2016 Speedo Juniors: Day 1 Prelims Recap

2016 Speedo U.S. Junior National Championships

• Monday, August 8 – Friday, August 12, 2016
• Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center
• The University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN
• Heats 9:00 AM / Finals 5:00 PM (U.S. Central Time)
• Psych Sheets
• Live Video
• Live Results
• Championship Central

The 2016 Speedo U.S. Junior Nationals kicked off in Minneapolis this morning with some big swims from a deep pool of talented 18-and-under swimmers.

Day 1– Monday, August 8

Women’s 200 Meter Butterfly – Prelims

• Jr World: 2:06.51  8/8/2015  Yufei Zhang, China
• Meet: M 2:09.28 8/9/2010  Jasmine Tosky, Palo Alto Stanford
• 17/18 NAG: 2:06.95 Katie McLaughlin  2015
• 15/16 NAG: 2:05.96 Mary T. Meagher  1981
• 13/14 NAG: 2:07.01 Mary T. Meagher  1979

The nation’s fastest age-group butterfliers put on quite a show to open the weeklong meet. Riptide Swim Club’s Regan Smith, who broke the 13-14 National Age Group Record in the 100m backstroke last week -twice- had a monster 200 fly morning swim. She dropped 3.5 seconds and won her heat by about 3 body lengths with 2:12.90. Smith moved from #65 to #16 on the all-time list for 13-14 girls and qualified second for finals behind top-seeded Dakota Luther. Austin Swim Club’s Luther dropped an impressive 1.1 seconds and came within 1.3 of the meet record with her 2:10.55. Tide Swimming’s Callie Dickinson was another impressive flier; she chopped 3.4 seconds off her personal best to qualify third in 2:13.51. Luther is now the 13th-fastest 15-16 year old of all time; Dickinson moves to #70.

A Final Qualifiers

1. Dakota Luther, 16 Austin Swim Club 2:10.55
2. Regan Smith, 14 Riptide Swim Team 2:12.90
3. Callie Dickinson, 16 Tide Swimming 2:13.51
4. Ashly Fiorilli, 15 Texas Ford Aquatics 2:14.31
5. Carley Lowe, 16 Highlander Aquatics 2:14.68
6. Jewels Harris, 17 Crimson Tide Aquatics 2:14.70
7. Coleen Gillilan, 15 Fort Collins Area 2:15.29
8. Kenisha Liu, 17 Brea Aquatics 2:15.60

B Final Qualifiers

1. Mary Soule, 17 Asheville Swim Club 2:16.25
2. Isabel Traba, 15 Sarasota YMCA Sharks 2:16.26
3. Drake, Kelsey 18 Linn-Mar Swim Team 2:16.32
4. Hailey Houck, 18 Sandpipers Of Nevada 2:16.55
5. Sophie Krivokapic-Zhou, 17 Santa Clara Swim 2:16.83
6. Lauren Edelman, 17 Fishers Area Swim 2:17.07
7. Nicole Fye, 17 The Fish 2:17.11
8. Alexis Margett, 17 Brea Aquatics 2:17.42

Men’s 200 Meter Butterfly – Prelims

• Jr World: 1:55.92  8/27/2014 Andrew Seliskar, USA
• Meet: M 1:56.54 8/5/2013  Andrew Seliskar, Nation’s Capital
• 17/18 NAG: 1:53.93 Michael Phelps  2003
• 15/16 NAG: 1:54.58 Michael Phelps  2001
• 13/14 NAG: 1:59.02 Michael Phelps 2000

The men’s race didn’t produce the same kind of huge drops as the women’s did but there were quite a few excellent morning races that propelled swimmers into the various finals. Top-seeded Will Macmillan of North Carolina Aquatic Club maintained his position with a 2:00.33 in prelims, tying his personal-best time from March 2016. Fynn Minuth broke through with a huge 2:00.62 to erase 2.2 seconds of his seed time and rocket from 7th on the psych sheet to 2nd through to finals. Spencer Carl of Michigan Lakeshore Aquatics also improved significantly; his 2:01.27 was 1.9 seconds faster than his seed time and moved him to the 3rd spot heading into tonight.

A Final Qualifiers

1. Will Macmillan, 18 North Carolina A 2:00.33
2. Fynn Minuth, 18 Una Uscs-AM/SG B 2:00.62
3. Spencer Carl, 17 Michigan Lakeshore 2:01.27
4. Jack LeVant, 16 North Texas Nadadores 2:01.73
5. Carter Grimes, 18 Sandpipers Of Nevada 2:02.42
6. Andrew Koustik, 17 Irvine Novaquatics 2:02.98
7. Alex Dillmann, 18 Maverick Swim Club 2:03.00
8. Jack McCaghren, 18 Memphis Thunder 2:03.08

B Final Qualifiers

1. Brendan Santana, 16 Pacific Swim 2:03.21
2. Tal Davis, 17 Team Greenville 2:03.48
3. Matthew Jerden, 17 Indiana Swim Team 2:03.69
4. Zachary Smith, 16 Crimson Tide Aquatics 2:03.73
5. Lexo Walker, 17 Wilton Y Wahoos 2:04.45
6. Arthur Markley, 17 Lancaster Aquatics 2:04.47
7. Dane Florea, 16 Columbia Swim Club 2:04.65
8. Hatch, Jarod 17 Santa Clara Swim 2:05.09

Women’s 100 Meter Breaststroke – Prelims

• Jr World: 1:05.39  8/20/2014 Ruta Meilutyte, Lithuania
• Meet: M 1:08.29 8/7/2008  Kasey Carlson, Terrapins Swim Team
• 17/18 NAG: 1:05.75 Kasey Carlson  2009
• 15/16 NAG: 1:07.05 Megan Quann  2000
• 13/14 NAG: 1:08.09 Amanda Beard  1996

Top-seeded Zoe Bartel from Fort Collins Area Swim Team, who came in with a seed time that matched the meet record set by Kasey Carlson in 2008, was just about a second off her PB but still outpaced the field by 1.4 seconds to qualify first for finals. Bartel and Carlson are tied at #6 on the all-time top 100 list for 15-16 girls.

There were more “misses” than “hits” in the 100 breast prelims, so those that swam closest to their seed times earned the best spots in finals. With 1:10.65, Ema Rajic of Champaign County YMCA Heat was the second-fastest swimmer of the morning, qualifying just ahead of Hanna Gresser from Firestone Akron (1:10.75) and Halle Morris of North Bay Aquatics (1:10.81).

A Final Qualifiers

1. Zoe Bartel, 15 Fort Collins Area 1:09.26
2. Ema Rajic, 16 Champaign Cnty Y 1:10.65
3. Hanna Gresser, 17 Firestone Akron- 1:10.75
4. Halle Morris, 17 North Bay Aquatics 1:10.81
5. Olivia Calegan, 16 Greater Nebraska 1:11.32
6. Carly Hart, 17 Firestone Akron 1:11.45
7. Rachel Ramey, 17 Texas Ford Aquatics 1:11.46
8. Alicia Harrison, 17 Buenaventura Swim 1:11.52

B Final Qualifiers

1. Sophie Angus, 17 Weston Swimming 1:11.54
2. Kaki Christensen, 16 Chelsea Piers Aquatic Club 1:11.56
3. Dannie Dilsaver, 17 Greater Nebraska 1:11.70
4. Sydney Baker, 17 Y-Spartaquatics- 1:12.16
5. Bailey Kovac, 17 Fort Collins Area 1:12.18
6. Val Tarazi, 16 Mundelein Mustangs 1:12.31
7. Emily Sykes, 17 Upper Dublin Aquatic Club 1:12.36
8. Nicole Limberg, 17 West Coast Aquatics 1:12.38

Men’s 100 Meter Breaststroke – Prelims

• Jr World: 1:00.12  8/25/2015 Anton Chupkov, RUS
• Meet: M 1:01.94 8/8/2013  Carsten Vissering, Nation’s Capital
• 17/18 NAG: 59.82 Michael Andrew  2016
• 15/16NAG: 1:00.68 Michael Andrew  2015
• 13/14 NAG: 1:03.23 Reece Whitley  2014

Seeded first by nearly 2.5 seconds, Michael Andrew of Race Pace Club led the way into tonight’s final with a field-leading 1:00.75. AquaSwimClub’s Devon Nowicki shaved 8/10 off his entry time and qualified second in 1:01.49. Both Andrew and Nowicki came in under the meet record of 1:01.94, set by NCAP’s Carsten Vissering in 2013. Qualifying third was Daniel Roy of Spokane Area Swimming/YMCA, more than 2 seconds back with 1:03.70. Ethan Dang, who is still chasing the 13-14 National Age Group Record in this event, just missed the A final, qualifying 9th in 1:04.54.

A Final Qualifiers

1. Michael Andrew, 17 Race Pace Club 1:00.75M
2. Devon Nowicki, 18 AquaSwimClub 1:01.49M
3. Daniel Roy, 16 Spokane Area Swim Team 1:03.70
4. Jake Foster, 15 Mason Manta Rays 1:03.91
5. AJ Bornstein, 16 Ridgefield Aquatic Club 1:03.97
6. Charles Scheinfeld, 16 New Trier Swim Club 1:04.08
7. Mitch Hovis, 17 King Aquatic Club 1:04.40
8. Dillon Hillis, 15 Manhattan Makos 1:04.41

B Final Qualifiers

1. Ethan Dang, 14 King Aquatic Club 1:04.54
2. Robert Hughes, 18 King Aquatic Club 1:04.62
3. Tom Gallup, 18 Exeter Swim Team 1:04.83
4. Tommy Cope, 18 Dayton Raiders 1:04.90
5. Gary Kostbade, 17 Duneland Swim Club 1:04.94
6. Brennan Pastorek, 17 Georgia Coastal 1:04.98
7. Isaak Webb, 18 Iowa Flyers Swim 1:05.09
8. Fausto Huerta Tate, 16 Unattached-FG 1:05.18