Alexa Reyna, Luke Brennan Win Gold on First Night of Ithaca Sectionals

2023 Speedo Spring Sectional – Ithaca

• March 23-26, 2023
• Ithaca College, Ithaca, New York
• Short Course Yards (25 Yards)
• Meet Central
• Results on MeetMobile: “2023 EZ North Speedo Short Course Sectionals”

Held at Ithaca College in upstate New York, the first night of the Speedo Spring Sectional Championships kicked off yesterday with a distance-only session. Women took to the pool to compete in the 1650 free, while the men raced the 1000 free.

To open the night, French National Team member Alexa Reyna of Badger Swim Club posted a dominant performance in the 1650. Reyna captured the event title by nearly thirty seconds, touching at 16:32.27. While she won in convincing fashion, that time was still well off of her lifetime best in the race. At a meet just over a year ago, Reyna recorded a time of 16:21.76 in the event.

While she was off of her best time, Reyna’s performance was fast enough to take down the Ithaca pool record in the event. Prior to this weekend, the record stood at 16:38.03. It was set in 2017 by Emily Ecker of Cornell.

Reyna is one of the top young distance swimmers in the world currently. Last summer, she finished in the top-8 of the three distance events at the 2022 World Junior Swimming Championships. She also set the French age group record in the 1500 last November in a time trial alongside Katie Grimes. Reyna is committed to Arizona State for the fall of 2024.

In the lone men’s event of the night, the 1000 free, 16-year old Luke Brennan of the Peddie Aquatic Association claimed the top spot by the narrowest of margins. Brennan went back and forth throughout the race with William Mulgrew of Crimson Aquatics, eventually touching him out by one-hundredth of a second.

Going into the final fifty, Brennan trailed by over half a second. During those final fifty yards, he split 25.60, running down Mulgrew to win in 9:11.85. That time is a lifetime best for the University of Minnesota commit by over fifteen seconds and moves him to just outside the top-100 all-time for the age group.

Team Scores

Combined

1. Badger Swim Club – 105
2. Peddie Aquatic Association – 49
3. Crimson Aquatics – 38
4. Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics – 35
5. The Current – 17

Women

1. Badger Swim Club – 56
2. Crimson Aquatics – 19
3. North Jersey Barracudas – 17
4. Peddie Aquatic Association – 15
5. Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics – 14

Men

1. Badger Swim Club – 49
2. Peddie Aquatic Association – 34
3. Asphalt Green Unified Aquatics – 21
4. Crimson Aquatics – 19
5. The Current – 17