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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.
Carmel High School hosted a meet with five other schools from the surrounding area amidst the holidays on December 27, and several blistering swims were produced despite the meet’s unique timing.
For the Carmel girls, Alex Shackell and Molly Sweeney swept their individual events, and claiming a fifth win in an individual race for the team was Ellie Clarke.
Clarke, a 15-year-old freshman, clocked 2:01.04 in the 200 IM, knocking more than a second off her previous best time of 2:02.45, set two months earlier in October.
Clarke, October | Clarke, December |
26.86 | 25.98 |
56.64 (29.78) | 55.91 (29.93) |
1:34.17 (37.53) | 1:32.82 (36.91) |
2:02.45 (28.28) | 2:01.04 (28.22) |
Clarke only turned 15 within the last few months—her 2:01.04 clocking would’ve ranked her 75th all-time in the 13-14 age group. However, as a 15-year-old, her performance is still good enough to crack the top 10 in the U.S. this season, ranking 9th.
She also raced the 100 back at the meet, finishing 2nd to teammate Shackell in a time of 54.20.
Two weeks prior, Clarke was on fire at Winter Juniors – East in Greensboro, setting new personal bests in the 200 free (1:49.09), 500 free (4:44.76), 200 back (1:54.64) and 200 fly (1:57.88), while adding a season-best of 53.89 in the 100 back. Her 100 back PB sits at 53.65, set in March 2024.
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Yeah, Ellie! 💛💙