept Rose Bowl in the lead with a 1:35.29 on the second leg, against Ronald Dalmacio‘s 1:37.84. Maru Kim closed to the gap to roughly one second after the third leg, as he split 1:38.39 to Jacob Pishko‘s 1:40.02. On the anchor legs, Rose Bowl’s Zach Larrick outsplit Lakeside’s Conor McKenna 1:35.99 to 1:37.07, providing almost the exact margin Rose Bowl needed to come away with the win.
Rose Bowl’s time of 6:29.57 set a new Juniors West record, eclipsing the previous mark of 6:31.93 set by Scottsdale Aquatic Club. Lakeside was also under the old mark after touching in 6:29.66. First Colony took 3rd overall in 6:34.16.
Lucas appears to have had the fastest overall split in the field, while 15 year-old Maximus Williamson of the North Texas Nadadores had the fastest leadoff with a 1:35.70. That looks to be the 2nd-fastest time ever by a 15 year-old, behind only Jack Walker’s 1:33.73. Williamson’s time moves him up to #15 all-time in the 15-16 age group.
