Check out our list of Weekly Wonders for the weekend of August 12-14, 2016:
Amy Miller, 18, Crawfish Aquatics: 50m free (26.16) – Miller dropped .12 to win the C final of the women’s 50 free at Speedo Junior Nationals with the sixth-fastest time overall. It was her first 2016 Olympic Trials cut, and a great way to end the summer before heading off to Texas A&M.
Justin Schneider, 11, Temecula Swim Club: 100m free (1:00.45) – Representing Southern California Swimming at the North American Challenge Cup, Schneider went his second-best 100 free ever (.27 off his best) and came in third in the boys’ 11-12 100 free, the only 11-year-old in the final. He went a PB in the 200 fly (2:48.38) at the meet. The previous weekend at Southern California Summer JOs, he had gone best times in the 50/100/200/400 free, 100 breast, and 100 fly.
Tevyn Waddell, 18, Mitchell Aquatic Club: 100m back (1:02.50) – Waddell finished the summer with a personal best in the 100 back, taking .07 off her seed time at Speedo Junior Nationals. Waddell’s 1:02.50 came in prelims, and it qualified her fifth for finals. She was nearly 7/10 faster than she had been in the event at Olympic Trials in June. Waddell will soon begin her career as a Golden Gopher in the University of Minnesota’s class of 2020.
Henry Li, 12, Charger Aquatics: 100m breast (1:11.50) – Representing New Mexico Swimming at the Western Zone Age Group Championships, Li took 1.7 seconds off his time and won the boys’ 11-12 100 breast with the 19th-fastest swim in history for the age group. He also won the 200 breast and 200 IM, and left the meet with new PBs in the 50/100/200 breast and 200/400 IM.
Laura Carver, 18, Newburgh Sea Creatures: 200m breast (2:38.76) – After swimming a 2:40.31 in prelims and tying for the 8th qualifying position at NCSA Summer Swimming Championships, Carver won a swimoff with 2:38.76, her best time by 1.2 seconds. She also finaled in the 50 breast, and with another best time as well. Carver will begin the next chapter of her life this fall as a Saluki at Southern Illinois University.
Jack Kucharczyk, 18, Grosse Pointe Gators: 200m breast (2:20.73) – Kucharczyk dropped 2.1 seconds to rocket into the A final of the men’s 200 breast at NCSA Summer Championships. He then came back at night and took another 2.1 seconds off his time to finish fourth overall, with his first Winter Juniors cut. Kucharczyk was 7th in the 100 breast. Kucharczyk heads to Indiana University in the fall.
Katie Crom, 12, Lakeridge Swim Team: 100m fly (1:05.25) – Representing Pacific Swimming at the North American Challenge Cup, Crom won the girls’ 11-12 100/200 fly and 200 IM. Her 100 fly time was a personal best by 2.1 seconds, her 200 IM by 2.7, and her 200 fly was nearly 12 seconds faster than her seed time. Crom also went a best time in the 200 free.
Darien O’Donnell, 13, Charger Aquatics: 200m fly (2:15.51) – Swimming for New Mexico Swimming at Western Zones, O’Donnell won the consolation final of the boys’ 13-14 200 fly with the third-fastest time overall. He also finaled in the 200 free, 100 fly and 400 IM, and went best times in the 200 free and 100 fly, in addition to the 200 fly.
Reminder: The Weekly Wonders column is a celebration of age-group swimming, where new champions are made every day. Anyone can look up the top swims of the week. That’s not what we’re doing here. If we were only reporting on the week’s top swims we would feature the same handful of athletes every Wednesday. Instead, this is an opportunity to introduce the swimming community to athletes who have made great strides in the context of their own particular swimming worlds. By association, it also celebrates their coaches and their teams. The Weekly Wonders column, therefore, amounts to a pat on the back for a job well done, and hopefully encourages swimmers of all levels to continue to reach from within to get to that next level.
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