Presenting the AgonSwim Weekly Wonders for the weekend of September 23-25, 2016.
Drayden Bell, 12, Wichita Swim Club: 50y free (25.19) – Swimming at the Wichita Swim Club Red/Black Intrasquad Meet, Bell dropped 1.05 seconds off his previous best 50 free, and was 4.3 seconds ahead of pace from last year.
Claire McLean, 11, Westside Aquatics: 50y free (25.28) – McLean won the girls’ 11-12 50 free, 50/100 back, 50 breast, and 50/100 fly at the September BRW Short Course Meet hosted by Team Santa Monica. McLean dropped nearly 1 second in the 50 free, and was 1.4 ahead of last year’s pace.
Nathan Jao, 12, YMCA of Northwest North Carolina Riptyde: 100y free (54.55) – Jao improved his 100 free time by 1.6 seconds, going nearly 5 seconds faster than at the same time last year, swimming at the TYDE Fall Splash Dash. Jao also dropped in the 100 back and 100 fly.
Thomas Bui, 12, Swim Club of Ridgecrest: 100y breast (1:06.21) – At the Commerce Aquatics BRW Short Course Meet, Bui won the boys’ 11-12 50/100 breast, 50/100 fly, and 100/200 IM. He dropped time in every event, including 1.1 seconds in the 100 breast (7.5 faster than last year at this time). He also competed in the open 200 breast and 200 fly, earning new PBs in those events as well.
Benjamin Arias, 12, El Paso Aqua Posse: 100y fly (59.82) – Arias broke 1:00 for the first time while winning the boys’ 11-12 100 fly at the Pecan Classic hosted by Las Cruces Aquatic Team. It was his best time by 1.4 seconds, and nearly 6 seconds faster than a year ago. Arias also won the 100 free, 200 free, 1650 free, and 200 back over the course of the weekend.
Nathan Quarterman, 13, Boise YMCA Swim Team: 100y fly (55.88) – At the 2016 Caitlin Vinsonhaler Time Achievement Meet hosted by Boise YMCA Swim Team, Quarterman was runner-up in the boys’ 13-14 100 fly with his best time by 2/10. He went 3.9 seconds faster than at this time last year. Quarterman also scored PBs in the 500 free and 200 breast.
Reilly Tiltmann, 13, Elmbrook Swim Club: 100y fly (1:00.48) – Swimming for Elmbrook at the EBSC vs WEST Dual Meet, Tiltmann went her third-best time ever in the 100 fly, and while it wasn’t her best, it was a hefty 3.3 seconds faster than at the beginning of the season last year. Tiltmann did finish the meet with a new time in the 100 back, though.
AJ Pouch, 15, Team Rebel Aquatics: 400y IM (4:05.13) – Pouch swam two events at the September Invite hosted by Desert Storm, and he earned new PBs in both of them. First he dropped 5.7 seconds to win the boys open 1000 free, then he dropped 8 to win the open 400 IM, with a time that was 14.4 seconds ahead of where he’d been last year at this time.
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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Good job, everyone!