CAN’s Sarah Watson Breaks 1:00 in LCM 1FL for First Time Since 2019 in Geneva

2021 CENTRAL ZONE SPEEDO SECTIONALS 

• July 15-18, 2021
• SPIRE Institute, Geneva, OH
• Hosted by Blazing Barracudas and Hudson HEAT
• Meet Site
• Psych Sheet
• Live Stream
• Results via Meet Mobile: “2021 Speedo Sectional Meet”
• Day One Recap

The second day of the 2021 Central Zone Sectionals at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio featured the finals of the women’s and men’s 50 back, 200 free, 100 fly, 400 IM, and 400 free relay timed finals. Swimmers from Ohio State (OSU) were once again dominant, winning 9 of the 10 events on Friday evening. Highlighting the session was Canadian Sarah Watson in the women’s 100 fly, who broke 1:00 for the first time since 2019.

Watson, who represents FAST and Akron collegiately, won the A-final at 59.85, holding off OSU’s Katherine Zenick (1:00.27) and Catherine Russo (1:01.62). At the 2019 Canadian Swimming Trials, Watson swam her two fastest career times, 59.56 and 59.57. Later on at the 2019 World University Games in Naples, Watson swam another pair of 59s, 59.81 and 59.93. Most recently at the 2021 Holtrey Summer Classic this past June, Watson swam 1:00.29/1:01.00 in the event. Watson’s 59.85 in Geneva now makes her the 7th Canadian woman to break 1:00 in the LCM 100 fly in 2021.

2021 Canadian Rankings – Women’s 100 FL LCM

1. Maggie MacNeil, 56.14
2. Katerine Savard, 57.86
3. Rebecca Smith, 57.93
4. Kylie Masse, 58.93
5. Mabel Zavaros, 59.16
6. Danielle Hanus, 59.44
7. Sarah Watson, 59.85**
8. Aryanna Fernandes, 1:00.50

More Day 2 Highlights

Kicking the season off for the OSU Buckeyes was Morgan Kraus in the women’s 50 back final, storming to the top of the podium with a 29.13. Her 50 back time would rank 9th among the 2021 Olympic Trials semifinalists’ opening 50s. Finishing behind Kraus were 17-year-olds Megan Maholic of Peninsula Wave Riders (29.46) and Riley Huddleston of Upper Arlington (29.69), both breaking 30 seconds.

On the men’s side, OSU’s Robert Kondalski took the top time at 25.65, overwhelming his 2018 personal best time of 26.22. Greater Columbus 17-year-old Eli Stoll took second at 26.36 while OSU’s Colin McDermott rounded out the top three at 26.74.

Winning the women’s 200 free by 0.25s was OSU’s Amy Fulmer over Club Wolverine’s Sophia Kudryashova, 2:03.46 to 2:03.71. Another Club Wolverine swimmer, 17-year-old Ella Piersma, took third place at 2:05.07. This meet was the first time Fulmer swam the 200 free long course while Kudryashova was one one-hundredth off her 2018 personal best of 2:03.70 from Buffalo Sectionals. At the 2020 U.S. Open, teenager Piersma hit her lifetime best of 2:04.79.

Then, the OSU Buckeyes finished 1-2-3 in the men’s 200 free final, with John Sampson (1:51.95) and Jay Johnson (1:52.26) separated by three-tenths followed by third-place finisher Johnathan Edwards (1:54.27). Sampson easily cleared his former lifetime best of 1:54.73 while Johnson took three-tenths off his former 1:52.54 best. Likewise, Edwards took four full seconds off his 1:58.40 personal best from 2019.

Winning the men’s 200 free B-final was HEAT 16-year-old Lucas Lane at 1:55.72, taking three-quarters of a second off his March personal best of 1:56.50.

Into the men’s 100 fly, Italian native Semuede Andreis of OSU won by over a second with a personal best of 52.92, taking down his May 2021 personal best of 55.18. Teammate Lain Weaver took 2nd at 54.06 while Club Wolverine’s Aaron Sequeira took third at 54.37.

Taking the title in the women’s 400 IM by five seconds was OSU’s Kyra Sommerstad, hitting 4:54.88 to crush her 2019 lifetime best of 7:57.34 from high school. Karen Austin, 17, of Atlantis Swimming (BBA) broke 5 minutes at 4:59.75 to take second place while Kaitlyn Sallows, 14, of Buckeye Swim Club took third at 5:01.61. Back in March, Sallows swam her lifetime best of 5:01.12 at the 2021 Combined Indiana Speedo Sectionals.

OSU’s Nathan Holty won the final individual event of the night, the men’s 400 IM, in a sub-4:30 effort of 4:28.41. Teammates Matthew Magness (4:31.87) and Edwards (4:32.26) gave the Buckeye men their second 1-2-3 event sweep with their top-three times.

Into the women’s 400 free relay timed finals, once again the OSU B-relay out-swam the OSU A-relay. This time, the B-relay swam 3:51.41 to the A-relay’s 3:52.98, winning by more than a second. On the anchor legs, Fulmer pulled out a 55.66 anchor for the B-relay while Zenick hit 56.32 anchoring the A-relay. Finishing in third place was the New Albany Aquatic Club relay at 3:56.01.

Finishing off the evening was the men’s 400 free relay timed final, where the OSU A-relay defeated the OSU B-relay, 3:26.28 to 3:28.79. Andreis led off the A-relay in a sub-50 effort of 49.79 while Shaw Satterfield led off the B-relay in 51.65. Finishing in third were the Firestone Akron (FAST) men at 3:31.41, highlighted by Tyler Hong‘s 51.77 split.