2022 Speedo Winter Juniors West – Day 3 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

Friday Finals Heat Sheet

Friday night’s finals session in Austin will feature the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, and 200 freestyle relays.

Girls’ 400 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• Meet Record: 4:00.66, Katie Grimes (2021)
• Pool Record: 3:57.03, Ella Eastin (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 4:06.95, Kayla Han (2022)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 4:00.62, Dagny Knutson (2008)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 3:58.40, Ella Eastin (2016)

Top 8:

1. Katie Grimes (SAND) – 3:57.02 MEET RECORD, POOL RECORD, 15-16 NAG
2. Asia Kozan (MVN) – 4:07.27
3. Kayla Han (RMDA) – 4:07.77
4. Abby O’Sullivan (MVN) – 4:14.97
5. Katie McCarthy (EDI) – 4:15.19
6. Caroline Bricker (PPA) – 4:15.42
7. Teagan Steinmetz (DSA) – 4:17.83
8. Elise Clift (MAC) – 4:20.78

Katie Grimes of Sandpipers of Nevada destroyed her previous lifetime-best time in the 400 IM, breaking the 4-minute barrier for the first time with a monstrous 3:57.02. She lowered her own Winter Juniors meet record by 3.64 seconds and destroyed Dagny Knutson’s national age group record for 15-16 girls (4:00.62) that has stood for 14 years.

Grimes was out quickly, clocking a 53.5 butterfly leadoff, taking half a second off her best time. She followed with a 58.5 on the back and 1:11.1 on the breast, before bringing it home in 53.6. Grimes is now the 4th-fastest American in history; hers was the #5 American performance all-time. Her splits were:

• Fly – 25.10 / 28.49
• Back – 29.58 / 29.04
• Breast – 35.54 / 35.60
• Free – 27.36 / 26.31

Behind Grimes, Caroline Bricker was in second place through the butterfly leg, but Asia Kozan took over on backstroke. Kayla Han moved into third place ahead of Bricker on the breaststroke and battled Kozan for second place over the final 100 yards. Kozan had a half-second lead on Han that she never let up on, and wound up in second place with a PB of 4:07.27. Han finished just off her best time with a 4:07.77.

Boys’ 400 Yard Individual Medley – Finals

• Meet Record: 3:42.22, Maximus Williamson (2021)
• Pool Record: 3:34.50, Chase Kalisz (2014)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 3:51.46, Thomas Heilman (2022)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 3:42.08, Michael Phelps (2002)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 3:35.27, Carson Foster (2020)

Top 8:

1. Maximus Williamson (LAC) – 3:39.83 MEET RECORD, 15-16 NAG
2. Cooper Lucas (LAC) – 3:42.09
3. Anthony Laurito (AQUA) – 3:45.76
4. Diego Nosack (THSC) – 3:46.24
5. Humberto Najera (EVO) – 3:47.55
6. Luke Ellis (SAND) – 3:47.68
7. Luke Stibrich (BTA) – 3:58.75
8. Lance Johnson (EBSC) – 3:48.78

Maximus Williamson of Lakeside Aquatic Club lowered his own meet record from last year and downed Michael Phelps’ last 15-16 national age group record in one fell swoop, clocking a 3:39.83 to win the 400 IM by 3.7 seconds. His teammate Cooper Lucas was out first on the butterfly with 49.66, leading by .15 on the fly-to-back turn. But Williamson outsplit him by 2 seconds on the backstroke. Lucas closed the gap to 1.1 seconds on the breaststroke before Williamson took off on the freestyle, coming home in 50.5. The winning splits were:

• Fly – 23.02 / 26.79
• Back – 26.94 / 27.15
• Breast – 32.64 / 32.77
• Free – 25.60 / 24.92

Aquastar’s Anthony Laurito dropped another 2.8 seconds, after his 6-second improvement this morning, to finish on the third step of the podium with 3:45.76.

Girls’ 100 Yard Butterfly – Finals

• Meet Record: 51.73, Regan Smith (2016)
• Pool Record: 49.26, Louise Hansson (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 50.64, Claire Curzan (2019)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 49.51, Claire Curzan (2021)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 49.24, Claire Curzan (2022)

Top 8:

1. Emma Kern (AQJT) – 52.23
2. Maggie Schalow (NOVA) – 52.56
3. Kelsey Zhang (PASA) – 56.62
4. Ava Whitaker (AMBU) – 52.68
5. Kayla Fu (FCST) – 52.86
6. Alana Berlin (SSTY) – 53.09
7. Lexi Greenhawt (TOPS) – 53.34
8. Clare Watson (BC) – 53.84

Emma Kern from Aquajets took another second off her new PB, established in prelims this morning, and edged Novaquatics’ Maggie Schalow, 52.23 to 52.56, for the 100 fly win. Kern and Schalow turned together at the 50 wall with matching 24-flats but Kern was three-tenths faster on the back half.

Kelsey Zhang of Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics, who had been in seventh place at the halfway point, came home with the fastest second 50 in the field (27.7) to finish third overall in 52.62. She edged Ava Whitaker of Ambush Swim Team by .06 to score the bronze medal.

Boys’ 100 Yard Butterfly – Finals

• Meet Record: 45.46, Ryan Hoffer (2015)
• Pool Record: 44.06, Joseph Schooling (2017)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 45.81, Thomas Heilman (2021)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 45.62, Luca Urlando (2018)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 44.75, Aiden Hayes (2022)

Top 8:

1. Jacob Wimberly (TFA) – 46.26
2. Hayden Bellotti (FCST) – 46.44
3. David Schmitt (EVO) – 46.86
4. (tie) Simon Lins (PST) / Colin Geer (GWSC) – 46.92
5. –
6. Lance Swanepoel (DSMY) – 47.33
7. Ethan Harrington (PASA) – 47.51
8. Carter Ruthven (LOVE) – 47.76

Jacob Wimberly of Texas Ford and First Colony’s Hayden Bellotti, managed to pull away from a very crowded field at the 25 wall to finish nearly half a body ahead of the field. Bellotti was ahead by a tenth at the 50 wall with 21.22 but Wimberly came home in 24.9 to grab the gold with 46.26. Bellotti managed to hold off a fast-charging David Schmitt of Evolution Racing, whose second 50 was the fastest of the final (24.86) and place second in 46.44. Wimberly and Bellotti, who came into the meet ranked 5th and 15th, respectively, finished the day 1.5 and 2 seconds faster than their entry times.

Golden West’s Colin Geer and Piedmont Swim Team’s Simon Lins tied for fourth place with 46.92, the only other sub-47s of the night.

Girls’ 200 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Meet Record: 1:40.78, Bella Sims (2022)
• Pool Record: 1:40.26, Mallory Comerford (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:44.10, Sippy Woodhead (1979)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:42.03, Katie Ledecky (2013)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:40.31, Missy Franklin (2014)

Top 8:

1. Bella Sims (SAND) – 1:41.10
2. Katie Grimes (SAND) – 1:43.83
3. Claire Weinstein (SAND) – 1:43.93
4. Teagan O’Dell (MVN) – 1:43.94
5. Bailey Hartman (CROW) – 1:44.56
6. Macky Hodges (SAND) – 1:45.69
7. Madeleine Hebert (TRA) – 1:45.76
8. Madi Mintenko (PPA) – 1:45.93

Bella Sims led a Sandpipers sweep of the podium in the 200 freestyle final, going 1:41.10 to win with her second-best time ever. She had established a new meet record in the 200 free on Wednesday night with her leadoff leg of 1:40.78 on SAND’s 800 free relay, and while she fell just short of that time in tonight’s individual final, she dominated the race from start to finish and won by 2.73 seconds.

Sims was aggressive from the outset, going out in 23.3 as she had on Wednesday. While she came home in 26.0, her middle 100 was about three-tenths slower. Her comparative splits are:

• 38 / 25.40 / 26.28 / 26.04 – 1:41.10
• 35 / 25.26 / 26.12 / 26.05 – 1:40.78

Mission Viejo’s Teagan O’Dell did her best to break up the SAND hegemony. She held onto second place at the 50, 100, and 150 walls but lost out to both Katie Grimes and Claire Weinstein over the final 50 yards. Just barely, though; Weinstein only edged her by .01 and Grimes was just .10 ahead of Weinstein.

Boys’ 200 Yard Freestyle – Finals

• Meet Record: 1:33.07, Maximus Williamson (2022)
• Pool Record: 1:29.15, Dean Farris (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:34.68, Thomas Heilman (2021)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:33.07, Maximus Williamson (2022)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:32.18, Maxime Rooney (2017)

Top 8:

1. Maximus Williamson (LAC) – 1:33.60
2. Rex Maurer (ROSE) – 1:33.69
3. Keaton Jones (NEP) – 1:34.31
4. Chase Mueller (FST) – 1:34.66
5. Cooper Lucas (LAC) – 1:35.53
6. Ian Pickles (NEP) – 1:36.36
7. Jones Lambert (LSC) – 1:36.90
8. Jeremy Kelly (NTRO) – 1:37.90

Like Sims, Maximus Williamson had broken the meet record in the 200 free on Wednesday night leading off the Lakeside Aquatic Club 800 free relay. He was half a second slower tonight, but to be fair, he hadn’t swim a record-breaking 400 IM before his relay on Wednesday.

It was Rose Bowl’s Rex Maurer who took it out first in 21.78, flipping ahead of Keaton Jones, Cooper Lucas, Jeremy Kelly, Ian Pickles, and Williamson. Jones took over the lead at the 100 with Maurer, Lucas, Pickles, and Williamson in his wake.

Maurer attacked the third 50 with the same fury he had on the final 100 of the 500 free last night (which he won with a meet record of 4:12.33). Jones was about .16 behind him. Williamson turned on the turbo jets and split 23.84 and 23.21 on his third and fourth 50s to move from fifth at the 100 to third at the 150 to first at the touch. Putting his head down from the flags to the wall, he just touched out Maurer for his second win of the night. It was Williamson’s second-best performance and Maurer’s PB, as they had come into the meet with 1:34.97 (Williamson) and 1:34.59 (Maurer).

Girls’ 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• Meet Record: 58.94, Zoie Hartman (2018)
• Pool Record: 55.73, Lily King (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:00.02, Alexis Wenger (2015)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 58.19, Alex Walsh (2017)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 57.54, Lydia Jacoby (2022)

Top 8:

1. Lydia Jacoby (TEX) – 57.76 MEET RECORD
2. Piper Enge (BC) – 59.61
3. Raya Mellott (CROW) – 59.74
4. Gillian Tu (BC) – 1:00.02
5. Bella Brito (CITI) – 1:01.12
6. Sarah Bennetts (DART) – 1:01.48
7. Kinley Wigle (BEND) – 1:01.87
8. Hannah O’Leary (AQTX) – 1:02.05

Olympic gold medalist Lydia Jacoby, swimming in her new home pool as a freshman at the University of Texas, won the 100 breast title with a new meet record of 57.76. She was just off her lifetime best of 57.54 from last week’s Minnesota Invite, where she came in second to her Texas teammate Anna Elendt and set the U.S. national age group record for 17-18 girls.

Tonight, she went out in 27.08 and was up by over half a body length at the halfway mark. Bellevue Club’s Gillian Tu was the only other sub-28 at the 50 wall; she turned second with 27.77. Jacoby charged home in 30.6 to win by two body lengths. Tu fell off pace on the second half of the race, and both Piper Enge, her Bellevue Club teammate, and Raya Mellott of Crow Canyon, overtook her with their 31.3s and earned spots on the podium with 59.61 and 59.74, respectively.

Boys’ 100 Yard Breaststroke – Finals

• Meet Record: 52.21, Michael Andrew (2015)
• Pool Record: 49.85, Ian Finnerty (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 53.06, Reece Whitley (2014)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 51.75, Michael Andrew (2015)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 51.16, Reece Whitley (2018)

Top 8:

1. Nate Germonprez (ISWM) – 52.73
2. Daniel Li (ROSE) – 52.92
3. Logan Brown (FCST) – 53.06
4. Joshua Corn (FST) – 53.30
5. Charlie Egeland (AQJT) – 53.85
6. Jake Eccleston (LOVE) – 54.31
7. Kaden Guzman (ISWM) – 54.32
8. Andrew Zou (TXLA) – 54.43

Nate Germonprez from Inspire Swim Team fended off a strong challenge from Rose Bowl’s Daniel Li to win the 100 breast final in 52.73. He was just off the 52.59 PB he had swum in prelims, but still won by two-tenths. Li broke 53 seconds for the first time, taking about .8 off his seed time with his second-place finish of 52.92. First Colony’s Logan Brown completed the podium with a PB of 53.06.

Girls’ 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• Meet Record: 50.58, Regan Smith (2018)
• Pool Record: 49.18, Beata Nelson (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 51.01, Charlotte Crush (2022)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 50.03, Claire Curzan (2021)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 49.52, Claire Curzan (2022)

Top 8:

1. Bella Sims (SAND) – 50.53 MEET RECORD
2. Teagan O’Dell (MVN) – 51.86
3. Emma Kern (AQJT) – 52.17
4. Grace Rabb (AQJT) – 52.79
5. Alana Berlin (SSTY) – 52.85
6. Charlotte Wilson (TOPS) – 52.89
7. Macky Hodges (SAND) – 53.58
8. Adriana Smith (OAPB) – 54.03

Bella Sims dropped another 1.6 seconds off her 52.1 PB from this morning’s heats to win the 100 backstroke with a meet record of 50.53. Having come into the meet ranked sixth with 53.26, she is leaving 2.7 seconds faster and now ranks #7 all-time on the list of fastest American swimmers in the 17-18 age group.

Sims dominated the race from start to finish. She went out with 24.88, followed closely by Aquajets’ Emma Kern – fresh off her win in the 100 fly – who flipped in 25.0 at the 50. Sims also had the fastest second half, coming home in 25.6. Mission Viejo’s Teagan O’Dell went 26.5 on her second half to move from third to second at the finish. O’Dell took .08 off her seed time to clock a PB of 51.86 for the silver medal. Kern held off Grace Rabb to place third with 52.17.

Boys’ 100 Yard Backstroke – Finals

• Meet Record: 45.58, Ryan Hoffer (2015)
• Pool Record: 43.66, Dean Farris (2019)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 47.44, Daniel Diehl (2020)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 45.60, Anthony Grimm (2019)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 44.63, Ryan Murphy (2014)

Top 8:

1. Maximus Williamson (LAC) – 46.90
2. Luke Logue (AQJT) – 46.96
3. Keaton Jones (NEP) – 46.97
4. Chase Mueller (FST) – 47.49
5. Marre Gattnar (NBA) – 47.58
6. Max Cahill (ROSE) – 47.65
7. Edward Huang (CDST) – 47.73
8. Jeremy Kelly (NTRO) – 47.75

It was almost too good to be true. Just when you might have been forgiven for thinking three A finals could be a little much, even for Lakeside’s Maximus Williamson, he did it again: Williamson won his third race of the night and his second come-from-behind thriller.

Luke Loge of Aquajets set the pace from the outset, flipping first at the 25 wall and first at the 50. Williamson was only a tenth behind, though, and he outsplit Logue over the second half by .2 to eke out the win, 46.90 to 46.96. Keaton Jones from Swim Neptune had the fastest back half of anyone in the final, coming home in a blistering 23.86 to nearly even-split his race. He finished in third place with 46.97, just one hundredth behind Logue.

Girls’ 4×50 Yard Freestyle Relay

• West Meet Record – 1:30.09, SwimMAC Carolina (A Marsh, C Lappin, J Merritt, E Brown) (2015)
• Winter Juniors Meet Record – 1:29.04, Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club (B Semenuk, S Moore, M Parker, K Douglass) (2018)
• Pool Record – 1:24.55, California (Murphy, McLaughlin, Bilquist, Weitzeil)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:33.30, TAC Titans (2019)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:30.99, Virginia Gators (2017)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:29.69, Nashville Aquatic Club (2020)

Top 8:

1. (tie) Sandpipers of Nevada / Mission Viejo Nadadores – 1:29.35 WEST MEET RECORD
2. –
3. Nitro – 1:31.54
4. Bellevue Club – 1:31.72
5. Denver Hilltoppers – 1:32.35
6. Lakeside Aquatic – 1:32.37
7. Palo Alto Stanford – 1:32.62
8. Alamo Area – 1:33.11

Of all the thrilling races we watched tonight, heat 2 of the 200 free relays might have been the most exciting. Sandpipers and Mission Viejo, fielding eight of the fastest teenagers in the country, duked it out for eight laps and came up with a tie.

Bella Sims opened with 22.15 for SAND. She was followed by Katie Grimes (22.18), Macky Hodges (22.41), and Claire Weinstein (22.18).

Mission Viejo went with Teia Salvino for the leadoff; she clocked a 22.66 to remain within half a body of Sims. Asia Kozan went 22.20 to bring the deficit to .10. Gracyn Aquino blasted a 22.53 and handed off to Teagan O’Dell who anchored with a 21.96 to catch Weinstein.

Both teams stopped the clock at 1:29.35, breaking the West meet record and narrowly missing the 15-18 national age group record of 1:29.04, set by Chelsea Piers in 2018. (As both quartets consisted of member of the 15-16 and 17-18 age groups, neither was eligible for either of those two NAG age categories.)

Boys’ 4×50 Yard Freestyle Relay

• West Meet Record – 1:19.03, Bolles School Sharks (C Dressel, S Condorelli, E Goossen, J Schooling) (2012)
• Winter Juniors Meet Record – 1:19.03, Bolles School Sharks (C Dressel, S Condorelli, E Goossen, J Schooling) (2012)
• Pool Record – 1:14.46, California (Sendyk, Hoffer, Jensen, Seliskar)
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:25.63, Scottsdale Aquatic Club (2013)
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:22.10, Rose Bowl Aquatics (2021)
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:18.92, Spartan Aquatic Club (2021)

Top 8:

1. Nitro – 1:19.87
2. Lakeside Aquatic – 1:20.18
3. Rose Bowl – 1:20.23
4. Swim Neptune – 1:20.43
5. North Bay – 1:20.96
6. Palo Alto Stanford – 1:21.40
7. Texas Ford Aquatics – 1:21.54
8. Irvine Novaquatics – 1:21.76

Nitro Swimming’s Sonny Wang (19.90), Jeremy Kelly (19.82), Oliver Rowe (20.17), and Kelson Flynn (19.98) combined for 1:19.87 to win the 200 free relay ahead of Lakeside Aquatic Club (River Paulk, Maximus Williamson, Max Hatcher, and Cooper Lucas) and Rose Bowl Aquatics (Rex Maurer, Jonathan Gim, Nathan Kim, and Athan Boutakidis).

Palo Alto Stanford’s Ethan Harrington had the fastest leadoff 50 with 19.59, a tenth off his winning time in the individual event final last night. The fastest split flying start split in the heat belonged to Williamson, who went 19.46 on Lakeside’s second leg to pull nearly even with Nitro.

Girls’ Top 10 Team Scores

1. Sandpipers of Nevada 360
2. Mission Viejo Nadadores 294
3. Bellevue Club Swim Team 185
4. Aquajets Swim Team 149
5. Crow Canyon Sharks 138
6. Univ of Denver Hilltoppers 134
7. Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics 104
8. Irvine Novaquatics 69
9. Nitro Swimming 67
10. Alamo Area Aquatic Association 62

Boys’ Top 10 Team Scores

1. Lakeside Aquatic Club 324
2. Rose Bowl Aquatics 273
3. Swim Neptune 182
4. Nitro Swimming 174.5
5. Texas Ford Aquatics 118
6. Aquajets Swim Team 115
7. North Bay Aquatics 112
8. Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics 94
9. Evolution Racing Club 90
10. Foothills Swim Team 88