Disclaimer: BlueSeventy 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 BlueSeventy Swim 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.
Excepting the women’s NCAA Championships (which we’ll consider all at once for next week’s Swim of the Week), the boys of North Allegheny High School grabbed headlines this week for taking down a national high school record set by some serious swimming names.
Mason Gonzalez (43.27), Andrew Zhang (44.24), Jack Wright (43.22), and Rick Mihm (43.08) combined for a blistering 2:53.81 in the 400 free relay, besting the national independent high school record of 2:54.43 set by a team of three future Olympians.
That old record was held by the Bolles School, with future Olympic champ and world-record-setting backstroker Ryan Murphy leading off in 42.95, future Canadian Olympian and 4th-place finisher in Rio Santo Condorelli splitting 43.11 and future Olympic champ and Phelps-beater Joseph Schooling anchoring in 43.70.
Three of North Allegheny’s swimmers were under Schooling’s split and one under Condorelli’s, though Gonzalez’s 43.2 leadoff is faster through the water than Condorelli’s 43.1 from a flying relay start.
You can watch race video of the new national record here.
WE MAKE SWIMMERS.
There isn’t a second that goes by when the team at blueseventy aren’t thinking about you. How you eat, breathe, train, play, win, lose, suffer and celebrate. How swimming is every part of what makes you tick. Aptly named because 70% of the earth is covered in water, blueseventy is a world leader in the pool and open water. Since 1993, we design, test, refine and craft products using superior materials and revolutionary details that equate to comfort, freedom from restriction and ultimately a competitive advantage in the water. This is where we thrive. There is no substitute and no way around it. We’re all for the swim.
Visit blueseventy.com/pages/swim to learn more.
Instagram: @blueseventy
Twitter: @blueseventy
Facebook: facebook.com/blueseventy
blueseventy is a SwimSwam partner.
The fourth person on that Bolles’ team should be at least mentioned.