Ziyad Saleem Continues to Drop, Hits 1:42 200 Back at Schroeder YMCA Invite

December Speedo Performance Meet

• December 19-20, 2020
• Walter Schroeder Aquatic Center, Brown Deer, Wisconsin
• Long Course Meters (LCM) on Saturday, Short Course Yards (SCY) on Sunday
• Results on Meet Mobile:
  • Saturday: “December Speedo Performance Meet – LCM”
  • Sunday: “December Speedo Performance Meet – SCY”
• Results – PDF (LCM)
• Results – PDF (SCY)

Over the weekend the Schroeder YMCA hosted a two-day invitational. The first day of the meet, Saturday, was swum in long course meters while the second day featured short course yards racing. The meet also featured multiple members of the University of Wisconsin team competing on Saturday.

The Saturday portion of the meet was highlighted by Erik Gessner of Wisconsin picking up his Olympic Trials cut in the 100 fly. Gessner finished the race in 53.57, nearly a second faster than his best time and over half a second faster than the Trials cut.

Finishing with the top time in two events on Saturday was Wisconsin commit and current member of the Waukesha Express Swim Team, Abby Carlson. Carlson finished with the top time in both the 200 free (2:05.91) and 200 IM (2:28.59).

Malia Francis, who was the Wisconsin high school state champion in both the 100 fly and 100 back, finished with the top time in the 100 back. Francis finished in 1:04.49, just off of her best time of 1:03.22 from last year’s Winter Juniors. Francis is committed to Liberty University’s class of 2022.

On Sunday, in the short course pool, Erika Remington, who is a sophomore at the University of Denver, finished with the top time in both the 50 (23.23) and 100 (50.75) freestyles. Her time in the 100 free marked a half-second improvement upon her previous best time, swum at the 2020 Summit League Championship. Last year she was the Summit League champion in the 50 free, where she finished in 23.06, and bronze medalist in the 100 free.

The boy’s side of the meet also featured a college sophomore, Sam Ryf of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Ryf finished with the fastest time in the 200 free (1:44.42) and second-best time in the 400 IM (4:10.69).

Also swimming at the meet were two athletes who were previously committed to swim for the University of Iowa next season prior to the school’s announcement that the team would be cut following this year. Both Alyssa Graves and Ziyad Saleem of the Schroeder YMCA were committed to Iowa following their graduation this spring.

While Graves has since announced her commitment to Purdue University, Saleem has yet to make an indication of where he intends to swim next year.

Swimming only one event in the short course pool, Saleem dropped nearly two seconds in the 200 back, touching in 1:42.93. Only 17, he now ranks as the 73rd fastest swimmer in the 17-18 All-Time Top 100 age group performers in the event.

Saleem’s best time when Iowa announced that they were cutting their program was a 1:45.93. Since then, with 2 best times in the event, he’s now knocked 3 full seconds off that mark. His new best time would rank him 4th in Iowa program history already, though he’ll now find a different college to swim for.

Saleem’s only other swim of the weekend came in the 100 long course meter backstroke, where he swam 55.74 to place 2nd to former Wisconsin Badger Cam Tysoe. Saleem’s best time in that event is 55.54, which along with the 200 back is an Olympic Trials qualifying standard.

Other Notable Swims

• Kenyon College commit Sydney Geboy swam two lifetime bests in SCY. She finished the 100 free in 52.13 and the 200 free in 1:52.05.
• 14-year old Kennedy Rainwater finished with the fastest time, and new best time, in the 800 free LCM (9:34.64).
• Already ranked in the All-Time Age Group Top 100 for the event, Will Hayon finished just off of his best time in the 100 fly in LCM, touching in 55.00.