AgonSwim Weekly Wonders of Age Group Swimming – 7/15/2015

All over SwimSwam, but particularly here in the Weekly Wonders Department, we get very excited when swimmers make their first Olympic Trials cuts. Or national cuts. Or even JO/state cuts. But being a year out from 2016 United States Olympic Team Trials, we are particularly focused on The Big Dance. Quite a few swimmers punched their first tickets to Trials over the weekend; some of them are listed below. Here are the AgonSwim Weekly Wonders for the weekend of July 10-12, 2015.

Lexie Lupton, 18, Eagle Swim Association: 50m free (26.12) – Lupton dropped just enough time to sneak under the Olympic Trials standard for the first time in the 50 free at Southern Sectionals at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin. Lupton took .06 off her seed time in prelims to qualify for the championship final, a mere 1/100 from the Trials cut. In finals she dropped another .08 to clear the bar by 7/100. Lupton also went lifetime bests in the 200 free and 100 fly.

Jonah Karschnik, 12, M.E. Lyons/Anderson Barracudas: 100m free (58.54) – Karschnik registered his best-ever time by 4.5 seconds and set the meet record when he won the boys 11-12 100 free at the Southwest Ohio YMCA Swim League Long Course Championships. He also earned new PBs in the 200/400 free and 50/100/200 fly.

Cyrus Browning, 12, Swim Ithaca: 200m free (2:08.33) – At the Niagara LSC Long Course Championships, Browning dropped 4 seconds en route to winning the boys 11-12 200 free. He also won the 50/100 free, 100 fly and 200 breast, and was runner-up in the 400 free and 100 breast. Browning was seven-for-seven in best times for the weekend.

Owen Kao, 15, Irvine Novaquatics: 400m free (3:58.63) – Kao has now beaten his 2014 PB the last seven times he has swim the 400 free. Five of those times he broke 4:00, and at Los Angeles Invite, Kao improved his seed time by 6/10 to make his first Olympic Trials cut by only .06. Kao posted the morning’s top time, and swam in finals against veterans ranging in age from 18 to 21. Kao picked up new times in the 50 free, 100 fly, and 400 IM as well. He is ranked number 2 in the country in the 400 free among 15-year-old boys this season.

Kendall Dawson, 18, Fast Lane Aquatics: 400m free (4:17.38) – Swimming at the Southern Zone South Sectional Meet in Orlando, Dawson dropped 3 seconds in prelims, and another 3 in finals to place third in the 400 free and earn her first bid to 2016 Olympic Trials. Dawson finished the weekend with PBs in the 200/400 free and 100/200 back.

Rick Courrieu, 13, Rattler Swim Club: 800m free (8:42.33) – Courrieu improved his seed time by 19 seconds and broke 9:00 for the first time, swimming the 800 free at Los Angeles Invite. Courrieu is now 56 seconds faster in the event than he was last year at this time. He nearly broke the 2:00-barrier in the 200 free, as well, and came away with new times in the 200/400 free and 100 back in addition to the 800. Courrieu holds the leading 800 time in the country for 13-year-old boys and is fourth in the 200 and 400.

Tan Dunn, 15, Southern Crescent Aquatic Team: 100m back (57.70) – In yet another Southern Sectional meet, this one in Athens, Georgia, Dunn qualified for the “C” final in the 100 back by cracking 58 for the first time with 57.70 in prelims. He now holds the third-fastest time in the country for the 2015 season.

Marcie Maguire, 15, Ridgefield Aquatic Club: 100m back (1:03.24) – Maguire picked up her first Olympic Trials cut in the 100 back at the Connecticut Long Course Senior Championships at Wesleyan University. Maguire won the 100 back with a PB by .4, narrowly missing the Connecticut State record by .13. She achieved her first-ever OT cut in the 200 back in March. Maguire also earned a new time in the 200 IM over the weekend.

Matthew Fenlon, 12, Rivertown Aquatics: 200m back (2:22.82) – Fenlon had a monster meet at ASC/RAC Sandbox Invitational, hosted by Retriever Aquatics at UMBC. In the 200 back, he dropped 8.1 seconds and won the boys 12-and-under event by 9 seconds. He also won the 200 free with a PB by 2.7 seconds, and the 100 fly (best by.4).

Kaden Amidon, 16, City of Shreveport Swim Team: 200m back (2:07.59) – Amidon improved his 200 back seed time by 4.5 seconds and achieved his first national cut at Austin Sectionals. Amidon dropped 4 seconds in prelims to make the “A” final; he then took another half-second off his time and wound up fourth overall. Amidon left Austin with new times in the 100/200 back, 200 breast, 100 fly, and 200/400 IM.

Jacob Rauch, 15, Aquatic Team Of Mecklenburg: 100m breast (1:05.18) – Rauch dropped an incredible 4 seconds to make the “C” final and nab his first national cut in the 100 breast while swimming at Athens Sectionals. He was just a tick off that time in finals but finished 19th overall. Rauch ended his Sectional meet with new PBs in the 50/100 free, 100/200 back, 100/200 breast, and 200/400 IM.

Sean Lee, 16, Swim Pasadena: 200m fly (2:01.88) – Lee casually dropped an unsuited 2:01.88 in finals of the 200 fly at Los Angeles Invite to earn his first 2016 Olympic Trials bid. He finished sixth overall, the only high-schooler in the championship final. Lee also went a best time in the 200 back at the meet, getting his first national cut in the event.

Carley Lowe, 15, Highlander Aquatic Club: 400m IM (4:54.27) – At the Orlando Sectionals, Lowe came within 9/10 of her best 400 IM in prelims to qualify for the “A” final, then went a PB by nearly 2 seconds in finals to pick up her first-ever Olympic Trials cut. She also finished third in the 200 fly with a lifetime-best 2:16.22.