Andrew, Marciano NAGs kick off opening night of NASA Showcase Classic in Clearwater

Michael Andrew and Vinny Marciano provided the opening fireworks to the NASA Showcase Classic meet in Clearwater, Florida, each setting a National Age Group record.

Marciano, most known for his backstrokes, and Andrew, the first 14-year-old to break 20 in the 50 free, somewhat traded roles tonight, with Marciano breaking the 11-12 50 free NAG held by Andrew and Andrew crushing his record in the 200 back.

The meet breaks each age group into its own finals heat – so the top 10 13-year-old qualifiers compete in their final, while the top 10 14-year-old swimmers race in the next heat.

Marciano went 21.78 to win the 12-year-0lds heat of the 50 free. That took a tenth off the NAG record held by Andrew at 21.85. In the 11-year-old category, it was Leo Goldblatt who picked up the win, going 24.57 to touch out Cameron Mabon by .05.

Marciano also won the 200 back. His 1:56.11 topped the 12-year-old division easily, while Christopher Hardt went 2:06.02 to win the 11-year-old heat.

Andrew, meanwhile, broke his own 200 back NAG for the second time in a day. His 1:43.15 knocked another second off the mark after he lowered it by a second at prelims.

That won the 14-year-old’s heat, while Desmon Sachtjen took home the 13-year-old category at 1:56.17.

The second win came in the 50 free, where Andrew went 19.83 to win handily, though he was still a tenth off his NAG in the event. Also fast in that heat was Daniel Krueger, who went 20.28 for second place, not too far off what the 13-14 NAG was before Andrew got his hands on it earlier this year.

The 13-year-old heat went to William Myhre in 21.83, the first of his two wins on the night in the 13-year-old age bracket.

Andrew made it 3 wins for Indie Swimming on the night, going 24.74 to win the 50 breaststroke in the 14-year-old division. There are no NAG records kept in 50s of the strokes for that age group, but that time is still a blistering one for the versatile Andrew.

St. Charles’s Myhre won the 13-year-old’s heat in this race as well, going 27.80 to top Garrett Clasen by just .15.

Another double-winner was Nation’s Capital’s Katie Mack. She won the same combo as Marciano in the 11-12 division, pacing the 200 back and 50 free. Mack’s 2:00.57 was a good 1.5 seconds off her lifetime-best, but still won the 12-year-old heat by five seconds. She saved her best stuff for the 50 free, though, going a career-best 23.65 to win the event, holding off Clearwater’s Christina Cianciolo (23.83 for second).

The 11-year-old heats in those events went to Chase Travis of Delaware Swim Team (2:10.96 in the 200 back) and Jacey Hinton of First Colony (24.79 in the 50 free).

Joy Jiang also won a pair of titles. The 10-year-old won the 50 back to open up the meet, going 28.93 to win handily. She then came back to win a touchout of the 100 breaststroke, putting up a 1:14.20 to top Payton Baxter by two tenths.

In the 9&under finals of those two races, Nova’s Zoe Dixon went 30.03 to claim her own runaway victory in the 50 back, while Allie Hathaway out of Rochester, Minnesota went 1:20.62 to take the 100 breast heat..

For the 10&under boys, Johnny Bradshaw took a couple of wins. The 10-year-old won the 50 back for The Fish, going 28.83 in the meet’s first event. In the 9&unders, Joshua Zuchowski went 30.01 to take the title.

Bradshaw came back to win the 100 breast in 1:11.41, a runaway victory of 5 seconds in the 10-year-old division. Meanwhile his Fish teammate J.T. Ewing took the 9&under heat, going 1:21.34.

In the girls 13-14 200 back, Kristen Romano of Town Wrecker Swim Team went a lifetime-best 1:58.24 to crush the field. She won by 6 seconds in her heat and also topped everyone in the 13-year-old heat by a similar margin. That race went to Katrina Marty of Southwest Aquatics with a time of 2:04.65, touching out Emma Muzzy by just two tenths.

The 50 breaststroke in that age group went to Olivia Paoletti and Rabea Pfaff. The 14-year-old Paoletti won her heat for Delaware Swim Team at 29.76, while Pfaff took the younger end of the age group at 30.16.

The 11- and 12-year-olds also swam the 50 breast. For the girls, Giovanna Cappabianca led the way, going 29.50 to swim away with the 12-year-old title. The younger heat went to Gabriela Pierobon Mays at 31.24.

For the boys, 11-year-old Christopher Hardt put up the fastest 50 breast time in either heat. Hardt, who won the 11-year-old 200 back as well, went 28.97 to win his age bracket by a full second. 12-year-old winner Nicholas Torres wasn’t far behind, though, at 29.03.

In the girls 13-14 50 free, Serena Derderian won another race for the Delaware Swim Team. Her 23.61 was the fastest time overall, and the Bolles School’s Audrey Trieu went 23.99 for second. The 13-year-old’s heat went to Kaitlyn Barth of Southwest Aquatics. Her 23.95 was just enough to edge out Kasja Dymek by a tenth.

The session closed with the 11-12 1000 free for boys, which had one more double-winner. 11-year-old Leo Goldblatt won his heat, running away with things at 10:35.41. That was a margin of victory of almost 30 seconds in his age group. The 12-year-old title went to Adam Kerr, who put up a 10:02.45, beating out Nicholas Vance by 20 seconds.

Full results are available on Meet Mobile under “2014 NASA Showcase Classic.”