2024 Winter Juniors – East: Day 1 Finals Live Recap

• December 11-14, 2024
• Wednesday Finals: 4 pm EST
• Prelims: 9 am EST/ Finals: 5 pm EST
• Greensboro, NC
• SCY (25 yards)
• Psych Sheets
• Event Page
• Live Results
• Meet Central

Day 1 Finals Heat Sheet

The World Championships might be happening on the other side of the world from Greensboro, North Carolina and Austin, Texas, but Hungary does not have a lock on fast swimming this week. The Winter Junior National Championships are commencing tonight, with the East version of the meet starting at 4 pm EST.

We just have a few relays on the docket tonight, the 200 medley and the 800 free.

Some of the headliners will likely be in action this evening, with Thomas Heilman and Charlotte Crush both appearing on the psych sheet in individual events. At this session last year, Heilman set the National Age Group Record leading off the boy’s 800 free relay.

Alex Shackell highlighted this meet last year, but since she is in Hungary breaking World Records she will not be attending this year’s meet.

GIRLS’ 200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 1:36.48 – Carmel Swim Club (Berglund, Sweeney, Shackell, Christman), 2022
• 13-14 NAG Record: 1:41.57 – TAC Titans (Liu, He, Nixon, Whelehan), 2024
• 15-16 NAG Record: 1:39.21 – Virginia Gators (Muzzy, Kulp, Bray, Hamilton), 2017
• 17-18 NAG Record: 1:36.90 – Aquajets Swim Team (Kern, Egeland, Rosenhagen, Becker), 2022

1. Lakeside Swim Team ‘A’- 1:39.53
2. SwimMAC ‘A’- 1:39.66
3. TAC Titans ‘A’- 1:40.12

The Lakeside Swim Team and SwimMAC A relays were separated by a little more than a tenth of a second with Lakeside coming out on top at 1:39.53. Despite winning the relay, Lakeside only beat SwimMAC on one of the splits. The leadoff leg by Charlotte Crush.

Crush had the fastest 50 backstroke in the field, coming in at 23.56. The closest swimmer to her time was Laker Swim’s Rylee Erisman who went 24.25. The SwimMAC backstroker Clarke Neace led off in 26.45, almost 3 seconds back of Crush. This was the ultimate decider in Lakeside’s victory.

The rest of the Lakeside relay held on to the lead with Hanna Schmidt swimming breast in 28.51, KC Braeger swimming the fly in 24.35, and Ava Grazziani swimming the free in 23.11 to go their final time of 1:39.53.

SwimMAC finished their relay with Elle Scott on the breast, going 26.74, Caroline Mallard swimming the fly leg in 23.87, and Bree Smith coming home on freestyle in 22.60. Their final time of 1:39.66 was just thirteen one-hundredths back from Lakeside.

The TAC Titans team of Reina Liu (24.38), Mia Jeltema (28.95), Nikki Nixon (24.36), and Caden Martin (22.43) rounded out the top 3.

BOYS’ 200-YARD MEDLEY RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 1:26.16 — Nashville Aquatic Club (Amlicke, Attmore, Nicholas, Schumann), 2023
• 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: 1:25.94 – Nashville Aquatic Club (Amlicke, Schumann, Nicholas, Dong), 2024

Top 3 Finishers

1. Bolles School Sharks ‘A’: 1:27.33
2. Lakeside Swim Team ‘A’: 1:27.69
3. Nashville Aquatic Club ‘A’: 1:27.97

The 2nd heat of the boy’s 200 medley relay was very tight across the middle of the pool. At the 150 mark, Nashville Aquatic Club was in first, and Bolles and Lakeside were locked in a dead tie. Ultimately, the Bolles School Sharks came out on top, going 1:27.33 for the gold medal.

The Sharks relay led off with Liam Carrington in 22.37. Eldad Zamir swam the breaststroke in 24.12. Antoine Destang went 3rd on the butterfly in 21.24, and Andty Kravchenko brought them home in 19.60.

Lakeside was tied with Bolles at the 150 mark. Their relay shaped up a little differently with the two relays trading the 2nd place spot a few times before the end. Sawyer Tapp went 22.20 on the backstroke leg; Wilson York went next in 24.80 on the breaststroke to pass 2nd back to Bolles. Thomas Mercer blasted a monster 20.73 on the fly leg, however, pulling them dead even, but Alex Thiesing‘s 19.96 was not able to keep up with Kravchenko’s anchor leg.

Nashville Aquatic Club led for the first 3/4 of the race. Blake Amlicke led off the relay in 21.77, and he handed it off to breaststroker Mack Schumann who went 24.02. The flyer, Hutch Paxton went 21.75 on the fly, just barely holding on to that 1st place position. Maston Ballew went 20.43 to bring the relay home. This was more than half a second faster than his best time of 21.00, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Lakeside and Bolles, and Nashville finished with the bronze.

GIRLS’ 800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 6:59.52 – Carmel Swim Club ‘A’ (Shackell, Bowen, Sweeney, Han), 2023
• 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

Top 3 Finishers:

1. Laker Swim ‘A’- 7:10.93
2. TAC Titans ‘A’- 7:12.27
3. Lakeside Swim Team ‘A’ – 7:14.55

Rylee Erisman‘s anchor leg was the story of the final. Through the first 600 of the race, it was a race between TAC and Lakeside and Laker was back in 7th place, but Erisman yanked Laker into first place and earned them the gold medal with an absolutely blistering 1:42.72 on the final leg.

The rest of Laker’s relay consisted of Carolina Daher (1:47.81), Lilliana Krstolic (1:48.97), and Aidyn Reese (1:51.43). Their final time of 7:10.93 beat the 2nd place relay TAC by over a second.

TAC was in 2nd for most of the race, and all four of their swimmers had similar splits. Their team of Reina Liu (1:48.02), Sloane Whelehan (1:48.10), Nicole Zettel (1:48.29), and Mere Welehan (1:47.86) went a final time of 7:12.27 to pass Lakeside, who was leading, and hold them off for the silver.

The bronze went to Lakeside Swim Team, led off by Charlotte Crush in 1:45.56. The 2nd swimmer Ava Grazziani (1:49.06) and 3rd swimmer Eli Summa (1:49.25) also went under 1:50 to hold onto the lead. Anchor leg Sydney Green (1:50.68) was not able to hold on, though nobody was compared to Erisman, and Lakeside got 3rd in 7:14.55.

BOYS’ 800-YARD FREESTYLE RELAY – TIMED FINALS

• Meet Record: 6:23.21 – Carmel Swim Club (Davis, Rothrock, Hadley, Mitchell), 2019
• 13-14 NAG Record: 6:51.02 – SwimMAC (Sammons, Sweet, Hamid, Cagle) 2024
• 15-16 NAG Record: 6:30.45 – Rose Bowl Aquatics (Dalmacio, Kim, Larrick, Maurer), 2021
• 17-18 NAG Record: 6:20.34 – Lakeside Aquatic Club (Williamson, Lucas, Hatcher, Paulk), 2024

Top 3 Finishers

1. Bolles School Sharks ‘A’- 6:26.00
2. Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA ‘A’- 6:28.50
3. Mecklenburg Swim Association ‘A’ – 6:31.07

The Bolles School Sharks won their 2nd relay of the evening, going 6:26.00 to earn the gold medal in the boy’s 800 freestyle relay. George Dovellos led off in 1:37.84. Xavier Sohovich went the fastest split on the relay with his 1:33.97 on the 2nd leg. Sascha Macht went 3rd in 1:37.34, and Liam Carrington went 1:36.85 to catch and pass Cavalier Aquatics for the win.

Cavalier Aquatics led for the firs 650 of the race. Thomas Heilman led off with the 5th fastest 17-18 200 free in history at 1:32.26. This was a new best time for Heilman who went 1:32.46 at last year’s Winter Juniors. Will Browne swam 2nd in 1:35.20, and Will Charlton went 3rd in 1:39.79 to hold onto the lead. Anchor leg Brayden King swam 1:41.25 to hold on for the silver medal for Cavalier Aquatics.

3rd place went to Mecklenburg Swim Association’s A relay in 6:31.07. Michael Rice led off the relay in 1:38.36. Jack Rutledge went 2nd, and he came in at 1:39.11. Granger Bartee swam 1:38.57 in the 3rd spot, and Norvin Clontz anchored in 1:35.03, earning them the bronze medal

Team Scores – Day 1 – Girls

1. SwimMAC Carolina -94
2. Lakeside Swim Team- 72
3. TAC Titans- 66
4. Laker Swim- 62
5. Sarasota Sharks- 60
6. Carmel Swim Club- 56
7. Bolles School Sharks- 54
8. Mason Manta Rays- 36
9. Jersey Wahoos- 30
10. Mecklenburg Swim Association- 26
11. Saint Petersburg Aquatics -24
12. Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics- 14
13. Fishers Area Swimming Tigers-10
14. Fort Wayne Swim Team- 8
15. Planet Swim Aquatics- 6
16. Blazing Barracudas- 2

Team Scores – Day 1 – Boys

1. Bolles School Sharks- 124
2. Carmel Swim Club- 72
3. Lakeside Swim Team- 64
4. Mecklenburg Swim Association- 60
5. Mason Manta Rays- 54
6. Dynamo Swim Club- 44
7. Cavalier Aquatics/Piedmont Family YMCA- 34
8. Nashville Aquatics Club- 32
9. Central Ohio Aquatics- 26
10. SwimMAC Carolina- 24
11. Marlins of Raleigh / SwimAtlanta– 18
12.  —
13. Laker Swim- 14
14. Nova of Virginia- 10
15. Planet Swim Aquatics- 8
16. New Wave Swim Team / Commonwealth Swimming- 6
17. —
18. Club Wolverine- 4
19. Enfinity Aquatic Club- 2