2023 Speedo ESSZ Spring Championships
- Thursday, March 9 – Sunday, March 12, 2023
- Triangle Aquatic Center — Raleigh, NC
- SCY (25 Yards)
- Results: “2023 Speedo ESSZ Spring SC Championships” on MeetMobile
The action at the 2023 Speedo ESSZ Spring Championships got underway in the Triangle Aquatic Center with the 1000 freestyle and the 800 freestyle relay.
In her first meet in the pool since 2021 Olympic Trials, 33-year-old Ashley Twichell took win in the girls’ 1000 freestyle. An Olympian and two-time open water World Champion, Twichell is now training with the TAC Titans, who she’s raced for in the past. Since her last meet, she and her husband welcomed a child in May 2022.
Twichell won the race in 9:36.47, the only person in the field to break the ten minute mark. Her personal best is 9:21.41, which she swam at the 2019 Speedo Championship Series in Greensboro.
Earlier this year, she finished second in the Aquellé Midmar Mile, an open water race.
Also making her return to the pool was Becca Mann. The 25-year-old is also now training with the TAC Titans and she took third in 10:03.65. As best we can tell, this is her first meet in a pool since the 2019 Pan American Games. In the interim, her focus has turned towards open water swimming. That focus culminated in her becoming the first person to complete the Triple Maui Nui Channel Swim, which took her almost 21 hours.
This was Mann’s first time racing the event since 2018, when she swam it at USC’s dual versus Stanford in January 2018. Over five year later, she was right on the time that she clocked there (10:03.34).
The Titans took the top three spots in the event, with 15-year-old Mere Whelehan finishing second in 10:02.06.
TAC actually swept all the events on Day 1 of the meet. They won both relays and Logan Adley touched first in the boys’ 1000 free. Adley won by over six seconds, posting 9:11.43. That’s an 18.37 second drop for the 18-year-old, improving on his swim from this meet last year. Adley is committed to UNC-Wilmington and this time would slot him second in the event on this year’s roster. The Seahawk men just captured their second straight CAA conference title.
His teammate Keith Williams earned second in 9:17.91 which is a best time for him by 2.52 seconds. Like Adley, Williams is staying in-state and heading to UNC-Chapel Hill. His time here would be third on the Tarheels roster this season. With both Adley and Williams heading to their respective colleges in the fall, it’s worth keeping an eye on how their times here help their soon to-be teams.
In the girls’ 800 freestyle relay, the TAC Titans’ ‘B’ team bested the ‘A’ by 2.40 seconds. Samatha Armand (1:50.69), Jenna Jacobs (1:52.97), Jillian Crooks (1:45.87), and Katya Ivanov (1:52.78) combined for the win in 7:22.31. That 1:45 split from Crooks is impressive considering that her lifetime best stands at 1:49.49 and bodes well if she swims it individually at this meet, as she did last year. It’s still early in the year, but Crooks has already set personal bests in four different yards events in 2023.
TAC also went 1-2 in the boys’ relay. Jerry Fox (1:36.56), Landon Lloyd (1:40.40), Andrew Li (1:39.35), and Zach Kohm (1:39.14) touched in 6:35.45. They won by over five seconds, as Clem Camacho (1:38.43), Colton Wade (1:40.94), Cole Venters (1:41.42), and Max Marrujo (1:39.73) earned second in 6:40.52.
I thought Twichell had retired before she popped up in the results. Awesome to see!
You weren’t the only one!