2022 Speedo Winter Juniors West – Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2022 Speedo Winter Junior Championships – West

• December 7-10, 2022
• Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center, Austin, Texas
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
• Prelims @10:00AM ET, Finals at 6:00 PM ET (except for day 1 timed finals)
• Meet Central
• Psych Sheet
• Storylines to Watch
• Live Results
• Live Stream

Thursday Finals Heat Sheet

The first individual crowns will be awarded on Thursday night in Austin, in the finals of the boys and girls 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free. The night will end with timed finals of the 400 medley relays.

Girls’ 500 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Meet Record – 4:32.28, Bella Sims (2021)
• Pool Record – 4:31.34, Brooke Forde (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 4:35.14, Katie Ledecky (2011)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 4:28.71, Katie Ledecky (2014)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 4:26.58, Katie Ledecky (2015)

Top 8:

1. Bella Sims (SAND) – 4:28.64
2. Katie Grimes (SAND) – 4:29.53
3. Claire Weinstein (SAND) – 4:33.03
4. Bailey Hartman (CROW) – 4:33.72
5. Madi Mintenko (PPA) – 4:42.56
6. Kayla Han (RMDA) – 4:44.64
7. Macky Hodges (SAND) – 4:44.76
8. Elise Clift (MAC) – 4:46.26

Bella Sims put on a show from start to finish, getting an early start on the field and never taking her foot off the gas. She flipped nearly a body length ahead of her Sandpipers teammate Katie Grimes at the 50, and went through the 100 mark at 50.1 to lead by 2 full seconds. She continued to build her lead through the halfway mark, when Grimes began to eat away at the difference. Grimes outsplit Sims over the second half of the race, gaining a tenth on the fifth 50, a tenth on the sixth 50, and seven tenths on the seventh 50. Sims maintained the 1.4-second lead she still had at the 700 as they bells began to ring for the final 50. Sims came home in 26.5 to Grimes’ 26.0, which was enough to finish a body length in front of her teammate and training partner. Sims (4:28.64) and Grimes (4:29.53) cracked the 4:32 barrier for the first time and came in under both the West meet record time and the pool record time.

While Grimes was challenging Sims over the second half of the race, Crow Canyon’s Bailey Hartman was holding her own at third place. That is, until the final 50 yards when Claire Weinstein of Sandpipers out-split her over the final 50 yards to earn the bronze medal with 4:33.03. Hartman also posted a sub-4:34, going 4:33.72. Hartman had come into the meet with a 4:41.7 seed time, while Weinstein’s previous best was 4:38.4.

Boys’ 500 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Meet Record – 4:14.40, Jack Levant (2017)
• Pool Record – 4:08.19, Townley Haas (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 4:24.79, Lleyton Plattel (2017)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 4:15.36, Drew Kibler (2016)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 4:08.42, Luke Hobson (2022)

Top 8:

1. Rex Maurer (ROSE) – 4:12.33
2. Alec Enyeart (TEX) – 4:13.74
3. Cooper Lucas (LAC) – 4:14.53
4. Chase Mueller (FST) – 4:16.52
5. Max Hatcher (LAC) – 4:21.55
6. Jones Lambert (LSC) – 4:22.05
7. Luke Ellis (SAND) – 4:22.23
8. Keaton Jones (NEP) – 4:23.76

The boys’ 500 free final was as tight at the girls’ was lopsided. From the opening bell, all eyes were on the middle three lanes of the pool where top-seeded Rex Maurer of Rose Bowl, Texas freshman Alec Enyeart, and Lakeside Aquatics’ Cooper Lucas traded leads for 20 lengths of the pool. Maurer was out first at the 50, but Lucas took over at the 100 and held the lead through the 300. At the 250 wall, the top three were separated by one-tenth. Fifty yards later, Maurer and Enyeart were only 1/100 apart, while Lucas trailed by .09.

Maurer took off on the eighth 50 and began to move into clear water. He flipped in the lead y .3 at the 400 and powered through the next two 50s to win by 1.4 seconds in 4:12.33, establishing a new West meet record. He took more than 2 full seconds off the mark of 4:14.40 that Jack Levant had established in 2017. It was Maurer’s best time by 1.6 seconds.

Enyeart, who is one of a handful of Texas first-years at the meet, went his best time by half a second. Both he and Maurer are now within scoring range at NCAAs, as it took 4:13.81 last year to get a second swim. While times from this meet do not qualify for NCAAs, Enyeart has already booked his ticket to the D1 Championship by virtue of his 1650 time.

Lucas improved his time by over 4 seconds.

Girls’ 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• Meet Record – 1:54.09, Leah Hayes (2021)
• Pool Record – 1:50.79, Beata Nelson (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 1:56.20, Alex Walsh (2015)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 1:54.02, Alex Walsh (2017)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 1:51.65, Ella Eastin (2016)

Top 8:

1. Bella Sims (SAND) – 1:52.73
2. Teagan O’Dell (MVN) – 1:55.61
3. Campbell Stoll (EBSC) – 1:58.05
4. Camden Doane (KING) – 1:58.62
5. Grace Rabb (AQJT) – 1:58.73
6. Piper Enge (BC) – 1:58.83
7. Ava Chavez (SMST) – 1:59.98
8. Asia Kozan (MVN) – 2:00.48

Two swims, two meet records. Bella Sims crushed her second race in less than 40 minutes, going 1:52.73 in the 200 IM to down Leah Hayes’ 1:54.09 mark from last year. Sims was already .8 ahead of second-place Teagan O’Dell of Mission Viejo after the butterfly leg, turning in 24.41. Sims extended her lead to 2.3 seconds on the backstroke leg, splitting 27.2. O’Dell made up a little ground on the breaststroke with a 33.9 to Sims’ 34.1, but Sims came home 0.9 seconds faster with a 26.8 freestyle to get the win by 2.9 seconds. O’Dell was about half a second off her seed time, coming to the wal in 1:55.61.

Elmbrook Swim Club’s Campbell Stoll held off King Aquatic Club’s Camden Doane and Aquajets’ Grace Rabb to finish third. She led the trio through the first three legs and began the freestyle with a 1.3-second advantage. Doane and Rabb both came home in 28-flats, about eight-tenths faster than Stoll, but she was able to hang on through the finish.

Boys’ 200 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• Meet Record – 1:42.77, Michael Andrew (2015)
• Pool Record – 1:38.14, Andrew Seliskar (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 1:45.29, Michael Andrew (2014)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 1:41.71, Thomas Heilman (2022)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 1:41.39, David Nolan (2011)

Top 8:

1. Maximus Williamson (LAC) – 1:42.07
2. Nate Germonprez (ISWM) – 1:42.82
3. Jacob Wimberly (TFA) – 1:44.08
4. Cooper Lucas (LAC) – 1:44.89
5. Diego Nosack (THSC) – 1:45.56
6. Jeremy Kelly (NTRO) – 1:45.87
7. Colin Geer (GWSC) – 1:46.36
8. Anthony Laurito (AQUA) – 1:46.44

Maximus Williamson of Lakeside Aquatic Club took just over a second off his seed time, blasting a 1:42.07 PB in the 200 IM to win the gold medal and take a .7-second bite out of Michael Andrew’s West meet record from 2015. He would have broken Andrew’s 15-16 national age group record, too, had Thomas Heilman not just swum a 1:41.71 an hour earlier. Now, Williamson ranks 2nd all-time in the 15-16 age group.

Williamson opened with a 22.15 butterfly, which incidentally matches –to the hundredth– what both Williamson and Daniel Diehl swam on their 50 fly leadoffs in the East meet. Trailing the leader very closely were Nate Germonprez (22.32) of iNspire Swim Team, Texas Ford Aquatics’ Jacob Wimberly (22.38), and Williamson’s Texas teammate, Cooper Lucas (22.64). Williamson extended his lead by another second on the backstroke leg, splitting a 24.7. Germonprez outsplit Williamson by 1.4 seconds on the breaststroke and briefly took over the lead at the 150 wall, but Williamson came home in 24.0 to win the event by .75.

Girls’ 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Meet Record – 21.49, Abby Weitzeil (2014)
• Pool Record – 21.02, Abby Weitzeil (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 21.89, Claire Curzan (2019)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 21.50, Claire Curzan (2021)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 21.32, Simone Manuel (2015)

Top 8:

1. Avery Karl (EKC) – 22.22
2. Rebecca Diaconescu (TRA) – 22.31
3. Hailey Tierney (LAKE) – 22.33
4. Teia Salvino (MVN) – 22.36
5. Emma Kern (AQJT) – 22.46
6. Jada Scott (AAAA) – 22.60
7. Tyler Driscoll (EA) – 22.66
8. Teagan O’Dell (MVN) – 22.78

Avery Karl of Empire KC Swim Club improved another three tenths, after the .24 she had dropped in prelims, to finish the day half a second faster in the 50 free and with a West meet title. Karl came into the meet seeded 8th but posted the second-fastest time this morning to earn lane 5 honors for the final. It looked like a photo finish at the end, but Karl got her hand to the wall a tenth ahead of Rebecca Diaconescu of Team Rebel Aquatics (22.31) and Hailey Tierney of Lake Country Swim Team (22.33).

Mission Viejo’s Teia Salvino, Aquajets’ Emma Kern, Alamo Area’s Jada Scott, Eagle Aquatics’ Tyler Driscoll, and Mission’s Teagan O’Dell, in a quick turnaround after the 200 IM final, were all within half a second of Karl.

Boys’ 50 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Meet Record – 18.71, Ryan Hoffer (2016)
• Pool Record – 18.58, Ryan Hoffer (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 19.76, Michael Andrew (2014)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 19.24, Michael Andrew (2015)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 18.67, Caeleb Dressel (2015)

Top 8:

1. Ethan Harrington (PASA) – 19.45
2. Diggory Dillingham (BEND) – 19.57
3. Cade Duncan (DADS) – 19.71
4. Rex Maurer (ROSE) – 19.77
5. Maximus Williamson (LAC) – 19.82
6. Sonny Wang (NTRO) – 19.93
7. Marre Gattnar (NBA) – 19.96
8. Hayden Bellotti (FCST) – 20.07

Number 2 seed Ethan Harrington from Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, who occupied lane 4 after posting the top time this morning, blasted off the start and surfaced just before the 15-meter mark, nearly half a body length up on the field. He flipped first at the 25 and had a solid lead heading home. Bend’s Diggory Dillingham began to close the gap over the second 25 yards, though, and it was a might tighter finish. Harrington held on for the win, taking .28 off his seed time to break 19.5 for the first time. Dillingham was .05 off his entry time, but finished in a solid second place.

Cade Duncan of DADS Swim Club edged Rose Bowl’s Rex Maurer, who broke 20 seconds for the first time, 19.71 to 19.77, for the third spot on the podium. Duncan and Maurer were originally seeded 19th and 13th, respectively, with seed times of 20.34 and 20.20.

Girls’ 4×100 Yard Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• Juniors Meet Record – 3:33.88, Carmel Swim Club (B Berglund, D Kitchel, A Shackell, G Lueking) (2021)
• Juniors West Record – 3:33.93 Fort Collins Area Swim Team (B Stewart, Z Bartel, C Gillilan, K Alons) (2017)
• Pool Record – 3:25.24, California (Bilquist, Rajic, McLaughlin, Weitzeil)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 3:40.43, SwimMAC Carolina (2019)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 3:36.53, Virginia Gators (2017)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 3:37.83, SwimMAC Carolina (2014)

Top 8:

1. Sandpipers of Nevada – 3:34.26
2. Mission Viejo – 3:34.53
3. Denver Hilltoppers – 3:36.74
4. Aquajets – 3:38.11
5. Bellevue Club – 3:38.87
6. Crow Canyon – 3:39.27
7. Palo Alto Stanford – 3:40.37
8. Seattle Metro – 3:41.63

Katie Grimes went a lifetime best in the 100 back, leading off the Sandpipers’ 400 medley relay with a 52.89. That kept SAND within a second of Aquajets and Mission Viejo, whose backstrokers Emma Kern (51.99) and Teagan O’Dell (52.25) led at the first exchange.

Aquajets extended their lead to 1.1 seconds after a 1:00.97 breaststroke split from Grace Raab. Mission Viejo (Maddie Phillips, 1:01.83) and Hilltoppers (Charlotte Burnham, 1:01.59) were in second and third, while Sandpipers trailed by half a second in fourth after Lucy Warnick’s 1:01.92.

Bella Sims’ 51.36 butterfly split pulled SAND into a tie with Mission Viejo (Asia Kozan, 52.06), while Aquajets (Anabelle Wentzel, 51.99) led Hilltoppers (Lexi Greenhawt, 52.98) in third place headed into the freestyle leg.

Claire Weinstein closed in 48.09, giving Sandpipers the win by .27 over Mission Viejo. MVN’s Tea Salvino split 48.39 on her anchor, while Lawson Ficken (49.30) pulled TOPS into the third spot on the podium ahead of Aquajets (Carly Bixby, 50.81).

Boys’ 4×100 Yard Medley Relay – Timed Finals

• Juniors Meet Record – 3:11.11, Mason Manta Rays (C Foster, J Foster, J McDonald, A Chaney) (2018)
• Juniors West Record – 3:12.87, Peak Swimming (A Huang, J Yep, E Hu, D Hawk) (2019)
• Pool Record – 2:59.70, Indiana (Fantoni, Finnerty, Lanza, Apple)
• 13-14 NAG Record – 3:24.49, Carmel Swim Club (2020)
• 15-16 NAG Record – 3:16.18, Bolles School Sharks (2014)
• 17-18 NAG Record – 3:10.27, Spartan Aquatic Club (2021)

Top 8:

1. Rose Bowl “A” – 3:10.77
2. Aquajets – 3:11.79
3. Swim Neptune – 3:13.33
4. Lakeside Aquatic – 3:13.44
5. North Bay – 3:13.95
6. Evoluation Racing – 3:16.09
7. Longhorn Aquatis – 3:16.13
8. Rose Bowl “B” – 3:16.17

Rex Maurer dropped 4.2 seconds from his previous 100 back PB to lead off the Rose Bowl’s 400 medley relay in 46.04. Had he come into the meet with that time, he would have been seeded first by over 1 second. Daniel Lee split 53.11 on the breast, while Max Cahill (47.20) and Jonathan Gim (44.42) took care of the second half of the race to give the Rose Bowl a win and a new overall Juniors meet record.