Presenting the Weekly Wonders for the weekend of June 8-10, 2018:
Berit Berglund, 13, Carmel Swim Club (CSC-IN): 100m back (1:06.69) – Three weeks after swimming a personal best (1:06.44) in the 100 back at TYR Pro Swim Series Indy, Berglund notched her second-ever sub-1:07 at the 90th Ohio Valley Championships. She was runner-up in the girls’ 13-14 A-final, 2 seconds faster than she’d been at the same meet last year. Berglund left the meet with new lifetime bests in the 200 free, 400 free, and 100 breast.
Quinn Murphy, 15, Phoenix Swim Club (PSC-AZ): 100m back (1:04.65) – Murphy won the girls’ 15-and-over 100 back at the Phoenix Summer Invitational, equaling her previous personal best with a 1:04.65 in finals. That’s about 4.4 seconds faster than she swam at this time a year ago. Murphy finished 4th in the high score rankings for 15&U girls, the only 15-year-old in the top 10. She also won the 100 free and 200 back and finished 2nd in the 50 free, 3rd in the 200 free, and 11th in the 100 fly.
Ellis Fox, 13, Lubbock Swim Club (LSC-WT): 100m back (1:08.92) – Fox took a half-second off a month-old PB in the 100 back and was 3.3 seconds faster than she’d been at the same meet last year when she won the girls 13-14 event at the Frost Bank Invitational hosted by City of Midland Aquatics. She also won the 200 back, was runner-up in the 400 IM, and placed 3rd in the 200 IM, 4th in the 200 free and 100 fly, 7th in the 400 free, 8th in the 200 fly, and 11th in the 100 free.
Aaron Black, 14, and Abel Black, 14, Pacesetters Aquatic Club (PACE-GU): 200m back (Aaron 2:16.48, Abel 2:17.39) – Aaron notched a PB by 3.1 seconds, going 8.7 faster than at this time last year, while Abel took 2.7 off his seed time and was 9.5 better than he’d been a year ago. Both were swimming at the Summer Sanders Long Course SR+ Swim Meet & Time Trials hosted by California Capital Aquatics. Aaron took home new times in the 200/400 free, 100/200 back, and 100 fly, while Abel improved his PBs in the 100/200 free, 200 back, and 200 IM.
Charity Pittard, 17, Boise YMCA Swim Team (BY-SR): 100m breast (1:13.22) – Pittard earned her first Summer Junior Nationals cut in the 100 breast with a best-by-1-second 1:13.22 at the Summer Sanders Long Course Meet. She was over 4 seconds faster than she’d been at this meet a year ago. Pittard also went a best time in the 200 free, finishing third with 2:06.76.
Tais Brown, 14, Atomic City Aquatic Club (ACAC-SE): 200m fly (2:10.75) – Brown won the boys’ 11-14 200 fly by over 10 seconds at the TYR Long Course Invitational hosted by Huntsville Swim Association. He dropped 2.6 seconds and was 16 seconds faster than he’d been a year ago. Brown improved his lifetime bests in the 400 free, 800 free, 100 back, 100 fly, and 200 fly during the weekend.
John Reese Taylor, 13, YMCA of the Triangle Area Swim Team (YOTA-NC): 200m IM (2:21.62) – Competing at the GCY Sprint and Distance Meet, Taylor dropped 6.3 second in prelims and another 5 in finals to place second in the boys’ 13-14 200 IM with a time that was 11.3 seconds better than his seed time and 16.2 seconds faster than what he’d swum at the same meet last year. He finished the meet with huge time drops in the 100/200 back, 100/200 breast, 200 fly, and 200/400 IM.
Reminder: The Weekly Wonders column is a celebration of age-group swimming, where new champions are made every day. Anyone can look up the top swims of the week. That’s not what we’re doing here. If we were only reporting on the week’s top swims we would feature the same handful of athletes every Wednesday. Instead, this is an opportunity to introduce the swimming community to athletes who have made great strides in the context of their own particular swimming worlds. By association, it also celebrates their coaches and their teams. The Weekly Wonders column, therefore, amounts to a pat on the back for a job well done, and hopefully encourages swimmers of all levels to continue to reach from within to get to that next level.
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