2021 TAC TITANS LONG COURSE PREMIER MEET
- Thursday, April 8 – Sunday, April 11, 2021
- Triangle Aquatic Center, Cary, North Carolina
- Long Course Meters (50 meters), Prelims/Finals
- Meet Central
- Live Stream
- Psych Sheets
- Live Results
The first of several highly anticipated showdowns between Olympic hopefuls Claire Curzan and Torri Huske happened this morning in the 100 free prelims. Curzan, the TAC Titans 16-year-old, posted a 55.27 to edge Arlington Aquatic Club star Huske’s 55.57 by a few tenths.
Both have been faster than that recently; Curzan’s best is a 54.93 from the U.S. Open in November, while Stanford-bound Huske went 54.04 at that same meet (but at a different site, due to COVID-19 measures). NCAP 16-year-olds Camille Spink (56.12) and Erin Gemmell (56.23) weren’t far behind, while Mecklenburg Swim Association sprinter and Michigan commit Lindsay Flynn (56.43) makes this a great battle of young stars tonight.
Huske also raced the 200 fly this morning, going 2:14.14 to just miss her 2019 lifetime best of 2:14.01. TAC Titans’ Charlotte Hook posted a swift 2:10.26 to take care of business, finishing well ahead of Huske there.
Wolfpack Elite went 1-2 in the men’s 100 free prelims, with Justin Ress cracking 50 seconds at 49.78 ahead of teammate Coleman Stewart (50.53). UNC junior Tomas Sungalia was third in 50.79 representing NCAC, while NCAC club standout and NC State commit Sam Hoover was fourth in 50.92.
In the men’s 400 free, TAC Titans distance specialists Michael Cotter and Lance Norris, both NC State commits, busted through the 4:00 barrier for the first time. Cotter was first in 3:57.84, just ahead of Norris’s 3:58.64. They’ll have to drop a bit more to match the 3:57.21 Wave I cut.
OTHER NOTABLE FINISHES
- Emma Barksdale of Gamecock Aquatics swam to the top time in the women’s 100 breast, going 1:10.32 and just missing a lifetime best.
- NCAP 18-year-old Jakob Frick led the men’s 100 breast with a 1:03.47. He’s nearly at the Wave I cut of 1:03.29 with that new best time, and he already has the 200 cut for Wave I.
- TAC Titans 17-year-old Jacob Pishko went 2:04.03 to top the men’s 200 fly prelims ahead of World Champs participant Justin Wright (2:04.58).
- After going 1-2 in last night’s 800 free timed final, TAC Titans’ Caroline Pennington touched just ahead of NCAP’s Paige McKenna in the 400 free prelims, 4:18.46 to 4:19.84.
