Aaron Sequeira Breaks 3 Meet Records at Southwest Ohio HS Classic

2020 Southwest Ohio Classic

• January 18th-19th, 2020
• 9 prelims locations, finals at Keating Natatorium, Cincinnati, Ohio
• 25 yard (SCY)
• Meet Information & Results
• Full Finals Results (PDF)

The Southwest Ohio Swimming and Diving Classic, in its 35th edition in 2020, is one of the state’s major pre-championship invite events, with almost every high school team in the region coming together for a battle royale. From 9 preliminary locations to a single site for finals, the two days of competition each had both preliminary and finals events – including extending beyond the traditional high school events into 200 yard stroke races, a 1650 free, a 400 IM, extra relays, and 50 stroke events for JV swimmers.

The boys side of the meet went according to plan, with the St. Xavier boys, hosts of the finals sessions, winning the meet in a runaway 816-301 margin over Beavercreek. St. Xavier has won the last 11 straight Ohio Division I State Championship meets and 40 titles in total.

The girls meet, meanwhile, was much more tightly contested, with Springboro winning at 344 points to 341 points for runners-up Mason – the defending Ohio State Champions. Springboro was just 10th at last year’s state championship meet, but with this win have asserted themselves as contenders for the 2020 title in February.

Girls’ Meet

Springboro got a huge boost from junior Hannah Hill, who won both the 50 free (23.31) and 100 free (50.54) in comfortable margins. That time in the 100 free is a new lifetime best from her, shaving .15 seconds off what she did at Winter Juniors – East. Last year, at the State Championship meet, she was 8th in the 100 free and didn’t score in the 100 back. If she can repeat her performances from this weekend at the state championship, that could provide as much as a 25 or 30 point boost to Springboro’s state meet result.

Hill would add a win in the 100 backstroke in 55.81, another lifetime best, and finished 4th in the 200 back in 2:03.95 – a best time by almost 6 seconds.

Hill also split 22.77 on a 200 free relay anchor, the fastest in the meet; 48.87 on a 400 free relay anchor to lead Springboro to a win, split 23.87 on the fly leg of a 200 medley relay, and split 54.34 on the butterfly leg of a 400 medley relay. Springboro finished in the top 2 in all 4 relays.

Hill’s efforts were augmented by that of senior teammate Maggie Clough, who won the 200 IM in 2:05.73 and was runner-up in 2 other individual races. The challenge for Springboro come February will be that in this format, they were able to rely heavily on their two stars, Hill and Clough. They don’t have the depth of teams like Ursuline and Mason, though, and when Hill and Clough are limited to just 4 swims each, that will hurt them.

Other double winners at the meet included Cincinnati Hills sophomore Jessey Li, who won the 100 breaststroke (1:03.81) and 200 breaststroke (2:20.57). She was also 2nd behind Hill in the 50 free (23.88) and 3rd in the 100 free (52.36). Cincinnati Hills didn’t qualify any relays for the finals session.

Anderson senior Grace Hastings picked up a pair of victories as well, winning the 200 free in 1:51.05 and the 200 fly in 2:03.92. She was 5th in the 200 free and 3rd in the 500 free at last year’s state meet.

There were 4 Meet Records broken on the girls’ side, but only one of those came in an individual event. Mason junior Kiara Anchrum swam a 55.41 in the 100 fly. That broke Madelyn Shaffer’s 2016 record of 55.60.

Top 5 Teams:

1. Springboro – 344
2. Mason – 341
3. Beavercreek – 259
4. Ursuline Academy – 253
5. Centerville – 169

Boys’ Meet

Even with 2 of the region’s stars gone, brothers Carson and Jake Foster, the boys’ meet was still littered with records, including one in the 100 free from University of Florida commit and their club teammate Adam Chaney. Chaney won the 100 free in 43.74, which crushed the old record of 44.84 that was set in 2018 by Arizona State swimmer Cody Bybee. The top performances list in that event is loaded with names of National Teamers and college All-Americans, including names like Grant House and Zach Apple.

Chaney also swam the 200 backstroke individually, placing 10th in 1:54.41. He split 45.70 on Mason’s 400 free relay, and led off their 200 medley relay in 22.24.

The big star of the weekend, though, was Walnut Hills senior Aaron Sequeira. He won 3 of his 4 individual entries, and all 3 victories resulted in new Meet Records. In the 50 free, he swam 20.18 to break Justin Grender’s record of 20.40; in the 100 back, he won in 46.71, which crushed Henkri Pohlmann’s 2014 record of 48.42; and in the 200 back, he won in 1:44.17, which broke US National Teamer Carson Foster’s record of 1:44.89, set last season. Carson Foster would be a senior this year as well, but he graduated high school early to focus on training for the 2020 Olympic Trials.

Those were all new lifetime bests for Sequeira, including by over a second in the 100 back.

Sequeira, a Stanford commit, was 3rd in the 200 free and 2nd in the 100 back at last year’s Ohio State Championship meet. Foster won both of those races.

St. Xavier senior Scott Sobolewski swept the varsity breaststroke events, winning the 100 in 56.24 and the 200 in 2:00.88. His 200 breaststroke just-missed Grant House’s Meet Record of 2:00.86 set in 2017. His senior teammate Jean-Pierre Khouzam swept the butterfly events, winning the 100 in 48.64 and the 200 in 1:49.78. Sobolewski is headed to USC in the fall, while Khouzam will attend Ohio State. Khouzam is the defending Ohio State Champion in the 100 fly.

Top 5 Teams:

1. St. Xavier – 816
2. Beavercreek – 301
3. Sycamore – 246
4. Indian Hill – 227
5. Kings Mill – 217.5