Day 2 of the YMCA Short Course Nationals started out just like it did yesterday by rewriting the record books. While the prelim session was a little lengthy, there was some very fast swimming going on.
A soon to be Tar Heel, Emily Slabe, started things off quick with a new national record in the 100 backstroke. Slabe will be the top seed for tonight with a time of 53.27, shaving three tenths off the old record. The rest of the top eight is a full second behind, led by last night’s winner in the 50 free, Katrina Konopka with a 54.32.
Last night’s winner in the 100 fly, Nick Petersen, comes into tonight as the top seed in the 100 back. While he was just off his seed time with a 48.76, it was good enough to secure the top spot and was also the only swimmer under the 49 mark. Brad Oberg from Middle Tyger swam to second place in a 49.17.
Moving into the second event of the day, it was two of the meet’s younger swimmers who grabbed high seeds in the women’s 400 IM. 15 year old Savanna Faulconer from Middle Tyger dropped four tenths from her seed timeand is sitting first with a 4:14.43. An even younger super star was Courtney Harnish out of York, who sits just behind Faulcon with a 4:15.28. Look for a good race between those two tonight while the rest of the field fights for third place.
Two swimmers out of Wilton went 1-2 in the prelims of the 400 IM, both dropping a couple of seconds from their seed times. Maxwell Dolan, a Wisconsin commit, locked up first seed with a 3:51.38. His teammate and soon to be Michigan Wolverine, Ian Rainey, swam to second place with a 3:52.07. The rest of the top eight was impressive, all shaving chunks of time off their seeds.
15 year old Meghan Small will swim in lane 4 tonight for the women’s 200 free, swimming a respectable 1:47.90 this morning. Courtney Weaver, who set a national record in the 100 fly yesterday, kept the ball rolling by dropping 1.32 seconds from her seed time. She’s right behind Small with a 1:47.98.
The men’s prelims of the 200 free was even closer, with the two top seeds only separated by a hundredth of a second. Top seed in the meet, Benjamin Creekmore, kept his spot, swimming to the wall in 1:38.24. Ocean County’s Zachary Molloy was right there with Creekmore, grabbing second in a 1:38.25.
The final event of the session was the men and women’s 400 medley relays. Sarasota’s squad of Sophie Cattermole, Bethany Leap, Madison Jean, and Spence Atkins put together the fastest mix of splits this morning to go in as the top seed for tonight. They lead with a 3:43.28 while Schroeder and York fall to second and third in 3:45.23 and 3:45.27, respectively.
The men of Middle Tyger had a huge morning swim, dropping almost six seconds from their seed time. Brad Oberg led off in a 48.95 (besting his time from his prelim swim by almost three tenths), Nathan Delahunty followed with a 57.17 for the breast leg, Jack Frazier split a 49.81 for the fly, while Andrew Delahunty came home in a 46.15. Teams from Somerset, Ocean County, and Lakeland Hills were all 3:22s as well. This should shape up to be a great a race tonight.
Finals begin at 5:45 EST tonight and will follow the same event order as this morning. Everything you need to follow along is available here (includes prelim results, final results, and links to live stream).
It’s ‘Wilton,’ not ‘Welton.’ Go Wahoos!