2023 Winter Juniors – East: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

2023 SPEEDO WINTER JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS – EAST

• December 6-9, 2023
• McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, OH
• Prelims: 9:00 am (EST)/ Finals: 5:00 pm (EST)
  • Wednesday finals (relays only): 6:00 pm (EST)
• SCY (25 yards)
• Meet Central (USA Swimming)
• How To Watch
• Psych Sheet
• Live Results (Also available on MeetMobile)

Wednesday Finals Heat Sheets

It’s that time of year again and the 2023 Speedo Winter Juniors – East are about to get underway in Columbus, Ohio. Some of the top juniors in the country are set to compete here over the next four days, and there are more racing at the West edition of the meet in Westmont, Illinois.

The meet follows the NCAA order of events, so things kick off tonight with a relay session that features the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays. The session is timed finals, and heats alternate two girls’ heats and two boys’, so make sure to check the heat sheet, especially if you’re looking for when a specific team races.

GIRLS’ 200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 1:36.48 – Carmel Swim Club (Berglund, Sweeney, Shackell, Christman), 2022
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:41.87 – TAC Titans (Clark, Cotter, Curzan, Morris), 2019
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:39.21 – Virginia Gators (Muzzy, Kulp, Bray, Hamilton), 2017
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:38.98 – Nashville Aquatic Club (Hurt, A. Walsh, Massey, G. Walsh), 2020

Podium:

1. Lakeside Swim Team ‘A’ (Crush, Kahler, Braeger, McDonald) — 1:38.13
2. Carmel Swim Club ‘A’ (Clarke, Sweeney, Shackell, Dougherty)– 1:38.35
3. Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics ‘A’ (Albrecht, Umstead, Todd, Siegers)– 1:40.55

Heat 2 of the girls’ 200 medley saw a great duel between Lakeside and Carmel that ultimately earned them the top two steps of the podium. The Lakeside girls led through the first two legs thanks to Charlotte Crush‘s 23.32 lead-off and Georgia Kahler‘s 28.53 breast split.

Then, Alex Shackell fired off a 21.95 split, erasing an almost two second deficit and putting Carmel in the lead. It came down to the freestyle leg and Haley McDonald out-split Grace Dougherty 22.19 to 22.70, giving Lakeside the win. They combined for a time of 1:38.13, while Carmel finished 2nd in 1:38.35, .22 seconds behind.

Michigan Lakeshore’s Grace Albrecht (24.99), Sophia Umstead (27.76), Ellie Todd (24.97), and Camryn Siegers (22.83) came from behind to beat the Mason Manta Rays for 3rd with a 1:40.55. The Manta Rays took 4th in 1:40.90 and were the final team in the event to break 1:41.

BOYS’ 200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 1:26.52 – Mason Manta Rays (C. Foster, J. Foster, McDonald, Chaney), 2018
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:34.61 – Carmel Swim Club (Lancaster, Malicki, Haig, Enoch), 2020
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:28.85 – Mason Manta Rays (C. Foster, Van Gorp, McDonald, Chaney), 2018
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:26.43 – Spartan Aquatic Club (N. Stoffle, Lin, Muhammed, Sacca), 2020

Podium:

1. Nashville Aquatic Club ‘A’ (Amlicke, Attmore, Nicholas, Schumann) — 1:26.16 *MEET RECORD*
2. Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont YMCA ‘A’ (King, Moore, Heilman, Browne) — 1:26.25
3. Lakeside Swim Team ‘A’ (Crush, York, Mercer, Thiesing) — 1:28.12

There was another great race in the boys’ 200 medley relay which ended with both Nashville Aquatic Club and Cavalier/Piedmont Aquatics getting under the Mason Manta Rays’ meet record from 2018.

Blake Amlicke (21.65), Gray Attmore (24.57), Spencer Nicholas (19.97), and Mack Schumann (19.97) led their heat from the start. Nicholas, who’s committed to the UVA class of 2024, blasted a 19.97 50 fly split. He joined his future Virginia teammate Thomas Heilman under that barrier; Heilman popped off a flied-best 19.87 split that helped separate the Cavalier squad from a tight heat.

Nashville Aquatic Club touched in 1:26.16, breaking the meet record by .36 seconds and setting a new 15-18 National Age Group record. Cavalier’s Will Browne closed the gap to Schumann with a 19.95 split but ran out of room and stopped the clock at 1:26.25, nine-hundredths behind Nashville. Cavalier also got a 21.83 backstroke split and a 24.60 breaststroke split from David King and Max Moore.

Like the girls’ race, there was a gap between the first two teams and then a tight race behind them for 3rd and 4th. Here, Lakeside’s team of Johnny Crush (21.39), Wilson York (25.54), Thomas Mercer (21.39), and Alex Thiesing (19.80) out-touched the Suburban Seahawks for 3rd, 1:28.12 to 1:28.17. Last year, the same squad finished second in 1:27.60.

GIRLS’ 800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 7:03.66 – Sarasota Sharks (Sauickie, Mattes, Weyant, McIntosh), 2022
• 13-14 NAG Record: 7:18.96 – NOVA Aquatics (G. Sheble, C. Sheble, Erickson, Ackerly), 2017
• 15-16 NAG Record: 7:08.94 – NCAP (Duncan, Spink, Wall, Gemmell), 2020
• 17-18 NAG Record: 7:06.69 – NCAP (Duncan, Wall, Spink, Gemmell), 2022

Podium:

1. Carmel Swim Club ‘A’ (Shackell, Bowen, Sweeney, Han) — 6:59.52 *MEET RECORD*
2. SwimMAC Carolina ‘A’ (Scott, Bartee, Plaza, Neace) — 7:12.97
3. Lakeside Swim Team ‘A’ (Crush, McDonald, Braeger, Summa) — 7:14.26

Carmel’s ‘A’ relay wasted no time in the girls’ 800 freestyle relay finals. Alex Shackell, a member of the United State’s silver medal winning 800 freestyle relay at 2023 Worlds, led-off with a huge personal best time. Newly 17-years-old, Shackell ripped a 1:42.28, jumping to 5th on the 17-18 all-time performers list for U.S. girls.

Then, Lynsey Bowen (1:45.28), Molly Sweeney (1:46.55), and Kayla Han (1:45.41) followed up Shackell’s split to combine for a 6:59.52, obliterating the meet record that the Sarasota Sharks set just last year. If they were an NCAA team, the swim would’ve given them the NCAA ‘A’ cut and made them just the 6th collegiate squad to break 7:00.

They won the event by over 13 seconds as SwimMAC’s ‘A’ team of Elle Scott (1:46.98), Zetta Grace Bartee (1:49.42), Sofia Plaza (1:48.98), and Clarke Neace (1:47.59) grabbed 2nd place in 7:12.97. Behind them, Lakeside Swim Team got on the podium for the third straight event as like Shackell and Sweeney, Crush (1:47.40 lead off) and McDonald (1:47.06) did their second swims of the session.

BOYS’ 800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 6:23.21 – Carmel Swim Club (Davis, Rothrock, Hadley, Mitchell), 2019
• 13-14 NAG Record: 6:55.16 – SwimMAC (Osman, Turner, Clontz, Bartee), 2021
• 15-16 NAG Record: 6:30.45 – Rose Bowl Aquatics (Dalmacio, Kim, Larrick, Maurer), 2021
• 17-18 NAG Record: 6:23.21 – Carmel Swim Club (Davis, Rothrock, Hadley, Mitchell), 2019

Podium: 

1. Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont YMCA ‘A’ (Heilman, King, Browne, Charlton) — 6:24.56
2. Carmel Swim Club ‘A’ (Enoch, Shackell, Zhang, Gorey) — 6:29.73
3. SwimMAC Carolina ‘A’ (Klein, Bartee, Alzate, Haywood) — 6:30.19

Fresh off a sub-20 50 butterfly split on Cavalier/Piedmont’s second-place 200 medley relay, Thomas Heilman just kept rolling. He led off their ‘A’ 800 freestyle relay with a blazing 1:32.46, breaking Maximus Williamson‘s 15-16 NAG by half a second and becoming the first in the age group to go sub-1:33.

He gave Cavalier/Piedmont a lead that they never surrendered as David King split 1:34.00, Will Browne went 1:37.04, and Will Charlton anchored in 1:41.06. Their margin of victory was not quite as big as the Carmel girls’ relay, but they still won by 5.17 seconds ahead of the Carmel boys.

Carmel’s team of Gregg Enoch (1:34.33), Andrew Shackell (1:37.59), Lewis Zhang (1:38.83), and Michael Gorey (1:38.98) outdueled SwimMAC’s team of Freddy Klein (1:37.27), Granger Bartee (1:37.68), Santi Alzate (1:38.86), and Jack Haywood (1:36.38). Carmel got under the 6:30 mark with a 6:29.73 while SwimMAC took 3rd in 6:30.19.

Team Scores – Day 1 – Girls

1. Carmel Swim Club 114
2. SwimMAC Carolina 106
3. Lakeside Swim Team 76
4. Bolles School Sharks 60
5. (tie) Mason Manta Rays / Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics 40
6. –
7. Nova of Virginia Aquatics, Inc 30
8. Scarlet Aquatics 26
9. (tie) SwimAtlanta / TAC Titans 24
10. –
11. Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA 18
12. Dublin Community Swim Team 14
13. Crimson Aquatics 12
14. Laker Swim 10
15. Suburban Seahawks Club 8
16. Mecklenburg Swim Association 6

Team Scores – Day 1 – Boys

1. SwimMAC Carolina 90
2. Cavalier Aquatics-PiedmontYMCA 74
3. (tie) Lakeside Swim Team / Suburban Seahawks Club / Bolles School Sharks 60
4. –
5. –
6. Carmel Swim Club 48
7. Dynamo Swim Club 42
8. Nashville Aquatic Club 40
9. Scarlet Aquatics 26
10. New Wave Swim Team 24
11. (tie) Mason Manta Rays / Mecklenburg Swim Association 22
12. –
13. Nova of Virginia, Inc 14
14. Huntsville Swim Association 10
15. (tie) Marlins Of Raleigh / SwimAtlanta / North Carolina Aquatic Club 8
16. –
17. –
18. Jersey Wahoos 4
19. Naval Academy Aquatic Club 2