2019 WASHINGTON OPEN
- January 17th-20th, 2019
- King County Aquatic Center, Federal Way, Washington
- SCY (25y) course
- Psych Sheet
- Live Results
Another swim resulted in another personal best for 17-year old NC State Commit Katharine Berkoff on night 3 of the 2019 Washington Open. After swimming new personal bests in both the 200 back and 500 free on Friday, Berkoff swam, and won, the 100 fly on Saturday evening in 53.81. That time is 1.16 seconds faster than her previous lifetime best (from this meet last year) and makes her one of just 4 swimmers (along with Olivia Bray, Claire Curzan, and Gretchen Walsh) to have been sub-54 in both the 100 back and 100 fly this season.
Berkoff also split 49.11 on a rolling start for Missoula’s 400 free relay.
Another swimmer having a big day on Saturday was Lily Gardner of the Tualatin Hills Swim Club. The 16-year old dropped huge time in the 200 IM and 200 back on Friday, but wasn’t in the top 30 in either event. She was 3rd in the 50 free, but didn’t swim a lifetime best.
On Saturday, though, she combined high finishes and lifetime bests in both of her events. Beginning in the 100 fly, she placed 3rd in 55.12, which took 6-tenths from her previous best time.
The 200 free, however, was the biggest coup: she swam 1:47.87, which was a time drop of more than three seconds. It ranks her among the top 20 16-and-unders in the country this season.
She also dropped 3 seconds from her personal best in the 100 breaststroke, tying for 127th place in 1:11.33.
Gardner is just a sophomore in high school, and has really expanded her range from a sprint specialist into the 200s as she approaches the junior-year-ramp of the recruiting cycle.
Other Day 3 Winners:
- Christopher Staka of Aptos won the 100 fly in 46.57. The 20-year old Staka was previously a swimmer at Alabama, but is now back home training in Santa Cruz and looking for a new landing spot. His 100 fly is a new lifetime best, in a primary event, by 1.04 seconds.
- Luke Thornbrue won the boys’ 200 free in 1:38.44, more than a second-better than 15-year old Luke Hobson. Thornbrue and his teammate Ethan Heasley have battled back-and-forth in the distance freestyles all meet long, but Heasley bowed out after prelims in the 200 free, which left Thornbrue to win the 200 comfortably.
- Thornbrue was the top eed in prelims of the 400 IM, but scratched the final. Kevin Keil tempered his time in the morning (4:03) and in the evening session, out-battled Ethan Dang and Ryan King for the win in 3:56.06. Dang had the lead after breaststroke, his best leg of the IM, but Keil and King both closed in on him on the finish, with a 25.92 final 50 for Keil being enough to take the win.
- Ellie Jew from the Lake Oswego Swim Club won the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.34. For Jew, an Arizona commit, that time is within 4-tenths of her lifetime best, done at December’s Winter Junior – West Championships. Her season-best would be the Arizona women’s best time so far this season.
- Kevin Houseman won the 100 breaststroke in 53.92.
- Benny Nagy (Benedict on your scorecards) won the girls’ 400 IM in 4:21.09
Team Scores After Day 3
Top 5 men’s teams
- Walnut Creek Aquabears – 394
- Boise Y Swim Team – 331
- Hillsboro Heat – 288
- Marin Pirates – 210
- SMAC – 193
Top 5 women’s teams
- Boise Y Swim Team – 545
- SMAC – 255
- Spokane Waves – 251
- Missoula Aquatic Club – 200
- Lake Oswego Swim Club – 184
