2022 U.S. Junior Nationals: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2022 SPEEDO JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

• August 1 to 5, 2022
• William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center, Irvine, California
• Long Course Meters (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Page
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream (USA Swimming)
• Live Results (OMEGA) (also can be found on MeetMobile)

TUESDAY PRELIMS HEAT SHEET

The 2nd day of the 2022 Junior Nationals in Irvine will feature the 100 free and 400 IM this morning. Stanford recruit and Tide Swimming 18-year-old Kayla Wilson comes in as the top seed in the women’s 100 free with a 55.09. We’ve been tracking young up-and-coming women’s 100 freestylers lately, as the U.S. needs a lot of help in that department on the International stage. After seeing a few breakout performances in recent weeks, we’ll be watching to see if she dips under 55 seconds today.

Nate Germonprez, a Texas recruit out of Inspire Swim Team, leads a field of men’s 100 freestylers who are knocking on the door of breaking 50 seconds in the event. His personal best come in at 50.07.

Nova of Virginia’s Zoe Dixon, a Florida recruit, leads the women’s 400 IM by a wide margin coming into the meet. Dixon comes in at 4:42.25, putting her a little over 3 seconds off the meet record.

Tualatin Hills 17-year-old Diego Nosack, a future Northwestern Wildcat, leads the men’s 400 IM seeds with a 4:22.00.

WOMEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• World Junior Record: 52.70, Penny Oleskiak (2016)
• Meet Record: 54.03, Missy Franklin (2009)
• 13-14 NAG: 54.03, Missy Franklin (2009)
• 15-16 NAG: 53.55, Claire Curzan (2021)
• 17-18 NAG: 53.25, Simone Manuel (2014)

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Kristina Paegle – 55.11
2. Kayla Wilson – 55.61
3. Alex Shackell – 55.77
4. Annika Parkhe – 56.05
5. Gigi Johnson – 56.17
6. Alexa Fulton – 56.35
7. Kirsti McEnroe – 56.47
8. Zara Zallen – 56.53

Indiana Swim Club and soon-to-be Indiana Hoosier Kristina Paegle had a fantastic swim to kick off this morning’s action, taking a little over half a second off her personal best with a 55.11 to secure the top seed for tonight’s final. Paegle’s speed was on full display, going out in 26.22 this morning, which bodes well for her 50 free later in the meet. She was back in 28.89 this morning, which may be the area of focus for tonight if she’s going to be able to get under 55 seconds.

Kayla Wilson (TIDE) had a solid prelims swim as well, touching 2nd in 55.61, which comes in just 0.52 seconds off her personal best. Wilson was a little faster than Paegle on the 2nd 50, coming home in 28.68, but she was significantly slower on the first lap, splitting 26.93.

Fresh off her victory in the 200 fly last night, Carmel Swim Club 15-year-old Alex Shackell popped a new personal best this morning, finishing 3rd in 55.77. Shackell was closer to Paegle in terms of how she swam her race, splitting 26.69 on the first 50, then coming home in 29.08. Like Paegle, if Shackell is going to be faster tonight, it probably will need to come on the back half of the race.

Another 200 fly ‘A’ finalist from yesterday, Patriot Aquatic Club’s Annika Parkhe (16) took 4th this morning in 56.05. For Parkhe, the swim marked a lifetime best by a little over half a second.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – PRELIMS

• World Junior Record: 47.13, David Popovici (2022)
• Meet Record: 49.06, Vlad Morozov/Andreu Minako (2010)
• 13-14 NAG: 51.12, Thomas Heilman (2021)
• 15-16 NAG: 49.28, Caeleb Dressel (2013)
• 17-18 NAG: 48.69, Jack Alexy (2021)

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Henry McFadden  – 50.24
2. Will Modglin – 50.32
3. Thomas Heilman – 50.34
4. Chase Mueller – 50.38
5. Nate Germonprez – 50.39
6. Roman Jones – 50.60 (tie)
7. Brendan Whitfield – 50.60 (tie)
8. Lucca Battaglini – 50.61

The field in this morning’s prelims of the 100 free was incredibly tight, seeing just a margin of just 0.37 seconds between 1st place finisher Henry McFadden and 8th place finisher Lucca Battaglini. McFadden had a phenomenal swim this morning, taking the race out in 24.50 and coming home in 25.74, for a margin of just 1.24 seconds between his 50s. Nate Germonprez took a little bit of a different tactic this morning, taking his swim out in a speedy 23.88, then coming home in 26.51.

For McFadden, the swim was a personal best by 0.60 seconds, bringing him closer to dipping under 50 seconds for the first time. Germonprez was the top seed coming in, having been 50.07 before. With the top 15 swimmers this morning all going 50-point, the likelihood we see at least one 49 tonight seems high.

Chase Mueller had one of the biggest race of the prelims, taking nearly a full second off his previous best to finish 4th in 50.38.

WOMEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS

• World Junior Record: 4:29.01, Summer McIntosh (2022)
• Meet Record: 4:38.97, Ella Eastin (2013)
• 13-14 NAG: 4:39.76, Becca Mann (2012)
• 15-16 NAG: 4:32.67, Katie Grimes (2022)
• 17-18 NAG: 4:31.78, Elizabeth Beisel (2011)

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Chloe Kim – 4:47.36
2. Lilla Bognar – 4:48.03
3. Kathryn Hazle – 4:48.57
4. Avery Klamfoth – 4:49.63
5. Emily Brown – 4:50.57
6. Emily Thompson – 4:51.25
7. Hana Shimizu-Bowers – 4:51.43
8. Abby O’Sullivan – 4:51.55

Scarlet Aquatics 15-year-old Chloe Kim had a great race this morning, shedding over 4 seconds from her previous best to take the top seed for tonight. Kim swam a well-rounded race, splitting 1:05.45 on fly, 1:11.41 on back, 1:24.76 on breast, and 1:05.74 on free. Similarly, Team Greenville 15-year-old Lilla Bognar dipped under 4:50 for the first time in her career, swimming a 4:48.03 for the 2nd seed. Bognar was fantastic on the front half of the race, splitting 1:04.50 on fly and 1:10.62 on back, for a 2:15.12 on the first 200.

Notably, 18-year-old Zoe Dixon, who was the top seed coming into the meet by a considerable margin, was off this morning, swimming a 4:52.58. Due to that performance, which was 10 seconds off her personal best, Dixon finished 13th, and will be racing in the ‘B’ final tonight. Given her personal best, if Dixon is able to get back to her best form in finals, it’s possible we’ll see the winning time in the ‘B’ final beat the winning time in the ‘A’ final tonight.

Jersey Wahoos 12-year-old Audrey Derivaux was on fire again this morning. After qualifying for the ‘B’ final in the 200 fly yesterday, Derivaux popped off a 4:56.70 400 IM this morning to finish 28th, just outside the ‘C’ final. She was fantastic on the first half of the race, splitting 1:06.51 on fly and 1:13.40 on back for a 2:19.91 on the opening 200. With the swim, Derivaux moves up to #3 all-time in the 11-12 girls age group.

MEN’S 400 IM – PRELIMS

• World Junior Record: 4:10.02, Ilya Borodin (2021)
• Meet Record: 4:14.51, Gunnar Bentz (2014)
• 13-14 NAG: 4:24.77, Michael Phelps (2000)
• 15-16 NAG: 4:14.73, Carson Foster (2018)
• 17-18 NAG: 4:09.09, Michael Phelps (2003)

Top 8 Qualifiers:

1. Drew Hitchcock – 4:24.28
2. Mason Edmund – 4:24.41
3. Owen McDonald – 4:24.82
4. Ryan Healy – 4:25.26
5. Raymond Prosinski – 4:25.27
6. Diego Nosack – 4:25.93
7. Eric Lee – 4:26.05
8. Andrew Taylor 4:26.21

Just as the men’s 100 free was, the men’s 400 IM was a tightly packed field this morning. The 8 ‘A’ finalists were all within 2 seconds off each other this morning, setting up what should be a really fun race to watch tonight.

Top-seeded Diego Nosack was the only swimmer to qualify for the ‘A’ final and add time to his seed, clocking a 4:25.93, which is 3.93 seconds off his personal best.

17-year-old Drew Hitchcock had a massive performance this morning, blowing his previous best time of 4:31.67 out of the water. He swam a 4:24.28, fueled by a speedy 2:06.11 on the first 200, as well as a very strong 1:00.68 on the free leg. Raymond Prosinski also had a huge swim this morning, breaking 4;30 for the first time as well. He swam a 4:25.27 to take 5th this morning.