2018 Speedo Sectionals – Santa Clarita
- Thursday-Sunday, July 19th-22nd
- Santa Clarita Aquatic Center, Santa Clarita, CA
- Long Course Meters
- Results on MeetMobile, search “Canyons Summer CA-NV Sectional-2018”
The 2018 Speedo Sectional meet in Santa Clarita kicked off on Thursday, July 19th, at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center. 16-year-old Andrei Minakov (Terrapins Swim Team), who was the Silver Medalist at the European Junior Championships just a few weeks ago, blasted a 49.90 to claim victory in the men’s 100 free. He was out in 24.13, and back in 25.77. Minakov claimed Silver at the European Junior Champs with a new best time of 49.24, missing Gold by just .01 seconds. His 49.90 actually is his 7th fastest time of the season, having gone faster than it 3 times at Russian Nationals, and 3 more at European Juniors. He also threw down a 48.81 to anchor the Terrapins 400 free relay.
Kenisha Liu (Brea Aquatics) has won 4 events through 2 days of competition. Liu first took the women’s 100 free, touching in 55.39. She split a 26.86 on the 1st 50, and 28.53 on the 2nd 50 to finish just .04 seconds off her personal best of 55.35. She then won the 200 breast with a 2:31.43, going out in 1:13.77 (35.40/38.37), and coming home in 1:17.66 (38.29/39.37). She was also a little off her personal best of 2:29.82.
On day 2, Liu took the 200 free with a 2:01.22. She swam a pretty tight race, posting 50 splits of 28.20, 31.18, 30.52, and 31.32. Liu has a personal best of 2:00.34. She also won the 400 IM, posting a 4:54.75, touching off her personal best of 4:50.65. She posted 100 splits of 1:06.41, 1:20.64, 1:20.94, and 1:06.76 respectively. Liu being off her best times is not all that surprising, considering she will be competing at Nationals in Irvine next week.
Alexei Sancov (Terrapins Swim Team) won the men’s 200 free with a 1:51.01. That time is well off his personal best of 1:47.00, but is his fastest 200 free of the season by 3 seconds. Sancov came close to even-splitting the race, posting a 55.00 (26.23/28.77) on the first 100, and 56.01 (28.24/27.77) on the 2nd 100.
Catherine Sanchez (La Mirada Armada) won the women’s 200 fly with a 2:12.84, winning by exactly 4 seconds. She was out fast, hitting the 100 mark in 1:02.74 (29.31/33.43), and faded a bit at the end, coming home in 1:10.10 (34.41/35.69). That time comes in just .32 seconds slower than her best time.
Michael Tenney won the men’s 200 fly in 2:00.50. He was out in 57.58 (26.83/30.75), and came home in 1:02.92 (31.21/31.71). That time marked a solid time drop of 1.59 seconds.
Other Winners From Day 1 and 2
- Men’s 200 Breast: Michael Xu – 2:20.32
- Women’s 1500 Free: Cathryn Salladin – 17:00.05
- Men’s 800 Free: Gordon Mason – 8:15.76
- Men’s 400 IM: Michael Tenney – 4:28.88
- Women’s 100 Back: Zephanie Koh – 1:03.77
- Men’s 100 Back: Brock Bonetti – 55.93
Go Terrapins!
Is Minakov training in the US? According to their Instagram, he and Sancov have been together for half a month or so.
He is attached to the Terrapins, so he must be training in Concord, California.
BTW, Live results are also at: https://www.socalswim.org/live-results/2018JulySect/
In April interview he said that since 2017 he had been working with coach Nikita Lugovkin from Energy Standard team. Energy Standard’s web page confirms that http://energystandard.org/komanda/nasha-komanda
Before 2017 he had been training in Saint Petersburg, Russia.